Is There a Link Between AS and Handedness?

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What does handedness have to do with AS/ASDs?

I am left-handed and have an offical diagnosis of AS or an ASD.	25%	[ 27 ]
I am right-handed and have an offical diagnosis of AS or an ASD.	35%	[ 38 ]
I am ambidextrous and have an offical diagnosis of AS or an ASD.	11%	[ 12 ]
I am left-handed and have no offical diagnosis of AS or an ASD.	13%	[ 14 ]
I am right-handed and have no offical diagnosis of AS or an ASD.	12%	[ 13 ]
I am ambidextrous and have no offical diagnosis of AS or an ASD.	3%	[ 3 ]
Other handedness/ASD condition not listed: ________________ (Please explain)	3%	[ 3 ]

Total votes : 110

Fnord
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26 Nov 2011, 6:11 pm

Okay ... so another speculative thread linking AS with yet another normal physical feature has been started HERE.

While I am not trying to debunk the idea directly, I did notice that the original post in that thread lacked any citation other than the OP's own left-handedness and AS diagnosis. So, without further ado, would you please look over the attached poll and select the one option that best describes your personal handedness/ASD situation?

Thank you.

PS: For purposes of this poll, "No Official Diagnosis" includes self-diagnosed AS or ASD.

Verdandi
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26 Nov 2011, 6:56 pm

Need to research the genetics bit again - there apparently is a gene for left-handedness? Anyway, more reading to do on that subject.

This study indicates that autistic people may be less likely to be right-handed:

Quote:

The present study reports preliminary data from two unselected samples of carefully diagnosed autistic subjects (children and adults) and an assessment procedure that includes a large sample of items, appropriate for lowerfunctioning autistic subjects, with multiple presentations within and between sessions 1 week apart. The study seeks to determine (1) whether a raised incidence of non-right-handedness exists in these samples (2) if so, what constructs best represent this shift in the handedness distribution (i.e., phenotype and CNS substrate) and (3) whether these handedness phenotypes are associated with different levels of cognitive functioning. The results reveal a dramatic shift away from right-handedness in both autistic samples, due to a raised incidence of two phenotypes, manifest left-handedness and ambiguous handedness. The ambiguously handed, who were postulated to represent substantial bilateral CNS pathology due to early brain injury, were found to have much lower intellectual scores in one of the study samples.

Last edited by Verdandi on 26 Nov 2011, 7:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Fnord
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26 Nov 2011, 7:03 pm

The key word is "may"; as in, "maybe".

Let's see how closely our data correlates with theirs, shall we?

SyphonFilter
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26 Nov 2011, 7:04 pm

Fnord wrote:

This poll would only be valid if nobody lied about their handedness and/or diagnosis.

Fnord
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26 Nov 2011, 7:11 pm

SyphonFilter wrote:

This poll would only be valid if nobody lied about their handedness and/or diagnosis.

Do you have any valid empirical evidence to prove that anyone lied when participating in this poll?

Or are you simply trying to cast doubt on a process that does not follow any scientific method in the first place?

Verdandi
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26 Nov 2011, 7:16 pm

Fnord wrote:

The key word is "may"; as in, "maybe".

Let's see how closely our data correlates with theirs, shall we?

Well, here's some more supporting research:

Quote:

We report an experimental study designed to test the following hypothesis derived from clinical observations: There is an elevated frequency in left-handed individuals and in their families of immune disease, migraine, and developmental learning disorders. In two separate investigations the frequency of these conditions was compared in strongly left-handed subjects and in strongly right-handed controls. In each of the investigations we found markedly higher frequencies of immune disease in the left-handers than in the right-handers. The rate of learning disabilities was also much higher in the left-handers than in the right-handers in both investigations. In a second study the frequency of left-handedness was compared in patients with migraine or immune disease and in general population control subjects free of these disorders. There was a higher frequency of left-handedness in patients with migraine and myasthenia gravis than in controls. We present a brief outline of a hypothesis that may account for an increased frequency of immune disease in left-handers and in their families.

More research:

Quote:

The handedness in three randomly sampled groups of people with learning disabilities consisting of patients with Down's syndrome, epilepsy, and autism were studied using a validated instrument. All subjects were controlled for neurological and other medical disorders. A statistically significant increase in left-handedness and ambiguous handedness compared with the general population was found in all groups. There was no significant difference in the rate of left-handedness between the three groups.

Handedness in autistic children:

Quote:

A test of handedness in a sample of 20 autistic children and 25 normal children revealed marked differences. The frequency of non-right-handedness in normal children was 12%, whereas it was 65% in autistic children. The significance of this difference for the etiology of autism is discussed.

That was a small sample size, but 65% not being right-handed is a bit high even for that. I think the actual incidence is likely to be demonstrated as lower with larger samples.

This study - with 20 autistic children and 20 NT children - found 5% of the NTs (1) and 15% of the autistic children (3) were left-handed. It also found that consistency of handedness was lower for the autistic children.

I think, given the above, that there is a correlation between being autistic and not being right-handed. Given that handedness is a matter of neurology, and autism is a matter of neurology, this should be neither far-fetched nor surprising. Just because the OP relied on anecdotal evidence over statistical evidence doesn't mean he's wrong (but said OP really should have looked for research before asking, because the use of anecdotal evidence to imply statistical goes nowhere).

Verdandi
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26 Nov 2011, 7:17 pm

Fnord wrote:

SyphonFilter wrote:

This poll would only be valid if nobody lied about their handedness and/or diagnosis.

Fnord
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26 Nov 2011, 7:19 pm

Verdandi wrote:

I think, given the above, that there is a correlation between being autistic and not being right-handed. Given that handedness is a matter of neurology, and autism is a matter of neurology, this should be neither far-fetched nor surprising. Just because the OP relied on anecdotal evidence over statistical evidence doesn't mean he's wrong (but said OP really should have looked for research before asking, because the use of anecdotal evidence to imply statistical goes nowhere).

Interesting ... very much so ... I'm still curious to see how our little poll will turn out over time.

Verdandi
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26 Nov 2011, 7:23 pm

Oh, I am too. I suspect most will turn out to be right handed, and there'll be a higher percentage of non-righthandedness than expected, but not hugely so.

Fnord
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26 Nov 2011, 7:35 pm

A test sample of 45 children in the original study may be something less than representative of the general population, just as our sample of X number of WP members may not even be a statistically valid sample of the general Aspie population.

Tuttle
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26 Nov 2011, 7:44 pm

Fnord wrote:

So we just need someone with enough statistics background to see if there are any statistically significant results. Statistically significant doesn't require large sample sizes in all cases.

Fnord
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26 Nov 2011, 7:47 pm

^ True, but what is the margin for error? If it is a significant portion of the sample size, then the conclusions might be drawn into question.

Right now, of those who responded and have AS or an ASD, 27.8% are left-handed. Is this statistically significant with respect to the general population?

Verdandi
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26 Nov 2011, 8:53 pm

Fnord wrote:

Perhaps, but given that the results are consistently that a higher percentage of autistic children are not right-handed than in the general population, I suspect that's likely because autistic people are more likely to not be right-handed.

ValentineWiggin
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26 Nov 2011, 8:54 pm

I'm cross-dominant as far as handedness, although I write and eat with my left, so I listed myself as a southpaw.
Interested in seeing the results.

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26 Nov 2011, 9:50 pm

Perhaps since Aspergers denotes less aggression, there is less conventional hand dominance.

Fnord
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26 Nov 2011, 10:09 pm

So, what do we do if we determine that left-handedness and AS have a causal connection; cut of an Aspie's left hand and see if that cures his AS?

I'm joking.

Put down the knife.

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