PERSPECTIVE
Autism
Two new theories of autism: hyper-systemising and assortative mating
Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Prof. S Baron-Cohen
Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Douglas House, 18b Trumpington Road, Cambridge CB2 2AH, UK; sb205@cam.ac.uk
Commentary on the papers by Williams et al (see page 8) and Harrison et al (see page 16)
Keywords: autism; assortative mating
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
The autistic spectrum comprises four subgroups: Asperger’s syndrome (AS),1,2 and high, medium, and low functioning autism.3 They all share the phenotype of social difficulties and obsessional interests.4 In AS, the individual has normal or above average IQ and no language delay. In the three autism subgroups there is invariably some degree of language delay, and the level of functioning is indexed by overall IQ.* These four subgroups are known as autism spectrum conditions (ASC).
Williams and colleagues5 searched electronic databases and bibliographies to carry out a meta-analysis of 42 studies of prevalence of autism spectrum conditions (ASC). From this, their most generous estimate was 20 per 10 000, or 0.2%. Harrison and colleagues6 used the "capture–recapture" technique in Lothian, Scotland, and their prevalence estimate was 44.2 per 10 000, or 0.44%. This corresponds to 1 child in 225. These estimates are clearly much higher than was the case in
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Relevant Articles
- Prevalence of autistic spectrum disorders in Lothian, Scotland: an estimate using the "capture–recapture" technique
- M J Harrison, A E O’Hare, H Campbell, A Adamson, and J McNeillage
Arch. Dis. Child. 2006 91: 16-19.[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
- Systematic review of prevalence studies of autism spectrum disorders
- J G Williams, J P T Higgins, and C E G Brayne
Arch. Dis. Child. 2006 91: 8-15.[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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(2006). This could be due to maternal testosterone... * Author's reply. Arch. Dis. Child.
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