Skip directly to site content Skip directly to page options Skip directly to A-Z link. Section Navigation. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Syndicate. Diagnostic Criteria. Minus Related Pages.
Links with this icon indicate that you are leaving the CDC website. Social communication disorder is considered a communication disorder. People who have the symptoms of social communication disorder in addition to restricted, repetitive behaviors may receive a diagnosis of autism instead. Because this is a new diagnosis, it is unclear what challenges people will have in accessing insurance coverage and special education services.
If you or your child is diagnosed with social communication disorder and have difficulty obtaining coverage or services, email our advocacy team. Have additional questions? Send them to help autismspeaks. Asperger Syndrome Autism Statistics and Facts. Associated Conditions Sensory Issues.
Treatments Access Services Insurance. Information by Topic. Resource Guide. Autism Response Team. Our Mission. Our Grantmaking. Research Programs. Two studies are of particular note. In one study , Ruth Hurst and her colleagues administered the AQ and the SPQ to a large non-clinical adult sample college students. Consistent with the idea that AS and SPD vary in the general population, they found that the characteristics of both conditions were normally distributed.
Looking at total scale scores, the AQ and SPQ were significantly positively correlated with one another, suggesting overlap among the two constructs.
In fact, this relation was stronger than any other relationship in their dataset. This suggests that autistic-like traits are much more related to the negative symptoms of schizotypy interpersonal deficits than the positive symptoms cognitive-perceptual distortions.
Across two different studies, they found a strong positive correlation between the social dimensions of AQ and O-LIFE, again suggesting overlap among the two constructs.
Also consistent with the Hurst and colleagues study, cognitive disorganization was associated with social and communicative deficits. Like the Hurst study, the correlation between cognitive-perceptual distortions Unusual Experiences and the Social Skills factor of the AQ was weak. What can we make of these findings? If you look at the specific items on these scales, the pattern of correlations is unsurprising.
Here are some social skill items from the AQ: "I find it hard to make new friends", "I enjoy social occasions reverse-coded ", and "I enjoy meeting new people reverse-coded ". Here are some interpersonal items from the SPQ: "I prefer to keep to myself", "I am poor at returning social courtesies and gestures", and "I tend to keep in the background in social situations".
All the strong correlation between these two scales tells us is that those with high levels of SPD and AD are odd in social situations. Not exactly that informative! Perhaps those with schizotypal traits endorse these items because they see mystical numerological connections between them, while the person with strong autistic-like traits is fascinated by numbers and patterns in a mathematical, very domain-specific sense.
Therefore, the attention to details section of the AQ can measure either autistic-like traits or positive schizotypal traits, depending on whether you have autistic-like traits or positive schizotypal traits! The finding that cognitive disorganization is associated with interpersonal deficits in both AD and SPD is also not that informative or surprising. There are many reasons why a disorganized mind can cause someone to be socially awkward.
As King and Lord note,. Indeed, the development of theory of mind deficits found in autism is interdependent on the development of executive functioning , and both executive function and theory of mind deficits have also been found in schizophrenia. Still, these deficits seem to be linked to different behaviors.
For autism, theory of mind deficits are linked to a lack of eye contact as well as a lack of showing, sharing, pointing, and comforting behaviors. For schizophrenia, theory of mind deficits are related to the presence and severity of delusions. Also, while it appears that both autism and schizophrenia are linked to brain connectivity deficits , autism appears to be associated with an underactive theory of mind whereas schizophrenia appears to be associated with an overactive theory of mind.
One could see how the former case could lead to delusions and paranoia, whereas the latter case could lead to a turning inward and social distance.
But as it stands, none of the scales that currently exist for AD or SPD increase our understanding of how cognitive disorganization in AD and SPD is differentially related to their own particular social and communicative deficits.
0コメント