Symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorder in Individuals with Down Syndrome
There is a growing body of evidence to suggest that individuals with Down syndrome (DS) are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) at a higher rate than individuals in the general population. Nonetheless, little is known regarding the unique presentation of ASD symptoms in DS. The current st...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2021-09-01
|
| Series: | Brain Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/11/10/1278 |
| _version_ | 1827680007500070912 |
|---|---|
| author | Amanda Dimachkie Nunnally Vivian Nguyen Claudine Anglo Audra Sterling Jamie Edgin Stephanie Sherman Elizabeth Berry-Kravis Laura del Hoyo Soriano Leonard Abbeduto Angela John Thurman |
| author_facet | Amanda Dimachkie Nunnally Vivian Nguyen Claudine Anglo Audra Sterling Jamie Edgin Stephanie Sherman Elizabeth Berry-Kravis Laura del Hoyo Soriano Leonard Abbeduto Angela John Thurman |
| author_sort | Amanda Dimachkie Nunnally |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | There is a growing body of evidence to suggest that individuals with Down syndrome (DS) are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) at a higher rate than individuals in the general population. Nonetheless, little is known regarding the unique presentation of ASD symptoms in DS. The current study aims to explore the prevalence and profiles of ASD symptoms in a sample of individuals with DS (<i>n</i> = 83), aged between 6 and 23 years. Analysis of this sample (<i>M<sub>Age</sub></i> = 15.13) revealed that approximately 37% of the sample met the classification cut-off for ASD using the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule 2 (ADOS-2) Calibrated Severity Score (CSS), an indicator of the participants’ severity of ASD-related symptoms. Item-level analyses revealed that multiple items on Module 2 and Module 3 of the ADOS-2, mostly in the Social Affect (SA) subdomain, differentiated the children with DS who did not meet ASD classification (DS-only) from those who did (DS + ASD). Lastly, comparisons of individuals with DS-only and those with DS + ASD differed significantly on the syntactic complexity of their expressive language. These findings shed light on the unique presentation of ASD symptoms in a sample of individuals with DS and suggest that expressive language abilities may play a pivotal role in the presentation of ASD symptoms in DS. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T06:42:00Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-fdabcb82a1e741c0af4ae30577037f12 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-3425 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T06:42:00Z |
| publishDate | 2021-09-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Brain Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-fdabcb82a1e741c0af4ae30577037f122023-11-22T17:36:40ZengMDPI AGBrain Sciences2076-34252021-09-011110127810.3390/brainsci11101278Symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorder in Individuals with Down SyndromeAmanda Dimachkie Nunnally0Vivian Nguyen1Claudine Anglo2Audra Sterling3Jamie Edgin4Stephanie Sherman5Elizabeth Berry-Kravis6Laura del Hoyo Soriano7Leonard Abbeduto8Angela John Thurman9MIND Institute, University of California Davis Health, 2825 50th Street, Sacramento, CA 95816, USAMIND Institute, University of California Davis Health, 2825 50th Street, Sacramento, CA 95816, USAMIND Institute, University of California Davis Health, 2825 50th Street, Sacramento, CA 95816, USAWaisman Center and Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USADepartment of Psychology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USADepartment of Human Genetics, School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USADepartments of Pediatrics, Neurological Sciences and Biochemistry, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL 60612, USAMIND Institute, University of California Davis Health, 2825 50th Street, Sacramento, CA 95816, USAMIND Institute, University of California Davis Health, 2825 50th Street, Sacramento, CA 95816, USAMIND Institute, University of California Davis Health, 2825 50th Street, Sacramento, CA 95816, USAThere is a growing body of evidence to suggest that individuals with Down syndrome (DS) are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) at a higher rate than individuals in the general population. Nonetheless, little is known regarding the unique presentation of ASD symptoms in DS. The current study aims to explore the prevalence and profiles of ASD symptoms in a sample of individuals with DS (<i>n</i> = 83), aged between 6 and 23 years. Analysis of this sample (<i>M<sub>Age</sub></i> = 15.13) revealed that approximately 37% of the sample met the classification cut-off for ASD using the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule 2 (ADOS-2) Calibrated Severity Score (CSS), an indicator of the participants’ severity of ASD-related symptoms. Item-level analyses revealed that multiple items on Module 2 and Module 3 of the ADOS-2, mostly in the Social Affect (SA) subdomain, differentiated the children with DS who did not meet ASD classification (DS-only) from those who did (DS + ASD). Lastly, comparisons of individuals with DS-only and those with DS + ASD differed significantly on the syntactic complexity of their expressive language. These findings shed light on the unique presentation of ASD symptoms in a sample of individuals with DS and suggest that expressive language abilities may play a pivotal role in the presentation of ASD symptoms in DS.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/11/10/1278Down syndromeautism spectrum disorderco-occurringprevalence |
| spellingShingle | Amanda Dimachkie Nunnally Vivian Nguyen Claudine Anglo Audra Sterling Jamie Edgin Stephanie Sherman Elizabeth Berry-Kravis Laura del Hoyo Soriano Leonard Abbeduto Angela John Thurman Symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorder in Individuals with Down Syndrome Brain Sciences Down syndrome autism spectrum disorder co-occurring prevalence |
| title | Symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorder in Individuals with Down Syndrome |
| title_full | Symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorder in Individuals with Down Syndrome |
| title_fullStr | Symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorder in Individuals with Down Syndrome |
| title_full_unstemmed | Symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorder in Individuals with Down Syndrome |
| title_short | Symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorder in Individuals with Down Syndrome |
| title_sort | symptoms of autism spectrum disorder in individuals with down syndrome |
| topic | Down syndrome autism spectrum disorder co-occurring prevalence |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/11/10/1278 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT amandadimachkienunnally symptomsofautismspectrumdisorderinindividualswithdownsyndrome AT viviannguyen symptomsofautismspectrumdisorderinindividualswithdownsyndrome AT claudineanglo symptomsofautismspectrumdisorderinindividualswithdownsyndrome AT audrasterling symptomsofautismspectrumdisorderinindividualswithdownsyndrome AT jamieedgin symptomsofautismspectrumdisorderinindividualswithdownsyndrome AT stephaniesherman symptomsofautismspectrumdisorderinindividualswithdownsyndrome AT elizabethberrykravis symptomsofautismspectrumdisorderinindividualswithdownsyndrome AT lauradelhoyosoriano symptomsofautismspectrumdisorderinindividualswithdownsyndrome AT leonardabbeduto symptomsofautismspectrumdisorderinindividualswithdownsyndrome AT angelajohnthurman symptomsofautismspectrumdisorderinindividualswithdownsyndrome |