The cognitive neuroscience of autism.

A utism is diagnosed when a child or adult has abnormalities in a ‘‘triad’’ of behavioural domains: social development, communication, and repetitive behaviour/obsessive interests. 2 Autism can occur at any point on the IQ continuum, and IQ is a strong predictor of outcome. Autism is also invariably accompanied by language delay (no single words before 2 years old). Asperger syndrome (AS) is a subgroup on the autistic spectrum. People with AS share many of the same features as are seen in autism, but with no history of language delay and with an IQ in the average range or above. In this editorial, the main cognitive theories of autism are summarised. These are then followed by a summary of the key neurobiological findings.