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Relatively little has been published about the prevalence of autism in adults with psychiatric disorders. In this study, all new patients referred to an adult psychiatric outpatient clinic in Sweden between November 2019 and October 2020 (n = 562) were screened for autism spectrum disorders using the Ritvo Autism and Asperger Diagnostic Scale Screen (RAADS-14). Out of the 304 (58%) responders, 197 who scored above the cut off (14) were invited to participate in an in-depth assessment. Twenty-six of the 48 that participated in the assessment met criteria for ASD and an additional eight had subthreshold ASD symptoms. We estimated the prevalence of ASD in this population to at least 18.9%, with another 5-10% having subthreshold symptoms.

Relatively little has been published about the prevalence of autism in adults with psychiatric disorders. In this study, all new patients referred to an adult psychiatric outpatient clinic in Sweden between November 2019 and October 2020 (n = 562) were screened for autism spectrum disorders using the Ritvo Autism and Asperger Diagnostic Scale Screen (RAADS-14). Out of the 304 (58%) responders, 197 who scored above the cut off (14) were invited to participate in an in-depth assessment. Twenty-six of the 48 that participated in the assessment met criteria for ASD and an additional eight had subthreshold ASD symptoms. We estimated the prevalence of ASD in this population to at least 18.9%, with another 5-10% having subthreshold symptoms., Author(s): Johan Nyrenius [sup.1] [sup.2] , Jonas Eberhard [sup.1] , Mohammad Ghaziuddin [sup.3] , Christopher Gillberg [sup.2] , Eva Billstedt [sup.2] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.4514.4, 0000 0001 0930 2361, Department [...]

This study examines the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in preschool children in an immigrant population. Possible risk factors for ASD and individual needs for the children and their families are described, as well as implications for health care. The estimated minimum prevalence for ASD in the area was 3.66% for children aged 2-5 years. Multiple risk factors and extensive individual needs for the children and their families were observed. The high prevalence of ASD and the plethora of needs in immigrant communities pose challenges for health care. A coordinated health care system is necessary to meet the many and individual needs.

Recent research has suggested that temporal sequencing of narrative events might be a domain-general ability that underlies oral narrative capacities. The current study investigated this issue in a group of children with known pragmatic and narrative difficulties, namely Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). We hypothesized (1) that children with ASD (n = 45) would retell narratives of poorer quality than both chronological age-matched (CAM) children and younger children matched on sentence-level language skills (LM), and (2) that nonverbal temporal sequencing skills would uniquely predict individual differences in oral narrative performance in children with ASD. The results show that children with ASD performed poorer on all measures of oral narrative quality compared with the CAM group, and on eight of ten measures compared with the LM group. Thus, our first hypothesis was confirmed, suggesting that narrative difficulties in ASD cannot be fully explained by impaired language. The second hypothesis was only partly confirmed: nonverbal temporal sequencing explained significant or marginally significant variance in some, but not all, aspects of oral narrative performance of children with ASD. These results are discussed from theoretical and clinical/educational perspectives, in relation to the heterogeneity of language skills in ASD and to domain-general features of narrative processing.

This study explores current reading profiles and concurrent and early predictors of reading in children with autism spectrum disorder. Before the age of 3 years, the study cohort underwent a neurodevelopmental assessment following identification in a population-based autism screening. At age 8 years, reading, language and cognition were assessed. Approximately half of the sample (n = 25) were 'poor readers' at age 8 years, meaning that they scored below the normal range on tests of single word reading and reading comprehension. And 18 were 'skilled readers' performing above cut-offs. The final subgroup (n = 10) presented with a 'hyperlexic/poor comprehenders' profile of normal word reading, but poor reading comprehension. The 'poor readers' scored low on all assessments, as well as showing more severe autistic behaviours than 'skilled readers'. Group differences between 'skilled readers' and 'hyperlexics/poor comprehenders' were more subtle: these subgroups did not differ on autistic severity, phonological processing or non-verbal intelligence quotient, but the 'hyperlexics/poor comprehenders' scored significantly lower on tests of oral language. When data from age 3 were considered, no differences were seen between the subgroups in social skills, autistic severity or intelligence quotient. Importantly, however, it was possible to identify oral language weaknesses in those that 5 years later presented as 'poor readers' or 'hyperlexics'.

This study investigated the comorbid conditions in a whole country population of children/young people aged 0-24 years with and without autism. Data were drawn from Scotland's Census 2011. We calculated the percentage with autism, their extent of comorbid conditions, odds ratio (with 95% confidence intervals) of autism predicting comorbidities, adjusted for age and gender, and odds ratio for age and gender predicting comorbidities within the cohort with autism. A total of 25,063/1,548,819 (1.6%) had autism: 19,880 (79.3%) males and 5183 (20.7%) females. Autism had an odds ratio of 5.4 (5.1-5.6) for predicting deafness/partial hearing loss, odds ratio of 8.9 (8.1-9.7) for blindness/partial sight loss, odds ratio of 49.7 (38.1-64.9) for intellectual disabilities, odds ratio of 15.7 (13.4-18.5) for mental health conditions, odds ratio of 15.8 (14.1-17.8) for physical disability and odds ratio of 3.9 (3.8-4.0) for other conditions. Females with autism were more likely to have each additional condition than males, including intellectual disabilities, suggesting they may have more severe autism than males and adding evidence that autism may be currently underdiagnosed in more intellectually able females. These conditions are disabling and have a significant impact on long-term quality of life; their coexistence with autism adds extra complexity. It is important to raise clinicians' awareness of this extent of comorbidity, and to have accurate prevalence data to plan prevention and intervention measures, and to follow health inequality trends.

Two community-based cohorts of children with autism spectrum disorder, examined using similar assessment protocols, were pooled (n = 301) and subdivided according to history of regression. Those with regression (n = 62), 20.5% of the combined cohort, were contrasted with those without regression (n = 241) at first assessment (age range 19-60 months) and at 2-year follow-up on a range of measures. The regression group was significantly more functionally impaired, with regard to intellectual function (p < .001), language development (p < 0.001), and to severity of autism (p < 0.01) at both T1 and T2. Only 14 (23.3%) had a clearly identified underlying etiology [24 (18.6%) in the non-regressive group]. There were no significant differences between those who had regressed 'from normal' and those who had regressed 'from low' functioning.

With increasing numbers of children being diagnosed with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) attention has been drawn to these children's physical health. We aimed to identify the prevalence of defined physical problems (epilepsy, migraine, asthma, cancer, diabetes, psoriasis, lactose intolerance, celiac disease, diarrhea, constipation, daytime enuresis, encopresis) in a nationwide population of 9- and 12-year-old twins subdivided into those with and without indications of NDDs. Parents of 28,058 twins participated in a well-validated telephone interview regarding their children's mental health and answered questions about their physical problems. The results indicate a high rate of physical problems in children with NDDs, particularly in those with indications of the presence of combinations of several NDDs.

This study examines the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in preschool children in an immigrant population. Possible risk factors for ASD and individual needs for the children and their families are described, as well as implications for health care. The estimated minimum prevalence for ASD in the area was 3.66% for children aged 2-5 years. Multiple risk factors and extensive individual needs for the children and their families were observed. The high prevalence of ASD and the plethora of needs in immigrant communities pose challenges for health care. A coordinated health care system is necessary to meet the many and individual needs., Author(s): Petra Linnsand [sup.1] [sup.2] , Christopher Gillberg [sup.1] , Åsa Nilses [sup.3] , Bibbi Hagberg [sup.1] , Gudrun Nygren [sup.1] [sup.2] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.8761.8, 0000 0000 9919 9582, [...]

We have developed a False-Belief (FB) understanding task for use on a computer tablet, trying to assess FB understanding in a less social way. It is based on classical FB protocols, and additionally includes a manipulation of language in an attempt to explore the facilitating effect of linguistic support during FB processing. Specifically, the FB task was presented in three auditory conditions: narrative, silent, and interference. The task was assumed to shed new light on the FB difficulties often observed in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Sixty-eight children with ASD (M = 7.5 years) and an age matched comparison group with 98 typically developing (TD) children were assessed with the FB task. The children with ASD did not perform above chance level in any condition, and significant differences in success rates were found between the groups in two conditions (silent and narrative), with TD children performing better. We discuss implications, limitations, and further developments.

In a Swedish sample of persons eligible for disability services and aged 55 years or older in 2012, persons (n = 601) with autism spectrum disorder diagnoses registered in specialist care were identified. Register data concerning diagnoses of other psychiatric disorders, psychiatric care, and psychiatric medication were reviewed. More than 60% had been in contact with psychiatric care. The majority had no intellectual disability (ID) diagnosis recorded during the study period. Apart from ID, affective disorders, anxiety and psychotic disorders were most commonly registered; alcohol/substance abuse disorders were uncommon. Psychotropic drug prescriptions were very common, especially in the ID group. Professionals need awareness of this vulnerable group; studies concerning their life circumstances and service requirements should be conducted.

Rare copy-number variation (CNV) is an important source of risk for autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). We analyzed 2,446 ASD-affected families and confirmed an excess of genic deletions and duplications in affected versus control groups (1.41-fold, p = 1.0 × 10(-5)) and an increase in affected subjects carrying exonic pathogenic CNVs overlapping known loci associated with dominant or X-linked ASD and intellectual disability (odds ratio = 12.62, p = 2.7 × 10(-15), ∼3% of ASD subjects). Pathogenic CNVs, often showing variable expressivity, included rare de novo and inherited events at 36 loci, implicating ASD-associated genes (CHD2, HDAC4, and GDI1) previously linked to other neurodevelopmental disorders, as well as other genes such as SETD5, MIR137, and HDAC9. Consistent with hypothesized gender-specific modulators, females with ASD were more likely to have highly penetrant CNVs (p = 0.017) and were also overrepresented among subjects with fragile X syndrome protein targets (p = 0.02). Genes affected by de novo CNVs and/or loss-of-function single-nucleotide variants converged on networks related to neuronal signaling and development, synapse function, and chromatin regulation.