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Friday, May 16, 2008
Champagne Terrace/Bordeaux (Novotel London West)
10:30 AM
Background:
Impairments of social functioning are the primary diagnostic criteria for autism with children and adults displaying a lack of interest in, and attention to, social objects. However, adults on the autism spectrum form social stereotypes (White et al.,2006) and similarly affected children demonstrate a viewing preference for people over objects (Van der Geest et al., 2002).
Objectives:
The aim of this study was to determine whether children with an ASD display greater interest in sets of figures in interaction than in non-interaction, and to extend findings to a comparison of children diagnosed with High Functioning Autism (HFA) and Asperger Syndrome (AS).
Methods:
13 children with HFA, 12 children with Asperger Syndrome all of which had typical language onset and cognitive development in the first three years of life, and 12 typically developing children participated. The children were presented with two sets of figures (interaction v. non-interaction) displayed on a monitor for 10 seconds whilst eye-movements were recorded using a head mounted eye-tracker.
Results:
The ASD group spent less time looking at the head regions of the figures than the control group; however, there was no qualitative difference in looking patterns with viewing times longest for interacting figures. Whilst both HFA and AS groups displayed similar looking times to the head regions of the figures the AS group looked significantly longer at the interacting figures with the opposite pattern of viewing displayed in the HFA group.
Conclusions:
The differentiation between AS and HFA is still controversial; our results suggest that advantages in early development may lead to later gains in social skills within Asperger Syndrome.
Impairments of social functioning are the primary diagnostic criteria for autism with children and adults displaying a lack of interest in, and attention to, social objects. However, adults on the autism spectrum form social stereotypes (White et al.,2006) and similarly affected children demonstrate a viewing preference for people over objects (Van der Geest et al., 2002).
Objectives:
The aim of this study was to determine whether children with an ASD display greater interest in sets of figures in interaction than in non-interaction, and to extend findings to a comparison of children diagnosed with High Functioning Autism (HFA) and Asperger Syndrome (AS).
Methods:
13 children with HFA, 12 children with Asperger Syndrome all of which had typical language onset and cognitive development in the first three years of life, and 12 typically developing children participated. The children were presented with two sets of figures (interaction v. non-interaction) displayed on a monitor for 10 seconds whilst eye-movements were recorded using a head mounted eye-tracker.
Results:
The ASD group spent less time looking at the head regions of the figures than the control group; however, there was no qualitative difference in looking patterns with viewing times longest for interacting figures. Whilst both HFA and AS groups displayed similar looking times to the head regions of the figures the AS group looked significantly longer at the interacting figures with the opposite pattern of viewing displayed in the HFA group.
Conclusions:
The differentiation between AS and HFA is still controversial; our results suggest that advantages in early development may lead to later gains in social skills within Asperger Syndrome.