The intellectual profiles of high functioning elderly persons with an autism spectrum disorder

Abstract

Research into the cognitive profiles of older adults with ASD is limited. We know little about how aging affects individuals with ASD and how this influences their needs. The present study is the first to examine intelligence profiles in older adults with ASD. WAIS-III performance of 23 elderly with ASD and 23 neurotypical older persons was examined. The two groups were matched on age and level of education. Results showed highly similar intelligence profiles, with the exception of processing speed index, on which the older adults with ASD performed weaker than the neurotypical control group. This was caused by impairment on the subscale Digit symbol-coding, which was hypothesized to be due to a local information processing style and problems in set shifting.

Comparing Intellectual and Memory Abilities of Older Autistic Adults with Typically Developing Older Adults Using WAIS-IV and WMS-IV

“…However, at the same time, they also had significantly lower scores on the processing speed index compared to the controls. This finding is in keeping with results reported by Spek et al (2017) who also found that older adults with Autism performed significantly worse than TD older adults on processing speed measures. Impairment in processing speed has also been found in previous studies with children and adults with Autism (Geurts et al 2008; Powell et al 2017; Spek et al 2008).…”

“…In the light of conflicting findings from previous research, this study aimed to address the following questions:Are there significant differences between people aged over 50 with and without Autism on indices of the WAIS-IV? It is hypothesised that similar to younger people with Autism and results from Spek et al’s (2017) study, older adults with Autism will have lower scores in processing speed and working memory indices relative to TD controls.Are there significant differences between people aged over 50 with and without Autism in WMS-IV memory indices when: (a) memory index scores are adjusted for IQ and (b) memory index scores are not adjusted for IQ?…”

“…Are there significant differences between people aged over 50 with and without Autism on indices of the WAIS-IV? It is hypothesised that similar to younger people with Autism and results from Spek et al’s (2017) study, older adults with Autism will have lower scores in processing speed and working memory indices relative to TD controls.…”

“…Spek et al (2017) compared cognitive profiles between older adults with and without Autism with the use of Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Third Edition (WAIS-III; Wechsler 2008a). They found that the two groups only differed in processing speed whereby TD controls outperformed older adults with Autism.…”

“…Among the two processing speed subtests, a significant difference only emerged in Digit Symbol coding (DSC) but not Symbol Search (SS), with the TD controls outperforming older adults with Autism in the DSC subtest. While Spek et al (2017) used the WAIS-III, the newer edition the WAIS-IV has been found to be a better measurement of intelligence as it provides a better measure of working memory and processing speed (Taub and Benson 2013). Given that individuals with Autism tend to have poorer performance in both of these areas, the WAIS-IV seems to be a better measure to employ so as to further our understanding of the cognitive profile in older adults with Autism.…”