DOCSLIB.ORG

UNIVERSITY of CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Social

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
UNIVERSITY of CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Social UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Social Justice and Autism: Links to Personality and Advocacy A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education by Steven Kenneth Kapp 2016 © Copyright by Steven Kenneth Kapp 2016 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Social Justice and Autism: Links to Personality and Advocacy by Steven Kenneth Kapp Doctor of Philosophy in Education University of California, Los Angeles, 2016 Professor Connie L. Kasari, Chair Autism’s history as an independent condition may originate from “autistic psychopathy”, but autism and psychopathy may entail opposite patterns of personality. Autism may incline people toward moral intuitions in the dimensions of care, loyalty, authority, sanctity, and especially fairness. Yet these may play an unconscious and visceral role that in combination with difficulties with moral reasoning and the understanding of one’s own and others’ emotional and mental states, reduces self- and other awareness of autistic people’s moral drives. Conversely, psychopathic people may have low moral values (particularly for care and fairness), yet usually strong moral reasoning skills, cognitive empathy, and mentalizing abilities. This contrast adds to the literature in part through emphasizing basic sensory and motor differences, in transaction with the social environment and life experience, as underlying these personality-relevant ii distinctions between autism and psychopathy. It thus attempts to embody both conditions, with the understanding that all behavior involves motor activity, and to think of both conditions as neurodevelopmental in their origins and early trajectories. Such an analysis raises the importance of strengths, as a matter of individual differences as well as influences from the environment, that can help to distinguish and even cause the conditions. For example, sensory hypersensitivities in autism may both give rise to talent but also overload individuals and interfere with language and cognitive development for some. Early abilities in imitation may help to explain why individuals biologically vulnerable to psychopathy may have such strong influence to adverse home environments, as they mimic the harshness and lack of warmth they witness by caregivers. Indeed, individuals with putative “social disorders” may have particular susceptibility to their social environments, particularly parenting practices. They also suffer from unfair social norms that often in effect reward psychopathic individuals and punish well- intentioned autistic people. Both conditions challenge the notion of social dysfunction as an individual problem rather than reflecting lack of reciprocity or injustice experienced interpersonally or societally. Supportive environments that meet the needs of people prone to autism and psychopathy may avoid pain and punishment that possibly plays central roles for both conditions, with starkly different effects, perpetuating social injustice. iii The dissertation of Steven Kenneth Kapp is approved. Jeffrey J. Wood Sheryl H. Kataoka Connie L. Kasari, Committee Chair University of California, Los Angeles 2016 iv TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. CHAPTER 1: Autism as Opposite Psychopathy .................................................................... 1 2. CHAPTER 2: Sensing Needs: Unmasking the Pain of Autistics and Psychopaths………..14 3. CHAPTER 3: Getting a Grip on Autism and Psychopathy. .. Error! Bookmark not defined. 4. CHAPTER 4: Unmasking the Moral (In)justice of Punishment…………………………..97 REFRENCES ................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It takes a village to raise a child, and required something similar to make this work possible. Thank you to the members of my committee for mentorship and feedback, and diverse sources of support for helping with the formatting and time-management aspects of the process. The author would like to thank all those who have helped to inspire my thinking on autism and justice, and all those working to make the world a fairer and more caring place. vi Steven Kenneth Kapp Education University of California, Los Angeles 09/2009-03/2013 M.A.: Psychological Studies in Education University of Southern California 08/2005-05/2009 B.S.: Public Policy, Management, and Planning Teaching Experience Teaching Assistant Summer 2014 University of California, Los Angeles Course title: DS/PSYCH M139: Perspectives on Autism and Neurodiversity Instructor: Steven Kapp Publications _____________ Nicolaidis, C., Raymaker, D., McDonald, K., Kapp, S., Weiner, M., Ashkenazy, E., ... & Baggs, A. (2016). The development and evaluation of an online healthcare toolkit for autistic adults and their primary care providers. Journal of General Internal Medicine. doi: 10.1007/s11606-016-3763-6. Schwartzman, B. C., Wood, J. J., & Kapp, S. K. (2016). Can the five factor model of personality account for the variability of autism symptom expression? Multivariate approaches to behavioral phenotyping in adult autism spectrum disorder. Journal of autism and Developmental Disorders, 46(1), 253-272. Gillespie-Lynch, K., Brooks, P., Someki, F., Obeidi, R., Shane-Simpson, C., Kapp, S. K., Daou, N. N., & Smith, D. S. (2015). Changing college students’ conceptions of ASD: examining potential benefits of an online training in terms of knowledge and stigma associated with ASD. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 45, 2553-2566. Laugeson, E.A., Gantman, A., Kapp, S. K., Orenski, K., & Ellingsen, R. (2015). A randomized controlled trial to improve social skills in young adults with autism spectrum disorder: the UCLA PEERS® Program. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 45, 3978-3989. Nicolaidis, C., Raymaker, D., Ashkenazy, E., McDonald, K., Boisclair, C., Baggs, M., Kapp, S. K., Weiner, M., & Dern, S. (2015). “Respect the way I need to communicate with you”: healthcare experiences of adults on the autism spectrum. Autism, 19, 824-831. Gillespie-Lynch, K., Kapp, S. K., Simpson, C. S., Smith, D. S., & Hutman, T. (2014). Interactions between the autism spectrum and the internet: perceived benefits and preferred functions of computer- mediated communication. Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 52, 456-469. Kapp, S. K. (2013). Empathizing with sensory and movement differences: moving toward sensitive understanding of autism. Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience, 7: 38. Kapp, S. K., Gillespie-Lynch, K., Sherman, L. E., & Hutman, T. (2013). Deficit, difference, or both? Autism and neurodiversity. Developmental Psychology, 49(1), 59-71. Gantman, A., Kapp, S. K., Orenski, K., & Laugeson, E. A. (2012). Social skills training for vii young adults with high-functioning autism spectrum disorders: a randomized controlled intervention study. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 42(6), 1094-1103. Kapp, S. K. (2011). Navajo and autism: the beauty of harmony. Disability & Society, 26(5), 583-595. Conference Presentations _____ Kapp, S. K., & Gillespie-Lynch, K. (May 2016). Toward social acceptance of autism: listening to autistic people. Invited oral presentation on Life Course and Ecological Perspectives on Autism keynote panel of the International Meeting for Autism Research, Baltimore, MD. Kapp, S. (June 2014). Models of helping and coping with autism. Paper presented at the annual conference of the Society for Disability Studies, Minneapolis, MN. Kapp, S. (June 2013). Merging science and advocacy: expanding the influence of disability studies. Presentation at the annual conference of the Society for Disability Studies, Orlando, FL. Kapp, S. (November 2012). The neurodiversity movement: celebrating and supporting people with autism. Presentation at the 2012 TASH Conference, Long Beach, CA. Kapp, S. (November 2012). Toward intercultural universality of neurodiversity. Presentation at the 2012 Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, San Francisco, CA. Kapp, S. (July 2012). The views and influence of the neurodiversity movement. Poster presented at the Autreat annual conference, Johnstown, PA. Kapp, S. K., Gantman, A., & Laugeson, E. A. (May 2012). Associations of IQ and autistic symptomology with functioning in young adults with ASD: self- and parent report. Poster presented at the 2012 International Meeting for Autism Research, Toronto, CAN. Kapp, S. (October 2011). Evaluating the neurodiversity movement: history, progress, and the path forward. Presentation at the 2011 Autcom annual conference, Burbank, CA. Kapp, S. (June 2011). Neurodiversity and progress for intercultural equity. Presentation at the annual conference of the Society for Disability Studies, San Jose, CA. Kapp, S. K., Gantman, A., & Laugeson, E. A. (May 2011). Perceptual differences between young adults with autism and their parents. Poster presented at the International Meeting for Autism Research, San Diego, CA. Fellowships/Awards/Honors UC Regents’ Fellowships UCLA 2009-2016 Graduate Summer Research Mentorship award UCLA 2011, 2009 Positions _____________ Graduate Student Researcher at the UCLA Semel Institute 09/2014-06/2015 Los Angeles, CA Graduate Student Intern at the UCLA Tarjan Center 02/2012-09/2014 Los Angeles, CA viii Chapter 1 Autism as Opposite Psychopathy: Unmasking the Complexity of Personality and Morality “The good and bad in a person, their potential for success or failure, their aptitudes and deficits—they are mutually conditional, arising from the same source. Our therapeutic goal must be to teach the
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Outcome Measure Empathy Quotient Sensitivity to Change Not Known
    Outcome Measure Empathy Quotient Sensitivity to Change Not known Population Adult How to obtain Available from the Autism Research Centre: https://www.autismresearchcentre.com/arc_tests. Domain Social Cognition Time to administer 3-5 minutes Type of Measure Self-report scale Description The Empathy Quotient (EQ) (Baron-Cohen & Wheelwright, 2004) is a self-report questionnaire with 40 items tapping empathy (approximately half reverse scored) and 20 filler items. On each item the participant is asked to decide whether they strongly agree, slightly agree, slightly disagree or strongly disagree with the statement. They receive a score of 2 for strongly endorsing the empathic response, a score of 1 for mild endorsement and a score of 0 for anything else (maximum score =80). There is also a child version of the EQ available. (B. Auyeung, C. Allison, S. Wheelwright, & S. Baron- Cohen, 2012; Auyeung et al., 2009). Properties Internal Consistency: Cronbach’s alpha for the EQ as a whole ranged from 0.78 to 0.92 across studies (Baron- Cohen & Wheelwright, 2004; Vellante et al., 2013; Voracek & Dressler, 2006). A factor analysis of the EQ suggested three factors: Cognitive empathy, emotional reactivity and social skills (Lawrence, Shaw, Baker, Baron-Cohen, & David, 2004). Test re-test reliability: Following an interval of 12 months, test retest reliability ranged from r=0.84 (Lawrence et al., 2004) to r=0.97 (Baron-Cohen & Wheelwright, 2004). Concurrent Validity: The EQ has been shown to be inversely correlated with the two domains of the Autism Spectrum Quotient that measure social sensitivity and sensitive communication, r= - 0.56 (Baron-Cohen & Wheelwright, 2004).
    [Show full text]
  • Autism Guideline Jan2018.Pdf
    DATE: January 2018 TEXAS CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL EVIDENCE-BASED OUTCOMES CENTER Screening and Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Evidence-Based Guideline Definition: (1) Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) per the DSM-5 Early Signs (2,5,6) encompasses four previously separate disorders that are Social Skills Deficits actually a single condition with different levels of symptom Early years severity in two core domains. These four disorders are the - Do not appear to seek connectedness DSM-IV Autistic Disorder (autism), Asperger’s Disorder, - Contentbeingalone Childhood Disintegrative Disorder, and Pervasive - Ignore parents’ bids for attention Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS). - Seldom make eye contact or bid for others’ attention ASD is characterized in early childhood by 1) deficits in social with gestures or vocalizations communication and social interaction and 2) restricted - Deficits in joint attention repetitive behaviors, interests, and activities (RRBs). - Fail to follow a point and/or share expression - Failto point to “comment” Etiology: (2) Although ASDs are heritable neurodevelopmental - Failtorespondtoname conditions with strong genetic underpinnings, their exact - Selective hearing etiology is unknown. The etiology is multifactorial with a variety - Less imitation of genetic and, to a lesser extent, environmental factors Later years playing a role. ASDs can be either idiopathic or associated with - Difficulty sharing the emotional state of others in other diagnoses; most are idiopathic. cooperative
    [Show full text]
  • Autism Entangled – Controversies Over Disability, Sexuality, and Gender in Contemporary Culture
    Autism Entangled – Controversies over Disability, Sexuality, and Gender in Contemporary Culture Toby Atkinson BA, MA This thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Sociology Department, Lancaster University February 2021 1 Declaration I declare that this thesis is my own work and has not been submitted in substantially the same form for the award of a higher degree elsewhere. Furthermore, I declare that the word count of this thesis, 76940 words, does not exceed the permitted maximum. Toby Atkinson February 2021 2 Acknowledgements I want to thank my supervisors Hannah Morgan, Vicky Singleton, and Adrian Mackenzie for the invaluable support they offered throughout the writing of this thesis. I am grateful as well to Celia Roberts and Debra Ferreday for reading earlier drafts of material featured in several chapters. The research was made possible by financial support from Lancaster University and the Economic and Social Research Council. I also want to thank the countless friends, colleagues, and family members who have supported me during the research process over the last four years. 3 Contents DECLARATION ......................................................................................... 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................. 3 ABSTRACT .............................................................................................. 9 PART ONE: ........................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Becoming Autistic: How Do Late Diagnosed Autistic People
    Becoming Autistic: How do Late Diagnosed Autistic People Assigned Female at Birth Understand, Discuss and Create their Gender Identity through the Discourses of Autism? Emily Violet Maddox Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy The University of Leeds School of Sociology and Social Policy September 2019 1 Table of Contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................................................... 5 ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................................................... 6 ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................................................................. 7 CHAPTER ONE ................................................................................................................................................. 8 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................................. 8 1.1 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES ........................................................................................................................................ 8 1.2 TERMINOLOGY ................................................................................................................................................ 14 1.3 OUTLINE OF CHAPTERS ....................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Alexithymia – Not Autism – Is Associated with Frequency of Social T Interactions in Adults ∗ Alan H
    Behaviour Research and Therapy 123 (2019) 103477 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Behaviour Research and Therapy journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/brat Alexithymia – Not autism – is associated with frequency of social T interactions in adults ∗ Alan H. Gerbera, Jeffrey M. Girardb, Stacey B. Scotta, Matthew D. Lernera, a Department of Psychology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA b Language Technologies Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Keywords: Objective: While much is known about the quality of social behavior among neurotypical individuals and those Alexithymia with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), little work has evaluated quantity of social interactions. This study used Autism ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to quantify in vivo daily patterns of social interaction in adults as a ASD function of demographic and clinical factors. EMA Method: Adults with and without ASD (NASD = 23, NNeurotypical = 52) were trained in an EMA protocol to report Social interaction their social interactions via smartphone over one week. Participants completed measures of IQ, ASD symptom severity and alexithymia symptom severity. Results: Cyclical multilevel models were used to account for nesting of observations. Results suggest a daily cyclical pattern of social interaction that was robust to ASD and alexithymia symptoms. Adults with ASD did not have fewer social interactions than neurotypical peers; however, severity of alexithymia symptoms predicted fewer social interactions
    [Show full text]
  • Empathy in a Broader Context: Development, Mechanisms, Remediation
    EDITORIAL published: 12 June 2020 doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00529 Editorial: Empathy in a Broader Context: Development, Mechanisms, Remediation Simon Surguladze 1* and Dessa Bergen-Cico 2 1 Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom, 2 Public Health Department, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, United States Keywords: empathy, neurobiology of empathy, phenomenology of empathy, positive empathy, empathy and age Editorial on the Research Topic Empathy in a Broader Context: Development, Mechanisms, Remediation Empathy has long been a subject of interest of social sciences, starting with the concept of Einfühlung (“in-feeling” or “feeling into”) as the human capacity to feel the emotions that the artist or writer had worked to represent (1). Later on, Theodor Lipps transformed Einfühlung from a concept of aesthetics into a central category of the philosophy of the social and human sciences and postulated that Einfühlung meant the “experience of another human” underpinned by “inner imitation” or instinctive kinaesthetic sensations in the observer as felt by the observed target (2). The word empathy was introduced to English-speaking world by E.B. Titchener (3) who translated Einfühlung by using Greek em- (“in'”) “ ” “ ” “ ” Edited and reviewed by: and pathos,(feeling , suffering ,or pity ). This heralded the beginning of new, psychological fi Sören Krach, research into the phenomenon, followed by operationalising the concepts of empathy thus rmly fi University of Lübeck, Germany rooting it in the elds of sociology and psychology. *Correspondence: The empathy is considered as a multifaceted construct encompassing (1) affective empathy, i.e., Simon Surguladze affective sharing, (2) empathic concern: motivation to caring for another's welfare, and (3) [email protected] perspective taking or cognitive empathy, the ability to consciously put oneself into the mind of another and understand what that person is thinking or feeling (4).
    [Show full text]
  • Fragile X Syndrome
    AUCD Annual Conference Research Symposium The Rapidly Changing Landscape of Fragile X Elizabeth Berry-Kravis MD PhD Rush University Medical Center Disclosures: EBK has received funding from Neuropharm LTD, Seaside Therapeutics , Novartis and Roche Pharmaceuticals to consult on trial design and conduct clinical trials in FXS Features of Fragile X Syndrome • Physical: large prominent ears, long face, large head, prominent jaw and forehead, midfacial hypoplasia hyperflexible joints, large testis • Intellectual Disability or LD • Behavior problems: hyperactivity distractibility, anxiety, perseveration • Autism: 18-36% AD, 43-67% ASD • Seizures – 15% • Strabismus – 30% • Medical: otitis, sinus, MVP, reflux, sleep apnea, loose stools, allergies FXS Treatment in Clinic - Rush FXS Clinic since 1992 > 450 patients Supportive • Aggressive tx of otitis – • Early intervention tubes/audiology • Intensive speech therapy • Manage sleep apnea – • OT with sensory integration T&A • Inclusion in school as much • Treat sleep dysregulation as possible – melatonin/medications • Educational curriculum, • Yearly eye exams – environment, teaching style patching, surgery, glasses matched to FXS cognitive • Control seizures profile • Orthopedics if needed • Socialization program • Monitor for MVP/heart • Behavior plan • Genetic counseling • Behavior medications for • Discuss reproductive ADD/anxiety options Seizures in Fragile X Syndrome – Recent and Largest Study National Fragile X Survey 1394 FXS full mutation (1090 M, 304 F) 173 (12%) seizures: 154 (14%)
    [Show full text]
  • A Review of Alexithymia and Emotion Perception in Music, Odor, Taste, and Touch
    MINI REVIEW published: 30 July 2021 doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.707599 Beyond Face and Voice: A Review of Alexithymia and Emotion Perception in Music, Odor, Taste, and Touch Thomas Suslow* and Anette Kersting Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University of Leipzig Medical Center, Leipzig, Germany Alexithymia is a clinically relevant personality trait characterized by deficits in recognizing and verbalizing one’s emotions. It has been shown that alexithymia is related to an impaired perception of external emotional stimuli, but previous research focused on emotion perception from faces and voices. Since sensory modalities represent rather distinct input channels it is important to know whether alexithymia also affects emotion perception in other modalities and expressive domains. The objective of our review was to summarize and systematically assess the literature on the impact of alexithymia on the perception of emotional (or hedonic) stimuli in music, odor, taste, and touch. Eleven relevant studies were identified. On the basis of the reviewed research, it can be preliminary concluded that alexithymia might be associated with deficits Edited by: in the perception of primarily negative but also positive emotions in music and a Mathias Weymar, University of Potsdam, Germany reduced perception of aversive taste. The data available on olfaction and touch are Reviewed by: inconsistent or ambiguous and do not allow to draw conclusions. Future investigations Khatereh Borhani, would benefit from a multimethod assessment of alexithymia and control of negative Shahid Beheshti University, Iran Kristen Paula Morie, affect. Multimodal research seems necessary to advance our understanding of emotion Yale University, United States perception deficits in alexithymia and clarify the contribution of modality-specific and Jan Terock, supramodal processing impairments.
    [Show full text]
  • The Fragile X Syndrome and Infantile Autism: a Prevalence Study Brian Herb Annex Yale University
    Yale University EliScholar – A Digital Platform for Scholarly Publishing at Yale Yale Medicine Thesis Digital Library School of Medicine 1985 The fragile X syndrome and infantile autism: a prevalence study Brian Herb Annex Yale University Follow this and additional works at: http://elischolar.library.yale.edu/ymtdl Recommended Citation Annex, Brian Herb, "The fragile X syndrome and infantile autism: a prevalence study" (1985). Yale Medicine Thesis Digital Library. 2345. http://elischolar.library.yale.edu/ymtdl/2345 This Open Access Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the School of Medicine at EliScholar – A Digital Platform for Scholarly Publishing at Yale. It has been accepted for inclusion in Yale Medicine Thesis Digital Library by an authorized administrator of EliScholar – A Digital Platform for Scholarly Publishing at Yale. For more information, please contact [email protected]. YALE MEDICAL LIBRARY Permission for photocopying or microfilming of " TU (title of thesis) tr for the purpose of individual scholarly consultation or refer¬ ence is hereby granted by the author. This permission is not to be interpreted as affecting publication of this work, or otherwise placing it in the public domain, and the author re¬ serves all rights of ownership guaranteed under common law protection of unpublished manuscripts. (Signature of author) (Printed name) (Date) Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2017 with funding from The National Endowment for the Humanities and the Arcadia Fund https://archive.org/details/fragilexsyndromeOOanne The Fragile X Syndrome and Infantile Autism A Prevalence Study A Thesis Submitted to the Yale University School of Medicine in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Doctor of Medicine by Brian Herb Annex 1985 Acknowledgments I would like to express my sincere appreciation to all those who advised and assisted me in this thesis project.
    [Show full text]
  • Theory of Mind and Executive Control Deficits in Typically Developing
    J Autism Dev Disord DOI 10.1007/s10803-016-2735-3 ORIGINAL PAPER Theory of Mind and Executive Control Deficits in Typically Developing Adults and Adolescents with High Levels of Autism Traits 1,2 2 1,2 Elif Go¨kc¸en • Norah Frederickson • K. V. Petrides Ó The Author(s) 2016. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com Abstract Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is charac- Introduction terised by profound difficulties in empathic processing and executive control. Whilst the links between these processes Empathy is the ability to understand and share the affective have been frequently investigated in populations with experiences of others (Decety and Jackson 2006; Decety autism, few studies have examined them at the subclinical and Lamm 2006; Singer and Lamm 2009) and plays a level. In addition, the contribution of alexithymia, a trait pivotal role in the formation of successful human rela- characterised by impaired interoceptive awareness and tionships (Baron-Cohen and Wheelwright 2004; Decety empathy, and elevated in those with ASD, is currently 2010; Dziobek et al. 2008; Rameson et al. 2012; Singer unclear. The present two-part study employed a compre- 2006). Two main components contribute to empathic pro- hensive battery of tasks to examine these processes. Find- cessing: an affective component, which allows one to ings support the notion that executive function and theory vicariously experience the feelings of others whilst of mind are related abilities. They also suggest that indi- understanding that they are distinct from one’s own, and a viduals with elevated levels of autism-like traits experience cognitive component (also referred to as metalizing, cog- a partially similar pattern of social and executive function nitive perspective-taking, or Theory of Mind; ToM), which difficulties to those diagnosed with ASD, and that these involves the ability to understand and make inferences impairments are not explained by co-occurring about what another person is thinking or feeling, without alexithymia.
    [Show full text]
  • The Fragile X Syndrome–Autism Comorbidity: What Do We Really Know?
    REVIEW ARTICLE published: 16 October 2014 doi: 10.3389/fgene.2014.00355 The fragile X syndrome–autism comorbidity: what do we really know? Leonard Abbeduto 1,2*, Andrea McDuffie 1,2 and Angela John Thurman 1,2 1 MIND Institute, University of California, Davis, Sacramento, CA, USA 2 Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, Davis, Sacramento, CA, USA Edited by: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a common comorbid condition in people with fragile Anne C. Wheeler, Carolina Institute X syndrome (FXS). It has been assumed that ASD symptoms reflect the same underlying for Developmental Disabilities; University of North Carolina at psychological and neurobiological impairments in both FXS and non-syndromic ASD, which Chapel Hill, USA has led to the claim that targeted pharmaceutical treatments that are efficacious for core Reviewed by: symptoms of FXS are likely to be beneficial for non-syndromic ASD as well. In contrast, we Molly Losh, Northwestern present evidence from a variety of sources suggesting that there are important differences University, USA in ASD symptoms, behavioral and psychiatric correlates, and developmental trajectories Dejan Budimirovic, Kennedy Krieger Institute/The Johns Hopkins between individuals with comorbid FXS and ASD and those with non-syndromic ASD. We University, USA also present evidence suggesting that social impairments may not distinguish individuals *Correspondence: with FXS with and without ASD. Finally, we present data that demonstrate that the Leonard Abbeduto, MIND Institute, neurobiological substrates of the behavioral impairments, including those reflecting core University of California, Davis, 2825 ASD symptoms, are different in FXS and non-syndromic ASD. Together, these data suggest 50th Street, Sacramento, CA 95817, USA that there are clinically important differences between FXS and non-syndromic ASD e-mail: leonard.abbeduto@ucdmc.
    [Show full text]
  • Clinical Report—Health Supervision for Children with Fragile X Syndrome
    Guidance for the Clinician in Rendering Pediatric Care Clinical Report—Health Supervision for Children With Fragile X Syndrome Joseph H. Hersh, MD, Robert A. Saul, MD, and COMMITTEE abstract ON GENETICS Fragile X syndrome (an FMR1–related disorder) is the most commonly KEY WORDS fragile X syndrome, FMR1–related conditions, mental inherited form of mental retardation. Early physical recognition is dif- retardation, health guidelines ficult, so boys with developmental delay should be strongly considered ABBREVIATIONS for molecular testing. The characteristic adult phenotype usually does FMR1—fragile X mental retardation 1 gene not develop until the second decade of life. Girls can also be affected CGG—cytosine-guanine-guanine FMRP—fragile X mental retardation 1 protein with developmental delay. Because multiple family members can be mGluR—metabotropic glutamate receptor affected with mental retardation and other conditions (premature POI—primary ovarian insufficiency ovarian failure and tremor/ataxia), family history information is of FXTAS—fragile X–associated tremor/ataxia syndrome critical importance for the diagnosis and management of affected pa- This document is copyrighted and is property of the American tients and their families. This report summarizes issues for fragile X Academy of Pediatrics and its Board of Directors. All authors have filed conflict of interest statements with the American syndrome regarding clinical diagnosis, laboratory diagnosis, genetic Academy of Pediatrics. Any conflicts have been resolved through counseling, related health problems, behavior management, and age- a process approved by the Board of Directors. The American related health supervision guidelines. The diagnosis of fragile X syn- Academy of Pediatrics has neither solicited nor accepted any commercial involvement in the development of the content of drome not only involves the affected children but also potentially has this publication.
    [Show full text]