scholarly journals Sensory and repetitive behaviors among children with autism spectrum disorder at home

Autism ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 142-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne V Kirby ◽  
Brian A Boyd ◽  
Kathryn L Williams ◽  
Richard A Faldowski ◽  
Grace T Baranek

Atypical sensory and repetitive behaviors are defining features of autism spectrum disorder and are thought to be influenced by environmental factors; however, there is a lack of naturalistic research exploring contexts surrounding these behaviors. This study involved video recording observations of 32 children with autism spectrum disorder (2–12 years of age) engaging in sensory and repetitive behaviors during home activities. Behavioral coding was used to determine what activity contexts, sensory modalities, and stimulus characteristics were associated with specific behavior types: hyperresponsive, hyporesponsive, sensory seeking, and repetitive/stereotypic. Results indicated that hyperresponsive behaviors were most associated with activities of daily living and family-initiated stimuli, whereas sensory seeking behaviors were associated with free play activities and child-initiated stimuli. Behaviors associated with multiple sensory modalities simultaneously were common, emphasizing the multi-sensory nature of children’s behaviors in natural contexts. Implications for future research more explicitly considering context are discussed.

Children ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 96
Author(s):  
Martina Siracusano ◽  
Eugenia Segatori ◽  
Assia Riccioni ◽  
Leonardo Emberti Gialloreti ◽  
Paolo Curatolo ◽  
...  

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their families have represented a fragile population on which the extreme circumstances of the COVID-19 outbreak may have doubly impaired. Interruption of therapeutical interventions delivered in-person and routine disruption constituted some of the main challenges they had to face. This study investigated the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on adaptive functioning, behavioral problems, and repetitive behaviors of children with ASD. In a sample of 85 Italian ASD children (mean age 7 years old; 68 males, 17 females), through a comparison with a baseline evaluation performed during the months preceding COVID-19, we evaluated whether after the compulsory home confinement any improvement or worsening was reported by parents of ASD individuals using standardized instruments (Adaptive Behavior Assessment System (Second Edition), Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist, Repetitive Behavior Scale-Revised). No significant worsening in the adaptive functioning, problematic, and repetitive behaviors emerged after the compulsory home confinement. Within the schooler children, clinical stability was found in reference to both adaptive skills and behavioral aspects, whereas within preschoolers, a significant improvement in adaptive skills emerged and was related to the subsistence of web-delivered intervention, parental work continuance, and online support during the lockdown.


Author(s):  
OJS Admin

Sensory issues and Repetitive Behaviors are the key features of Autism Disorder Syndrome (ASD). This is a neurodevelopmental condition marked by social communication impairments and the occurrence ofrestricted and repeated behavioral habits and desires, including irregular responses to sensory stimuli.


2020 ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Leanne K. Elliott ◽  
Jonathan A. Weiss ◽  
Meghann Lloyd

Early motor skill interventions have been shown to improve the motor skill proficiency of children with autism spectrum disorder; however, little is known about the secondary effects associated with these types of interventions (e.g., influence on behavior, social skills, family dynamics). The purpose of this qualitative study was to (a) investigate parents’ perceptions of the child-level benefits associated with a fundamental motor skill intervention for their 4-year-olds with autism spectrum disorder and (b) explore how child-level benefits influenced the family unit. Eight parents (N = 8) were interviewed (semistructured) about their experiences with the intervention for their child(ren); the study was grounded in phenomenology. Five main child-level benefits emerged, including improvements with (a) motor skills, (b) social skills, (c) listening skills, (d) turn-taking skills, and (e) transition skills. The child-level benefits then extended to family members in a number of ways (e.g., more positive sibling interactions). These findings highlight several important secondary effects that should be investigated in future research.


2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (13) ◽  
pp. 3285 ◽  
Author(s):  
Khushmol K. Dhaliwal ◽  
Camila E. Orsso ◽  
Caroline Richard ◽  
Andrea M. Haqq ◽  
Lonnie Zwaigenbaum

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder characterized by social and communication deficits and repetitive behaviors. Children with ASD are also at a higher risk for developing overweight or obesity than children with typical development (TD). Childhood obesity has been associated with adverse health outcomes, including insulin resistance, diabetes, heart disease, and certain cancers. Importantly some key factors that play a mediating role in these higher rates of obesity include lifestyle factors and biological influences, as well as secondary comorbidities and medications. This review summarizes current knowledge about behavioral and lifestyle factors that could contribute to unhealthy weight gain in children with ASD, as well as the current state of knowledge of emerging risk factors such as the possible influence of sleep problems, the gut microbiome, endocrine influences and maternal metabolic disorders. We also discuss some of the clinical implications of these risk factors and areas for future research.


2020 ◽  
Vol 125 (4) ◽  
pp. 287-303 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kacie Dunham ◽  
Jacob I. Feldman ◽  
Yupeng Liu ◽  
Margaret Cassidy ◽  
Julie G. Conrad ◽  
...  

Abstract Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) display differences in multisensory function as quantified by several different measures. This study estimated the stability of variables derived from commonly used measures of multisensory function in school-aged children with ASD. Participants completed: a simultaneity judgment task for audiovisual speech, tasks designed to elicit the McGurk effect, listening-in-noise tasks, electroencephalographic recordings, and eye-tracking tasks. Results indicate the stability of indices derived from tasks tapping multisensory processing is variable. These findings have important implications for measurement in future research. Averaging scores across repeated observations will often be required to obtain acceptably stable estimates and, thus, to increase the likelihood of detecting effects of interest, as it relates to multisensory processing in children with ASD.


2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ping-Chen Chan ◽  
Cheng-Te Chen ◽  
Hua Feng ◽  
Ya-Chen Lee ◽  
Kuan-Lin Chen

Objective/Background This study aimed to examine the relationships of theory of mind (ToM) to both pretend play and playfulness in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Methods Twenty children with ASD aged between 3 years and 7.11 years were assessed with the ToM test, and then placed in a free play condition and a pretend play condition to assess pretend play and playfulness with the Child-Initiated Pretend Play Assessment and Test of Playfulness, respectively. In addition, the children's symptom severities of ASD and verbal abilities were also assessed with the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) and Receptive and Expressive Vocabulary Test—second edition, respectively. Results The results of the regression analysis confirmed that ToM significantly predicted pretend play variables, namely, Number of Object Substitutions (R2 = .158, p = .002) and Number of Imitated Actions (R2 = .175, p = .001), but not playfulness. The CARS score was a significant predictor of the Percentage of Elaborate Pretend Play Actions of pretend play (R2 = .075, p = .034), as well as the internal control (R2 = .125, p = .006) and framing (R2 = .071, p = .039) variables of playfulness. Conclusion The findings support the idea that children with ASD who have better ToM might be able to develop better pretend play, but not better playfulness, which might be more strongly related to their autistic severity.


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