Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-l7hp2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T18:44:57.355Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The Incidence of Cognitive Disabilities in the Siblings of Autistic Children

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Gerald J. August
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Iowa College of Medicine, Iowa City, Iowa 52242, USA
Mark A. Stewart
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Iowa College of Medicine, Iowa City, Iowa 52242, USA
Luke Tsai
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Iowa College of Medicine, Iowa City, Iowa 52242, USA

Summary

Individual components of cognitive disability were assessed in the siblings of 41 autistic probands and compared with similar measures from a control group of siblings of Down's syndrome individuals. The results showed a significant familial clustering of cognitive disabilities in the siblings of autistic probands. These cognitive impairments included disturbances in expressive and receptive language, specific learning disabilities, and varying degrees of mental subnormality.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1981 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Deykin, E. Y. & MacMahon, B. (1980) Pregnancy, delivery, and neonatal complications among autistic children. American Journal of Disabilities in Childhood, 134, 860864.Google ScholarPubMed
Finegan, J. & Quarrington, B. (1979) Pre-, peri, and neonatal factors and infantile autism. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 20, 119128.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Folstein, S. & Rutter, M. (1977) Infantile autism: A genetic study of 21 twin pairs. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 18, 297321.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McAdoo, W. G. & DeMyer, M. K. (1977) Research related to family factors in autism. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 2, 162166.Google Scholar
Novick, B. Kurtzberg, D. & Vaughn, H. G. (1979) An electrophysiologic indication of defective information storage in childhood autism. Psychiatry Research, 1, 101108.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rutter, M. (1967) Psychotic disorders in early childhood. In Recent Developments in Schizophrenia (eds. Coppen, A. and Walk, A.). British Journal of Psychiatry Special Publication 1.Google Scholar
Rutter, M. (1968) Concepts of autism. A review of research. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 9, 125.Google Scholar
Rutter, M. (1971) The description and classification of infantile autism. In Infantile Autism (eds. Churchill, D. W. Alpern, G. D. and DeMyer, M. K.). Springfield, Illinois: C. C. Thomas.Google ScholarPubMed
Rutter, M. (1977) Infantile autism and other child psychoses. In Child Psychiatry: Modern Approaches (eds. Rutter, M. and Hersov, L.). Oxford: Blackwell Scientific.Google Scholar
Rutter, M. (1978) Language disorder and infantile autism. In Autism: A Reappraisal of Concepts and Treatment (eds. Rutter, M. and Schopler, E.). New York and London: Plenum Press.Google Scholar
Spence, M. A. (1976) Genetic studies. In Autism: Diagnosis, Current Research and Management (ed. Ritvo, E. R.). New York: Halstead/Wiley.Google Scholar
Torrey, E. Hersh, S. & McCabe, K. (1975) Early childhood psychosis and bleeding during pregnancy. Journal of Autism and Child Schizophrenia, 5, 287297.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.