How did I get so late so soon? A review of time processing and management in autism

Abstract

While the definition of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) does not include any explicit criteria concerning difficulties of time perception or management, there is growing evidence of atypical temporal perception in individuals with ASD. This review synthesizes the evidence and gaps of the current literature on time processing in ASD. After a brief overview of clinical findings and available assessment tools, we synthetize outcomes of studies evaluating time perception at second and infra-second level, and then, recent literature on the circadian timing system. Findings point that all levels of time processing are atypical in autism (i.e. millisecond, interval and circadian timing). We discuss how time perception abnormalities and ASD core symptoms might intertwine and offer a new perspective for future research on this topic. We advocate the need to systematically assess temporal perception in ASD, and to include these aspects in global functional assessments before intervention. Implementing early intervention techniques to remediate time perception alterations in children with ASD may substantially improve their developmental trajectory.

Keywords: Autism; Circadian rhythm; Remediation; Time assessment; Time processing.