CAN STANDARD MEASURES IDENTIFY SUBCLINICAL MARKERS OF AUTISM

This study compared the executive function and theory-of-mind abilitie s of siblings of autistic individuals to those of siblings of learning -disabled controls. Three different analyses of the dependent measures provided convergent support for a potential subclinical marker in the executive function domain. No group differences in theory-of-mind abi lities were found However, power analyses revealed that the measures e mployed in this study, which are typically used with autistic individu als, were not sufficiently sensitive to detect any group differences t hat might exist in ''unaffected'' family members. Suggestions for futu re research are provided, including the need to develop more sensitive tasks that produce larger effects and measure more elementary cogniti ve operations.