Brief Report: Attention Differences in Asperger’s Syndrome

Schatz, A.M., Weimer, A.K., and Trauner, D.A., (2002), Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, Vol 32, Pages, 333-336.

Although Hyperactivity is not in the DSM-IV description of AS, it is often noted in individuals with AS. A recent study found attention hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) to be the most common psychiatric disorder to occur with AS, especially in young children, whereas depression was found to be most common in adolescents and adults.

The goal of the present exploratory study was to establish whether a small sample of children with AS show an increased number of attention deficit symptoms, using a widely used clinical assessment instrument.

Methods
Participants in the present study where eight male children and young adults clinically diagnosed with AS and eight matched control subjects.

Measure
The TOVA was administered in standardised fashion to all subjects, according to the procedure in the TOVA manual.

Discussion
Evidence of an attention deficit, as measured by a computerised test of attention, was seen in a majority of the AS subjects in this study.

Due to the sensitivity of the TOVA as an assessment measure, we must be aware that the TOVA may also be over diagnosing attention deficit-like symptoms in our AS group.

In conclusion, the results of the present study suggest that individuals with AS exhibit greater variability of response when compared to control subjects continuous performance test (TOVA).