Superior perceptual capacity in autism: investigating universality, specificity and practical applications for learning.

超过1%的英国人患有自闭症。这些人经历了非典型的社会交流和互动，存在重复的、僵化的行为和改变的感觉体验。此外，自闭症患者的认知特征与非自闭症患者不同。例如，有人提出，自闭症患者更倾向于在视觉场景中处理细节，而不是整体要点。在自闭症群体中，认知能力也有很大的差异：从言语不多、智力严重受损的人，到言语流利、智商高于平均水平的人。这些认知差异对自闭症患者生活的方方面面都有很大影响，但目前对于认知优势的基础机制以及如何利用这些机制来促进学习还没有达成共识。目前的提案集中在一个这样的认知差异上：与非自闭症患者相比，具有认知能力的自闭症患者在任何时候都有吸收更多感知信息的倾向。这种增加的感知能力既可以带来实际的优势(增强的信息处理)，也可以带来劣势(容易分心)，具体取决于具体情况。因此，它为研究文献中看到的自闭症认知的许多方面提供了解释，以及自闭症患者报告经历的感觉非典型性。我们假设，这种超强的感知能力是自闭症的一个中心方面--可以为干预提供一个目标，并指导寻找与自闭症相关的神经生物学机制。此外，在这种能力方面重新构建认知差异，而不是更传统的以残疾为重点的理论方法，对于我们为促进自闭症患者的学习、就业和福祉而进行干预的方式具有深远的实践意义。这项拟议的研究将确定感知能力的增强是否延伸到整个自闭症谱系中的个人，即超越那些认知和言语能力强的人。这将涉及开发新的研究任务，使智力障碍者能够获得这些任务，而智力障碍者往往被排除在研究之外。其次，它将确定这种知觉优势是自闭症独有的，还是出现在那些与感觉或注意力行为改变相关的其他发育状况(例如注意力缺陷多动障碍和威廉姆斯综合症)的人身上。第三，该项目将着眼于感知能力的个体差异如何影响个性化的教育策略，并促进课堂上的最佳学习。这项研究将是关于自闭症感知能力增强的普遍性和特殊性的第一次调查。这一结果将为这种情况(或其中的亚群)提供一种新的理论方法，并伴随着干预最佳实践的转变。目前，许多支持策略涉及简化学习任务或环境，以帮助减少分心。然而，如果这种分心是由于感知能力的增加而引起的，那么修改策略应该寻求填补过剩的能力，而不是减少可用的信息。目前的研究结果将被用于开发新的学习工具，以帮助自闭症患者利用潜在的好处(特别是在教育和随后的就业方面)，同时最大限度地减少与能力增加相关的更具挑战性的方面。此外，这项研究采取了参与式的方法：与自闭症和非自闭症研究人员合作，确保研究结果对自闭症患者及其家人的生活产生有意义的影响。

Over 1% of the UK population are on the autistic spectrum. These individuals experience atypical social communication and interaction, the presence of repetitive, rigid behaviours and altered sensory experiences. In addition, the cognitive profile of autistic people differs to that of individuals without the condition. For example, it has been suggested that autistic people show a greater tendency to process the details within a visual scene, rather than the overall gist. Cognitive ability also varies hugely within the autistic community: from minimally-verbal individuals with profound intellectual impairment, to those who are verbally fluent with above average IQ. These cognitive differences impact greatly on all aspects of life for autistic people, yet there is currently no consensus on the mechanisms underpinning cognitive strengths and how these might be harnessed to promote learning. The current proposal centres on one such cognitive difference: the propensity for cognitively able autistic people to take in more perceptual information at any one time, compared to non-autistic individuals. This increased perceptual capacity can confer both practical advantages (enhanced information processing) and disadvantages (susceptibility to distraction) depending on the specific situation. It therefore offers an explanation for many aspects of autistic cognition seen within the research literature, as well as the sensory atypicalities that autistic people report experiencing. We hypothesise that this superior perceptual capacity is a central aspect of autism - and can offer a target for intervention, and guide the search for the neurobiological mechanisms associated with autism. Further, the reframing of cognitive differences in terms of this ability rather than more traditional disability focused theoretical approaches has profound practical implications for the way we intervene to promote learning, employment and wellbeing for autistic individuals. The proposed research will establish whether increased perceptual capacity extends to individuals across the entire autism spectrum, i.e. beyond those who are cognitively and verbally able. This will involve developing novel research tasks that are accessible to those who have intellectual impairment, a population that is often excluded from research. Second, it will determine whether this perceptual superiority is unique to autism, or is seen in those with other developmental conditions associated with altered sensory or attentional behaviour (e.g. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Williams Syndrome). Third, the project will look at how individual differences in perceptual capacity can inform personalised educational strategies and promote optimal learning in the classroom. This research will be the first investigation of the universality and specificity of increased perceptual capacity in autism. The results will inform a new theoretical approach to the condition (or subgroups within it), and an accompanying shift in best practice for intervention. Currently, many support strategies involve the simplification of learning tasks or environments to help reduce distraction. However, if this distraction arises due to increased perceptual capacity, then modification strategies should seek to fill excess capacity rather than reduce the available information. The findings from the current research will be used to develop novel learning tools to help autistic individuals harness the potential benefits (in particular with respect to education, and subsequently employment) while minimising the more challenging aspects associated with increased capacity. Further, the research takes a participatory approach: with autistic and non-autistic researchers working together to ensure the findings have a meaningful impact on the lives of autistic people and their families.