VISUAL-SPATIAL ORIENTING IN AUTISM

Visual-spatial orienting in high-functioning adults with autism and bo th chronological- and mental-age normal controls was examined. Three e xperiments were conducted in which stimuli were presented centrally an d/or laterally (left or right of central fixation), and either detecti on or identification was required. The group with autism differed from normal controls by responding faster to central than to lateral stimu li, and by showing a left visual field advantage for stimulus detectio n only in the simplest condition (lateral presentations alone). Discus sion focuses on the apparent abnormalities in disengaging/shifting att ention and on the coordination of attentional and motor systems in aut ism.