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The autistic child's recognition of age- and sex-related characteristics of people

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Abstract

Matched autistic, normal, and nonautistic retarded children were tested for their ability to choose schematic and photographed faces of a man, a woman, a girl, and a boy, to accompany videotaped sequences depicting a person of each class in (a) gestures, (b) vocalizations, and (c) “contexts” that might be considered typical for an individual of this age and sex. Although both autistic and control subjects were able to choose drawings of nonpersonal objects to correspond with videotaped cues, the autistic children were markedly impaired in selecting appropriate faces for the videotaped individuals. It is suggested that these results may reflect autistic children's relative disability in differentiating adults from children and males from females.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, SE5 8AF, London, England

    R. Peter Hobson

  2. MRC Developmental Psychology Project, London

    R. Peter Hobson

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  1. R. Peter Hobson
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Additional information

This research was conducted while the author held MRC Training and then Senior Fellowships. David Atherton, M.A., made the drawings. I am greatly indebted to my supervisor and colleague, Dr. Beate Hermelin. I thank Dr. Janet Ouston for her painstaking help, and Professor Michael Rutter for his support. I am very grateful to the pupils and staff of the Helen Allison School, Gravesend, and Dedisham School, Sussex.

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Hobson, R.P. The autistic child's recognition of age- and sex-related characteristics of people. J Autism Dev Disord 17, 63–79 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01487260

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