Identification of infants at risk for autism spectrum disorder and developmental language delay prior to 12 months
This study demonstrates an efficient means to identify infants at risk for autism spectrum disorder by 9 months of age and serves to alert primary care providers of infants who are vulnerable for autism spectrum disorder before symptoms are discernible by clinical judgment of primary care providers, parental concerns, or by screening questionnaires. (Source: Autism)
Source: Autism - March 18, 2015 Category: Neurology Authors: Samango-Sprouse, C. A., Stapleton, E. J., Aliabadi, F., Graw, R., Vickers, R., Haskell, K., Sadeghin, T., Jameson, R., Parmele, C. L., Gropman, A. L. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research
Sensory experiences of children with autism spectrum disorder: In their own words
This study involved phenomenological interviews with children with autism spectrum disorder (n = 12, ages 4–13) used to gain insights about their sensory experiences. This article addresses two study aims: determining the feasibility of interviewing children with autism spectrum disorder and exploring how they share information about their sensory experiences during the qualitative interview process. With the described methods, children as young as 4 years old and across a broad range of autism severity scores successfully participated in the interviews. The manner with which children shared information about their s...
Source: Autism - March 18, 2015 Category: Neurology Authors: Kirby, A. V., Dickie, V. A., Baranek, G. T. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research
Misinterpretation of facial expressions of emotion in verbal adults with autism spectrum disorder
This study examined facial emotion perception in 45 verbal adults with autism spectrum disorder and 30 age- and gender-matched volunteers without autism spectrum disorder to identify patterns of emotion misinterpretation during face processing that contribute to emotion recognition impairments in autism. Results revealed that difficulty distinguishing emotional from neutral facial expressions characterized much of the emotion perception impairments exhibited by participants with autism spectrum disorder. In particular, adults with autism spectrum disorder uniquely misinterpreted happy faces as neutral, and were significant...
Source: Autism - March 18, 2015 Category: Neurology Authors: Eack, S. M., Mazefsky, C. A., Minshew, N. J. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research
Perceptual inference and autistic traits
Autistic people are better at perceiving details. Major theories explain this in terms of bottom-up sensory mechanisms or in terms of top-down cognitive biases. Recently, it has become possible to link these theories within a common framework. This framework assumes that perception is implicit neural inference, combining sensory evidence with prior perceptual knowledge. Within this framework, perceptual differences may occur because of enhanced precision in how sensory evidence is represented or because sensory evidence is weighted much higher than prior perceptual knowledge. In this preliminary study, we compared these mo...
Source: Autism - March 18, 2015 Category: Neurology Authors: Skewes, J. C., Jegindo, E.-M., Gebauer, L. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research
Pain as a predictor of sleep problems in youth with autism spectrum disorders
This study examined the relationship between pain and sleep problems in a sample of youth with parent-reported autism spectrum disorder (N = 62). Mothers reported on standardized measures of pain and sleep problems. Youth demonstrated atypically high levels of both observed pain and sleep problems. Pain predicted overall sleep disturbance and three specific sleep problems: sleep duration, parasomnias, and sleep-disordered breathing. These specific sleep problems were predicted by specific modalities of nonverbal pain communication (e.g. sleep duration problems were predicted by social communication of pain). Effects were c...
Source: Autism - March 18, 2015 Category: Neurology Authors: Tudor, M. E., Walsh, C. E., Mulder, E. C., Lerner, M. D. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research
Aggression in children with autism spectrum disorders and a clinic-referred comparison group
A gap exists in the literature regarding aggression in autism spectrum disorders and how this behavior compares to other groups. In this multisite study, the Children’s Scale for Hostility and Aggression: Reactive/Proactive and the Aggression subscale of the Child Behavior Checklist were rated for 414 children with autism spectrum disorder (autistic disorder, 69%; pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified, 24%; Asperger’s disorder, 7%) and 243 clinic-referred children without autism spectrum disorder, aged 1–21 years (mean age about 7 years). Participants were not selected for aggressive be...
Source: Autism - March 18, 2015 Category: Neurology Authors: Farmer, C., Butter, E., Mazurek, M. O., Cowan, C., Lainhart, J., Cook, E. H., DeWitt, M. B., Aman, M. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research
Examining the criterion-related validity of the Pervasive Developmental Disorder Behavior Inventory
This study aimed to replicate and extend previous research by investigating the criterion-related validity of the Pervasive Developmental Disorder Behavior Inventory. Data from 40 children were analyzed in relation to other measures. The Pervasive Developmental Disorder Behavior Inventory adaptive scores were moderately correlated with cognitive and adaptive behavior scores as expected. However, no significant correlations were found between the maladaptive and Autism Composite scores of the Pervasive Developmental Disorder Behavior Inventory and the Childhood Autism Rating Scale. Results lead to concerns regarding the val...
Source: Autism - March 18, 2015 Category: Neurology Authors: McMorris, C. A., Perry, A. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research
Pediatric provider's perspectives on the transition to adult health care for youth with autism spectrum disorder: Current strategies and promising new directions
Few youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) nationally report receiving services to help them transition from the pediatric health care system to the adult health care system. For example, only one-fifth (21.1%) of youth with ASD receive any transition planning services. To better understand why the transition from pediatric to adult health care is so difficult, we interviewed pediatric health care providers with extensive experience serving youth with ASD. We gathered information about the strategies and interventions they use to transition their patients with ASD to an adult provider. Five interventions or strategies a...
Source: Autism - March 18, 2015 Category: Neurology Authors: Kuhlthau, K. A., Warfield, M. E., Hurson, J., Delahaye, J., Crossman, M. K. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research
Moving towards a more ecologically valid model of parent-implemented interventions in autism
(Source: Autism)
Source: Autism - March 18, 2015 Category: Neurology Authors: Stahmer, A. C., Pellecchia, M. Tags: Editorial Source Type: research
Lay abstracts
(Source: Autism)
Source: Autism - January 28, 2015 Category: Neurology Tags: Lay abstracts Source Type: research
Anthropomorphic bias found in typically developing children is not found in children with autistic spectrum disorder
The anthropomorphic bias describes the finding that the perceived naturalness of a biological motion decreases as the human-likeness of a computer-animated agent increases. To investigate the anthropomorphic bias in autistic children, human or cartoon characters were presented with biological and artificial motions side by side on a touchscreen. Children were required to touch one that would grow while the other would disappear, implicitly rewarding their choice. Only typically developing controls depicted the expected preference for biological motion when rendered with human, but not cartoon, characters. Despite performin...
Source: Autism - January 28, 2015 Category: Neurology Authors: Chaminade, T., Rosset, D., Da Fonseca, D., Hodgins, J. K., Deruelle, C. Tags: Short Report Source Type: research
Commentary on employment supports research
(Source: Autism)
Source: Autism - January 28, 2015 Category: Neurology Authors: Shattuck, P. T., Roux, A. M. Tags: Commentary Source Type: research
Vocational support approaches in autism spectrum disorder: A synthesis review of the literature
This synthesis-based analysis identifies and reviews studies evaluating vocational resources for adults with autism spectrum disorder. It is based on a larger systematic review of intervention studies in autism spectrum disorder, from which a critical interpretive synthesis was conducted on studies related to vocation and autism spectrum disorder. In total, 10 studies were found that examine employment support for youth and adults with autism spectrum disorder. Two domains of vocational intervention in the literature were found: supported employment including community placement and job coaching and media and technology&nd...
Source: Autism - January 28, 2015 Category: Neurology Authors: Nicholas, D. B., Attridge, M., Zwaigenbaum, L., Clarke, M. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research
Child and setting characteristics affecting the adult talk directed at preschoolers with autism spectrum disorder in the inclusive classroom
Difficulty with social competence is a core deficit of autism spectrum disorder. Research on typically developing children and children with disabilities, in general, suggests the adult talk received in the classroom is related to their social development. The aims of this study were to examine (1) the types and amounts of adult talk children with autism spectrum disorder are exposed to in the preschool classroom and (2) the associations between child characteristics (e.g. language), activity area, and adult talk. Kontos’ Teacher Talk classification was used to code videos approximately 30 min in length of 73 childre...
Source: Autism - January 28, 2015 Category: Neurology Authors: Irvin, D. W., Boyd, B. A., Odom, S. L. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research
Improving transportability of a cognitive-behavioral treatment intervention for anxiety in youth with autism spectrum disorders: Results from a US-Canada collaboration
Anxiety disorders frequently co-occur in youth with autism spectrum disorders. In addition to developing efficacious treatments for anxiety in children with autism spectrum disorders, it is important to examine the transportability of these treatments to real-world settings. Study aims were to (a) train clinicians to deliver Facing Your Fears: Group Therapy for Managing Anxiety in Children with High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorders to fidelity and (b) examine feasibility of the program for novel settings. A secondary aim was to examine preliminary youth treatment outcome. Results indicated that clinicians obtained exc...
Source: Autism - January 28, 2015 Category: Neurology Authors: Reaven, J., Blakeley-Smith, A., Beattie, T. L., Sullivan, A., Moody, E. J., Stern, J. A., Hepburn, S. L., Smith, I. M. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research
