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Differences in the Structure of Social Behaviour of Autistic Children and Non‐Autistic Retarded Controls
Author(s) -
Buitelaar Jan K.,
Engeland Herman,
Kogel Kathy H.,
Vries Han de,
Hooff Jan A. R. A. M.
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
journal of child psychology and psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.652
H-Index - 211
eISSN - 1469-7610
pISSN - 0021-9630
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-7610.1991.tb01925.x
Subject(s) - autism , psychology , gesture , joint attention , gaze , perception , developmental psychology , theory of mind , social relation , eye contact , facial expression , cognitive psychology , social perception , social behavior , developmental disorder , cognition , communication , neuroscience , social psychology , computer science , psychoanalysis , computer vision
– Social and task‐oriented behaviours of autistic children were compared to those of individually age‐ and IQ‐matched non‐autistic retarded controls. Autistic children showed deficits in visual reciprocity, in indicating joint attention and referential head gestures, and in the integration of gaze and gestures when reacting to tasks. The findings confirmed the notion of social and pragmatic communicative deficits in autism. The implications of these findings for theories of social behaviour in autism (avoidance, facial perception, theory of mind) are discussed.