A Japanese translation of the Childhood Autism Rating Scale was used with 167 developmentally disabled children under age 16. Total score demonstrated a satisfactory level of taxonomic validity and discriminated infantile autism and other pervasive developmental disorders from mental retardation alone. A satisfactory concurrent validity on the…

Compared to age-matched and language-matched controls, 15 autistic children (mean age of 45 months) who were administered the Early Social-Communication Scales displayed deficits in gestural joint attention skills in 2 testing sessions 13 months apart. The measure of gestural nonverbal joint attention predicted language development in subjects.…

Sixteen young adults with autism participated in a social skills group for several years and were asked to complete a sociogram and a questionnaire. Results are analyzed in terms of relationship between leaders' and group members' ratings, relationship between popularity and personal attributes, and sex and group differences. (Author/JDD)

Differences in motoric and instrumental activity of daily living skills were compared between 1,442 people with autism and 24,048 people with mental retardation. Autistic children, age 5-12, had better developed skills than mentally retarded children matched by age and intellectual level. With increasing age, more developed instrumental skills…