Adaptation to Vocal Expressions and Phonemes Is Intact in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Several recent studies have demonstrated reduced visual aftereffects, particularly to social stimuli, in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This putative impairment of the adaptive mechanism in ASD has been put forward as a possible explanation for some of the core social problems experienced by children with ASD (e.g., facial emotion or identity recognition). We addressed this claim in children with ASD and typically developing children by using an established methodology and morphed auditory stimulus set for eliciting robust aftereffects to vocal expressions and phonemes. Although children with ASD were significantly worse at categorizing the vocal expressions compared with the control stimuli (phoneme categorization), aftereffect sizes in both tasks were identical in the two participant groups. Our finding suggests that the adaptation mechanism is not universally impaired in ASD and is therefore not an explanation for the social perception difficulties in ASD.

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Relationship Between Social Motivation in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder and Their Parents

Frontiers in Neuroscience ◽

10.3389/fnins.2021.660330 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 15 ◽

Author(s):

Mirko Uljarević ◽

Thomas W. Frazier ◽

Booil Jo ◽

Jennifer M. Phillips ◽

Wesley Billingham ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽

Social Motivation ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Spectrum Disorder ◽

Social Responsiveness ◽

Typically Developing ◽

Children With Asd ◽

Simons Simplex Collection ◽

The Social ◽

Multiplex Families

Impairment in social motivation (SM) has been suggested as a key mechanism underlying social communication deficits observed in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, the factors accounting for variability in SM remain poorly described and understood. The current study aimed to characterize the relationship between parental and proband SM. Data from 2,759 children with ASD (Mage = 9.03 years, SDage = 3.57, 375 females) and their parents from the Simons Simplex Collection (SSC) project was included in this study. Parental and proband SM was assessed using previously identified item sets from the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS). Children who had parents with low SM scores (less impairments) showed significantly lower impairments in SM compared to children who had either one or both parents with elevated SM scores. No parent-of-origin effect was identified. No significant interactions were found involving proband sex or intellectual disability (ID) status (presence/absence of ID) with paternal or maternal SM. This study establishes that low SM in children with ASD may be driven, in part, by lower SM in one or both parents. Future investigations should utilize larger family pedigrees, including simplex and multiplex families, evaluate other measures of SM, and include other related, yet distinct constructs, such as social inhibition and anhedonia. This will help to gain finer-grained insights into the factors and mechanisms accounting for individual differences in sociability among typically developing children as well as those with, or at risk, for developing ASD.

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Early screening of autism spectrum disorder using cry features

10.1101/2019.12.28.19016022 ◽

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.

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Salivary Cytokine Profile as a Possible Predictor of Autism Spectrum Disorder

Journal of Clinical Medicine ◽

10.3390/jcm9103101 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 (10) ◽

pp. 3101 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Joanna Samborska-Mazur ◽

Anna Kostiukow ◽

Izabela Miechowicz ◽

Dorota Sikorska ◽

Rafał Rutkowski ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽

Neurodevelopmental Disorders ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Spectrum Disorder ◽

Typically Developing ◽

Monocyte Chemoattractant Protein 1 ◽

Children With Asd ◽

Cytokine Levels ◽

Factor Α ◽

Gait Disturbances

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by neurodevelopmental disorders and alterations in immune function and cytokine levels. The aim of this study is to determine the salivary levels of interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-8 (IL-8), tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα), monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), Regulated on Activation, Normal T-cell Expressed and Secreted (RANTES), and Eotaxin in children with ASD and in healthy controlsto assess their predictive potential. We explored correlations between the cytokine levels and the neurodevelopmental disorders related to ASD. The study comprised 19 children with ASD and 19 typically developing (TD) ones. We analyzed salivary levels of IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, TNFα, MCP-1, RANTES, and eotaxin on Luminex with custom-designed 7-plex kits. The level of RANTES in ASD children was significantly lower than those of TD. In TDs, the salivary levels of IL-1β, MCP-1, and TNFα correlated positively with age. In ASD, the cytokine levels did not correlate with age. There were statistically significant differences between the RANTES level and aggression and gait disturbances, between IL-8 level and fixations/stimulations, and between IL-1β level and no active speech. The levels of the cytokine detected can manifest both systemic and local changes related to ASD. The cytokine pattern cannot be used as a sole ASD predictor, but the salivary levels may be helpful in categorizing the ASD subtype.

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Parents’ gesture adaptations to children with autism spectrum disorder

Journal of Child Language ◽

10.1017/s0305000919000497 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 47 (1) ◽

pp. 205-224 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Hanako YOSHIDA ◽

Paul CIRINO ◽

Sarah S. MIRE ◽

Joseph M. BURLING ◽

Sunbok LEE

Keyword(s):

Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽

Bayesian Estimation ◽

Children With Autism ◽

Early Learning ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Spectrum Disorder ◽

Typically Developing ◽

Developmental Mechanism ◽

Children With Asd ◽

Cue Use

AbstractThe present study focused on parents’ social cue use in relation to young children's attention. Participants were ten parent–child dyads; all children were 36 to 60 months old and were either typically developing (TD) or were diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Children wore a head-mounted camera that recorded the proximate child view while their parent played with them. The study compared the following between the TD and ASD groups: (a) frequency of parent's gesture use; (b) parents’ monitoring of their child's face; and (c) how children looked at parents’ gestures. Results from Bayesian estimation indicated that, compared to the TD group, parents of children with ASD produced more gestures, more closely monitored their children's faces, and provided more scaffolding for their children's visual experiences. Our findings suggest the importance of further investigating parents’ visual and gestural scaffolding as a potential developmental mechanism for children's early learning, including for children with ASD.

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Children with autism spectrum disorder show reduced adaptation to number

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ◽

10.1073/pnas.1504099112 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 112 (25) ◽

pp. 7868-7872 ◽

Cited By ~ 47

Author(s):

Marco Turi ◽

David C. Burr ◽

Roberta Igliozzi ◽

David Aagten-Murphy ◽

Filippo Muratori ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽

Strong Support ◽

Children With Autism ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Spectrum Disorder ◽

Typically Developing ◽

Social Stimuli ◽

Numerosity Discrimination ◽

Facial Identity ◽

Large Numbers

Autism is known to be associated with major perceptual atypicalities. We have recently proposed a general model to account for these atypicalities in Bayesian terms, suggesting that autistic individuals underuse predictive information or priors. We tested this idea by measuring adaptation to numerosity stimuli in children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). After exposure to large numbers of items, stimuli with fewer items appear to be less numerous (and vice versa). We found that children with ASD adapted much less to numerosity than typically developing children, although their precision for numerosity discrimination was similar to that of the typical group. This result reinforces recent findings showing reduced adaptation to facial identity in ASD and goes on to show that reduced adaptation is not unique to faces (social stimuli with special significance in autism), but occurs more generally, for both parietal and temporal functions, probably reflecting inefficiencies in the adaptive interpretation of sensory signals. These results provide strong support for the Bayesian theories of autism.

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The attitudes of typically developing adolescents towards their sibling with autism spectrum disorder

South African Journal of Communication Disorders ◽

10.4102/sajcd.v64i1.184 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 64 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Christine Van der Merwe ◽

Juan Bornman ◽

Dana Donohue ◽

Michal Harty

Keyword(s):

Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Sibling Relationship ◽

Spectrum Disorder ◽

Typically Developing ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Mean Values ◽

Friedman Analysis ◽

Children With Asd ◽

Positive Attitudes

Background: Understanding how the cognitive, emotional and behavioural components of sibling attitudes interact with one another at various stages of a sibling’s lifespan will allow clinicians to provide better support to children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their families. However, no research exists which focusses on describing the attitudes of adolescent siblings of children with ASD within the South African context towards their sibling with an ASD. The primary aim of this study was to investigate how typically developing adolescents recall their past attitudes and describe their present attitudes towards their sibling with an ASD.Methods: Thirty typically developing adolescents who have siblings with ASD were selected to complete the survey instrument, the Lifespan Sibling Relationship Scale, using a cross-sectional design.Results: Results indicate that the measure has internal consistency within this sample. Wilcoxon signed-ranks tests were used to test for significant differences between the mean values for the two self-reported time periods. Friedman analysis of variances (ANOVAs) was used to test for significant differences in the three components of attitudes, namely affect, behaviour and cognition. Results indicate that participants held more positive attitudes towards their siblings with ASD as adolescents compared with when they were younger and that adolescents rated their current emotions towards and beliefs about their sibling with ASD to be more positive than their current interaction experiences.Conclusion: As siblings’ attitudes appear to change over time, clinicians should use a lifespan approach to sibling attitudes when designing and implementing supports for siblings of children with ASD.

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Computer- and Robot-Assisted Therapies to Aid Social and Intellectual Functioning of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Medicina ◽

10.3390/medicina55080440 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 55 (8) ◽

pp. 440 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Joan DiPietro ◽

Arpad Kelemen ◽

Yulan Liang ◽

Cecilia Sik-Lanyi

Keyword(s):

Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽

Social Skills ◽

Children With Autism ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Spectrum Disorder ◽

Computer Assisted ◽

Robot Assisted ◽

The Past ◽

Children With Asd ◽

The Social

Background and objectives: Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience challenges with social interactions, a core feature of the disorder. Social skills therapy has been shown to be helpful. Over the past several years, computer-assisted and robot-assisted therapies have been infiltrating the social skills teaching environment. Rapid progress in the field of technology, especially in the robotics area, offers tremendous possibilities for innovation and treatment or even education for individuals with ASD. This paper’s purpose is to drive awareness of these innovative interventions in order to support the social lives of children with ASD. The aims of the paper are identifying (1) the types of Information Technology platforms that are being evaluated in computer and robot-assisted therapies for children with ASD; (2) the various disciplines or professions studying and utilizing these computer and robot-assisted social skill therapies; (3) the outcomes being evaluated in each trial; and (4) if results demonstrate benefits to children with autism. Materials and Methods: PubMed, CINAHL, Science Direct, and Web of Science databases were searched for clinical trials published over the past five years. Search terms incorporated the subject intersection of autism, and computer or robot-assisted therapy. Results were mined for pediatric populations only and study designs establishing controlled comparisons. Results: Eighteen unique international studies were identified that utilize robot interventions (11 studies) and serious computer game interventions (seven studies). Most demonstrated promising results in improving outcomes for children with ASD. Study implications reveal a rapidly evolving assistive technology for ASD social skills therapy. Conclusions: These interventions show considerable promise, but more effectiveness and cost effectiveness research of high quality should be carried out with larger numbers of children. Also, further studies are necessary to evaluate these technologies’ effectiveness amongst adults with ASD and within unique subsets of the higher functioning autism population.

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Identifying Areas of Overlap and Distinction in Early Lexical Profiles of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Late Talkers, and Typical Talkers

Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders ◽

10.1007/s10803-020-04772-1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Eva Jiménez ◽

Eileen Haebig ◽

Thomas T. Hills

Keyword(s):

Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽

Children With Autism ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Spectrum Disorder ◽

Typically Developing ◽

Semantic Categories ◽

Children With Asd ◽

Late Talkers ◽

Lexical Composition ◽

Noun Bias

Abstract This study compares the lexical composition of 118 children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) aged 12 to 84 months with 4626 vocabulary-matched typically developing toddlers with and without language delay, aged 8 to 30 months. Children with ASD and late talkers showed a weaker noun bias. Additionally, differences were identified in the proportion of nouns and verbs, and in the semantic categories of animals, toys, household items and vehicles. Most differences appear to reflect the extent of the age differences between the groups. However, children with ASD produced fewer high-social verbs than typical talkers and late talkers, a difference that might be associated with ASD features. In sum, our findings identified areas of overlap and distinction across the developing lexical profiles.

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The Use of Hand Gestures to Communicate About Nonpresent Objects in Mind Among Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research ◽

10.1044/2015_jslhr-l-14-0213 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 58 (2) ◽

pp. 373-382 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Wing-Chee So ◽

Ming Lui ◽

Tze-Kiu Wong ◽

Long-Tin Sit

Keyword(s):

Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽

Intervention Program ◽

Children With Autism ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Spectrum Disorder ◽

Typically Developing ◽

Spatial Skills ◽

Typically Developing Children ◽

Visual Spatial ◽

Children With Asd

Purpose The current study examined whether children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), in comparison with typically developing children, perceive and produce gestures to identify nonpresent objects (i.e., referent-identifying gestures), which is crucial for communicating ideas in a discourse. Method An experimenter described the uses of daily-life objects to 6- to 12-year-old children both orally and with gestures. The children were then asked to describe how they performed daily activities using those objects. Results All children gestured. A gesture identified a nonpresent referent if it was produced in the same location that had previously been established by the experimenter. Children with ASD gestured at the specific locations less often than typically developing children. Verbal and spatial memory were positively correlated with the ability to produce referent-identifying gestures for all children. However, the positive correlation between Raven's Children Progressive Matrices score and the production of referent-identifying gestures was found only in children with ASD. Conclusions Children with ASD might be less able to perceive and produce referent-identifying gestures and may rely more heavily on visual–spatial skills in producing referent-identifying gestures. The results have clinical implications for designing an intervention program to enhance the ability of children with ASD to communicate about nonpresent objects with gestures.

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Psychopharmacological treatment of ADHD symptoms in children with autism spectrum disorder

International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health ◽

10.1515/ijamh.2011.039 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 23 (3) ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Benjamin L. Handen ◽

Johanna Taylor ◽

Rameshwari Tumuluru

Keyword(s):

Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽

Children With Autism ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Spectrum Disorder ◽

Typically Developing ◽

Adhd Symptoms ◽

Typically Developing Children ◽

Psychopharmacological Treatment ◽

Children With Asd ◽

Appropriate Treatment

Abstract One of the most frequently reported behavioral concerns among children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is high rates of activity and inattention, symptoms that are often associated with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Although there is a considerable body of research regarding the appropriate treatment of ADHD symptoms among typically developing children, the research among children with ASD is more limited. The evidence to date suggests that medication response rates among children with ASD are considerably lower than among typically developing children and that children with ASD tend to be at greater risk for experiencing side effects. The purpose of the present paper is to review the available research on the treatment of ADHD symptoms in children with ASD. This paper summarizes the data on a range of pharmacological options and provides specific recommendations for how best to clinically manage these symptoms.

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