title: Proficiency of individuals with autism spectrum disorder at disembedding figures: A systematic review.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This systematic review examines the proficiency and visual search strategies of individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) while disembedding figures and whether they differ from typical controls and other comparative samples.
  
  
  METHODS
  Five databases, including Proquest, Psychinfo, Medline, CINAHL and Science Direct were used to identify published studies meeting the inclusion and exclusion criteria.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty articles were included in the review, the majority of which matched participants by mental age. Outcomes discussed were time taken to identify targets, the number correctly identified, and fixation frequency and duration.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Individuals with ASD perform at the same speed or faster than controls and other clinical samples. However, there appear to be no differences between individuals with ASD and controls for number of correctly identified targets. Only one study examined visual search strategies and suggests that individuals with ASD exhibit shorter first and final fixations to targets compared with controls.
authors.affiliation: a School of Occupational Therapy & Social Work, CHIRI, Curtin University , Perth , WA , Australia .
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Horlin
authors.affiliation: a School of Occupational Therapy & Social Work, CHIRI, Curtin University , Perth , WA , Australia .
authors.forename: Melissa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Black
authors.affiliation: a School of Occupational Therapy & Social Work, CHIRI, Curtin University , Perth , WA , Australia .|b School of Education and Communication, CHILD programme, Institute of Disability Research, Jönköping University , Sweden .
authors.forename: Marita
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Falkmer
authors.affiliation: a School of Occupational Therapy & Social Work, CHIRI, Curtin University , Perth , WA , Australia .|c Rehabilitation Medicine, Department of Medicine and Health Sciences (IMH), Faculty of Health Sciences, Linköping University & Pain and Rehabilitation Centre , Linköping , Sweden , and.|d School of Occupational Therapy, La Trobe University , Melbourne , VIC , Australia.
authors.forename: Torbjorn
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Falkmer
mesh_terms: D000067877:Autism Spectrum Disorder / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005556:Form Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Autism; autism spectrum disorder; disembedding; embedded figures; local-processing bias; weak central coherence