scholarly journals Theory of Mind Deficit is Associated with Pretend Play Performance, but not Playfulness, in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ping-Chen Chan ◽  
Cheng-Te Chen ◽  
Hua Feng ◽  
Ya-Chen Lee ◽  
Kuan-Lin Chen
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Internal Control ◽  
Rating Scale ◽  
Pretend Play ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Free Play ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Children With Asd

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.

Effect of Yoga Therapy on Neuromuscular Function and Reduction of Autism Severity in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 76-85
Author(s):  
Soccalingam Artchoudane ◽  
Meena Ramanathan ◽  
Ananda Balayogi Bhavanani ◽  
Partheeban Muruganandam ◽  
Lakshmi Jatiya
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Rating Scale ◽  
Handgrip Strength ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Neuromuscular Function ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Autism Severity ◽  
Yoga Therapy ◽  
Children With Asd

Autism is characterized by dysfunction in motor execution and sensory perception that are linked with neuromuscular function (fN) for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This article aims to evaluate effectiveness of yoga therapy (YT) on fN and autism severity in children with ASD. Sixty children were screened (age 6 to 18) using childhood autism rating scale (CARS); 40 were allocated randomly (n=20) into yoga (YG) and control (CG) groups; both followed regular school routine, and YG received 10 YT sessions (60 min/session). Visual reaction time (VRT), handgrip strength (HGS), and CARS were measured. YG showed significant changes in VRT and CARS after YT and intergroup comparisons revealed significant differences between groups at the end of the study (VRT,p=0.008; CARS,p=0.011). YT resulted in small but statistically significant changes in CARS and significant improvement in VRT. This implies that YT can be used as an adjuvant modality for children with ASD, reducing co-morbidities with regard to the neuromuscular function.

scholarly journals Cognitive Underpinnings of Symbolic Pretend Play and Impossible Entity Drawings:  Imaginative Ability in Typical Development and Autism Spectrum Disorder

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Steven Den-Kaat
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Executive Function ◽  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Cognitive Flexibility ◽  
Pretend Play ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
False Belief ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Belief Theory

<p>The individual differences in imagination ability in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) were tested in a sample of 14 children with ASD and 14 matched typically developing (TD) children. Analysis was conducted on the extent of imagination in symbolic pretend play and impossible entity drawings. Aside from difficulties with imagination, children with ASD showed significant group deficits in executive function (generativity, visuospatial planning and cognitive flexibility) and false belief theory of mind understanding. Amongst children with ASD, executive function abilities (generativity and visuospatial planning) related to imaginative play and drawings. In contrast, amongst participants in the TD group, a mixture of both executive function (cognitive flexibility) and false belief theory of mind understanding predicted imaginative ability. These results are discussed in terms of how executive control plays a broad and important role in imaginative ability across groups, but the contributions appear to be expressed and routed differently in ASD. The discussion also highlights the theoretical implications of not having theory of mind that underpin imagination in ASD.</p>

scholarly journals Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder Can Attribute False Beliefs in a Spontaneous-Response Preferential-Looking Task

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melanie Glenwright ◽  
Rose M. Scott ◽  
Elena Bilevicius ◽  
Megan Pronovost ◽  
Ana Hanlon-Dearman
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Figurative Language ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
False Belief ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
False Belief Understanding ◽  
Children With Asd

An established body of literature indicates that children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have difficulty understanding figurative language due to a deficit in theory of mind, or the ability to consider the beliefs of other people. Children with ASD tend to similarly fail traditional theory of mind tasks, which assess their ability to represent false beliefs. Our claim is, however, that these tasks involve cognitive processing demands that might mask false belief understanding because they require elicited responses. We examined whether children with ASD demonstrate false-belief understanding when tested with a spontaneous-response false belief task that measures children’s eye gaze durations. The two child participant groups were composed of 20 males with ASD (aged 3–9 years) and 20 typically developing males (aged 2–5 years) who were individually matched according to verbal mental age. Children with ASD and typically developing children listened to a change-of-location story accompanied by a book with matching and non-matching pictures. The final page showed the character searching for her object in a location that was either consistent or inconsistent with her belief. Both groups of children looked reliably longer at the belief-consistent picture, regardless of whether the character’s belief was true or false, though children with ASD were slower to do so. We suggest that a spontaneous-response assessment technique can potentially reveal figurative language comprehension in children with ASD in future research.

scholarly journals Shared intentionality in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 56
Author(s):  
Asimenia Papoulidi ◽  
Christina F. Papaeliou ◽  
Stavroula Samartzi
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Social Engagement ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Free Play ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Shared Intentionality ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Human Uniqueness ◽  
Communicative Gestures

It is well documented that the ability and motivation to engage with others in collaborative activities with joint goals and shared intentions is the foundation of human uniqueness. However, children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) show difficulties in sharing their motives, intentions, and emotions with others about topics in the environment and manifest low levels of engagement. The purpose of the present study was to compare the level of intentionality and social engagement in 10 children with ASD and 10 typically developing (TD) children, matched for mental age, during free play interactions with their mothers. Children were video recorded while playing with their mothers in a naturalistic condition with toys provided by the researcher. For the microanalysis of the video recordings the EUDICO Linguistic Annotator was used, which permits the analysis of joint behaviors and captures subtle qualitative differences in social engagement. Results indicated that children with ASD showed deficits in joint attention, exhibited no functional play and employed less communicative gestures than their peers in the comparison group. These differences between the two groups in their mode of communication led to the emergence of two distinct patterns of engagement which depict the different level of intentionality that these groups have in sharing their experiences during mother-child interactions. These representative patterns of interaction can be used as a potential tool for early identification of children at risk of ASD well before other behaviors become fully manifested.

scholarly journals Correlation Between Screen Time and Autistic Symptoms as Well as Development Quotients in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Han-Yu Dong ◽  
Bing Wang ◽  
Hong-Hua Li ◽  
Xiao-Jing Yue ◽  
Fei-Yong Jia
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Screen Time ◽  
Rating Scale ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Younger Age ◽  
Autistic Symptoms

Background: Electronic screen media play an increasingly vital role in children's entertainment; however, excessive screen time may negatively influence child development. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the screen time of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their autistic symptoms and development quotients (DQs).Methods: We compared the screen time of 101 children with ASD and 57 typically developing (TD) children. Then, we performed a correlation analysis to determine the correlations between the screen time and the ASD-related scale scores and developmental quotients of the Gesell Developmental Schedules (GDS) of ASD children. We further divided the ASD group into subgroups according to the screen time and age and then separately conducted the above correlation analyses by subgroup.Result: The results showed that the screen time of the children with ASD was longer than that of the TD children (3.34 ± 2.64 h vs. 0.91 ± 0.93 h). The screen time of the children with ASD was positively correlated with the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) score (r = 0.242, P = 0.021) and “taste, smell and touch” item of CARS(r = 0.304, P = 0.005), and negatively correlated with the language DQ of the GDS (r = −0.236, P = 0.047). The subgroup analysis showed that in the longer screen time subgroup of ASD children, the screen time was positively correlated with the CARS score (r = 0.355, P = 0.026) and negatively correlated with the DQs of all domains of the GDS (P &lt; 0.05). In addition, in the younger age group of ASD children, the screen time was positively correlated with the CARS score (r = 0.314, P = 0.021) and negatively correlated with the DQs of all domains of the GDS, except for the personal-social behavior domain (P &lt; 0.05).Conclusion: Compared with TD children, children with ASD have a longer screen time. The screen time is related to autism-like symptoms and the DQs of children with ASD. The longer the screen time, the more severe the symptoms of ASD (especially sensory symptoms), and the more obvious the developmental delay, especially in ASD children with a longer screen time and younger age, particularly in the language domain.

scholarly journals Cognitive Underpinnings of Symbolic Pretend Play and Impossible Entity Drawings:  Imaginative Ability in Typical Development and Autism Spectrum Disorder

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Steven Den-Kaat
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Executive Function ◽  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Cognitive Flexibility ◽  
Pretend Play ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
False Belief ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Belief Theory

<p>The individual differences in imagination ability in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) were tested in a sample of 14 children with ASD and 14 matched typically developing (TD) children. Analysis was conducted on the extent of imagination in symbolic pretend play and impossible entity drawings. Aside from difficulties with imagination, children with ASD showed significant group deficits in executive function (generativity, visuospatial planning and cognitive flexibility) and false belief theory of mind understanding. Amongst children with ASD, executive function abilities (generativity and visuospatial planning) related to imaginative play and drawings. In contrast, amongst participants in the TD group, a mixture of both executive function (cognitive flexibility) and false belief theory of mind understanding predicted imaginative ability. These results are discussed in terms of how executive control plays a broad and important role in imaginative ability across groups, but the contributions appear to be expressed and routed differently in ASD. The discussion also highlights the theoretical implications of not having theory of mind that underpin imagination in ASD.</p>

scholarly journals Parents’ Perceptions of Early Interventions and Related Services for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Saudi Arabia

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Faihan Alotaibi ◽  
Nabil Almalki
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Early Intervention ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Early Interventions ◽  
Related Services ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
The Government

<p class="apa">The present study sought to examine parents’ perceptions of early interventions and related services for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in Saudi Arabia. In this study a survey was distributed to a sample of 80 parents with children who have ASD. Parents also were asked open-ended questions to enable them to provide suggestions. The findings indicate that parents have varying perceptions of early interventions and related services. However, they seem to agree that these services are important in assisting their children. Accordingly, parents have suggested that the government needs to increase these services by providing more centers for children with ASD in Saudi Arabia, providing more specialists to deal with children with ASD, promoting inclusion in regular schools and providing more information on early intervention.</p>

scholarly journals Implication of the Sensory Environment in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Perspectives from School

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (14) ◽  
pp. 7670
Author(s):  
Ana Gentil-Gutiérrez ◽  
José Luis Cuesta-Gómez ◽  
Paula Rodríguez-Fernández ◽  
Jerónimo Javier González-Bernal
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Sensory Processing ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Sensory Profile ◽  
School Factors ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Sensory Stimuli ◽  
Children With Asd

(1) Background: Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) frequently have difficulties in processing sensory information, which is a limitation when participating in different contexts, such as school. The objective of the present study was to compare the sensory processing characteristics of children with ASD in the natural context of school through the perception of professionals in the field of education, in comparison with neurodevelopmental children (2) Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study as conducted with study population consisting of children between three and ten years old, 36 of whom were diagnosed with ASD and attended the Autismo Burgos association; the remaining 24 had neurotypical development. The degree of response of the children to sensory stimuli at school was evaluated using the Sensory Profile-2 (SP-2) questionnaire in its school version, answered by the teachers. (3) Results: Statistically significant differences were found in sensory processing patterns (p = 0.001), in sensory systems (p = 0.001) and in school factors (p = 0.001). Children with ASD who obtained worse results. (4) Conclusions: Children with ASD are prone to present sensory alterations in different contexts, giving nonadapted behavioral and learning responses.

Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Fifth Edition Profiles of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder Using a Classification and Regression Trees Analysis

2021 ◽  
pp. 073428292110259
Author(s):  
Brittany A. Dale ◽  
W. Holmes Finch ◽  
Kassie A. R. Shellabarger ◽  
Andrew Davis
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Intelligence Scale ◽  
Cart Analysis ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Classification And Regression ◽  
Pattern Of Performance

The Wechsler Intelligence Scales for Children (WISC) are the most widely used instrument in assessing cognitive ability, especially with children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Previous literature on the WISC has demonstrated a divergent pattern of performance on the WISC for children ASD compared to their typically developing peers; however, there is a lack of research concerning the most recent iteration, the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Fifth Edition (WISC-V). Due to the distinctive changes made to the WISC-V, we sought to identify the pattern of performance of children with ASD on the WISC-V using a classification and regression (CART) analysis. The current study used the standardization sample data of the WISC-V obtained from NCS Pearson, Inc. Sixty-two children diagnosed with ASD, along with their demographically matched controls, comprised the sample. Results revealed the Comprehension and Letter-Number Sequencing subtests were the most important factors in predicting group membership for children with ASD with an accompanying language impairment. Children with ASD without an accompanying language impairment, however, were difficult to distinguish from matched controls through the CART analysis. Results suggest school psychologists and other clinicians should administer all primary and supplemental subtests of the WISC-V as part of a comprehensive assessment of ASD.

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