Children at risk of exclusion from school could have autistic behavioural traits, according to new research.

The study, published in the April issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry, suggests that up to a third of children who are at risk of being excluded from school for disruptive behaviour could have undiagnosed social communication problems of an autistic type.

Researchers from the UCL Institute of Child Health (ICH) recruited 26 persistently disruptive children aged 6-13 years old from primary schools in the London borough of Hackney. 16 of the children had been excluded from school at least once before, and 10 were considered by their teachers to be at high risk of exclusion. The researchers interviewed the children’s parents, and the children were given tests of IQ, attention, social cognition and theory of mind.

The researchers found that 9 of the 26 disruptive children (35 per cent) met clinical criteria for an autism-spectrum disorder. However, their social communications had not been detected by a professional.

Reference
Donno R, Parker G, Gilmour J, Skuse DH. Social communication deficits in disruptive primary-school children. British Journal of Psychiatry 2010;196:282-289.