title: Some children with autism have latent social skills that can be tested.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The idea of latent social skills in autism emerged as a possible interpretation of the rapid (but temporary) improvement of autistic subjects in oxytocin studies. We tested a hypothesis that a normal response to Item No 59 "Secure Base" from the third version of the Autism Diagnostic Interview - Revised (ADIR-59) could indicate the presence of latent social skills in autism.
  
  
  METHODS
  We examined 110 autistic children (88 boys and 22 girls) with a mean age of 6.0±2.5 years (range: 2.2-14.8 years) using the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) - Generic. A diagnosis of mental retardation was established in 68 autistic children (62%).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The difference in the ADOS social domain between children aged ≤5 years on one side and children older than 5 years on the other side was significant in subjects with normal responses to ADIR-59 (9.60 vs 6.47;P=0.031) but not in those with abnormal responses to ADIR-59 (10.62 vs 9.63;P=0.537). In a predictive model, lower ADOS social domain scores were predicted by older age (P=0.001), lower scores on the ADIR-59 (P=0.01), and the absence of mental retardation (P=0.049).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results support the hypothesis that the normal response to item ADIR-59 "Secure Base" indicates the presence of latent social skills in autism that might foretell further social growth in older autistic subjects.
authors.affiliation: Department of Child Psychiatry, Charles University Second Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Motol, Prague.
authors.forename: Michal
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hrdlicka
authors.affiliation: Institute of Psychology, Academy of Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Tomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Urbanek
authors.affiliation: Department of Child Psychiatry, Charles University Second Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Motol, Prague.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vacova
authors.affiliation: Department of Child Psychiatry, Charles University Second Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Motol, Prague.
authors.forename: Stepanka
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Beranova
authors.affiliation: Department of Child Psychiatry, Charles University Second Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Motol, Prague.
authors.forename: Iva
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Dudova
keywords: Autism Diagnostic Interview – Revised; Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule; autism; latent social skills; prediction