Biomedical subjects

Diana Robins

Publications and source records attributed to Diana Robins.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2007

Differentiating between autism spectrum disorders and other developmental disabilities in children who failed a screening instrument for ASD.

This study compared behavioral presentation of toddlers with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) and toddlers with global developmental delay (DD) or developmental language disorder (DLD) who display some characteristics of ASD using the diagnostic algorithm items from the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, Generic (ADOS), the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS), and Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (M-CHAT). To date, 195 children have failed the M-CHAT and have been diagnosed with ASD, DD or DLD. Children with ASD had prominent and consistent impairments in socialization skills, especially joint attention skills and were more impaired in some aspects of communication, play, and sensory processing. Children with ASD and children with DD/DLD shared common features, but certain behavioral markers differentiated the two groups.

Autistic Disorder↗

PubMed2007

Atypical lexical/semantic processing in high-functioning autism spectrum disorders without early language delay.

Although autism is associated with impaired language functions, the nature of semantic processing in high-functioning pervasive developmental disorders (HFPDD) without a history of early language delay has been debated. In this study, we aimed to examine whether the automatic lexical/semantic aspect of language is impaired or intact in these population. Eleven individuals with Asperger's Disorder (AS) or HFPDD-Not Otherwise Specified (NOS) and age-, IQ-, and gender-matched typically developing individuals performed a semantic decision task in four conditions using an indirect priming paradigm. Semantic priming effects were found for near-semantically related word pairs in the controls, whereas this was not the case in the AS or HFPDDNOS participants. This finding suggests similarities in the underlying semantic processing of language across PDD subtypes.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

Agreement among four diagnostic instruments for autism spectrum disorders in toddlers.

Autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) can be difficult to diagnose in toddlers. This study compared diagnostic measures (ADOS-G, ADI-R, CARS, and clinical judgment using DSM-IV criteria) applied to toddlers. Results indicated that the ADOS-G, CARS, and clinical judgment agreed with each other but not with the ADI-R. Many of the children classified with ASD by the other measures were not classified with autism by the ADI-R because they did not display enough repetitive behaviors and stereotyped interests. These results indicate that young children with ASD may not display repetitive behaviors and stereotyped interests, and for toddlers, the ADI-R would have a higher sensitivity if revised to include a diagnosis of PDD-NOS, for which the requirement of repetitive behaviors is less stringent.

Autistic Disorder↗