VERBAL VERSUS VISUOSPATIAL ABILITIES IN RELATIVES OF AUTISTIC FEMALES

Parents and siblings of 26 autistic females and 26 Down's syndrome females were compared on a battery of verbal and visuospatial tasks to test the possibility of familial aggregation of a particular cognitive profile. No difference was found between parents of both groups. In contrast, siblings of austistic females showed significantly lower verbal abilities than controls but did not differ in their visuospatial performance. This difference appeared attributable to brothers of autistic females, some of whom showed an especially pronounced discrepant profile at the disadvantage of verbal abilities compared to their visuospatial abilities. Results are discussed in terms of genetic and/or environmental factors that may account for an aggregation of cognitive features ranging from left-hemisphere impairments to enhanced right-hemisphere abilities.