scholarly journals Identifying Patterns of Similarities and Differences between Gesture Production and Comprehension in Autism and Typical Development

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nevena Dimitrova ◽  
Şeyda Özçalışkan
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Language Ability ◽  
Integrated System ◽  
Speech Comprehension ◽  
Typical Development ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Child Play ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Gesture Comprehension ◽  
Gesture Production

AbstractProduction and comprehension of gesture emerge early and are key to subsequent language development in typical development. Compared to typically developing (TD) children, children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) exhibit difficulties and/or differences in gesture production. However, we do not yet know if gesture production either shows similar patterns to gesture comprehension across different ages and learners, or alternatively, lags behind gesture comprehension, thus mimicking a pattern akin to speech comprehension and production. In this study, we focus on the gestures produced and comprehended by a group of young TD children and children with ASD—comparable in language ability—with the goal to identify whether gesture production and comprehension follow similar patterns between ages and between learners. We elicited production of gesture in a semi-structured parent–child play and comprehension of gesture in a structured experimenter-child play across two studies. We tested whether young TD children (ages 2–4) follow a similar trajectory in their production and comprehension of gesture (Study 1) across ages, and if so, whether this alignment remains similar for verbal children with ASD (Mage = 5 years), comparable to TD children in language ability (Study 2). Our results provided evidence for similarities between gesture production and comprehension across ages and across learners, suggesting that comprehension and production of gesture form a largely integrated system of communication.

Children's referential understanding of novel words and parent labeling behaviors: similarities across children with and without autism spectrum disorders

2012 ◽  
Vol 40 (5) ◽  
pp. 971-1002 ◽  
Author(s):  
HANADY BANI HANI ◽  
ANA MARIA GONZALEZ-BARRERO ◽  
APARNA S. NADIG
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Word Learning ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Social Cues ◽  
Language Ability ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Typically Developing Children ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Age Range

ABSTRACTThis study examined two facets of the use of social cues for early word learning in parent–child dyads, where children had an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) or were typically developing. In Experiment 1, we investigated word learning and generalization by children with ASD (age range: 3;01–6;02) and typically developing children (age range: 1;02–4;09) who were matched on language ability. In Experiment 2, we examined verbal and non-verbal parental labeling behaviors. First, we found that both groups were similarly able to learn a novel label using social cues alone, and to generalize this label to other representations of the object. Children who utilized social cues for word learning had higher language levels. Second, we found that parental cues used to introduce object labels were strikingly similar across groups. Moreover, parents in both groups adapted labeling behavior to their child's language level, though this surfaced in different ways across groups.

scholarly journals Investigating eye movement patterns, language, and social ability in children with autism spectrum disorder

2014 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 529-537 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven D. Stagg ◽  
Karina J. Linnell ◽  
Pamela Heaton
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Visual Attention ◽  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Language Ability ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Social Stimuli ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Language Onset

AbstractAlthough all intellectually high-functioning children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) display core social and communication deficits, some develop language within a normative timescale and others experience significant delays and subsequent language impairment. Early attention to social stimuli plays an important role in the emergence of language, and reduced attention to faces has been documented in infants later diagnosed with ASD. We investigated the extent to which patterns of attention to social stimuli would differentiate early and late language onset groups. Children with ASD (mean age = 10 years) differing on language onset timing (late/normal) and a typically developing comparison group completed a task in which visual attention to interacting and noninteracting human figures was mapped using eye tracking. Correlations on visual attention data and results from tests measuring current social and language ability were conducted. Patterns of visual attention did not distinguish typically developing children and ASD children with normal language onset. Children with ASD and late language onset showed significantly reduced attention to salient social stimuli. Associations between current language ability and social attention were observed. Delay in language onset is associated with current language skills as well as with specific eye-tracking patterns.

Disfluency Characteristics Observed in Young Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Preliminary Report

2010 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 42-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura W. Plexico ◽  
Julie E. Cleary ◽  
Ashlynn McAlpine ◽  
Allison M. Plumb
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Descriptive Study ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Young Children With Autism ◽  
Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Developmental Stuttering

This descriptive study evaluates the speech disfluencies of 8 verbal children between 3 and 5 years of age with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Speech samples were collected for each child during standardized interactions. Percentage and types of disfluencies observed during speech samples are discussed. Although they did not have a clinical diagnosis of stuttering, all of the young children with ASD in this study produced disfluencies. In addition to stuttering-like disfluencies and other typical disfluencies, the children with ASD also produced atypical disfluencies, which usually are not observed in children with typically developing speech or developmental stuttering. (Yairi & Ambrose, 2005).

Disorder-specific alterations of tactile sensitivity in neurodevelopmental disorders

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason He ◽  
Ericka Wodka ◽  
Mark Tommerdahl ◽  
Richard Edden ◽  
Mark Mikkelsen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Symptoms ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Hyperactivity Disorder ◽  
The Core ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Tactile Detection ◽  
Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Sensory Processes ◽  
Core Symptoms

Alterations of tactile processing have long been identified in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, the extent to which these alterations are disorder-specific, rather than disorder-general, and how they relate to the core symptoms of each disorder, remains unclear. We measured and compared tactile detection, discrimination and order judgment thresholds between a large sample of children with ASD, ADHD, ASD + ADHD combined and typically developing controls. The pattern of results suggested that while difficulties with tactile detection and order judgement were more common in children with ADHD, difficulties with tactile discrimination were more common in children with ASD. Strikingly, subsequent correlation analyses found that the disorder-specific alterations suggested by the group comparisons were also exclusively related to the core symptoms of each respective disorder. These results suggest that disorder-specific alterations of lower-level sensory processes exist and are specifically related to higher-level clinical symptoms of each disorder.

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.

scholarly journals Eye gaze differences in school scenes between preschool children and adolescents with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder and those with typical development

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuko Ishizaki ◽  
Takahiro Higuchi ◽  
Yoshitoki Yanagimoto ◽  
Hodaka Kobayashi ◽  
Atsushi Noritake ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Preschool Children ◽  
Children And Adolescents ◽  
Eye Gaze ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Typical Development ◽  
Human Face ◽  
Gaze Behavior ◽  
Psychosomatic Symptoms ◽  
Children With Asd

Abstract Background Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may experience difficulty adapting to daily life in a preschool or school settings and are likely to develop psychosomatic symptoms. For a better understanding of the difficulties experienced daily by preschool children and adolescents with ASD, this study investigated differences in eye gaze behavior in the classroom environment between children with ASD and those with typical development (TD). Methods The study evaluated 30 children with ASD and 49 children with TD. Participants were presented with images of a human face and a classroom scene. While they gazed at specific regions of visual stimuli, eye tracking with an iView X system was used to evaluate and compare the duration of gaze time between the two groups. Results Compared with preschool children with TD, preschool children with ASD spent less time gazing at the eyes of the human face and the object at which the teacher pointed in the classroom image. Preschool children with TD who had no classroom experience tended to look at the object the teacher pointed at in the classroom image. Conclusion Children with ASD did not look at the human eyes in the facial image or the object pointed at in the classroom image, which may indicate their inability to analyze situations, understand instruction in a classroom, or act appropriately in a group. This suggests that this gaze behavior of children with ASD causes social maladaptation and psychosomatic symptoms. A therapeutic approach that focuses on joint attention is desirable for improving the ability of children with ASD to adapt to their social environment.

scholarly journals Role of Exclusive Breastfeeding in Conferring Protection in Children At-Risk for Autism Spectrum Disorder: Results from a Sibling Case–control Study

2018 ◽  
Vol 09 (01) ◽  
pp. 132-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harshini Manohar ◽  
Madhavapuri Pravallika ◽  
Preeti Kandasamy ◽  
Venkatesh Chandrasekaran ◽  
Ravi Philip Rajkumar
Keyword(s):  
Neural Development ◽  
Exclusive Breastfeeding ◽  
Feeding Practices ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Gut Microflora ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Lower Odds ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Typically Developing Siblings

ABSTRACTBackground: Gut microflora influences neural development through complex mechanisms. Feeding practices, especially breastfeeding influence gut microbiome and thereby play a pivotal role in immune and neural development. Current understandings of the role of healthy distal gut microflora in the development of immune and neural systems provide insights into immunological mechanisms as one of the possible etiologies in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Studies have shown that optimal breastfeeding is associated with lower odds of being at-risk for ASD and children with ASD are suboptimally breastfed. Methods: The feeding practices of children with ASD (n = 30) was compared to their typically developing siblings as matched controls (n = 30). Information regarding feeding practices was collected from mothers through a semi-structured questionnaire. Results: About 43.3% of children with ASD received exclusive breastfeeding, whereas 76.7% of their typically developing siblings were exclusively breastfed. Exclusive breastfeeding was associated with lower odds for ASD (odds ratio [OR] = 0.166; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.025–0.65), while early introduction of top feeds was associated with higher odds (OR = 6; 95% CI = 1.33–55.19). Difficulties in breastfeeding were attributed to child-related factors in 13.2% of the children. Conclusion: Children with ASD are suboptimally breastfed compared to their typically developing siblings. Exclusive breastfeeding may confer protection in vulnerable children. Further studies on larger prospective sample are required to establish the association.

Assessment and treatment of anxiety in children and adolescents with ASD: a systematic review

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Celal Perihan ◽  
Mack D. Burke ◽  
Lisa Bowman-Perrott ◽  
Joel Bocanegra
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Implementation Fidelity ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Anxiety Symptoms ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Typically Developing Children ◽  
Pilot Studies ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Children With Asd

Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate the quality of current studies that assess and treat anxiety symptoms in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). More specifically the study aimed to answer the following questions: What are the qualities of the current studies using cognitive behavioral therapies (CBTs) to treat anxiety symptoms in children with ASD? Did studies make necessary modifications and adaptations to CBTs according to the evidence-based strategies and implement these versions of CBTs with precise fidelity? Were the selected measurements appropriate for assessing the anxiety symptoms in children with ASD? Design/methodology/approach A systematic review protocol was developed from the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (Moher et al., 2009). A rubric was adapted based on the CEC (Council for Exceptional Children; Cook, 2014) group comparison studies standards and the Evaluative Method for Determining EBP in Autism (Reichow et al., 2007). The 3-point Likert Scale (Chard et al., 2009) was adapted to score each study based on the rubric. Findings CBT is a first-line treatment with significant mixed results. Current studies use adapted versions of existing CBTs for children with ASD without reporting empirical evidence to these adaptations and changes. Reporting of the implementation fidelity is still an issue in the treatment of anxiety. Anxiety measurements that were designed for typically developing children failure to detect unusual anxiety symptoms in children with ASD. Research limitations/implications The first limitation of this study was including a variety of studies across CBT programs and types of anxiety symptoms. Types of anxiety and CBT treatments may require separate analyses with specific indicators. Due to the limited studies, reviews could not be analyzed across types of CBT programs. The second limitation was the types of studies. Most of the studies were pilot studies. Pilot studies might use various instruments and CBTs components for making selections to produce the best effects and results. The final limitation was the lack of examination of the data analysis process. Originality/value These findings are important because due to the variety of changes or adaptation to CBTs, inappropriate implementations and failure to detect unusual anxiety symptoms of children with ASD may cause significant differences in treatment responses and outcomes. The study demonstrated that the majority of the studies used adapted versions of existing CBTs without reporting empirical evidence for these adaptations and changes. The findings have shown that reporting of the implementation fidelity is still an issue. Moreover, the majority of studies had used anxiety measurements that were designed for typically developing children, not for children with ASD.

scholarly journals Early screening of autism spectrum disorder using cry features

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aida Khozaei ◽  
Hadi Moradi ◽  
Reshad Hosseini ◽  
Hamidreza Pouretemad ◽  
Bahareh Eskandari
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
New Classification ◽  
Early Screening ◽  
Classification Approach ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Sensitivity Specificity

AbstractDue to the importance of automatic and early autism screening, in this paper, a cry-based screening approach for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is introduced. During the study, we realized that the ASD specific features are not necessarily observable among all children with ASD and among all instances of each child. Therefore, we proposed a new classification approach to be able to find such features and their corresponding instances. We tested the proposed approach and found two features that can be used to distinguish groups of children with ASD from Typically Developing (TD) children. In other words, these features are present in subsets of children with ASD not all of them. The approach has been tested on a dataset including 14 boys and 7 girls with ASD and 14 TD boys and 7 TD girls, between 18 to 53 months old. The sensitivity, specificity, and precision of the proposed approach for boys were 85.71%, 100%, and 92.85%, respectively. These measures were 71.42%, 100%, and 85.71% for girls, respectively.

scholarly journals The contribution of platelets to peripheral BDNF elevation in children with autism spectrum disorder

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristan A. Farmer ◽  
Audrey E. Thurm ◽  
Bianca Honnekeri ◽  
Paul Kim ◽  
Susan E. Swedo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Platelet Count ◽  
Developmental Delay ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Typical Development ◽  
Platelet Counts ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Standardized Mean Difference ◽  
Serum Bdnf

AbstractBrain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a key peptide in neurocognitive development, has been reported to be elevated in the serum of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In a few studies, however, no differences or the converse have been documented. As a secondary analysis of a natural history study, we examined differences in ELISA serum BDNF between a group of children aged 1 to 9 years (69% white) with ASD (n = 94) and those with typical development (n = 52) or non-ASD developmental delay (n = 21), while accounting for the potential confounding effects of platelet quantity. Platelet counts were measured within 4 h of blood draw using an automated cell counter. Taqman single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) assays were used to genotype 11 SNPs within the BDNF locus. Unadjusted mean BDNF concentration was higher in children with ASD than in children with typical development (standardized mean difference = 0.23; 95% CI 0.07, 0.38), but not children with non-ASD developmental delay. The magnitude of this difference was reduced after adjusting for platelet count (standardized mean difference = 0.18; 95% CI 0.02, 0.33). Although some BDNF SNPs were related to BDNF concentration, the distributions of these genotypes did not differ across diagnostic groups. This study replicates previous work suggesting that average serum BDNF concentration is higher in ASD compared to typical development, and extends that work by highlighting the potentially confounding role of platelet counts. The etiology of platelet count differences warrants further elucidation. Nonetheless, our results suggest that elevation in BDNF may be partially explained by higher platelet counts in children with ASD, an association that should be considered in future analysis and interpretation.Registration: NCT00298246

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