title: The relationship between atypical visual processing and social skills in young children with autism.
abstract: The present study examined whether atypical visual processing is related to the level of social skills in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Thirty-eight young children with ASD (29 boys, 9 girls) were included. Atypical visual processing was assessed by coding the number of lateral glances and the amount of object grouping behavior on videotaped observations of the ADOS (aged 35 ± 9 months). The level of social skills was measured using the subscale interpersonal relationships of the Vineland SEEC (32 ± 7 months). A negative relationship with a medium effect size was found between lateral glances and interpersonal relationships. Object grouping behavior and interpersonal relationships were not related. This study suggests that visual perception may be a mechanism in the development of interpersonal relationships in ASD, which is in accordance with an embodied approach to social cognition.
authors.affiliation: Department of Special Education, Cognitive and Motor Disabilities, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80.140, Utrecht 3508 TC, The Netherlands. Electronic address: A.Hellendoorn@uu.nl.
authors.forename: Annika
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hellendoorn
authors.affiliation: Department of Special Education, Cognitive and Motor Disabilities, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80.140, Utrecht 3508 TC, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Irene
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Langstraat
authors.affiliation: Department of Special Education, Cognitive and Motor Disabilities, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80.140, Utrecht 3508 TC, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Lex
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wijnroks
authors.affiliation: Radboud University Medical Centre, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, and Karakter Child and Adolescent Psychiatry University Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Jan K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Buitelaar
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University Medical Centre, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Emma
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: van Daalen
authors.affiliation: Department of Special Education, Cognitive and Motor Disabilities, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80.140, Utrecht 3508 TC, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Paul P M
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Leseman
mesh_terms: D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D002659:Child Development Disorders, Pervasive / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005403:Fixation, Ocular; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D010468:Perceptual Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D012919:Social Behavior; D014743:Videotape Recording; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Atypical visual processing; Autism; Embodiment; Social skills