Co-occurrence of autism and deafness: diagnostic considerations.
Autism signs are the same in deaf and hearing kids—screen early with adapted tools to cut the two-year delay.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Gallagher et al. (2003) compared 20 deaf autistic children with 20 hearing autistic children.
They looked at social, communication, and repetitive behaviors.
All kids were matched on age and IQ.
What they found
Both groups showed the same autism traits.
Deaf kids got their diagnosis two years later on average.
The delay happened because people blamed deafness for the signs.
How this fits with other research
Sasson et al. (2022) later showed you can fix the delay. They tested two quick screeners in deaf adults with ID and got good results after small tweaks.
Berument et al. (2005) built on this idea by adapting the ADOS for non-verbal teens and adults with severe ID. Their version also worked well.
Sappok et al. (2013) warn that standard tools can still over-diagnose autism in adults with ID, so careful cut-offs matter.
Why it matters
You now know deafness does not change how autism looks. If a deaf child shows social withdrawal, poor eye contact, or repetitive play, do not wait. Use the adapted screeners that Sasson et al. (2022) validated, or follow Kazak’s ADOS tweaks. Start the referral this week instead of watching for another year.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Autism spectrum disorders are particularly difficult to diagnose in the presence of early profound deafness because of communication related issues. Two parts of the Autism Screening Instrument were administered to 13 deaf individuals with autism and two comparison groups: hearing autistic and deaf learning disabled. A parental questionnaire was also used. No differences in autistic symptomatology were found between the deaf autistic and the hearing autistic group. However, the deaf autistic group was diagnosed later than the hearing autistic group. It is concluded that autism can be diagnosed in the deaf; that it resembles autism in the hearing; and that it is not a consequence of deafness per se. Learning disabled deaf individuals who are not autistic do not resemble people with autism in behavioural terms. The findings have implications for remediation, education, and the emergence and management of challenging behaviours.
Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 2003 · doi:10.1177/1362361303007003002