scholarly journals Observational and Reported Measures of Language and Pragmatics in Young People with Autism: A Comparison of Respondent Data and Gender Profiles

2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 812-830 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra Sturrock ◽  
Antonia Marsden ◽  
Catherine Adams ◽  
Jenny Freed
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Multiple Informants ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Accurate Identification ◽  
Clinical Observations ◽  
Self Reports ◽  
And Performance ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Performance Intelligence Quotient ◽  
Better Than

AbstractFemale children with autism spectrum disorder (FwASD) and performance intelligence quotient (PIQ) over 70 were compared with male children with ASD (MwASD) and typically developing (TD) controls (age 8–11 years) using a range of language and pragmatic measures. Functional ability was assessed using clinical observations and parent, teacher and self-reports. Results were compared between measures, and with direct assessments of language and pragmatics, in order to identify potential biases. This study found that FwASD performed better than MwASD but worse than TD controls on clinical observations of pragmatic ability. FwASD also performed worst overall on a parental measure of emotions. Additionally, there were patterns of differences between clinician, parent, teacher and self- reports and direct assessments, which indicate the need for assessment data to be collected from multiple informants. Findings also have implications for the accurate identification of ASD in females and appropriate provision of support.

Examining the Role of Language in Play Among Children With and Without Developmental Disabilities

2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 795-806 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth J. Short ◽  
Rachael Cooper Schindler ◽  
Rita Obeid ◽  
Maia M. Noeder ◽  
Laura E. Hlavaty ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Developmental Disabilities ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Free Play ◽  
Group Differences ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Play Skills ◽  
Critical Aspect ◽  
Hyperactivity Disorder ◽  
Better Than

Purpose Play is a critical aspect of children's development, and researchers have long argued that symbolic deficits in play may be diagnostic of developmental disabilities. This study examined whether deficits in play emerge as a function of developmental disabilities and whether our perceptions of play are colored by differences in language and behavioral presentations. Method Ninety-three children participated in this study (typically developing [TD]; n = 23, developmental language disorders [DLD]; n = 24, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder [ADHD]; n = 26, and autism spectrum disorder [ASD]; n = 20). Children were videotaped engaging in free-play. Children's symbolic play (imagination, organization, elaboration, and comfort) was scored under conditions of both audible language and no audible language to assess diagnostic group differences in play and whether audible language impacted raters' perception of play. Results Significant differences in play were evident across diagnostic groups. The presence of language did not alter play ratings for the TD group, but differences were found among the other diagnostic groups. When language was audible, children with DLD and ASD (but not ADHD) were scored poorly on play compared to their TD peers. When language was not audible, children with DLD were perceived to play better than when language was audible. Conversely, children with ADHD showed organizational deficits when language was not available to support their play. Finally, children with ASD demonstrated poor play performance regardless of whether language was audible or not. Conclusions Language affects our understanding of play skills in some young children. Parents, researchers, and clinicians must be careful not to underestimate or overestimate play based on language presentation. Differential skills in language have the potential to unduly influence our perceptions of play for children with developmental disabilities.

scholarly journals Autism Detection in Children by Combined Use of Gaze Preference and the M-CHAT-R in a Resource-Scarce Setting

2021 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 994-1006
Author(s):  
Kelly Jensen ◽  
◽  
Sassan Noazin ◽  
Leandra Bitterfeld ◽  
Andrea Carcelen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Early Screening ◽  
Resource Limited Settings ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Resource Limited ◽  
Combined Use ◽  
Better Than

AbstractMost children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), in resource-limited settings (RLS), are diagnosed after the age of four. Our work confirmed and extended results of Pierce that eye tracking could discriminate between typically developing (TD) children and those with ASD. We demonstrated the initial 15 s was at least as discriminating as the entire video. We evaluated the GP-MCHAT-R, which combines the first 15 s of manually-coded gaze preference (GP) video with M-CHAT-R results on 73 TD children and 28 children with ASD, 36–99 months of age. The GP-MCHAT-R (AUC = 0.89 (95%CI: 0.82–0.95)), performed significantly better than the MCHAT-R (AUC = 0.78 (95%CI: 0.71–0.85)) and gaze preference (AUC = 0.76 (95%CI: 0.64–0.88)) alone. This tool may enable early screening for ASD in RLS.

Same music, different emotions: assessing emotions and EEG correlates of music perception in children with ASD and typically developing peers

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 85-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Galina Portnova ◽  
Alexandra Maslennikova ◽  
Anton Varlamov
Keyword(s):  
Music Perception ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Emotional Reactions ◽  
Cortical Activation ◽  
Emotional States ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Self Reports

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to assess emotional response to music and its EEG correlates in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Design/methodology/approach Six musical fragments eliciting emotional states of calmness/serenity, sadness and anxiety/fear were presented to children with ASD (n=21, aged 5–9) and typically developing (TD) peers (n=21), while 19-channel EEG was recorded. Emotion self-reports were assessed using visual analogous scales. Findings Children with ASD assessed most music fragments similarly to their TD peers, with likelihood of EEG oscillatory patterns closely corresponding to emotion self-reports. Somewhat contrary to the expectations, a major difference was observed for one fragment only, which was identified as sad by TD children and adult neurotypical raters, but found “angry and frightening” by children with ASD, with EEG oscillatory response confirming greater cortical activation, particularly for the right hemisphere. Research limitations/implications The data suggest that children with ASD may have emotional reactions to music either similar or highly aberrant compared to TD peers, rather than having general difficulties in assessing emotions. The data should be confirmed by further studies, ideally involving high functioning adult autists. Practical implications The findings may increase the understanding of autists’ difficulties in perceiving prosodic nuances and reading emotional cues. The results can be taken into consideration when developing music-based interventions. Originality/value The findings show that music may be perceived by children with ASD in a unique way, which may be difficult to predict by neurotypical raters.

Tract-Based Spatial Statistics Reveal Altered Relationship Between Non-verbal Reasoning Abilities and White Matter Integrity in Autism Spectrum Disorder

2013 ◽  
Vol 19 (6) ◽  
pp. 723-728 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy M. Ellmore ◽  
Hai Li ◽  
Zhong Xue ◽  
Stephen T.C. Wong ◽  
Richard E. Frye
Keyword(s):  
White Matter ◽  
Diffusion Tensor ◽  
Brain Connectivity ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
White Matter Integrity ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Reasoning Abilities ◽  
Intellectual Abilities ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractAltered brain connectivity accompanies autism spectrum disorders (ASD), but the relationship between connectivity and intellectual abilities, which often differs within ASD, and between ASD and typically developing (TD) children, is not understood. Here, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) was used to explore the relationship between white matter integrity and non-verbal intelligence quotients (IQ) in children with ASD and in age- and gender-matched TD children. Tract-based spatial statistical analyses (TBSS) of DTI fractional anisotropy (FA) revealed altered relationships between white matter and IQ. Different relationships were found using within-group analyses, where regions of significant (p< .05, corrected) correlations in ASD overlapped minimally with regions of FA-IQ correlations in TD subjects. An additional between-groups analysis revealed significant correlation differences in widespread cortical and subcortical areas. These preliminary findings suggest altered brain connectivity may underlie some differences in intellectual abilities of ASD, and should be investigated further in larger samples as a function of development. (JINS, 2013,19, 1–6)

scholarly journals Pitch Pattern Analysis in Speech of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 4209-4212
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Voice Pitch ◽  
Pitch Pattern ◽  
Speech Database ◽  
Comparison Groups ◽  
And Gender

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a multifaceted neurodevelopmental condition. Atypical communication mostly occurs in tandem with ASD. We compared voice pitch of 16 Marathi children and adolescents with ASD of age of 7 to 18 with 27 Typically Developing (TD). Speech samples have been recorded and stored in .wav format with sampling frequency of 48000 Hz. For analysis we used PRAAT, a program for speech analysis, manipulation and synthesis. We divided the ASD and TD group into total 4 groups on basis of age and gender for comparison. We found that differences in voice pitch are present in these comparison groups, and male ASD group have more pitch variation than respective comparison groups. In future we look forward to include more ASD participants in study to increase the Marathi speech database for ASD.

scholarly journals Learning by observation in children with autism spectrum disorder

2014 ◽  
Vol 44 (11) ◽  
pp. 2437-2447 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Foti ◽  
L. Mazzone ◽  
D. Menghini ◽  
L. De Peppo ◽  
F. Federico ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Trial And Error ◽  
Learning By Observation ◽  
Correct Sequence ◽  
Error Learning ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Positive Effect

BackgroundObserving another person performing a complex action accelerates the observer's acquisition of the same action and limits the time-consuming process of learning by trial and error. Learning by observation requires specific skills such as attending, imitating and understanding contingencies. Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) exhibit deficits in these skills.MethodThe performance of 20 ASD children was compared with that of a group of typically developing (TD) children matched for chronological age (CA), IQ and gender on tasks of learning of a visuomotor sequence by observation or by trial and error. Acquiring the correct sequence involved three phases: a detection phase (DP), in which participants discovered the correct sequence and learned how to perform the task; an exercise phase (EP), in which they reproduced the sequence until performance was error free; and an automatization phase (AP), in which by repeating the error-free sequence they became accurate and speedy.ResultsIn the DP, ASD children were impaired in detecting a sequence by trial and error only when the task was proposed as first, whereas they were as efficient as TD children in detecting a sequence by observation. In the EP, ASD children were as efficient as TD children. In the AP, ASD children were impaired in automatizing the sequence. Although the positive effect of learning by observation was evident, ASD children made a high number of imitative errors, indicating marked tendencies to hyperimitate.ConclusionsThese findings demonstrate the imitative abilities of ASD children although the presence of imitative errors indicates an impairment in the control of imitative behaviours.

scholarly journals Bullying Prevalence in Students With Autism Spectrum Disorder

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 101-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marilyn Campbell ◽  
Yoon-Suk Hwang ◽  
Chrystal Whiteford ◽  
Julie Dillon-Wallace ◽  
Jill Ashburner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Traditional Bullying ◽  
Methodological Issues ◽  
Bullying Perpetration ◽  
Students With Autism ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Bullying Experiences

All forms of bullying, physical, verbal, social, and cyber, are prevalent among youth worldwide. An especially vulnerable population for involvement in bullying is students with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Although there are some studies that have investigated bullying in these students, many of these are beset by methodological issues. We surveyed 104 students with ASD on their bullying experiences in all 4 forms of bullying and examined their roles as victim, perpetrator, and bully-victim, comparing them with a group of typically developing students matched for age and gender. It was found that students with ASD reported significantly more traditional victimisation (physical, verbal, and social) than their typically developing peers. Cyberbullying victimisation was similar for the 2 groups. There were no differences between the groups on traditional bullying perpetration; however, typically developing students reported more cyberbullying perpetration behaviours. Implications for prevention and intervention are discussed.

Training Paraprofessionals to Target Socialization in Students With ASD

2016 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 102-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sunny Kim ◽  
Robert L. Koegel ◽  
Lynn K. Koegel
Keyword(s):  
Performance Feedback ◽  
Social Validity ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Paraprofessional Training ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Social Interventions ◽  
The Social ◽  
Students With Autism ◽  
And Performance

Although the literature suggests that it is feasible to train paraprofessionals to effectively implement social interventions for students with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), there is a paucity of research that addresses the social validity of these programs. The present study replicated and extended previous research on paraprofessional training, as well as assessed social validity. Our results suggest that (a) paraprofessionals can be trained to fidelity using a package consisting of lecture and performance feedback, (b) there are collateral gains for paraprofessionals following the training, (c) the social interactions between students with ASD and typically developing peers improve following paraprofessional training, and (d) there is strong social validity in regard to acceptability of the training program. Limitations and future directions are discussed.

scholarly journals Behavioral and emotional problems in high-functioning girls and boys with autism spectrum disorders: Parents’ reports and adolescents’ self-reports

Autism ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 738-748 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ewa Pisula ◽  
Monika Pudło ◽  
Monika Słowińska ◽  
Rafał Kawa ◽  
Magdalena Strząska ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Emotional Problems ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Behavioral And Emotional Problems ◽  
High Functioning ◽  
Adolescents With Autism ◽  
Self Reports

The purpose of this study was to investigate sex differences in behavioral and emotional problems in high-functioning girls and boys with autism spectrum disorder. The results obtained by adolescents with autism spectrum disorder were compared with those of typically developing girls and boys. Correlations between parents’ and adolescents’ ratings were also analyzed. Participants were 35 girls and 35 boys with autism spectrum disorder, aged 11–18 years, matched for chronological age and full-scale IQ. The control group consisted of 24 typically developing girls and 24 boys of the same age and IQ. The parents of adolescent participants were also included in the study. The measures used were the Child Behavior Checklist (4–18) completed by parents and Youth Self-Report (11–18) completed by adolescents. The adolescents with autism spectrum disorder presented higher levels of behavioral and emotional problems than the control group, according to both the parents’ reports and the adolescents’ self-reports. No sex differences were found in that respect. More differences between the assessments of adolescents and their parents occurred in the control group, and the effect size was larger.

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