This study investigates whether distinct neurodevelopmental disorders show distinct patterns of impairments in particular grammatical abilities and the relation of those grammatical patterns to general language delays and intellectual disabilities. We studied two disorders (autism and Williams syndrome [WS]) and two distinct properties (Principle…

Language profiles of children with autistic disorder and intellectual disability (n = 36) were significantly different from the comparison groups of children with intellectual disability (n = 26) and typically developing children (n = 34). The group low-functioning children with autistic disorder obtained a higher mean score on expressive than on…

In this study we characterized profiles of communicative functions and forms of children with autism and intellectual disability (n = 26), as compared to typically developing children (n = 26) with a comparable nonverbal mental age (2-5 years). Videotapes of the Communication and Symbolic Behavior Scales--Developmental Profile were analyzed using…

We examined recalled narratives of boys with fragile X syndrome with autism spectrum disorder (FXS-ASD; N = 28) and without ASD (FXS-O; N = 29), and compared them to those of boys with Down syndrome (N = 33) and typically developing (TD) boys (N = 39). Narratives were scored for mentions of macrostructural story grammar elements (introduction,…

To determine maternal stress and child variables predicting maternal stress, 104 mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and intellectual disability (ID) completed the Dutch version of the Parental Stress Index (PSI; De Brock, Vermulst, Gerris, & Abidin, 1992) every six months over a period of two years. The level of maternal…

We report a cross-syndrome comparison of the development of holistic processing in face recognition in school-aged children with developmental disorders: autism, Down syndrome, and Williams syndrome. The autism group was split into two groups: one with high-functioning children and one with low-functioning children. The latter group has rarely…

To evaluate the claim that correct performance on unexpected transfer false-belief tasks specifically involves mental-state understanding, two experiments were carried out with children with autism, intellectual disabilities, and typical development. In both experiments, children were given a standard unexpected transfer false-belief task and a…

Existing research suggests that children with intellectual disabilities are at increased risk for ADHD, and that the symptoms of the disorder might successfully be treated with stimulant drugs. However, there has been little exploration of ADHD symptoms and their correlates in children with intellectual disabilities. Analyses of three samples of…

The usefulness of the Preschool Preposition Test (PPT) as a cognitive screening and diagnostic tool for handicapped children is demonstrated through results of eight independent studies. The subjects were 354 children and youths, aged two to 20 years, with various handicaps: mentally retarded, autistic-like, moderately emotionally disturbed,…