Integration problems in high functioning autism Dorit Ben

Integration problems in high functioning autism Dorit Ben Shalom, Zlotowski Centre for Neuroscience, Ben Gurion University of the Negev

An under researched problem By informal estimate, only 10% of people with high functioning ASD have the severe form Researchers have no idea what to look for

My main interest is in the severe form, because so much more is known about the less severe forms

The medial prefrontal cortex and integration in autism Ben Shalom, 2009 Ben Shalom, D. (2009). "The Medial Prefrontal Cortex and Integration in Autism. " Neuroscientist:

• Logical processing • Conscious Level 3 • Integration • Pre-conscious Level 2 • Animal processing • Unconscious Level 1

Emotion theory of mind hypothesis (Baron-Cohen et al. , 1985, Frith & Happe, 1994) Baron-Cohen, S. , A. M. Leslie, et al. (1985). "Does the autistic child have a "theory of mind" ? " Cognition 21 (1): 37 -46. Frith, U. (1994). "Autism and theory of mind in everyday life. " Social Development 3(2): 108 -124.

emotion Conscious logical processing of emotions Pre-conscious integration of emotional states The animal level of emotion Level 3 Level 2 Level 1 Autistic Neurotypical spectrum disorder

Emotion

Memory episodic (Bowler et al. , 2000) or ‘complex’ memory atypicalities (Minshew and Williams, 2007) Bowler, D. M. , J. M. Gardiner, et al. (2000). "Episodic Memory and Remembering in Adults with Asperger Syndrome. " Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders 30 (4): 295 -304 Minshew, N. J. and D. L. Williams (2007). "The new neurobiology of autism: cortex, connectivity, and neuronal organization. " Archives of neurology 64 (7): 945 -950.

Memory

Perception the weak coherence hypothesis (Frith, 1989, Happe & Frith, 2006) (emphasis on atypical top down processing) the enhanced perceptual functioning hypothesis (Mottron et al. , 2006) (emphasis on enhanced bottom up processing)

Perception

Motor dyspraxia (difficulty in planning complex movements) is more general in ASD, going beyond imitation (mostofsky et al. , 2006)

motor Conscious logical processing of emotions Level 3 Pre-conscious integration of motor actions Level 2 The animal level of motor behavior Level 1 Autistic Neurotypical spectrum disorder

Motor

motor emotion memory perception

JS (Smith, 2006) “I have a hard time localizing pain [. . . ]. I have a very hard time explaining where aches are located when my doctors ask”

Unrelated JS (Ben Shalom, Faran, & Boucher, 2010) who after 4 repetitions of 8 word pairs with phonological interference knew only 2

Donna Williams (Williams, 2003) “When I was 7 I got a doll's house [. . . ]. I picked it up [. . . ] in my mouth [. . . ]. I later moved onto the series of flattened white blocks [. . . ] before stacking them in piles according to size. [. . . ] I saw no doll's house”

Ido Kedar (Kedar, 2010) “It was my good fortune that I was able to learn to communicate on letter board or computer with my one finger. Thanks to that, my education is possible”