Exploring Social Subtypes in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Preliminary Study.
The SSDS hands you five ready-made social sub-types so you can tailor lessons to the child’s actual social profile.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Parents filled out the new Stanford Social Dimensions Scale for 164 children with ASD.
The team ran a latent profile analysis on the scores.
They wanted to see if clear social sub-types would pop out.
What they found
Five social sub-types emerged.
Each group differed in cognitive level and autism severity.
The scale sorted kids without long testing.
How this fits with other research
Titlestad et al. (2019) used an older tool, the PDDBI, to carve ASD into three prognosis groups.
Uljarević et al. (2020) now offers five finer social slices with the SSDS, giving you more choices when you plan treatment.
Emerson et al. (2013) trimmed the SRS down to 30 items for preschoolers.
Mirko’s SSDS does a similar clean-up job but adds sub-type labels, so you get both a score and a profile.
Wang et al. (2011) warned that SSRS and PKBS may miss small intervention gains.
Mirko’s study does not test sensitivity to change, so keep using direct observation to track progress.
Why it matters
You can give the SSDS in minutes and see which of five social profiles fits the child.
Pick peer-models for the social-communication group, teach play scripts to the restricted-interest group, or build tolerance for the sensory-avoidant group.
Match the intervention to the profile instead of using one-size-fits-all lessons.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Impairments in social functioning are considered a hallmark diagnostic feature of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Yet, individuals diagnosed with ASD vary widely with respect to specific presentation, severity, and course across different dimensions of this complex symptom domain. The aim of this investigation was to utilize the Stanford Social Dimensions Scale (SSDS), a newly developed quantitative measure providing parental perspective on their child's social abilities, in order to explore the existence of homogeneous subgroups of ASD individuals who share unique profiles across specific dimensions of the social domain. Parents of 164 individuals with ASD (35 females, 129 males; meanage = 7.54 years, SD = 3.85) completed the SSDS, the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS-2) and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). Data on children's verbal and nonverbal intellectual functioning (FSIQ) were also collected. The Latent Profile Analysis was used to classify participants according to the pattern of SSDS subscale scores (Social Motivation, Social Affiliation, Expressive Social Communication, Social Recognition, and Unusual Approach). Five profiles were identified. Profiles did not differ in terms of chronological age nor gender distribution but showed distinct patterns of strengths and weaknesses across different social components rather than simply reflecting a severity gradient. Profiles were further differentiated in terms of cognitive ability, as well as ASD and internalizing symptom severity. The implications of current findings and the necessary further steps toward identifying subgroups of individuals with ASD who share particular constellation of strengths and weaknesses across key social domains as a way of informing personalized interventions are discussed. Autism Res 2020. © 2020 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. LAY SUMMARY: People with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) vary greatly in terms of their social abilities and social motivation. However, researchers lack measures that can fully assess different components of social functioning. This paper provides initial evidence for capturing subgroups of individuals with ASD with specific strengths and weakness across different aspects of social functioning. Autism Res 2020, 13: 1335-1342. © 2020 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research, 2020 · doi:10.1002/aur.2294