ダウン症と自閉症スペクトラムの合併または複合についての、記事を要約してみました。原典は、”Down Syndrome and Autistic Spectrum Disorder: A Look At What We Know”で、こちらのサイトからダウンロードすることが出来ます。
１．ダウン症と自閉症は、同一人物に共存するような症状ではないと、最近まで一般的には信じられてきた。
２．最近では、ダウン症の診断を受けている人にも、自閉症スペクトラム障害（ASD）や強迫性障害（OCD）のような診断もつくようになってきている。
３．現時点（2001年）でダウン症と診断を受けてなおかつ、ASDの診断を受ける割合は、1％から10％の間とされているが、著者としては、5−7％が妥当な数字であると考えているということ。
DS-ASDの特徴的な事がかかれておりますが、和訳は少し面倒なので英文のまま転記しておきます。
Children with DS-ASD were more likely to have:
• History of developmental regression including loss of language and social skills,
• Poor communication skills (many children had no meaningful speech or signing),
• Self-injurious and disruptive behaviours (such as skin picking, biting, and head hitting or banging),
• Repetitive motor behaviours (such as grinding teeth, hand flapping, and rocking),
• Unusual vocalisations (such as grunting, humming, and throaty noises),
• Unusual sensory responsiveness (such as spinning, staring at lights, or sensitivity to certain sounds),
• Feeding problems (such as food refusal or strong preference for specific textures), and
• Increased anxiety, irritability, difficulty with transitions, hyperactivity, attention problems, and significant sleep disturbances.
Other observations include:
• Children with DS-ASD scored significantly higher than their peers with Down syndrome alone on all five subscales of the ABC: sensory function, social relating, body and object use, language use, and social skills.
• Children with DS-ASD show less impairment in social relatedness than those with ASD only.
• Children with DS-ASD show more preoccupation with body movement and object use than children with ASD alone.
• Children with DS-ASD scored higher on all five subscales of the ABC than children with severe cognitive impairment alone.
• Among children with Down syndrome only, even those with severe cognitive impairment do not always meet the criteria for ASD.