Abstract
Two experiments involving listening preferences of autistic and normal subjects were conducted to test the hypothesis that the right cerebral hemisphere is more active than the left hemisphere in autistic children. Results showed that when given a choice between verbal and musical material, the autistic children preferred music, while normal children showed no preference. Secondly, autistic children listened to both types of material predominantly with the left ear. Although normal subjects showed greater variation among themselves, they tended to listen to music more often with the left ear and to listen to verbal material more often with the right. These results support the notion that some autistic children are predominantly righthemisphere processors.
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Entus, A. K.Hemispheric asymmetry in processing of dichotically presented speech and nonspeech stimuli in infants. Paper presented at the Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Denver, April 1975.
Harris, L. J.Interaction of experiential and neurological factors in the patterning of human abilities: The question of sex differences in right hemisphere skills. Paper presented at the symposium on Functional specialization of the cerebral hemispheres in infants and children: New experimental and clinical evidence, at the Biennial Meetings of the Society for Research in Child Development, Denver, April 1975.
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Blackstock, E.G. Cerebral asymmetry and the development of early infantile autism. J Autism Dev Disord 8, 339–353 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01539636
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01539636