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Brief Report: Impaired Temporal Reproduction Performance in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Although temporal processing has received little attention in the autism literature, there are a number of reasons to suspect that people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may have particular difficulties judging the passage of time. The present study tested a group of 20 high-functioning adults with ASD and 20 matched comparison participants on a temporal reproduction task. The ASD group made reproductions that were significantly further from the base durations than did the comparison group. They were also more variable in their responses. Furthermore the ASD group showed particular difficulties as the base duration...
Source: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders - November 19, 2009 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Martin JS, Poirier M, Bowler DM Tags: J Autism Dev Disord Source Type: journals

The Role of High Level Play as a Predictor Social Functioning in Autism.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Play and social abilities of a group of children diagnosed with high functioning autism were compared to a second group diagnosed with a variety of developmental language disorders (DLD). The children with autism engaged in fewer acts of high level play. The children with autism also had significantly lower social functioning than the DLD group early in the play session; however, these differences were no longer apparent by the end of the play session. In addition, a significant association existed between play and social functioning regardless of diagnosis. This suggests that play may act as a current indicator of soc...
Source: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders - November 17, 2009 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Manning MM, Wainwright LD Tags: J Autism Dev Disord Source Type: journals

A Comprehensive Profile of Decoding and Comprehension in Autism Spectrum Disorders.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
The present study examined intake data from 384 participants with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and a comparison group of 100 participants with dyslexia on nine standardized measures of decoding and comprehension. Although diagnostic groups were based on parental reports and could not be verified independently, we were able to observe significant distinctions between subject groups. Overall findings confirm previous results of a disassociation between decoding and comprehension in ASD. Using a larger sample than previous studies and a greater variety of measures, a pattern of relatively intact decoding skills paired ...
Source: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders - November 14, 2009 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Huemer SV, Mann V Tags: J Autism Dev Disord Source Type: journals

Brief Report: Randomized Test of the Efficacy of Picture Exchange Communication System on Highly Generalized Picture Exchanges in Children with ASD.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
A randomized control trial comparing two social-communication interventions in young children with autism examined far-transfer of the use of picture exchange to communicate. Thirty-six children were randomly assigned to one of two treatment conditions, one of which was the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS). All children had access to picture symbols during assessments. Post-treatment measurement of the number of picture exchanges in a far-transfer, assessment context favored the PECS intervention. These findings were interpreted as support for the hypothesis that the PECS curriculum can successfully teach a...
Source: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders - November 11, 2009 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Yoder PJ, Lieberman RG Tags: J Autism Dev Disord Source Type: journals

Do Gaze Cues in Complex Scenes Capture and Direct the Attention of High Functioning Adolescents with ASD? Evidence from Eye-tracking.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Visual fixation patterns whilst viewing complex photographic scenes containing one person were studied in 24 high-functioning adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and 24 matched typically developing adolescents. Over two different scene presentation durations both groups spent a large, strikingly similar proportion of their viewing time fixating the person's face. However, time-course analyses revealed differences between groups in priorities of attention to the region of the face containing the eyes. It was also noted that although individuals with ASD were rapidly cued by the gaze direction of the person ...
Source: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders - November 11, 2009 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Freeth M, Chapman P, Ropar D, Mitchell P Tags: J Autism Dev Disord Source Type: journals

Parents' Views and Experiences About Complementary and Alternative Medicine Treatments for Their Children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
In this study, 38 Turkish parents of children with ASD were surveyed related with their use of CAM treatments, experiences, and views for each treatment. They mentioned "Vitamins and minerals", "Special Diet", "Sensory Integration", "Other Dietary Supplements", and "Chelation" as five frequently used CAM treatments. Communication, learning, health, and behavior were the main four areas rated as "improved" after five CAM treatments. Negative sides of treatments were listed as being expensive, difficult to apply, or harmful. The parents' views on some treatments have varied from great improvement to worse. Reported improveme...
Source: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders - November 11, 2009 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Senel HG Tags: J Autism Dev Disord Source Type: journals

Brief Report: Driving Hazard Perception in Autism.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This study investigated whether individuals with ASD (autistic spectrum disorders) are able to identify driving hazards, given their difficulties processing social information, Klin et al. (Archives of General Psychiatry 59: 809-816, 2002). Twenty-three adult males with ASD and 21 comparison participants viewed 10 video clips containing driving hazards. In half of the clips the source of the hazard was a visible person (social); in the other half the source was a car (non-social). Participants with ASD identified fewer social hazards than the comparison participants (U = 163.00, N = 44, p < .05) but not non-social. Part...
Source: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders - November 5, 2009 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Sheppard E, Ropar D, Underwood G, van Loon E Tags: J Autism Dev Disord Source Type: journals

Maternal Cortisol Levels and Behavior Problems in Adolescents and Adults with ASD.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Using daily diary methods, mothers of adolescents and adults with ASD (n = 86) were contrasted with a nationally representative comparison group of mothers of similarly-aged unaffected children (n = 171) with respect to the diurnal rhythm of cortisol. Mothers of adolescents and adults with ASD were found to have significantly lower levels of cortisol throughout the day. Within the ASD sample, the son or daughter's history of behavior problems interacted with daily behavior problems to predict the morning rise of the mother's cortisol. A history of elevated behavior problems moderated the effect of behavior problems the...
Source: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders - November 5, 2009 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Seltzer MM, Greenberg JS, Hong J, Smith LE, Almeida DM, Coe C, Stawski RS Tags: J Autism Dev Disord Source Type: journals

Performance of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders on the Dimension-Change Card Sort Task.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Restricted and repetitive behaviors in autism spectrum disorders have been conceptualized to reflect impaired executive functions. In the present study, we investigated the performance of 6-17-year-old children with and without an autism spectrum disorder on a dimension-change card sort task that explicitly indicated sorting rules on every trial. Diagnostic groups did not differ in speed of responses after the first rule switch or in speed or accuracy on blocks with mixed versus single sort rules. However, performance of the ASD group was significantly slower and less accurate overall than the typically-developing grou...
Source: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders - November 5, 2009 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Dichter GS, Radonovich KJ, Turner-Brown LM, Lam KS, Holtzclaw TN, Bodfish JW Tags: J Autism Dev Disord Source Type: journals

Person-Centred (Deictic) Expressions and Autism.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
We employed semi-structured tests to determine whether children with autism produce and comprehend deictic (person-centred) expressions such as 'this'/'that', 'here'/'there' and 'come'/'go', and whether they understand atypical non-verbal gestural deixis in the form of directed head-nods to indicate location. In Study 1, most participants spontaneously produced deictic terms, often in conjunction with pointing. Yet only among children with autism were there participants who referred to a location that was distal to themselves with the terms 'this' or 'here', or made atypical points with unusual precision, often lining-...
Source: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders - November 3, 2009 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Hobson RP, García-Pérez RM, Lee A Tags: J Autism Dev Disord Source Type: journals

Impaired Performance on See-Know Tasks Amongst Children with Autism: Evidence of Specific Difficulties with Theory of Mind or Domain-General Task Factors?Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
It is widely assumed that children with autism have a diminished understanding of the perception-knowledge relationship, as a specific manifestation of a theory of mind (ToM) impairment. However, such a conclusion may not be justified on the basis of previous studies, which have suffered from significant methodological weaknesses. The current study aimed to avoid such problems by adopting more stringent participant matching methods, using a larger sample (N = 80), and implementing a new, more rigorous control task in order to ensure that non-ToM task factors were not confounding results. After excluding children who fa...
Source: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders - November 3, 2009 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Lind SE, Bowler DM Tags: J Autism Dev Disord Source Type: journals

Mediators of the Link Between Autistic Traits and Relationship Satisfaction in a Non-Clinical Sample.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This study investigated possible mechanisms to explain whether and how autistic traits, measured with the AQ, influence relationship satisfaction in a non-clinical sample of 195 married couples. More autistic traits were associated with lower relationship satisfaction for husbands but not for wives. Multiple mediation analyses revealed that husbands' responsiveness towards their wives, trust, and intimacy mediated this link between autistic traits and relationship satisfaction. These findings suggest that autistic traits may hamper men's relationship satisfaction because they impede relationship-specific feelings and behav...
Source: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders - November 3, 2009 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Pollmann MM, Finkenauer C, Begeer S Tags: J Autism Dev Disord Source Type: journals

Emotion Recognition in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: Relations to Eye Gaze and Autonomic State.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia (RSA), heart rate, and accuracy and latency of emotion recognition were evaluated in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and typically developing children while viewing videos of faces slowly transitioning from a neutral expression to one of six basic emotions (e.g., anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, and surprise). Children with ASD were slower in emotion recognition and selectively made more errors in detecting anger. ASD children had lower amplitude RSA and faster heart rate. Within the ASD group, children with higher amplitude RSA recognized emotions faster. Less severe...
Source: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders - November 3, 2009 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Bal E, Harden E, Lamb D, Van Hecke AV, Denver JW, Porges SW Tags: J Autism Dev Disord Source Type: journals

Stimulus Characteristics Affect Humor Processing in Individuals with Asperger Syndrome.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
The present paper aims to investigate whether individuals with Asperger syndrome (AS) show global humor processing deficits or whether humor comprehension and appreciation depends on stimulus characteristics. Non-verbal visual puns, semantic and Theory of Mind cartoons were rated on comprehension, funniness and the punchlines were explained. AS individuals did not differ to the control group in humor appreciation of visual puns. However, they had difficulty understanding and appreciating Theory of Mind cartoons and provided mentalistic explanations less frequently than controls suggesting that humor processing is stron...
Source: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders - October 27, 2009 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Samson AC, Hegenloh M Tags: J Autism Dev Disord Source Type: journals

Mortality in Autism: A Prospective Longitudinal Community-Based Study.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
The purposes of the present study were to establish the mortality rate in a representative group of individuals (n = 120) born in the years 1962-1984, diagnosed with autism/atypical autism in childhood and followed up at young adult age (>/=18 years of age), and examine the risk factors and causes of death. The study group, which constituted a total population sample of children with these diagnoses, were followed up in Swedish registers. Nine (7.5%) of the 120 individuals with autism had died at the time of follow-up, a rate 5.6 times higher than expected. The mortality rate was significantly higher among the femal...
Source: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders - October 16, 2009 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Gillberg C, Billstedt E, Sundh V, Gillberg IC Tags: J Autism Dev Disord Source Type: journals

Psychotropic Medication Use Among Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders Enrolled in a National Registry, 2007-2008.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Patterns of current psychotropic medication use among 5,181 children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) enrolled in a Web-based registry were examined. Overall, 35% used at least one psychotropic medication, most commonly stimulants, neuroleptics, and/or antidepressants. Those who were uninsured or exclusively privately insured were less likely to use >/=3 medications than were those insured by Medicaid. Psychiatrists and neurologists prescribed the majority of psychotropic medications. In multivariate analysis, older age, presence of intellectual disability or psychiatric comorbidity, and residing in a poorer cou...
Source: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders - October 5, 2009 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Rosenberg RE, Mandell DS, Farmer JE, Law JK, Marvin AR, Law PA Tags: J Autism Dev Disord Source Type: journals

Efficacy of Brief Quantitative Measures of Play for Screening for Autism Spectrum Disorders.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This study explored if the ASD group would exhibit less object exploration, diversity of play, and turn-taking than the typically developing group. Older children with ASD performed less turn-taking. On all other measures, IQ accounted for more of the difference between groups than diagnosis. Implications of these results for future research are discussed. PMID: 19798562 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders)
Source: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders - October 1, 2009 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Rodman JL, Gilbert KA, Grove AB, Cunningham M, Levenson S, Wajsblat L Tags: J Autism Dev Disord Source Type: journals

Edward G. Carr 1947-2009.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
PMID: 19784558 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders)
Source: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders - September 25, 2009 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Moskowitz LJ, Adamek L, Tetenbaum SP Tags: J Autism Dev Disord Source Type: journals

Brief Report: Signals Enhance the Suppressive Effects of Noncontingent Reinforcement.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
The effects of noncontingent reinforcement (NCR) schedules on responding were assessed across two parameters: presence of signal and schedule density. Results indicated that signaled NCR schedules were correlated with greater overall reductions in responding and quicker reductions relative to NCR schedules without a signal. The clinical significance of these findings is discussed. PMID: 19777331 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders)
Source: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders - September 23, 2009 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Ringdahl JE, Call NA, Christensen T, Boelter EW Tags: J Autism Dev Disord Source Type: journals

Further Empirical Data on the Psychoeducational Profile-Revised (PEP-R): Reliability and Validation with the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
The PEP-R (psychoeducational profile revised) is an instrument that has been used in many countries to assess abilities and formulate treatment programs for children with autism and related developmental disorders. To the end to provide further information on the PEP-R's psychometric properties, a large sample (N = 137) of children presenting Autistic Disorder symptoms under the age of 12 years, including low-functioning individuals, was examined. Results yielded data of interest especially in terms of: Cronbach's alpha, interrater reliability, and validation with the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales. These findings h...
Source: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders - September 23, 2009 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Villa S, Micheli E, Villa L, Pastore V, Crippa A, Molteni M Tags: J Autism Dev Disord Source Type: journals

Brief Report: Self-defining and Everyday Autobiographical Memories in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Autobiographical memory impairments in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have been attributed to a failure in using the self as an effective memory organisational system. To explore this hypothesis, we compared self-defining and everyday memories in adults with and without ASD. Results demonstrated that both groups were able to distinguish between self-defining and everyday memories, although the ASD group generated fewer specific memories overall. Despite qualitative similarities between the narratives of the two groups, the adults with ASD extracted less meaning from their narratives. Difficulties in eliciting meaning ...
Source: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders - September 23, 2009 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Crane L, Goddard L, Pring L Tags: J Autism Dev Disord Source Type: journals

The Medical Home for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: Parent and Pediatrician Perspectives.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This qualitative study examines differences between perceptions of parents and pediatricians regarding the needs of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) and their families within the medical home. Two separate focus groups of parents of children with ASDs and pediatricians were conducted. Parents and pediatricians identify unmet needs within medical homes of children with ASDs. Parents perceived that physicians did not act early upon their concerns about development, and that care is less comprehensive, coordinated and family-centered than desired. Pediatricians desire to improve services but cite lack of tim...
Source: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders - September 18, 2009 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Carbone PS, Behl DD, Azor V, Murphy NA Tags: J Autism Dev Disord Source Type: journals

Brief Report: Representational Momentum for Dynamic Facial Expressions in Pervasive Developmental Disorder.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
We presented dynamic and static emotional (fearful and happy) expressions. Participants were asked to match a changeable emotional face display with the last presented image. The results showed that both groups perceived the last image of dynamic facial expression to be more emotionally exaggerated than the static facial expression. This finding suggests that individuals with PDD have an intact perceptual mechanism for processing dynamic information in another individual's face. PMID: 19763805 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders)
Source: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders - September 10, 2009 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Uono S, Sato W, Toichi M Tags: J Autism Dev Disord Source Type: journals

Enhancing Emotion Recognition in Children with Autism Spectrum Conditions: An Intervention Using Animated Vehicles with Real Emotional Faces.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This study evaluated The Transporters, an animated series designed to enhance emotion comprehension in children with autism spectrum conditions (ASC). n = 20 children with ASC (aged 4-7) watched The Transporters everyday for 4 weeks. Participants were tested before and after intervention on emotional vocabulary and emotion recognition at three levels of generalization. Two matched control groups of children (ASC group, n = 18 and typically developing group, n = 18) were also assessed twice without any intervention. The intervention group improved significantly more than the clinical control group on all task levels, perfor...
Source: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders - September 10, 2009 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Golan O, Ashwin E, Granader Y, McClintock S, Day K, Leggett V, Baron-Cohen S Tags: J Autism Dev Disord Source Type: journals

Investigation of Mentalizing and Visuospatial Perspective Taking for Self and Other in Asperger Syndrome.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Mentalizing refers to making inferences about other people's mental states, whereas visuospatial perspective taking refers to inferring other people's viewpoints. Both abilities seem vital for social functioning; yet, their exact relationship is unclear. We directly compared mentalizing and visuospatial perspective taking in nineteen adults with Asperger syndrome (AS) and fifteen control participants with the same stimulus material. Stimuli depicted virtual characters surrounded by two different objects. Virtual characters expressed a preference for one of the objects indicated by facial expression, gestures or head/bo...
Source: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders - September 9, 2009 Category: Psychiatry Authors: David N, Aumann C, Bewernick BH, Santos NS, Lehnhardt FG, Vogeley K Tags: J Autism Dev Disord Source Type: journals

Theory of Mind in Adults with HFA and Asperger Syndrome.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Theory of mind was assessed in 32 adults with HFA, 29 adults with Asperger syndrome and 32 neurotypical adults. The HFA and Asperger syndrome groups were impaired in performance of the Strange stories test and the Faux-pas test and reported more theory of mind problems than the neurotypical adults. The three groups did not differ in performance of the Eyes test. Furthermore, correlations between the Eyes test and the three other theory of mind tests were low or absent. Therefore one can question the ability of the Eyes test to measure theory of mind. Of all theory of mind tests used, the self-report questionnaire had t...
Source: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders - September 9, 2009 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Spek AA, Scholte EM, Van Berckelaer-Onnes IA Tags: J Autism Dev Disord Source Type: journals

Parent PDD Behavior Inventory Profiles of Young Children Classified According to Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule-Generic and Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised Criteria.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Quantitative variations in score profiles from the parent version of the PDD Behavior Inventory (PDDBI) were examined in young Autism and PDD-NOS groups defined by ADOS-G and ADI-R criteria, relative to a not spectrum (NS) group of similar age. Both the Autism and the PDD-NOS group profiles markedly differed from the NS group. The most sensitive measures of group differences were those domain and composite scores that assessed social communication competence, as well as the overall Autism Composite score. Sensitivity, specificity and positive and negative predictability measures were quite good for these measures. It w...
Source: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders - August 31, 2009 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Cohen IL, Gomez TR, Gonzalez MG, Lennon EM, Karmel BZ, Gardner JM Tags: J Autism Dev Disord Source Type: journals

Antenatal Ultrasound and Risk of Autism Spectrum Disorders.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This study indicates that antenatal U/S is unlikely to increase the risk of ASD, although studies examining ASD subgroups remain to be conducted. PMID: 19728066 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders)
Source: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders - August 31, 2009 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Grether JK, Li SX, Yoshida CK, Croen LA Tags: J Autism Dev Disord Source Type: journals

Validity of Childhood Autism in the Danish Psychiatric Central Register: Findings from a Cohort Sample Born 1990-1999.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
The purpose of this study was to assess the validity of the diagnosis of childhood autism in the Danish Psychiatric Central Register (DPCR) by reviewing medical records from 499 of 504 total children with childhood autism born 1990-1999. Based on review of abstracted behaviors recorded in case records from child psychiatric hospitals, case status determination was performed using a standardized coding scheme. In 499 children diagnosed with childhood autism in the DPCR, the diagnosis could be confirmed in 469 children (94%). Of the 30 non-confirmed cases, five were classified by the reviewers as non-autistic cases and t...
Source: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders - August 31, 2009 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Lauritsen MB, Jørgensen M, Madsen KM, Lemcke S, Toft S, Grove J, Schendel DE, Thorsen P Tags: J Autism Dev Disord Source Type: journals

The Co-Regulation of Emotions Between Mothers and their Children with Autism.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Thirty-four toddlers with autism and their mothers participated in an early intervention targeting joint engagement. Across the 24 intervention sessions, any significant distress episode in the child was coded for emotion regulation outcomes including child negativity, child emotion self-regulation, and mother emotion co-regulation. Results revealed that emotion regulation strategies by both mother and child were employed during distress episodes. An effect of intervention was found such that children decreased their expression of negativity across the intervention and mothers increased their emotional and motivational...
Source: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders - August 27, 2009 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Gulsrud AC, Jahromi LB, Kasari C Tags: J Autism Dev Disord Source Type: journals

BASC-2 PRS Profiles for Students with High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorders.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
BASC-2 PRS profiles of 62 children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorders (HFASDs) were compared with those of 62 typically-developing children matched by age, gender, and ethnicity. Results indicated that, except for the Somatization, Conduct Problems, and Aggression scales, significant differences were found between the HFASD and typically-developing groups on all PRS scores. Mean HFASD scores were in the clinically significant range on the Behavioral Symptoms Index, Atypicality, Withdrawal, and Developmental Social Disorders scales. At-risk range HFASD means were obtained on the Adaptive Skills composite, a...
Source: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders - August 24, 2009 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Volker MA, Lopata C, Smerbeck AM, Knoll VA, Thomeer ML, Toomey JA, Rodgers JD Tags: J Autism Dev Disord Source Type: journals

Brief Report: Are Children with Autism Proficient Word Learners?Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This study explored word learning in children with autism (CWA), by examining it in ostensive and non-ostensive contexts, tested through both comprehension and elicited production. Novel nouns were taught to 17 CWA and 13 children with moderate learning difficulties (MLD) using an adapted version of Tomasello and Barton's (Developmental Psychology, 30: 639-650, 1994) search paradigm. In elicited production for words learnt within an ostensive context, CWA performed at a significantly higher level than MLD children. This is contrary to prior findings and suggests that word learning abilities in CWA have been underestimated....
Source: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders - August 17, 2009 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Franken TE, Lewis C, Malone SA Tags: J Autism Dev Disord Source Type: journals

Fundamental Movement Skills and Autism Spectrum Disorders.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Delays and deficits may both contribute to atypical development of movement skills by children with ASD. Fundamental movement skills of 25 children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) (ages 9-12 years) were compared to three typically developing groups using the Test of Gross Motor Development (TGMD-2). The group matched on chronological age performed significantly better on the TGMD-2. Another comparison group matched on movement skill demonstrated children with ASD perform similarly to children approximately half their age. Comparisons to a third group matched on mental age equivalence revealed the movement skills o...
Source: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders - August 14, 2009 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Staples KL, Reid G Tags: J Autism Dev Disord Source Type: journals

Loneliness and Social Support in Adolescent Boys with Autism Spectrum Disorders.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Loneliness and perceived social support were examined in 39 adolescent boys with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) by means of a self-labeling loneliness measure, the UCLA Loneliness Scale (third version), and the Social Support Scale for Children. Twenty-one percent of the boys with ASD described themselves as often or always feeling lonely. Compared with 199 boys from regular schools in a national probability study, ASD was strongly associated with often or always feeling lonely (OR: 7.08, p < .0005), as well as with a higher degree of loneliness (F(1,229) = 11.1, p < .005). Perceived social support from classmat...
Source: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders - August 14, 2009 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Lasgaard M, Nielsen A, Eriksen ME, Goossens L Tags: J Autism Dev Disord Source Type: journals

The Sequential Relationship Between Parent Attentional Cues and Sustained Attention to Objects in Young Children with Autism.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This study examined the sequential relationship between parent attentional cues and sustained attention to objects in young children with autism during a 20 min free-play interaction session. Twenty-five parent-child dyads with a preschool child with autism participated. Results indicated that (a) parent attentional cues that maintained the child's focus of attention were more likely to support child sustained object attention than parent attentional cues that redirected the child from his or her focus of attention or introduced a new focus of attention (d = 4.46), and (b) parent attentional cues that included three or mor...
Source: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders - August 14, 2009 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Brigham NB, Yoder PJ, Jarzynka MA, Tapp J Tags: J Autism Dev Disord Source Type: journals

Multiple List Learning in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Parallels with Frontal Lobe Damage or Further Evidence of Diminished Relational Processing?Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
To test the effects of providing relational cues at encoding and/or retrieval on multi-trial, multi-list free recall in adults with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder (ASD), 16 adults with ASD and 16 matched typical adults learned a first followed by a second categorised list of 24 words. Category labels were provided at encoding, retrieval, both or not at all. Both groups showed enhanced recall when labels were available during encoding or throughout the task. ASD individuals showed reduced recall of the second list and reduced clustering. Clustering and recall were correlated in both groups, which also showed ...
Source: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders - August 12, 2009 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Bowler DM, Gaigg SB, Gardiner JM Tags: J Autism Dev Disord Source Type: journals

Bullying Among Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorders: Prevalence and Perception.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This study examined: (a) the prevalence of bullying and victimization among adolescents with ASD, (b) whether they correctly perceived bullying and victimization, and (c) whether Theory of Mind (ToM) and bullying involvement were related to this perception. Data were collected among 230 adolescents with ASD attending special education schools. We found prevalence rates of bullying and victimization between 6 and 46%, with teachers reporting significantly higher rates than peers. Furthermore, adolescents who scored high on teacher- and self-reported victimization were more likely to misinterpret non-bullying situations as b...
Source: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders - August 7, 2009 Category: Psychiatry Authors: van Roekel E, Scholte RH, Didden R Tags: J Autism Dev Disord Source Type: journals

Daily Experiences Among Mothers of Adolescents and Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
In the present study, 96 co-residing mothers of adolescents and adults with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) participated in an 8-day diary study and reported on their daily experiences. In comparison with a nationally representative sample of mothers of children without disabilities, mothers of adolescent and adult children with ASD spent significantly more time providing childcare and doing chores, and less time in leisure activities. Fatigue, arguments, avoided arguments, and stressful events were also more common among mothers of individuals with ASD. However, mothers of individuals with ASD reported similar level...
Source: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders - August 4, 2009 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Smith LE, Hong J, Seltzer MM, Greenberg JS, Almeida DM, Bishop SL Tags: J Autism Dev Disord Source Type: journals

Social Skills Interventions for Individuals with Autism: Evaluation for Evidence-Based Practices within a Best Evidence Synthesis Framework.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This paper presents a best evidence synthesis of interventions to increase social behavior for individuals with autism. Sixty-six studies published in peer-reviewed journals between 2001 and July 2008 with 513 participants were included. The results are presented by the age of the individual receiving intervention and by delivery agent of intervention. The findings suggest there is much empirical evidence supporting many different treatments for the social deficits of individuals with autism. Using the criteria of evidence-based practice proposed by Reichow et al. (Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 38:1311...
Source: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders - August 4, 2009 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Reichow B, Volkmar FR Tags: J Autism Dev Disord Source Type: journals

Responses to Nonverbal Behaviour of Dynamic Virtual Characters in High-Functioning Autism.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
In conclusion, disturbances of HFA subjects in experiencing involvement in social encounters with virtual characters displaying nonverbal behaviour do not extend to all kinds of feelings, suggesting different pathways in the ascription of involvement in social situations. PMID: 19653087 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders)
Source: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders - August 3, 2009 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Schwartz C, Bente G, Gawronski A, Schilbach L, Vogeley K Tags: J Autism Dev Disord Source Type: journals

Brief Report: Perception and Lateralization of Spoken Emotion by Youths with High-Functioning Forms of Autism.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
The perception and the cerebral lateralization of spoken emotions were investigated in children and adolescents with high-functioning forms of autism (HFFA), and age-matched typically developing controls (TDC). A dichotic listening task using nonsense passages was used to investigate the recognition of four emotions: happiness, sadness, anger, and neutrality. The participants with HFFA did not differ significantly in overall performance from the TDC, suggesting that the pervasive difficulty in processing emotions is not uniformly present in emotions expressed verbally. Both groups demonstrated a left-ear effect for the...
Source: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders - August 3, 2009 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Baker KF, Montgomery AA, Abramson R Tags: J Autism Dev Disord Source Type: journals

ABA Versus TEACCH: The Case for Defining and Validating Comprehensive Treatment Models in Autism.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
The authors analyzed the results of a social validation survey to determine if autism service providers including special education teachers, parents, and administrators demonstrate a preference for the intervention components of Applied Behavior Analysis or Training and Education of Autistic and other Communication Handicapped Children. They also investigated the comprehensiveness of these treatment models for use in public school programs. The findings indicate no clear preference for either model, but a significantly higher level of social validity for components inherent in both approaches. The authors discuss the ...
Source: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders - July 31, 2009 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Callahan K, Shukla-Mehta S, Magee S, Wie M Tags: J Autism Dev Disord Source Type: journals

Sensory Processing Subtypes in Autism: Association with Adaptive Behavior.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This study examined specific patterns of sensory processing in 54 children with autistic disorder and their association with adaptive behavior. Model-based cluster analysis revealed three distinct sensory processing subtypes in autism. These subtypes were differentiated by taste and smell sensitivity and movement-related sensory behavior. Further, sensory processing subtypes predicted communication competence and maladaptive behavior. The findings of this study lay the foundation for the generation of more specific hypotheses regarding the mechanisms of sensory processing dysfunction in autism, and support the continued us...
Source: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders - July 30, 2009 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Lane AE, Young RL, Baker AE, Angley MT Tags: J Autism Dev Disord Source Type: journals

Resolution of the Diagnosis Among Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Associations with Child and Parent Characteristics.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Resolution with the diagnosis of one's child involves coming to terms with and accepting the diagnosis and its implications. Parental resolution with the diagnosis was examined among 61 mothers and 60 fathers of 61 children with autism spectrum disorders aged 2-17 years. We investigated resolution rates and subtypes, and associations between resolution status and child characteristics (CA, gender, MA, adaptive behavior, diagnosis type, time elapsed since diagnosis) and parent characteristics (age, gender, IQ, broad autism phenotype index, special needs' impact on family). Nearly half of the parents were classified as r...
Source: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders - July 30, 2009 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Milshtein S, Yirmiya N, Oppenheim D, Koren-Karie N, Levi S Tags: J Autism Dev Disord Source Type: journals

Unimpaired Perception of Social and Physical Causality, but Impaired Perception of Animacy in High Functioning Children with Autism.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
We investigated perception of social and physical causality and animacy in simple motion events, for high-functioning children with autism (CA = 13, VMA = 9.6). Children matched 14 different animations to pictures showing physical, social or non-causality. In contrast to previous work, children with autism performed at a high level similar to VMA-matched controls, recognizing physical causality in launch and social causality in reaction events. The launch deficit previously found in younger children with autism, possibly related to attentional/verbal difficulties, is apparently overcome with age. Some events involved s...
Source: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders - July 27, 2009 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Congiu S, Schlottmann A, Ray E Tags: J Autism Dev Disord Source Type: journals

Alteration of Attentional Blink in High Functioning Autism: A Pilot Study.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Autism is characterized by deficits in attention. However, no study has investigated the dynamics of attentional processes in autistic patients yet. The attentional blink (AB) paradigm provides information about the temporal dynamics of attention in particular about the allocation and the duration of an attentional episode. We compared 11 high functioning autistic patients with 15 control participants on a classical AB task. Autistic patients exhibited a deficit in rapidly allocated attentional resources. Further investigations such as coupling AB evaluation with neuroimaging data and/or increasing the size of groups, ...
Source: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders - July 27, 2009 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Amirault M, Etchegoyhen K, Delord S, Mendizabal S, Kraushaar C, Hesling I, Allard M, Bouvard M, Mayo W Tags: J Autism Dev Disord Source Type: journals

Response to Book Review: Dietary Interventions in Autism Spectrum Disorders: Why They Work When They do, Why They Don't When They Don't : Jessica Kingsley Publishers, Philadelphia, 2009, 272 pp, ISBN 9781843109396.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
PMID: 19633938 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders)
Source: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders - July 24, 2009 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Aitken K Tags: J Autism Dev Disord Source Type: journals

Evaluation of Comprehensive Treatment Models for Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
Multiple dimensions of comprehensive treatment models (CTMs) for learners with autism were evaluated in this study. The purpose of the study was to provide evaluative information upon which service providers, family members, and researchers could make decisions about model adoption, selection for a family member, or future research. Thirty CTMs were identified, with the majority based on an applied behavior analysis framework, although a substantial minority followed a developmental or relationship-based model. As a group, CTMs were strongest in the operationalization of their models, although relatively weaker in meas...
Source: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders - July 24, 2009 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Odom SL, Boyd BA, Hall LJ, Hume K Tags: J Autism Dev Disord Source Type: journals

Clinical Characteristics Associated with Language Regression for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
We investigated correlates of language regression for children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Using archival data, children diagnosed with ASD (N = 114, M age = 41.4 months) were divided into four groups based on language development (i.e., regression, plateau, general delay, no delay) and compared on developmental, adaptive behavior, symptom severity, and behavioral adjustment variables. Few overall differences emerged between groups, including similar non-language developmental history, equal risk for seizure disorder, and comparable behavioral adjustment. Groups did not differ with respect to autism...
Source: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders - July 24, 2009 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Jones LA, Campbell JM Tags: J Autism Dev Disord Source Type: journals

Impaired Competence for Pretense in Children with Autism: Exploring Potential Cognitive Predictors.Email this article to a colleague. Save this article to My Clippings. Discuss or comment on this article.
This study aimed to empirically test each of these theories. Children with autism (n = 60) were significantly impaired relative to controls (n = 65) when interpreting pretense, thereby supporting a competence deficit hypothesis. They also showed impaired mentalising and response inhibition, but superior local processing indicating weak central coherence. Regression analyses revealed that mentalising significantly and independently predicted pretense. The results are interpreted as supporting the impaired mentalising theory and evidence against competing theories invoking impaired response inhibition or a local processing b...
Source: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders - July 24, 2009 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Bigham S Tags: J Autism Dev Disord Source Type: journals