Intellectual development in autism spectrum disorders: new insights from longitudinal studies
Open accessAbstract
The presence/absence of Intellectual Disability (ID) is considered to be the most critical factor affecting outcomes in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). However, the question of the specific nature of ID in ASD has received little attention, with the current view being that ID is a comorbid condition (i.e., one that is unrelated in etiology and causality from the ASD itself). Recent advances in developmental neuroscience, highlighting the importance of early exposure to social experiences for cognitive development, support an alternative view; that ID in ASD might emerge as a consequence of severe social-communication deficits on the experience-dependent mechanisms underlying neurocognitive development. We tested this prediction in two independent samples of young children with ASD (Ns = 23 and 60), finding that children with greater ASD severity at an initial assessment were more likely to present with poorer cognitive outcomes at a later assessment, irrespective of initial cognitive level. The results of this proof of principle study suggest that ASD symptom severity contributes to the extent to which the environmental input required to support "typical" brain development can be processed by the individual, so that the risk of developing ID increases as the number and severity of ASD social-communicative impairments increase.
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About 60% of people with ASD have co-occurring intellectual disability.
“and ∼60% have co-occurring intellectual disability (ID) (3).”
From Genetics and genomics of autism spectrum disorder: embracing complexity (2015) · cites this paper as [3]
Language ability and cognitive function vary widely in ASD and predict later outcome.
“Language abilities and cognitive function, two domains strongly affecting adaptive behavior (2,3) and predicting later outcome (4), also have a broad range in ASD.”
From Genetics and genomics of autism spectrum disorder: embracing complexity (2015) · cites this paper as [3]
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- Authors
- Vivanti, G., Barbaro, J., Hudry, K., Dissanayake, C., & Prior, M.
- Affiliations
- La Trobe University (AU)
- The University of Melbourne (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Vivanti, Giacomo
- Venue
- Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
- Publisher
- Frontiers Media SA
- Published
- 2013
- Volume
- 7
- Pages
- 354-354
- ISSN
- 1662-5161 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC3701858
- OpenAlex
- W2132735284
- Cited by
- 90
- References
- 40
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 8 · 2014: 8 · 2013: 4
- FWCI
- 5.28
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- Frontiers in Human Neuroscience (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Minerva Access (University of Melbourne) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetics and Neurodevelopmental Disorders
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Child Nutrition and Feeding Issues
- Keywords
- autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disability, ASD severity, social communication deficits, experience-dependent development, social experience, cognitive development, developmental neuroscience, longitudinal outcomes, young children
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