AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDERS RESEARCH

Assouline, S.  (2008). Research-Based Recommendations for Educators Who Work with Gifted/Talented Students with Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD) and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): Colorado Association for Gifted and Talented Conference, October 14, 2008.

Cash,  A. B.  (1998).  A Profile of Gifted Individuals With Autism: The Twice-Exceptional Learner,
Roeper Review, 22(1), pp. 22-27.

• “According to a Fact Sheet generated by the U.S. Office of Gifted and Talented, it has been estimated that up to 300,000 children in the United States are both gifted and learning disabled.” (p. 22)
• Cash suggests that the behaviors associated with autism are merely traits normally perceived as beneficial taken to a higher degree.  Robin Clark explains, “The genetic traits that can cause severe disabilities can also provide the giftedness and genius that has produced some of the world’s greatest art and scientific discoveries.”
• Standard classifications of autism:
  (1) Asperger Syndrome – normal or near normal development until 18 months, followed by regression.  “Poor motor coordination, late mobility, formal speech with pseudo-adult qualities expressed in a monotone voice, strong attachment to places, depression, echolalic speech, routinized obsessive-compulsive behaviors, difficulty in relating to people, poor eye contact, a lack of empathy for others, and poor intuition.  They may also engage in untraditional and unorthodox cognitions which can result in creative products.”  (p. 23)
  (2) Kanner-type – “characterized by early illness (usually before the first year), a lack of eye contact, late speech, a paucity of interaction with people, stereotyped body movements (repetitive behaviors), a lack of proper pronoun usage, hyperplexic reading, and possible mental retardation.
  (3) Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (PDDNOS) – “diagnosed when the condition appears atypical, inconsistent, and less severe. … It is associated with aberrant language development, early onset, difficulties with social relationships, and stereotyped and peculiar motor behaviors.”
  (4) Regressive/Epileptic type – “characterized by the absence of receptive speech (the inability to understand others), modality mixing, coordination difficulties, epileptic seizures, abnormal EEG readings, an undersized brain stem, mental retardation, and high anxiety levels.”
• “It is often difficult if not impossible to distinguish autism from true genius at an early age.”
• Focusing – “their minds take off on journeys that are beyond their control.”
• Negative Behaviors – “lists of negative attributes describing gifted students can run parallel to those characterizing autistic learners; they sometimes differ only in their intensity.”
• Visual Thinking – Most autistic individuals think in acute visual images.
• Friendships – gifted individuals with autism “lack social skills and connectedness, along with their rigidity and affinity to monopolize situations, [leading to] social separateness.”  
• Hyper-Vigilant Senses – Dabrowski’s theory of overexcitabilities of the gifted applies equally to gifted/autistic individuals. (p. 24)
• Family Loading – “studies investigating the families of both autistic and gifted individuals indicate that the history often includes relatives displaying great genius.”  Rimland concluded in 1978, “Many seem to have inherited the neurological make-up that permits them to zero in on whatever attracted their attention.  But these children lack the capacity to ‘zero out,’ to expand their focus and comprehend the context of whatever they are focusing on.”
• Several biographical sketches of twice-exceptional (gifted/autistic) learners were offered.
• Eminent individuals with autistic tendencies:
  (1)  Albert Einstein
  (2)  Bobby Fischer
  (3)  Bill Gates
  (4)  Howard Hughes
  (6)  Sir Isaac Newton
  (7)  Vincent VanGogh
  (8)  Ludwig Wittgenstein
  (9)  Mozart
  (10)Bartok (p. 25)
• Positive impacts of being labeled autistic/gifted
  (1) Broader spectrum of competencies than autistic individuals whose mental abilities are weak
  (2) Gifts to self and society are more effectively shared and accepted by others
  (3) Parental involvement is key
  (4) More easily “tolerated” by society as they learn behavior modification and metacognitive strategies    (p. 26)
  (5) Giftedness allows them to manipulate autistic tendencies
• Negative impacts of being labeled autistic/gifted
  (1) Forced to live in two worlds
  (2) Inconsistent combination of strengths and weaknesses confuses uninformed teachers and peers.
  (3) Treated with cruelty by other children
  (4) Social rejection
  (5) Strengths and weaknesses often mask each other
  (6) Schools teach to their weaknesses rather than their strengths
• Possible educational interventions for gifted individuals with autism:
  (1) Early identification and screening
  (2) Use of eclectic diagnostic instruments
  (3) Parent support networks
  (4) Coordinated teacher and parent training
  (5) Structured behavior modification programs
  (6) Channeling through islets of ability
  (7) State of the art medical equipment and drugs
  (8) Learning theory reforms

Henderson, L. M. (2001).  Asperger’s Syndrome in Gifted Individuals, Gifted Child
Today, 24(3), pp. 28-35.

•  DSM-IV Definition is provided for Diagnostic Criteria I, II, and III (p. 29)
• “Hans Asperger, an Austriam psychologist, first published his description of a developmental syndrome in Europe in 1944.”
• English-speaking psychologists did not recognize the syndrome until after Wing’e paper on Asperger in 1981.
• “AS occurs 2-7 times more often in males as in females.” (p. 30)
• “It seems as though the prevalence of AS in thee gifted population may have contributed to the mythological stereotype of the socially impaired gifted child.”  
• “Ehler’s research group (1997) found children with AS to exhibit strengths in verbal IQ, with arithmetic subtest scores lower than those on other verbal subtests.”
• Several diagnostic scales are described and weighed against each other. (pp. 30-31) 
• Characteristics common to people with AS:
  (1)  Inefficient sensory system
  (2)  Amorphous sense of time
  (3)  Difficulty with social/emotional cues
  (4)  Cognitive inflexibility
  (5)  Attentional problems
  (6)  Problems with perspective taking
  (7)  High-level pragmatic communication deficits
  (8)  Difficulty with sense making as a result of very literal thinking
  (9)  Difficulty with perceiving and abiding by socially expected communication behaviors        (pp. 31-32)
• “The focused nature of academia or research can be a good career fit for persons dedicated to compiling an exhaustive database on any particular subject.”
• Other good career fits:  science or computer-related vocations, fact and detail-based jobs.
• “Even though they long for peer companionship, many children with AS are more comfortable talking with adults. … Then again, preference for adults is often noted in gifted individuals.” (p. 33)
• Teachers and adults working with students who are intellectually gifted and have AS must:
  (1) Be sincere
  (2) Respect individual differences
  (3) Use a neutral tone of voice, showing no irritation
  (4) Protect student from bullying by educating peers
  (5) Work as a team with parents
  (6) Seek information about AS and giftedness
  (7) Involve personnel who have expertise in meeting both the gifted and AS needs of the student

McMullen, P. (2000). The Gifted Side of Autism, Focus on Autism and Other
Developmental Disabilities, 15(4), pp. 239-242.

• Article is the author’s story of her life as an active autistic person (autism/pervasive developmental disorder)
• Symptoms she experienced:
  (1)  Rocking
  (2)  Squirmed when held
  (3)  Tantrums
  (4)  Expressing herself in "odd" ways
  (5)  Clothes felt scratchy
  (6)  Couldn't stand cigarette smoke (before it was okay to say so)
  (7)  Watched people's lips when they talked
  (8)  Bothered by others' perfume
  (9)  Understood students with LD -- they made sense to her
  (10)Heightened sensory awareness
• Assets of Autism:
  (1)  Acute senses
  (2)  Some children with autism draw in 3-D perspectives at young age
  (3)  Some young autistic children are expert at swiftly putting together puzzles
  (4)  Most can visualize things as a whole easily
  (5)  Attentive to detail
  (6)  Some have savant math skills
  (7)  Almost compulsively tell the truth
  (8)  Generally good-hearted and trusting
  (9)  Somewhat more psychic
  (10)Possess perseveration (one-track mind)
  (11)Deeply spiritual

Neihart, M. (2000). Gifted Children With Asperger’s Syndrome, Gifted Child Quarterly, 44(4), pp. 222-230.

• Asperger’s “is characterized by serious impairment in social interaction  skills and repetitive behaviors and is believed to be the result of a specific brain anomaly.” (p. 222)
• “It can be challenging to determine whether a child’s unusual development is a result of giftedness, a learning disability, or AS, especially among highly gifted children.”
• Although Hans Asperger, the Austrian physician who first identified the syndrome in 1944 believed that it was more likely to be observed in “children of high intelligence and special abilities,” clinical research on AS has “focused on average or low-average intelligence.  There has been surprisingly little examination of AS among gifted children.” (pp. 222-223)
• AS is more common in boys than in girls.
• Identifying characteristics:
  (1)  Little or no empathy
  (2)  Monotonous speech patterns
  (3)  Highly idiosyncratic and intense interests
  (4)  Social isolation as a result of inappropriate social communication
  (5)  Inflexible thoughts and habits
  (6)  No evidence of delayed speech
  (7)  Onset of difficulties is somewhat later than for other autism spectrum disorders
  (8)  More commonly experience motor deficits
  (9)  Eye contact is often odd.  They may seem to gaze off or stare straight through those with whom they are conversing.
  (10)Express some interest in people as they get older
  (11)Speak before age 5
  (12)Can become well adapted as adults, and even successful
  (13)Some demonstrate unacceptable habits, such as eating odd things, inappropriate touching, gnashing their teeth, and aggressive actions
• Characteristics common to gifted children and to children with AS:
  (1)  Verbal fluency or precocity
  (2)  Excellent memory
  (3)  Fascination with numbers or letters and enjoy memorizing factual information at an early age
  (4)  Demonstrate absorbing interest in a specialized topic
  (5)  Annoy peers with limitless talk about their interests
  (6)  May ask endless questions or give such lengthy and elaborately specific responses to questions that it seems they are unable to stop
  (7)  Hypersensitivity
  (8)  Range of abilities
  (9)  Uneven development – asynchronous development    (p. 223)
• Distinguishing characteristics:
  (1)  Speech Patterns:  normal or stilted in GT vs. pedantic or seamless
  (2)  Response to Routines:  passive resistance, followed by agreement in GT vs. agitation and aggression in AS
  (3)  Awareness of Differences:  know they’re different/external disturbance in GT vs. little or no awareness of difference/internal disturbance in AS
  (4)  Humor:  socially reciprocal humor in GT vs. word play but no understanding of socially reciprocal humor in AS
  (5)  Motor Clumsiness:  not a characteristic of GT vs. 50 – 90% AS children
  (6)  Inappropriate Insight:  not a characteristic of GT vs. nearly always observed in AS
  (7)  Insight:  usually good in GT vs. usually remarkably absent in AS
  (8)  Stereotypy:  not characteristic of GT vs. may be present in AS     (p. 224)
• Table of specific American Psychological Association diagnostic criteria used to diagnose AS (p. 226)
• “AS children typically have difficulties in three areas: learning, socializing, and behaviors.  [Gifted] AS students can benefit by learning compensatory strategies, just as gifted students with learning disabilities do.”  These strategies for the AS student must take into account the AS brain – visual, thinking in concrete, literal pictures.  
• Part to whole is the best instructional style for AS students, being careful to teach strategies in “the exact sequence students will need to use them to be successful.”  Rote styles of learning work with gifted AS students, where they do not with ordinary gifted students.
• “AS students are often extremely sensitive to the tone with which something is said.  They respond not so much to what is said to them, but to how it is said.”
• “Extreme sensitivity to some kinds of sensory stimuli is common among children with AS” (more extreme than gifted children’s hypersensitivities). (p. 227) 
• “The aim of sensory integration therapy is to move people toward a wider repertoire of skills. … Deep pressure stimulation like joint compression or hand massage can be provided at school as needed to help the AS child from becoming over-stimulated, anxious, or aggressive.  Rubbing or brushing exercises are also helpful with some children.”
• “Talking about appropriate behaviors is not effective.  Working with a mirror and imitative exercises can help.”
• Social Stories (Carol Gray) are useful with GT/AS children.  An example of such a story:
  (1)  “Sometimes my friend, Toni, tells me to ‘chill’.  This means I am getting loud and bossy.  Toni doesn’t want to sit with me when I am loud and bossy.  I will lower my voice when Toni tells me to ‘chill.’  When Toni says ‘chill,’ I can imagine putting my voice on ice.”
  (2)  “Include a ratio of one directive and/or control sentence for every 2 to 5 descriptive and/or perspective sentences.”
• “Visual supports can be remarkably effective in helping AS students organize their behavior.”  Post pictures of expected behaviors where child can see them. (p. 228)
• ASPEN (Asperger’s Syndrome Education Network) is a national organization formed to provide support and information to individuals with neurological disorders like Asperger’s, High Functioning Autism, and Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified.  Helpline: 904-745-6741 or http://www.asperger.org is the website.