scholarly journals High Level Feature Search in Autism Spectrum Disorder

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (9) ◽  
pp. 2499
Author(s):  
Safaa Abassi Abu Rukab ◽  
Noam Khayat ◽  
Shaul Hochstein
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Feature Search ◽  
High Level ◽  
High Level Feature

scholarly journals Mealtime Behaviors and Food Preferences of Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Foods ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 49
Author(s):  
Hae Jin Park ◽  
Su Jin Choi ◽  
Yuri Kim ◽  
Mi Sook Cho ◽  
Yu-Ri Kim ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Nutrition Education ◽  
Neurodevelopmental Disorder ◽  
Food Preferences ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Repetitive Behaviors ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
Mealtime Behavior ◽  
High Level

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by a lack of social communication and restrictive, repetitive behaviors or interests. This study aimed to examine the mealtime behaviors and food preferences of students with ASD. An online questionnaire on mealtime behavior and food preferences of ASD students was conducted by caregivers including parents, and the average age of ASD students was 14.1 ± 6.1. The analysis of mealtime behavior resulted in classification into three clusters: cluster 1, the “low-level problematic mealtime behavior group”; cluster 2, the “mid-level problematic mealtime behavior group”; and cluster 3, the “high-level problematic mealtime behavior group”. Cluster 1 included older students than other clusters and their own specific dietary rituals. Meanwhile, cluster 3 included younger students than other clusters, high-level problematic mealtime behavior, and a low preference for food. In particular, there were significant differences in age and food preference for each subdivided ASD group according to their eating behaviors. Therefore, the content and method of nutrition education for ASD students’ needs a detailed approach according to the characteristics of each group.

scholarly journals Parental evaluation of a revised autism spectrum disorder diagnostic process for children under 36 months of age

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-François Lemay ◽  
Shauna Langenberger ◽  
Scott McLeod
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Early Intervention ◽  
Parent Education ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Diagnostic Process ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
High Level

Abstract Background The Alberta Children’s Hospital-Autism Spectrum Disorder Diagnostic Clinic (ACH-ASDC) was restructured due to long wait times and unsustainable clinic workflow. Major changes included the initiation of pre- and post-ASD parent education sessions and distinct ASD screening appointments before the ASD diagnostic appointment. Methods We conducted a parental program evaluation in summer 2018 of the ACH-ASDC. We used a cross-sectional survey to evaluate key outcomes including parental satisfaction, and the percentage of families obtaining access to government supports and early intervention programs. Results For the 101 eligible patients diagnosed with ASD under 36 months of age 70 (69.3%) parents agreed to participate. The mean diagnostic age of the children diagnosed with ASD was 30.6 months (SD=4.1 months). There were no statistically significant age differences between biological sexes. Ninety-three per cent of parents felt that ASD educational sessions were useful, and 92% of parents were satisfied to very satisfied with the overall ASD diagnostic process. Ninety per cent of parents had access to at least one of the key resources available for ASD early intervention in our province following diagnosis. Parents reported a positive impact on intervention provided to their child in the areas of communication, social interaction, and behaviour. Conclusion Parents of children diagnosed with ASD expressed a high level of satisfaction with the restructured ACH-ASDC process. Implementing parent education sessions was well received and met parents’ needs. Parents were able to access intervention services following diagnosis and reported positive impacts for their child. Re-envisioning program approaches to incorporate novel strategies to support families should be encouraged.

scholarly journals Early Achievements for Education Settings: An Embedded Teacher-Implemented Social Communication Intervention for Preschoolers With Autism Spectrum Disorder

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 582-601 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne-Michelle Engelstad ◽  
Calliope Holingue ◽  
Rebecca J. Landa
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Teacher Collaboration ◽  
Social Communication ◽  
Implementation Fidelity ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Controlled Clinical Trial ◽  
Usual Condition ◽  
High Level ◽  
Business As Usual

Purpose Early Achievements for Education Settings (EA-ES) is a teacher-implemented naturalistic developmental behavioral intervention for preschoolers with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) targeting core social communication impairments. The purpose of this pilot randomized controlled clinical trial (RCT) was to examine promise of efficacy of this iteratively developed intervention when implemented in authentic education settings. We examined (1a) whether a high level of implementation fidelity was attained by EA-ES trained teachers and (1b) whether their fidelity attainment differed from that of untrained teachers; and (2) whether the EA-ES intervention showed promise of improving child social, communication, and cognitive outcomes as determined by within- and between-group comparisons of children in EA-ES classrooms and children in classrooms randomized to the business as usual condition. Method Participants included six preschool teachers and 43 eligible preschoolers with ASD. Classrooms were randomized to EA-ES or business as usual. Analyses of intervention effects using baseline and postintervention data were conducted on teachers' fidelity of EA-ES implementation and children's performance on a proximal measure of social and communication behavior and on a distal standardized measure of verbal and nonverbal functioning. Results Teachers trained to implement EA-ES attained a high level of implementation fidelity, with significantly greater gains compared to untrained teachers. Children receiving EA-ES showed significantly greater gain from baseline to postintervention in frequency of produced initiation of joint attention and nonverbal cognitive functioning compared to children in business-as-usual classrooms. A trend toward significance for Group × Time effects was detected for frequency of spontaneous verbalizations produced, favoring the EA-ES group. Conclusions EA-ES shows promise of feasibility for teacher implementation in group contexts and for improving social communication and cognitive skills in preschoolers with ASD. Implications of results for future research and speech-language pathologist–teacher collaboration to increase language intervention dosage are discussed.

scholarly journals Neuropsychological assessment in autism spectrum disorder and related conditions

2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 373-379
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Neuropsychological Assessment ◽  
Behavioral Problems ◽  
Neuropsychological Testing ◽  
Cognitive Remediation ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Salutogenic Model ◽  
High Level

Neuropsychological assessment provides a profound analysis of cognitive functioning in people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Individuals on the autistic spectrum often show a high level of anxiety and are frequently affected by comorbidities that influence their quality of life. Yet, they also have cognitive strengths that should be identified in order to develop effective support strategies. This article presents an overview of five cognitive areas that are essential for neuropsychological evaluation (ie, intelligence, attention, executive function, social cognition, and praxis) and explores the underlying causes of behavioral problems in persons with ASD. Furthermore, it stresses the importance of meticulous neuropsychological testing with regard to cognitive remediation, a method that can help to enhance single cognitive processes in a targeted manner. Objective test results might also contribute to an improved sens of coherence. In line with the salutogenic model, this may be fundamental for human health and well-being.

scholarly journals Preserved Perspective Taking in Free Indirect Discourse in Autism Spectrum Disorder

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juliane T. Zimmermann ◽  
Sara Meuser ◽  
Stefan Hinterwimmer ◽  
Kai Vogeley
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Perspective Taking ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Grammatical Function ◽  
Narrative Texts ◽  
Implicit Processing ◽  
Free Indirect Discourse ◽  
Indirect Discourse ◽  
High Level

Perspective taking has been proposed to be impaired in persons with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), especially when implicit processing is required. In narrative texts, language perception and interpretation is fundamentally guided by taking the perspective of a narrator. We studied perspective taking in the linguistic domain of so-called Free Indirect Discourse (FID), during which certain text segments have to be interpreted as the thoughts or utterances of a protagonist without explicitly being marked as thought or speech representations of that protagonist (as in direct or indirect discourse). Crucially, the correct interpretation of text segments as FID depends on the ability to detect which of the protagonists “stands out” against the others and is therefore identifiable as implicit thinker or speaker. This so-called “prominence” status of a protagonist is based on linguistic properties (e.g., grammatical function, referential expression), in other words, the perspective is “hidden” and has to be inferred from the text material. In order to test whether this implicit perspective taking ability that is required for the interpretation of FID is preserved in persons with ASD, we presented short texts with three sentences to adults with and without ASD. In the last sentence, the perspective was switched either to the more or the less prominent of two protagonists. Participants were asked to rate the texts regarding their naturalness. Both diagnostic groups rated sentences with FID anchored to the less prominent protagonist as less natural than sentences with FID anchored to the more prominent protagonist. Our results that the high-level perspective taking ability in written language that is required for the interpretation of FID is well preserved in persons with ASD supports the conclusion that language skills are highly elaborated in ASD so that even the challenging attribution of utterances to protagonists is possible if they are only implicitly given. We discuss the implications in the context of claims of impaired perspective taking in ASD as well as with regard to the underlying processing of FID.

scholarly journals Distinguishing reality from fantasy in adults with autism spectrum disorder: Evidence from eye movements and reading

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather Jane Ferguson ◽  
Jo Black ◽  
David Williams
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Language Comprehension ◽  
Harry Potter ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Eye Movements And Reading ◽  
Adults With Autism ◽  
Processing Abilities ◽  
Sense Of Reality ◽  
High Level

Understanding fictional events requires one to distinguish reality from fantasy, and thus engages high-level processes including executive functions and imagination, both of which are impaired in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We examined how adults with and without ASD make sense of reality-violating fantasy narratives by testing real-time understanding of counterfactuals. Participants were eye-tracked as they read narratives that depicted novel counterfactual scenarios that violate reality (e.g. “If margarine contained detergent, Mum could use margarine in her washing/baking”, Experiment 1), or counterfactual versions of known fictional worlds (e.g. “If Harry Potter had lost all his magic powers, he would use his broom to sweep/fly”, Experiment 2). Results revealed anomaly detection effects in the early moments of processing (immediately in Experiment 1, and from the post-critical region in Experiment 2), which were not modulated by group. We discuss how these patterns reveal a dissociation between ToM impairments and counterfactual processing abilities, and more generally how constraints from real-world and fantasy context compete to influence language comprehension.

Behavioral promlems and mother-child interaction in children with autism spectrum disorder

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. L. Pleshkova ◽  
T. V. Tatarenko ◽  
D. V. Sevryugin
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Behavioral Problems ◽  
Emotional Reactivity ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Dyadic Interaction ◽  
Child Interaction ◽  
Mother Child Interaction ◽  
High Level

Results of the emotional and behavioral problems among children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in connection with mother-child interaction is presented. 29 children aged 52.9 ± 8.7 months old with ASD took part in the study. Mother-child interaction was studied by PCERA (Clark, 1985), the behavioral problems assessed by CBCL/1½-5 (Achenbach & Rescorla, 2000). Results showed that children demonstrate a lower level withdrawal, aggressive behavior, and attention if their mothers have a high level of positive involvement in the interaction. A high level of emotional reactivity, anxiety and oppositional behavior are observed if there were no reciprocity and mutuality in the dyadic interaction.

scholarly journals Perception and Production of Statement-Question Intonation in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Developmental Investigation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Li Wang ◽  
C. Philip Beaman ◽  
Cunmei Jiang ◽  
Fang Liu
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Pitch Processing ◽  
Age Cohorts ◽  
Direction Discrimination ◽  
Pitch Direction ◽  
Adolescents And Adults ◽  
High Level ◽  
Question Intonation

AbstractProsody or “melody in speech” in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is often perceived as atypical. This study examined perception and production of statements and questions in 84 children, adolescents and adults with and without ASD, as well as participants’ pitch direction discrimination thresholds. The results suggested that the abilities to discriminate (in both speech and music conditions), identify, and imitate statement-question intonation were intact in individuals with ASD across age cohorts. Sensitivity to pitch direction predicted performance on intonation processing in both groups, who also exhibited similar developmental changes. These findings provide evidence for shared mechanisms in pitch processing between speech and music, as well as associations between low- and high-level pitch processing and between perception and production of pitch.

scholarly journals Low- and high-level vision in individuals with autism spectrum disorder

2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 841-841 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Shafai ◽  
K. Armstrong ◽  
G. Iarocci ◽  
I. Oruc
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
High Level

scholarly journals Growing up with a brother diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder

2019 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Silvija Hinek ◽  
Ana Tokić Milaković
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Growing Up ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Close Relationship ◽  
High Level ◽  
Families With Children ◽  
The Relationship

The relationship between siblings is often the longest lasting relationship within an individual’s life (Cicirelli, 1995). This relationship is especially important for individuals with developmental difficulties, since their siblings are usually those who undertake the role of caregivers, after the parents are no longer available to do so. However, recent research suggests that establishing a close relationship with a sibling diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may be considerably more challenging compared to siblings with other developmental difficulties (Tomeny et.al., 2017). Although the siblings of individuals diagnosed with ASD have received a certain amount of attention in the last decade worldwide, this area is still under-researched in Croatia, and is insufficiently addressed in interventions aimed at helping families with children diagnosed with ASD. The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of siblings living with a brother with ASD and their perceptions of the received and needed support. Six semi-structured interviews with adult siblings of individuals with ASD were conducted and analysed using thematic analysis. Generally, most of the interviewed individuals show a relatively high level of acceptance and affection towards their brother and feel that they have adapted to the brother’s condition. Although they mentioned some positive experiences and outcomes, they reported on many difficult aspects of growing up with their brother on the autism spectrum. None of them received any professional support during their growing up, and their opinions about the potential usefulness of programs targeted at siblings are divided.

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