Autism, autistic spectrum and the need for better definition

Tonge, Bruce J

doi:10.5694/j.1326-5377.2002.tb04481.x

Topics

To avoid confusion, the term "autistic spectrum disorders" should only be used as the collective term for a group of defined disorders

Monash University Centre for Developmental Psychiatry and Psychology, Monash Medical Centre, Clayton, VIC.

Correspondence: bruce.tonge@med.monash.edu.au

1. Fombonne E. The epidemiology of autism: a review. Psychol Med 1999; 29: 769-786.
2. Bertrand J, Mars A, Boyle C, et al. Prevalence of autism in a United States population: The Brick township, New Jersey, investigation. Pediatrics 2001; 108: 1155-1161.
3. Immunization Safety Review Committee, Institute of Medicine. Immunization safety review: measles-mumps-rubella vaccine and autism. Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 2001. Available at: http://books.nap.edu/html/mmr/report.pdf (accessed April 2002).
4. Kaye JA, del Mar Melero-Montes M. Mumps, measles, and rubella vaccine and the incidence of autism recorded by general practitioners: a time-trend analysis. BMJ 2001; 322: 460-463.
5. World Health Organization. The ICD-10 classification of mental and behavioural disorders. Geneva: WHO, 1992.
6. American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, 4th edition. Washington, DC: APA, 1994.
7. Wing L. Syndromes of autism and atypical development. In: Cohen DJ, Volkmar FR, editors. Handbook of autism and pervasive developmental disorders. 2nd edition. New York: John Wiley, 1997: 148-170.
8. Gillberg C. The Emmanuel Miller Memorial Lecture 1991. Autism and autistic-like conditions: Subscales among disorders of empathy. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 1992 33; 813-842.
9. Constantino J, Przybeck T, Friesen D, Todd PD. Reciprocal social behavior in children with and without pervasive developmental disorders. Dev Behav Pediatr 2000; 21: 2-11.
10. Tanguay P, Robertson J, Derrick A. A dimensional classification of autism spectrum disorder by social communication domains. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 1998; 37: 271-277.
11. Rutter M. Genetic studies of autism: from the 1970s into the millenium. J Abnorm Child Psychol 2000; 28: 3-14.
12. Mayes SD, Calhoun SL, Crites DL. Does DSM-IV Asperger's disorder exist? J Abnorm Child Psychol 2001; 3: 263-271.
13. Tonge BJ, Brereton AV, Gray KM, Einfeld SL. Behavioural and emotional disturbance in high-functioning autism and Asperger syndrome. Autism 1999; 2: 117-130.
14. Rinehart NJ, Bradshaw AL, Moss S, et al. A deficit in shifting attention in high functioning autism but not Asperger's disorder. Autism: Res Pract 2001; 5: 67-80.
15. Schopler E, Reichler RJ, De Vellis RF, Daly K. Toward objective classification of childhood autism: childhood autism rating scale (CARS). J Autism Dev Dis 1980; 10: 91-103.
16. Attwood T. Asperger's syndrome: a guide for parents and professionals. Philadelphia: Jessica Kingsley, 1998.
17. Rutter M. Autism. Two-way interplay between research and clinical work. In: Green J, Yule W, editors. Research and innovation on the road to modern child psychiatry. Vol 1. London: Gaskell, 2001: 54-80.

Online responses are no longer available. Please refer to our instructions for authors page for more information.