Adaptive capabilities of children with autism and their connection with neurophysiological correlates

Abstract

Introduction: Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) represent a disorder with an incidence of 1% in the juvenile population. Insufficient studied etiology and lacking in evidence based therapeutic procedures, represent part of the challenges associated with ASD. Adaptive capabilities of children with autism are often impaired and depend on many factors, some of which are neurophysiological in nature. The study aim was to compare patients with pathological changes in EEG with epileptic and non-epileptic recordings to different levels of adaptive capabilities of children with ASD. Material and Methods: In this study EEG readings were used in the sleep and awake state for the assessment of the presence and the type of abnormality of the reading. EEG questionnaire was developed for the purpose of this research to record the characteristics of EEG readings and neurological manifestations. For the evaluation of the adaptive capabilities Vineland II scale was used. Results: A statistically significant difference exist between the examined groups in all domains assessed by Vineland II scale. 44.7 % of patients had some form of pathological EEG records or epilepsy. The most represented types of seizures was primary generalized tonic clonic attacks. Conclusion: There was a statistically significant difference between the examined groups in all domains. Patients with epilepsy tend to obtain the lowest scores in all examined domains. These results may be used for the potential identification of prognostic factors and to show the value of antiepileptic therapy as an alternative for children with autism spectrum disorders.