Contraction of distance and duration production in autism spectrum disorder

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) presents certain hallmark features associated with cognitive and social functions, however, the ability to estimate self-generated distance and duration in individuals with ASD are unclear. We compared the performance of 20 ASD individuals with 20 typical developments (TDs) with respect to two tasks: (1) the drawing of a line of a specified distance (10 or 20 cm) and (2) waiting for a specified time (10 or 20 s). We observed that both the line distances and waiting times were substantially shorter in the ASD group than in the TD group. Furthermore, a trait of “attention to detail,” as measured by the Autism-Spectrum Quotient, correlated with some distance and duration productions observed in individuals with ASD. We suggest that attentional functions are related to the contraction of distance and duration in ASD.