Autism Flashcards
The diversity of human brains and minds, and to the idea that this is a natural, valuable form of diversity
This is known as…?
Neurodiversity
What are the 4 main characteristics of the medical model of disability?
1) The impairment is the problem
2) Impairment is the cause of being unable to access goods/services or participate in society
3) Focuses of fixes or services specific to their ‘problems’
4) Over-focusing on what the person cannot do instead of what they can do
Which model focuses on the person being the problem instead of the social context the person is in?
Medical model of disability
What type of interventions falls under the medical model of disability? List at least 5
- Occupational therapists
- Special transport
- Surgeons
- Speech therapists
- Specialist training centres
- Sheltered workshops
- Child development team
- Educational psychologists
- Segregated services
- Social services
- GPs
- Special schools
What are the 7 main characteristics of the social model of disability?
1) Preferred model
2) Created by disabled people
3) Differentiates between impairment and disability
4) Do not ‘have’ a disability but a disability is experienced
5) Seeks to remove barriers to allow disabled people to participate in society
6) Autism is a different ‘way-of-being’
7) Autistic people are being excluded from society for behaving differently from the ‘norm’
Which model helps people with disabilities to access independent working?
Social model of disability
Which model claims that disability is something a person experiences and not something they “have”?
Social model of disability
Which model focuses on external factors of disabilities rather than the individual?
Social model of disability
Which model focuses on external factors of disabilities rather than the individual?
Social model of disability
According to the social model of disability, what are the factors within society that cause disability? List at least 5
- Poverty
- ‘Belief’ in Medical Model
- Needs not anticipated
- Inaccessible transport
- Prejudice
- Inaccessible information
- De-valuing
- Lack of useful education
- Inaccessible environment
- Segregated services
- Assumptions
- Discrimination in employment
True or False?
Research co-designed by autistic people has more impact
True
What is the community-preferred language for autistic people?
Identity-first language
e.g. They would rather be called autistic rather than a person with autism
What is neurodiversity?
The diversity of human brains and minds, and to the idea that this is a natural, valuable form of diversity
What is ableism?
The act of assuming disabled people are inferior to nondisabled people
The act of assuming disabled people are inferior to nondisabled people
This is known as…?
Ableism
How do we avoid ableist language in this context?
Special interests
Areas of interest / expertise or focused interests
How do we avoid ableist language in this context?
Autism symptoms
Specific autistic characteristics, features or traits
How do we avoid ableist language in this context?
Suffer
Impact or affect
What are the 2 types of disability models?
- Medical model
- Social model
Disability is defined by what in the medical model of disability?
Impairment
Disability is defined by what in the social model of disability?
Factors within society
Which disability model provides informed legislation of disabilities?
Medical model
Which disability model is preferred to describe and help disabilities?
Social model
Neurodiversity involves the application of…?
Disability models
Neurodiversity involves the involvement of which community?
Autistic community
What are the 2 factors needed to induce collaborative research practices for liability and autism?
1) Consider factors within society (social model)
2) Autistic community involvement
What % of the UK population is on the autism spectrum?
1%
What are the symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorder, according to the DSM-5? List 3
1) Persistent difficulties in social communication and interaction
2) Restricted, repetitive patterns of behaviour, interests, or activities
3) Sensory hyper- or hypo-sensitivities
How are the autistic community diagnosed? List 2 possible ways to diagnose
- Standardized diagnostic interviews with a person and/or caregivers
- Possibly observation of the person in various settings (home, school, clinic)
What is autism? List 3 characteristics of autistic people
1) Differences in social communication and interaction
2) Specific patterns of behaviour, passionate interests, or focused activities
3) Sensory hyper- or hypo-sensitivities
1) Differences in social communication and interaction
2) Specific patterns of behaviour, passionate interests, or focused activities
3) Sensory hyper- or hypo-sensitivities
These are characteristics of…?
Autism
Autism symptoms must be…? List 3 conditions professionals must refer to when diagnosing
1) Symptoms must be present in the early developmental period (but may not become fully manifest until social demands exceed limited capacities, or may be masked by learned strategies in later life)
2) Symptoms cause clinically significant impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of current functioning
3) Not better explained by intellectual disability
What is the % rate of autism in MZ twins?
60%
What is the % rate of autism in DZ twins?
5%
What 5 factors influence autism?
- Genes
- Brain systems
- Cognition
- Behaviour
- Environment
In a mega-analysis of brain differences between autistic (1,571) people and non-autistic (1,651) people, what did researchers find in terms of brain volume, cortical thickness and age-specific differences?
1) Autistic people have smaller subcortical volumes of the pallidum, putamen, amygdala and nucleus accumbens (Cohen’s d = 0.13 to -0.13)
2) Autistic people had increased cortical thickness in the frontal cortex and decreased thickness in the temporal cortex (Cohen’s d = -0.21 to 0.20)
3) There were no age-specific differences found between the groups
What are the 3 characteristics of a neurodevelopmental condition?
1) Interactions with the environment
2) Not limited to childhood
3) Different life stages can bring new challenges but also advantages
True or False?
Co-occurring diagnoses are uncommon in people with autism across the lifespan
False
Co-occurring diagnoses are common in people with autism across the lifespan
Co-occurring diagnoses are common in people with autism across the lifespan
How many people with autism have ADHD?
28%
Co-occurring diagnoses are common in people with autism across the lifespan
How many people with autism have ADHD?
28%
Co-occurring diagnoses are common in people with autism across the lifespan
How many people with autism have Anxiety?
20%
Co-occurring diagnoses are common in people with autism across the lifespan
How many people with autism have Depression?
11%
Why might someone be diagnosed with Autism?
They show Autism-related behavioural features
Autism-related behavioural features are induced via …? List 2 factors
1) Diagnostic process identifying features
2) Interactive relationships between Behaviour -> Cognition -> Brain -> Genes
What are the 2 types of diagnostic process-identifying features?
1) Differences in social communication & interactions
2) Specific behaviours or areas of interest
1) Differences in social communication & interactions
2) Specific behaviours or areas of interest
What spectrum do these lie on?
Every person has a unique set of autistic features
A biological construct often defined by biological and physical characteristics, including sex-related chromosomes
This is known as…?
Sex
It encompasses experiential, social and cultural components including gender-related norms, roles, interests, expressions and identity
This is known as…?
Gender
True or False?
Only boys/men are diagnosed with autism
False
Most up-to-date estimate ratio of autistic males to females is 3:1
True or False?
Girls who meet criteria for [autism] are at disproportionate risk of not receiving a clinical diagnosis.
True
What criteria of diagnosis do professionals use to diagnose autism in females?
Female-specific protective factors (e.g. estrogens, paternal X chromosome)
What criteria of diagnosis do professionals use to diagnose autism in males?
Male-specific protective factors (e.g. fetal testosterone, Y chromosome)
Girls who meet the criteria for [autism] are at disproportionate risk of not receiving a clinical diagnosis.
Why is this? List 4 reasons
1) Genetic differences and susceptibility
2) Underdiagnosis of autistic women and girls
3) Female autism phenotype is not fully developed; girls and women are often diagnosed following the male autism phenotype
4) Camouflaging
Girls who meet the criteria for [autism] are at disproportionate risk of not receiving a clinical diagnosis.
True or False?
There are more males who experience male-specific risk factors than females who experience female-specific protective factors
True
True or False?
There are more rare copy number variants (CNVs) and De Novo CNVs in females than males
True
What are the 2 types of barriers to autism spectrum disorder for girls and young women?
1) Symptoms and behaviours observed by clinicians to diagnose autism in females
2) Perceived barriers to diagnosis (ASD is considered a boys disorder)
Perceived barriers to diagnosis (ASD is considered a boys disorder) limit females from being diagnosed with autism
How does this happen? List 5 ways
- Parental concerns are more focused towards boys than girls when symptoms of autism show
- Others’ perceptions
- Lack of info/resources regarding autism in girls
- Clinician bias
- Compensatory behaviours
What are the symptoms and behaviours observed by clinicians to diagnose autism in females? List 6
- Behavioural problems
- Social and communication abilities
- Additional diagnoses/misdiagnosis
- Relationships
- Language
- RRBIs
What is camouflaging?
Pressure to ‘fit in’ with neurotypical social communication, individuals with autism may develop coping strategies
Pressure to ‘fit in’ with neurotypical social communication, individuals with autism may develop coping strategies
This is known as…?
Camouflaging
What are the motivations for camouflaging? List 2
Assimilation
- Being a functioning member of society
- A question of safety
- Being normal enough
To know and to be known
- Opportunity to connect
- Reduce sense of stress
What is camouflaging? List 2 descriptions
- Compensation (every single convo is plot out)
- Masking (avoid being too autistic)
What are the consequences of camouflaging? List 3
- People have a stereotyped view of autism; if you’re too good at masking people won’t believe you are autistic
- Falling into pieces (energy draining)
- Not being true to oneself
Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire – CAT-Q measures 3 main subscales. What are they?
- Masking
- Compensation
- Assimilation
Strategies used to hide autistic characteristics or portray a non-autistic persona are known as…?
Masking
What is masking?
Strategies used to hide autistic characteristics or portray a non-autistic persona
Strategies used to actively compensate for difficulties in social situations are known as…?
Compensation
What is compensation?
Strategies used to actively compensate for difficulties in social situations
Strategies that reflect trying to fit in with others in social situations are known as…?
Assimilation
What is assimilation?
Strategies that reflect trying to fit in with others in social situations
Who scores higher in CATQ? Autistic females or autistic males?
Autistic females
Who scores higher in masking? Autistic females or autistic males?
Autistic females
Who scores higher in compensation? Autistic females or autistic males?
Autistic females
Who scores higher in assimilation? Autistic females or autistic males?
Autistic females
Between autistic females and males, which group scored higher on the CAT-Q subscale?
Females
Between autistic gender-diverse and cisgender people, which group scored higher on the CAT-Q subscale?
Gender diverse
Between autistic adults and children/adolescents, which group scored higher on the CAT-Q subscale?
Adults
Higher perceived autism stigma was associated with higher levels of …?
Self-reported camouflaging behaviours
Autism-related stigma had a negative relationship with …?
Mental wellbeing
True or False?
Camouflaging is associated with poor mental health in adolescents
True
Why are there sex and gender differences in autism prevalence? List 2 reasons
1) Overreliance on male research participants
2) Application of male autism phenotype in clinical practice
Overreliance on male research participants results in…?
Missing sex/gender differences in phenotype at the levels of Biology, Cognition and Behaviour
Application of male autism phenotype in clinical practice leads to…?
Under- or misdiagnosis
Under- or misdiagnosis and Missing sex / gender differences in phenotype occur due to…?
Sex / gender specific autism phenotype
What influences the under- or misdiagnosis of autistic females? List 2 factors
- Higher levels of co- occurring mental health conditions
- Camouflaging
What leads to higher levels of co-occurring mental health conditions?
Camouflaging
What are the 3 ways/strategies people use to camouflage?
- Masking
- Compensation
- Assimilation
What are sex / gender-specific autism phenotypes impacted by?
Camouflaging
A reliable marker/mechanism/theory should show adequate …? List 2 things
1) Sensitivity
2) Specificity
What is considered a sensitive marker/mechanism/theory?
A proposal must be found in all members of a group
What is considered a specific marker/mechanism/theory?
A proposal must be exclusive to all members of that group
A proposal must be exclusive to all members of that group
This is known as…?
Sensitivity
A proposal must be found in all members of a group
This is known as…?
Specificity
What is a universal theory of autism?
A theory that tries to explain how one modular component (biological, cognitive or a combination of biological and cognitive factors) explains autism in all autistic people
A theory that tries to explain how one modular component (biological, cognitive or a combination of biological and cognitive factors) explains autism in all autistic people
This is known as…?
A universal theory of autism
What is the problem with the universal theory of autism?
There are many interacting factors
What 6 things should we look for in a good autism theory?
- Concrete predictions, which generate rigorous tests
- An interpretation, not just a simple description of the evidence
- Detailed explanation of the pattern of characteristics in the autism constellation
- A causal account
- Alignment with basic scientific truths, including what we know about typical development
- Informed by community perspectives and priorities
The behavioural profile associated with autism is characterised against ‘normative standards by…? List 3 ways
1) Using standardised tests
2) Typical standard of tests is based on a narrow sample of
- WEIRD populations
- Undergraduate populations
- Populations without any mental health difficulties or other conditions
3) Normative lens
A universal theory must be sensitive to…?
All behavioural features of autism
All behavioural features of autism include…? List 2 features
1) Differences in social communication & interactions
2) Specific behaviours or areas of interest
A universal theory must be specific to…?
All autistic people
A universal theory must be specific to all autistic people by being standardised by…?
Typical standards, e.g., neurotypical
developmental trajectories
The universal theory tries to explain ……. leading to ……….. often not informed by…………
a. Modular component
b. Differences
c. Community perspectives
Are there differences in emotion recognition between autistic and non-autistic people?
There are mixed findings as to whether there are differences in emotion recognition between autistic and non-autistic people
Neuroimaging studies have indicated neural differences between autistic and non-autistic people during ….?
Emotion processing tasks
Neuroimaging studies have indicated neural differences between autistic and non-autistic people during emotion-processing tasks, including differences in the activity of the ….. and the …..
a. Amygdala
b. Posterior fusiform gyrus (fusiform face area)
What did Meyer-Lindenberg et al., (2022) aim to discover about the differences in emotion between autistic and non-autistic people?
Explore the role of facial expression recognition as a candidate stratification biomarker in a large group of autistic individuals diverse in age and intellectual ability.
What did Meyer-Lindenberg et al., (2022) do in their study investigating the differences in emotion between autistic and non-autistic people?
1) 255 - 488 participants: autistic, non-autistic and/or mild intellectual disability
2) All participants completed 2-3 behavioural facial emotion expression tasks and a fearful face-matching task in the fMRI scanner
What were the results of Meyer-Lindenberg et al.’s study investigating the differences in emotion between autistic and non-autistic people in terms of differences in amygdala or fusiform gyrus activation?
There were no significant differences between autistic and non-autistic participants in amygdala or fusiform gyrus activation overall or within age groups
What were the results of Meyer-Lindenberg et al.’s study investigating the differences in emotion between autistic and non-autistic people in terms of the differences in performance on emotion recognition tasks?
Autistic people who performed worse on the emotion recognition tasks also activated the right amygdala and the fusiform face area less than autistic people who performed well on the emotion recognition tasks
Autistic people who performed worse on the emotion recognition tasks also activated the right amygdala and the fusiform face area less than autistic people who performed well on the emotion recognition tasks
What do these results suggest?
There are more significant differences between different sub-groups of autistic people than differences between autistic and non-autistic people
What were the results of Meyer-Lindenberg et al.’s study investigating the differences in emotion between autistic and non-autistic people in terms of autistic sub-group performance?
Autistic people in the lower performing subgroup had more clinical features indicating difficulties with social processing
What did Meyer-Lindenberg et al.’s study investigating the differences in emotion between autistic and non-autistic people conclude?
The study identified a subgroup of autistic people (30% of the autistic participants)
who may have difficulties identifying facial emotional expressions
What is Alexithymia?
Impaired ability to be aware of, explicitly identify, and describe one’s feelings
Impaired ability to be aware of, explicitly identify, and describe one’s feelings
This is known as…?
Alexithymia
True or False?
Evidence shows lower levels of alexithymia in autistic people
False
Evidence shows higher levels of alexithymia in autistic people
What was the research aim of Kinnaird et al.’s study investigating Alexithymia prevalence?
To explore the prevalence of alexithymia in autistic people
What were the results of Kinnaird et al.’s study investigating Alexithymia prevalence?
1) Prevalence in autistic people: 49.93%
2) Prevalence in non-autistic people: 4.89%
What did Kinnaird et al.’s study investigating Alexithymia prevalence conclude?
Autistic people are more likely to experience higher levels of alexithymia compared to non-autistic people
Simply = Alexithymia is common but not universal to autistic people; two subgroups of autistic people may have different/more extreme difficulties in certain areas
What was the aim of Oakley et al.’s study investigating whether alexithymia impacts social features of autism?
Predict that increasing alexithymia would be associated with elevated social-communication difficulties, anxiety and depression symptoms in autistic adolescents and adults
Who were the participants in Oakley et al.’s study investigating whether alexithymia impacts social features of autism?
Time point 1 - 158 non-autistic and 179 autistic people
Time point 2 – 59 non-autistic and 76 autistic people
What were the results of Oakley et al.’s study investigating whether alexithymia impacts social features of autism regarding alexithymia levels in autistic people?
Higher alexithymia was reported by autistic Ps than non-autistic Ps
47.3% of autistic women and 21.0% of autistic men met the cut-off for clinically relevant alexithymia
What were the results of Oakley et al.’s study investigating whether alexithymia impacts social features of autism regarding difficulties in describing feelings?
Difficulties in describing feelings were associated with self-reported difficulties in social communication
What were the results of Oakley et al.’s study investigating whether alexithymia impacts social features of autism regarding difficulties in identifying feelings?
Difficulties in identifying feelings were associated with anxiety symptom severity
What did Oakley et al.’s study investigating whether alexithymia impacts the social features of autism conclude?
Difficulties in identifying vs. describing emotion are associated with differential clinical outcomes in autism
Difficulties in describing feelings were associated with…?
Self-reported difficulties in social communication
Difficulties in identifying feelings were associated with …?
Anxiety symptom severity
Emotion recognition in others’ is measured through…?
Facial emotional expression research
Facial emotional expression research on autistic individuals shows…?
Mixed findings
Facial emotional expression research on autistic individuals shows mixed findings possibly due to …?
Differences in ability between subgroups of autistic people
Subgroups of autistic people are defined by…?
Increased clinical social features
Emotion recognition within self is measured through …?
Alexithymia
Alexithymia has higher rates in…?
Autistic people
Autistic people have (decreased/increased) anxiety symptoms
Increased
Higher rates of alexithymia in autistic people are associated with…?
Increased clinical social features
What is cognitive empathy?
Recognising and understanding that another person is thinking or feeling something different to what you are thinking or feeling
Recognising and understanding that another person is thinking or feeling something different to what you are thinking or feeling
This is known as…?
Cognitive empathy
What is the theory of mind?
The ability to attribute independent mental states to oneself and others to explain their behaviour
The ability to attribute independent mental states to oneself and others to explain their behaviour
This is known as…?
Theory of mind
Older models of the theory of mind are often called…?
Primary deficit models (mindblindness)
What happens in the Sally-Anne Test?
1) Autistic children sit through a skit between 2 characters called Sally and Anne
2) Sally and Anne are introduced. Sally has a basket, Anne has a box
3) Sally has a marble. She places it in her basket.
4) Sally goes out for a walk, leaving her marble in her basket. Anne remains behind.
5) Anne removes Sally’s marble from the basket and places it in her box
6) Sally returns and she wants to play with her marble. Where will she look, in the basket or in the box?
What were the results of the Sally-Anne test?
Autistic children gave the wrong answer compared to non-autistic children
Because, based on the theory of mind, autistic people are less able to understand different perspectives (cognitive empathy)
What was the aim of Moessnang et al.’s study investigating neural evidence for mentalising?
To discover and validate neurofunctional markers of social cognition alterations in ASD as a first step for biomarker discovery
Who were the participants in Moessnang et al.’s study investigating neural evidence for mentalising?
205 autistic and 189 non- autistic participants between 6-30 years old
What was the hypothesis of Moessnang et al.’s study investigating neural evidence for mentalising?
Expected autistic individuals to show reduced regional activation in key areas of the social brain in response to the animated shapes
What were the results of Moessnang et al.’s study investigating neural evidence for mentalising regarding the activation of key regions of the social brain?
Mentalising task led to the activation of key regions of the social brain including the posterior superior temporal sulcus and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex
What were the results of Moessnang et al.’s study investigating neural evidence for mentalising regarding categorical comparisons between A and NA participants?
Categorical comparisons between non-autistic and autistic participants did not reveal group differences
Categorical comparisons between non-autistic and autistic participants did not reveal group differences
List 2 possible reasons why
1) Differences in current autistic feature profiles might impact the comparability to older studies (autism studies are not stable)
2) Earlier findings obtained samples that were smaller, more homogeneous and had potentially different feature profiles
What is the double empathy problem?
When two people in an interaction have trouble understanding what the other person is trying to communicate/say
When two people in an interaction have trouble understanding what the other person is trying to communicate/say
This is known as…?
Double empathy problem
According to the double empathy problem, an autistic person may struggle to…? List 3 things
1) Read between the lines
2) Overcome other people’s misconceptions about autism
3) Manage sensory distractions
According to the double empathy problem, a non-autistic person may struggle to…? List 3 things
1) Form positive first impressions
2) Recognise and understand autism
3) Imagine autistic sensory difficulties
What was the aim of Crompton et al.’s study investigating differences in peer-to-peer transfer of information?
To compare how autistic and non-autistic people interact when in matched (same diagnostic status) or mixed (autistic with non-autistic pairs), in an information-sharing context
What was the method of Crompton et al.’s study investigating differences in peer-to-peer transfer of information?
1) ‘Diffusion chain’ technique (similar to Chinese whispers)
2) 72 adult participants: 3 groups per chain with every 8 people, 24 people in total per chain condition
3) The 30-point story, which followed a bear on a surreal adventure
What were the results of Crompton et al.’s study investigating differences in peer-to-peer transfer of information? List 2
1) Autistic people share information with other autistic people as well as non-autistic people do with other non-autistic people
2) However, when there are mixed groups of autistic and non-autistic people, much less information is shared
What were the results of Crompton et al.’s study investigating differences in the peer-to-peer transfer of information regarding rapport with the person they were sharing the story with?
The people in the mixed groups experienced lower rapport with the person they were sharing the story with (they did not feel like they got on with the other person in the interaction very well)
What did Crompton et al.’s study investigating differences in the peer-to-peer transfer of information conclude regarding apparent difficulties in autistic communication?
Difficulties in autistic communication are apparent only when interacting with non-autistic people and are alleviated when interacting with autistic people
What did Crompton et al.’s study investigating differences in the peer-to-peer transfer of information conclude regarding apparent difficulties in autistic communication?
Difficulties in autistic communication are apparent only when interacting with non-autistic people and are alleviated when interacting with autistic people
What did Crompton et al.’s study investigating differences in the peer-to-peer transfer of information conclude regarding the difference in how accurately Ps recalled info from peers of the same neurotype and different neurotype?
Autistic and non-autistic people do not significantly differ in how accurately they recall information from peers of the same neurotype, but selective difficulties occur when autistic and non-autistic people are sharing information
Mentalising differences are explored in two ways. How are they explored?
1) Medical model
2) Social model
The neural level evidence of the medical model of mindblindness is …?
Inconsistent
The neural level evidence of the medical model of mindblindness is inconsistent due to…? List 2 reasons
1) Differences in autistic people’s feature profiles
2) Prior research having small homogenous groups
The social model of mindblindness explores…?
The Double Empathy Problem as a breakdown in mutual understanding between autistic and non- autistic people
Which model of mindblindness explores the Double Empathy Problem as a breakdown in mutual understanding between autistic and non-autistic people?
Social model
Which model of mindblindness has inconsistent evidence due to differences in autistic people’s feature profiles and prior research having small homogenous groups?
Medical model
