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Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities
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A Possible Origin for the Social and Communicative Deficits of Autism

Cheryl Trepagnier

Cheryl Trepagnier, PhD, is an augmentative communication specialist in the Rehabilitation Engineering Program of the University of Tennessee—Memphis. She is the parent of a young man with autism. Address: Cheryl Trepagnier, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Margaret Hyde Building, 682 Court Ave., University of Tennessee, Memphis, TN 38163.

It is hypothesized that some autism is due to onset of neuropsychiatric symptoms during a critical period of infant socialization. It is argued that disruption of social gaze in infancy has the potential to undermine development of social interaction, meaningful language, and higher order cognitive abilities. Studies of infant–caregiver interaction and infant face preference are discussed to support the claim that attention to faces in early life plays a vital role in communicative development. Studies of social gaze behavior, face recognition, and identification of facial expression by persons with autism are reviewed as suggestive evidence pointing to a deficiency in early experience of faces. The core social and communicative deficits of autism may stem from disruption of infant social gaze. In contrast, the other core feature of autism, obsessive interests and repetitive activities, may be a direct manifestation of the underlying neuropsychiatric disorder.

Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, Vol. 11, No. 3, 170-182 (1996)
DOI: 10.1177/108835769601100307
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