Is talent in autism spectrum disorders associated with a specific cognitive and behavioural phenotype?

Heaton, Pam F. and Bennett, Emily. 2012. Is talent in autism spectrum disorders associated with a specific cognitive and behavioural phenotype? Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 42(12), pp. 2739-2753. ISSN 0162-3257 [Article]

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Abstract or Description

Parents of 125 children, adolescents and young adults with autism spectrum disorders completed a newly developed questionnaire aimed at identifying cognitive and behavioural characteristics associated with savant skills in this group. Factors distinguishing skilled individuals were then further investigated in case studies of three individuals with exceptional skills for music, art and mathematics. The findings from the case studies largely confirmed the results from the questionnaire study in showing that special skills are associated with superior working memory and highly focused attention that is not associated with increased obsessesionality. Although intellectual impairment and a local bias have been widely associated with special skills in the savant literature, neither the screening nor case studies provided strong evidence for such associations.

Item Type:

Article

Identification Number (DOI):

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-012-1533-9

Departments, Centres and Research Units:

Psychology
Research Office > REF2014

Dates:

DateEvent
December 2012Published

Item ID:

9003

Date Deposited:

07 Oct 2013 12:27

Last Modified:

30 Jun 2017 15:41

Peer Reviewed:

Yes, this version has been peer-reviewed.

URI:

https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/9003

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