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Differentiating characteristics of deafblindness and autism in people
with congenital deafblindness and profound intellectual disability.



BACKGROUND: In persons with deafblindness, it is hard to distinguish
autism spectrum disorders from several deafblind specific behaviours
caused by the dual sensory impairments, especially when these persons
are also intellectually disabled. As a result, there is an
over-diagnosis of autism in persons who are deafblind leading to
unsuitable interventions.



METHODS: Autism as specified by the DSM-IV was studied in 10 persons
with congenital deafblindness with profound intellectual disabilities.
Behaviours of people with deafblindness and autism (n = 5) and of people
with deafblindness without autism (n = 5) were observed in a
semi-standardised assessment.



RESULTS: All people with deafblindness showed impairments in social
interaction, communication and language. In contrast to persons without
autism, people with deafblindness and autism showed significantly more
impairments in reciprocity of social interaction, quality of initiatives
to contact and the use of adequate communicative signals and functions.
No differences between the groups were found for quantity and
persistence of stereotyped behaviour, quality of play and exploration
and adequate problem-solving strategies.



CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates that there are some possibilities to
differentiate autism from behaviours specific for deafblindness. It also
confirms the large overlap in overt behaviours between people with
deafblindness and persons with autism.









J Intellect Disabil Res. 2009 Jun;53(6):548-58. Epub 2009 Apr 23.

Hoevenaars-van den Boom MA, Antonissen AC, Knoors H, Vervloed MP.

Department of Diagnostics, Royal Effatha Guyot Group, Sint
Michielsgestel, The Netherlands.





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