COMPARISON OF PSYCHOTIC AND AUTISTIC-CHILDREN USING BEHAVIORAL OBSERVATION

The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between autis m and childhood psychosis Fifteen children with psychotic symptoms wer e compared to 15 children with autism, using two observational measure s, the Ritvo-Freeman Real Life Rating Scale (RLRS) and the Childhood A utism Rating Scale (CARS), which rate subjects on behaviors pathognomi c to autism. In comparison to autistic persons, psychotic individuals were judged to have better language and social skills. In addition, au tistic persons were also rated as having more difficulty adapting to n ew situations and appeared more ''autistic-like. '' Overall scores on the CARS and RLRS were significantly different between the two groups, indicating that these two assessment instruments may be useful in dif ferential diagnosis. However, 20% of the psychotic subjects received p ervasive developmental disorder diagnoses, indicating that there may b e a relationship between those two disorders.