I've made a research thesis for my MA, about the presence of subclinical autistic-like traits in the general population.
Some works proposed that these autistic-like traits are continously distributed in the general population and in the relatives of patients with ASD.
Is there any team working on it? What do you think about it?
Updates: I started a PhD about this topic. You can find details in the attached link.
https://www.researchgate.net/project/An-investigation-into-the-role-of-attentional-skills-in-neurodevelopmental-disorders-eg-ADHD-ASD-and-comorbidity-between-these-disorders
It seems like there are more and more researchers looking at the "broader autism phenotype." Is this the same concept you are looking to explore?
There are several published studies on this, most by John Constantino. Just do a PubMed search and you'll find what you need.
About this topic, I've already found something interesting in literature.
I'd like to hear what people involved in this kind of study think about it.
In your opinion, are these traits related to the autistic features only, or can be related to other psychopathologies too?
It is possible that autistic traits found in individuals who are "almost there", are actually related to conditions other than autism. It all comes down to your research design and choosing the right tools for the job. Methodology is the key.
To echo in some sense what Loizos stated and based on my own research, ASD-like and sub-clinical ASD have become a cottage industry for too many investigators for the sole purpose of seeking funding, and unworthy of scientific study. The prevalence estimates for ASD are now so ridiculously high one should expect to see more children with ASD than ID. This is truly a case of the Emperor has no clothes.
I think that your question is particularly hard to answer due to the current uncertainty regarding the cause(s) of ASD or if ASD is even a discrete clinical phenomenon (v.s., several distinct conditions with similar behavioral phenotypes). Also, there is considerable overlap in associated symptoms between ASD and many other conditions.
see Gregory, B. L., & Plaisted-Grant, K. C. (2013). The autism-spectrum quotient and visual search: shallow and deep autistic endophenotypes. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 1-10.
we may be looking at the diagnosis of autism from the wrong perspective -- like the proverbial investigation of the elephant. i question the diagnosis that is based only on behavior. one question: m. herbert's recent work is suggesting that autism is actually a symptom brought about as a result of other compromised conditions in the body (comorbidity issue). second question: is this behavioral label simply our way of categorizing people who do not fit into our understanding of "the normal"? third question: perhaps we are all on a spectrum that varies throughout our life. temple grandin quote: alittle autism makes a steve jobs.
I study adults with Nonverbal Learning Disabilities (NLD), a type of learning disorder in which the characteristic difficulties are in perceptual organization or perceptual reasoning (see Mammarella & Cornoldi, 2014 for a full description in children). People have speculated that NLD is related to ASD, in particular Asperger syndrome. In a current study, we've found that if you give autism screening surveys to adults with NLD, they score above cut-off indicating ASD and significantly above controls, but their scores are nonetheless lower than the sample with an ASD diagnosis. Is this a form of ASD? Maybe. ... See also the work of Margaret Semrud-Clikeman and her colleagues.
Stothers, M. E., & Oram Cardy, J. (in press). Nonverbal learning disabilities and Asperger syndrome in young adults: Vocabulary, gestalts, and social perception. In B. Rissman (Ed.), Medical and Educational Perspectives on Nonverbal Learning Disability. Hershey, PA: IGI Global.
I am currently looking at the impact of left or right claustrum prepotence from the perspective of EEG actuarials and note that with greater left claustrum power more Asperger's like traits are probable, while the more autistic traits are common when the right claustrum values are prepotent.
You are right. There are autistic people among us. We have to contradict , discuss with each other to form ourself.
Best,
Judit Málly
i am wondering why it is seems like such an unacceptable idea to consider that the behavioral traits that are used to diagnose and label ASD are part of the variability of the human condition and that the observable extremes symptoms of autism may be associated with a whole body dysfunction or a medical problem and not a brain based disabiiity. consider: http://wrongplanet.net/whats-mssng-autism/
I started a PhD about this topic. You can find details in the attached link.
https://www.researchgate.net/project/An-investigation-into-the-role-of-attentional-skills-in-neurodevelopmental-disorders-eg-ADHD-ASD-and-comorbidity-between-these-disorders
Academic arguments are great, some good content here. Clinically, a disorder only occurs when there is distress and/or dysfunction and/or deviance and/or dangerousness. So it should be considered a non-disorder when there are no D's so to speak. Once there is dysfunction.....or dangerousness....I think the diagnostic criteria should be inclusive for these individuals, especially if they are off the DSM-5 only sightly. I have seen where ASD traits are so subclinical they are only distressful, and occasionally dysfunctional. Diagnosis? I think so...
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