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。这些个体经历非典型的社会沟通和互动，存在重复，僵化的行为和改变的感官体验。此外，自闭症患者的认知特征与正常人不同。例如，有人认为自闭症患者更倾向于处理视觉场景中的细节，而不是整体要点。在自闭症群体中，认知能力也存在巨大差异：从语言能力极低、智力严重受损的个体，到语言能力流利、智商高于平均水平的个体。这些认知差异对自闭症患者生活的各个方面都有很大的影响，但目前对于认知优势的机制以及如何利用这些优势来促进学习还没有达成共识。目前的建议集中在这样一种认知差异上：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倾向于接受更多的感性信息。根据具体情况，这种增加的感知能力可以带来实际的好处（加强信息处理）和缺点（容易分心）。因此，它为研究文献中看到的自闭症认知的许多方面以及自闭症患者报告经历的感官非典型化提供了解释。我们假设这种优越的感知能力是自闭症的一个核心方面，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，根据这种能力来重新构建认知差异，而不是更传统的以残疾为中心的理论方法，对我们干预自闭症患者学习、就业和福祉的方式具有深远的实际意义。拟议的研究将确定感知能力的增加是否适用于整个自闭症谱系的个体，即超越那些认知和语言能力的个体。这将涉及开发新的研究任务，这些任务对那些经常被排除在研究之外的有智力障碍的人来说是容易获得的。其次，它将确定这种感知优势是自闭症独有的，还是在与感觉或注意力行为改变相关的其他发育条件（如注意缺陷多动障碍和威廉姆斯综合征）中看到的。第三，该项目将研究感知能力的个体差异如何为个性化教育策略提供信息，并促进课堂上的最佳学习。这项研究将是对自闭症患者感知能力增强的普遍性和特异性的首次调查。研究结果将为这种情况（或其中的子群体）提供新的理论方法，并伴随最佳干预实践的转变。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。目前研究的结果将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，这项研究采用了一种参与式的方法：自闭症和非自闭症研究人员共同努力，确保研究结果对自闭症患者及其家庭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.