Background: The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) employs a hierarchical model of general intelligence in which index scores separate out different clinically-relevant aspects of intelligence; the test is designed such that index scores are statistically independent from one another within the normative sample. Whether or not the…

Purpose: Social experiences are consistently associated with psychological health among autistic individuals. However, most extant studies on this topic exclude individuals with autism who have lower IQ or are otherwise unable to self-report. The current study addresses this gap by examining associations of negative peer experiences and social…

Cognitive flexibility (CF) is the ability to shift between concepts or rules. Difficulty with CF is associated with autism (i.e., ASD) as it contributes to repetitive behaviours. However, little is known about CF skills of autistic adolescents with low intelligence. This study uses the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task (WCST) to assess the CF of 36…

The extant literature aimed at characterizing attentional capability in autistics has presented inconsistent findings. This inconsistency and uncertainty may be the product of different theoretical and methodological approaches used to define attention in autism. In the current study, we investigate whether the allocation of attentional resources…

Sulforaphane has been reported to possibly improve core symptoms associated with autism spectrum disorders from mostly small size studies. Here we present results of a larger randomized clinical trial (N = 108) in China. There were no significant changes in caregiver rated scales between sulforaphane and placebo groups. However, clinician rated…

Previous research has identified possible sex-based differences in restricted and repetitive behaviors in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, this finding is mixed, particularly among preschool-aged children. We investigated the presence of sex-based differences in parent-rated ASD symptomatology, using the Autism Spectrum Rating Scale…

Intelligence (IQ) scores are used in educational and vocational planning for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) yet little is known about the stability of IQ throughout development. We examined longitudinal age-related IQ stability in 119 individuals with ASD (3-36 years of age at first visit) and 128 typically developing controls.…

Autism is heterogeneous, which complicates providing tailored support and future prospects. We aim to identify subgroups in autistic adults with average to high intelligence, to clarify if certain subgroups might need support. We included 14 questionnaire variables related to aging and/or autism (e.g., demographic, psychological, and lifestyle).…

This study explored the association between intelligence and motor skills in children with ASD after controlling for Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and the associations between motor impairment and intellectual disability (ID) in this population. In total, 120 children with ASD (3-16 years; 81.7% boys) completed a standardized…

For individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), long-term outcomes have been troubling, and intact IQ has not been shown to be protective. Nevertheless, relatively little research into adaptive functioning among adults with ASD has been completed to date. Therefore, both adaptive functioning and comorbid psychopathology were assessed among 52…

Social cognition impairment is a core shared phenotype in both schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD) and autism spectrum disorders (ASD). This study compares social cognition performance through four different instruments in a sample of 147 individuals with ASD or SSD and in healthy controls. We found that both clinical groups perform similarly…

Empathy is an essential component of human social life. It requires the ability to understand another's mental state and respond with an appropriate emotion or action. Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have been described to exhibit atypical empathic responses which limit communication and social interactions. This review highlights…

A meta-analysis was performed to examine differences in IQ profiles between individuals with Asperger's disorder (AspD) and high-functioning autism (HFA). Fifty-two studies were included for this study. The results showed that (a) individuals with AspD had significantly higher full-scale IQ, verbal IQ (VIQ), and performance IQ (PIQ) than did…

Outstanding skills, including special isolated skills (SIS) and perceptual peaks (PP) are frequent features of autism. However, their reported prevalence varies between studies and their co-occurrence is unknown. We determined the prevalence of SIS in a large group of 254 autistic individuals and searched for PP in 46 of these autistic individuals…

Children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their unaffected siblings from 54 simplex (SPX, one individual in the family affected) and 59 multiplex (MPX, two or more individuals affected) families, and 124 controls were assessed on intelligence, social cognition and executive functions. SPX and MPX ASD probands displayed similar cognitive…