1. Abrahamson SJ, Enticott PG, Tonge BJ. {{High-functioning pervasive developmental disorders in adults}}. {Med J Aust}. Jan 4;192(1):44-8.
High-functioning pervasive developmental disorders (PDDs) have only recently been widely recognised; they are diagnosed mainly in children. Key features are impaired social cognition and communication; obsessive interests, routines or activities; and social or occupational dysfunction. There are scant data about the prevalence of high-functioning PDDs in adults, and it is possible that many Australian adults with these conditions are undiagnosed. A specialist multidisciplinary approach is used for both children with PDDs and adults with other neuropsychiatric disabilities, and has the potential to help adults with high-functioning PDDs. Increased awareness and diagnosis of these conditions should not limit career or personal goals of individuals with PDDs but should aid them in finding happy and productive careers and lives.
2. Van Meter KC, Christiansen LE, Delwiche LD, Azari R, Carpenter TE, Hertz-Picciotto I. {{Geographic distribution of autism in California: a retrospective birth cohort analysis}}. {Autism Res}. Jan 4.
Prenatal environmental exposures are among the risk factors being explored for associations with autism. We applied a new procedure combining multiple scan cluster detection tests to identify geographically defined areas of increased autism incidence. This procedure can serve as a first hypothesis-generating step aimed at localized environmental exposures, but would not be useful for assessing widely distributed exposures, such as household products, nor for exposures from nonpoint sources, such as traffic.Geocoded mothers’ residences on 2,453,717 California birth records, 1996-2000, were analyzed including 9,900 autism cases recorded in the California Department of Developmental Services (DDS) database through February 2006 which were matched to their corresponding birth records. We analyzed each of the 21 DDS Regional Center (RC) catchment areas separately because of the wide variation in diagnostic practices. Ten clusters of increased autism risk were identified in eight RC regions, and one Potential Cluster in each of two other RC regions.After determination of clusters, multiple mixed Poisson regression models were fit to assess differences in known demographic autism risk factors between the births within and outside areas of elevated autism incidence, independent of case status.Adjusted for other covariates, the majority of areas of autism clustering were characterized by high parental education, e.g. relative risks >4 for college-graduate vs. nonhigh-school graduate parents. This geographic association possibly occurs because RCs do not actively conduct case finding and parents with lower education are, for various reasons, less likely to successfully seek services.
