Rationale and Hypotheses Intellectual & Academic Profiles of Children with Asperger’s Disorder or Nonverbal Learning Disability Marcia N. Gragg, Joseph E. Casey1, Christine M. Drummond & Adam D. Kayfitz University of Windsor & 1Ozad Institute Intellectual & Academic Profiles: AD & NLD Results AD & NLD groups did not differ significantly in verbal abilities NLD group had VIQ significantly higher than PIQ, no VIQ/PIQ difference was found for the AD group AD group had significantly higher visual-perceptual abilities than did the NLD group only 1/11 of the AD group, and 14/25 of the NLD group had VIQ/PIQ split greater than 15 points AD group had significantly higher performance on tasks involving identifying missing parts in pictures, assembling blocks to match geometric designs, and assembling puzzles two groups did not differ significantly on any other intellectual tasks, including arithmetic tasks no significant differences between the 2 groups in academic achievement, including reading, spelling & mathematics both groups showed better reading & spelling than arithmetic, significantly higher for the NLD group only Introduction some researchers suggest that most children with Asperger’s Disorder (AD) have the same cognitive profile as Nonverbal Learning Disabilities (NLD) (Gunter et al, 2002; Rourke et al, 2002) children with NLD, by definition, have better developed verbal than visual-perceptual abilities i.e. higher Verbal Intelligence Quotient than Performance IQ (VIQ/PIQ split) others suggest that the cognitive profiles of AD and NLD are distinct i.e. children with AS do not necessarily have better verbal than visual perceptual abilities (e.g. Barnhill et al, 2000) there may be partial overlap in the cognitive profiles of some children with AS and NLD (Gillberg, 2004) Rationale and Hypotheses to compare the cognitive & academic profiles of children with AD and NLD we expected that a minority of children with AD would show a NLD cognitive profile AD NLD Conclusions the AD group in our sample demonstrated a different intellectual profile to the NLD group future research needs to compare behavioural characteristics of AS and NLD Diagnostic Comparison Method Participants Consecutive cases of children referred to a neurodevelopment clinic who met criteria for AD (n = 11 males, mean age = 8.3) or NLD (n = 25, 18 males, 7 females, mean age = 9.7) WISC-III FSIQ between 67 and 120 Materials Weschler Intelligence Test for Children, 3rd Edition (WISC-III) Weschler Individual Achievement Test(WIAT) Characteristics Autism Asperger’s NLD Type of Diagnosis DSM IV, behavioural ability-related Who Diagnoses? Psychologist, Physician Neuropsychologist Diagnostic Tests behaviour, early history ability, achievement, motor Required Criteria for Diagnosis social, communication, behaviour VIQ/PIQ split, tactile perceptual & psychomotor deficits Social qualitative impairment in social interaction (nonverbal, peers, sharing, reciprocity) not required for diagnosis Language qualitative impairments in communication (delay in language, impaired conversation, stereotyped speech, play) no clinically significant delay in language (single words by 2 years, phrases by 3 years) higher language than visual-perceptual abilities Behaviour restricted, repetitive, & stereotyped patterns of behavior, interests, & activities (interest, rituals, mannerisms, preoccupations) restricted, repetitive, stereotyped behavior, interests, & activities (interest, rituals, mannerisms, preoccupations) Cognition no clinically significant delay in cognitive, self-help skills, adaptive behavior, & curiosity about the environment Verbal IQ significantly higher than Performance IQ, tactile perceptual deficit Motor psychomotor deficits Age at Onset before 3 years of age Gender Ratio 4.3 boys:1 girl 5.7 boys:1 girl   Typical Age at Diagnosis 3 ½ years 6 years See HFA/Asperger’s/NLD study at; www.uwindsor.ca/users/m/mgragg/main.nsf more females than other disorders 9 years