Howlin P, Asgharian A
Department of Psychology, St George's Hospital Medical School, London, UK.
Dev Med Child Neurol. 1999 Dec;41(12):834-9. doi: 10.1017/s0012162299001656.
As part of a wider survey of parents of children with autistic spectrum disorders in the UK, the diagnostic experiences of 614 parents of children with autism and 156 with Asperger syndrome were compared. Although the ages of the children in the two groups were very similar at the time of the survey, parents of children given a diagnosis of Asperger syndrome had experienced significantly longer delays and greater frustration in obtaining a diagnosis than those with a child with autism. In the 'autism group' the average age when diagnosis was confirmed was around 5.5 years; in the 'Asperger group' it was 11 years. Parents of children with a diagnosis of autism were generally aware of problems in their child's development by 18 months of age; in the Asperger group concerns emerged later, at around 30 months of age. Initial worries in both groups centred around abnormal social development but parents of children with Asperger syndrome were less likely to have noted communication problems. Stereotyped or repetitive behaviours were not prominent in the early years in either group. Despite the problems inherent in data collected by postal survey, many of the findings of this study are supported by other research. The practical implications of delayed diagnosis, especially in the case of more able children with Asperger syndrome are discussed.
作为英国对自闭症谱系障碍儿童家长进行的一项更广泛调查的一部分，对614名自闭症儿童的家长和156名阿斯伯格综合征儿童的家长的诊断经历进行了比较。尽管在调查时两组儿童的年龄非常相似，但被诊断为阿斯伯格综合征儿童的家长在获得诊断方面经历的延迟明显更长，挫折感也更强，相比之下，自闭症儿童的家长则没有这么严重。在“自闭症组”中，确诊时的平均年龄约为5.5岁；在“阿斯伯格组”中，这一数字为11岁。自闭症儿童的家长通常在孩子18个月大时就意识到其发育存在问题；在阿斯伯格组中，家长的担忧出现得较晚，大约在孩子30个月大时。两组家长最初的担忧都集中在社交发展异常上，但阿斯伯格综合征儿童的家长不太可能注意到沟通问题。刻板或重复行为在两组儿童的早期都不突出。尽管通过邮寄调查收集的数据存在固有问题，但本研究的许多发现得到了其他研究的支持。文中讨论了诊断延迟的实际影响，尤其是对于能力较强的阿斯伯格综合征儿童的情况。
