scholarly journals Psychoeducational Group Intervention for Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Their Close Relations (Prisma) – An Open Feasibility Study

Author(s):  
Nathaniel Hidalgo ◽  
Douglas Sjöwall ◽  
Hanna Agius ◽  
Caroline Byström ◽  
Annika Brar ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in adulthood is associated with severe impairments in functioning and poor health, while ASD is also affecting close relations. Accessible first-line interventions addressing the complex clinical needs and care coordination are lacking. Methods: This study investigated the feasibility and preliminary effects of a new psychoeducational group intervention (Prisma) developed for intellectually able adults with ASD and their close relations in an outpatient setting. Results: Completion rate was 77% (n=71) of the 92 adults with ASD and 73% (n=69) of the 94 close relations. Participants considered Prisma to be an acceptable intervention and their feedback will be used to further improve the Prisma for an upcoming RCT. Preliminary analyses of effects showed promising results with an increase in knowledge of ASD. Conclusions: Overall, results indicate that the Prisma is a feasible first-line intervention in a stepped-care process in outpatient services. Trial registration: Clinicaltrials.org (NCT04460976).

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 95
Author(s):  
Frank van den Boogert ◽  
Bram Sizoo ◽  
Pascalle Spaan ◽  
Sharon Tolstra ◽  
Yvonne H. A. Bouman ◽  
...  

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may be accompanied by aggressive behavior and is associated with sensory processing difficulties. The present study aims to investigate the direct association between sensory processing and aggressive behavior in adults with ASD. A total of 101 Dutch adult participants with ASD, treated in outpatient or inpatient facilities, completed the Adolescent/Adult Sensory Profile (AASP), the Reactive-Proactive Aggression Questionnaire (RPQ), and the Aggression Questionnaire—Short Form (AQ-SF). Results revealed that sensory processing difficulties are associated with more aggressive behavior (f2=0.25), more proactive (f2=0.19) and reactive aggression (f2=0.27), more physical (f2=0.08) and verbal aggression (f2=0.13), and more anger (f2=0.20) and hostility (f2=0.12). Evidence was found for an interaction of the neurological threshold and behavioral response on total aggression and hostility. Participants with higher scores in comparison to the norm group in sensory sensitivity had the highest risk of aggressive behavior. In conclusion, clinical practice may benefit from applying detailed diagnostics on sensory processing difficulties when treating aggressive behavior in adults with ASD.


Author(s):  
Emme O’Rourke ◽  
Emily L. Coderre

AbstractWhile many individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience difficulties with language processing, non-linguistic semantic processing may be intact. We examined neural responses to an implicit semantic priming task by comparing N400 responses—an event-related potential related to semantic processing—in response to semantically related or unrelated pairs of words or pictures. Adults with ASD showed larger N400 responses than typically developing adults for pictures, but no group differences occurred for words. However, we also observed complex modulations of N400 amplitude by age and by level of autistic traits. These results offer important implications for how groups are delineated and compared in autism research.


BJPsych Open ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (6) ◽  
pp. 461-466 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachael C. Cvejic ◽  
Samuel R. C. Arnold ◽  
Kitty-Rose Foley ◽  
Julian N. Trollor

BackgroundChildren and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are a highly medicated group. Few studies have examined the neuropsychiatric profile and patterns of psychotropic medication use among adults with ASD.AimsTo describe and compare the neuropsychiatric profile and psychotropic medication use in a cohort of adults with ASD and non-autistic controls.MethodBaseline data from a survey-based, longitudinal study of adults with ASD in Australia. Participants were 188 adults with ASD and 115 controls aged 25–80 years.ResultsASD was associated with increased odds of psychotropic medication use even when controlling for the presence of any neurological or psychiatric disorder. There were no corresponding indications for 14.4% of psychotropic medications prescribed to adults with ASD.ConclusionsThis study found substantial psychotropic prescribing for adults with ASD. Patterns of psychotropic medication use may reflect prescribing for behavioural indications despite limited evidence to support this practice.Declaration of interestNone.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sidni A. Justus ◽  
Patrick S. Powell ◽  
Audrey Duarte

AbstractResearch on memory in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) finds increased difficulty encoding contextual associations in episodic memory and suggests executive dysfunction (e.g., selective attention, cognitive flexibility) and deficient metacognitive monitoring as potential contributing factors. Findings from our lab suggest that age-related impairments in selective attention contribute to those in context memory accuracy and older adults tended to show dependence in context memory accuracy between relevant and irrelevant context details (i.e., hyper-binding). Using an aging framework, we tested the effects of selective attention on context memory in a sample of 23 adults with ASD and 23 typically developed adults. Participants studied grayscale objects flanked by two types of contexts (color, scene) on opposing sides and were told to attend to only one object-context relationship, ignoring the other context. At test, participants made object and context recognition decisions and judgment of confidence decisions allowing for an evaluation of context memory performance, hyper-binding, and metacognitive performance for context judgments in a single task. Results showed that adults with ASD performed similarly to typically developed adults on all measures. These findings suggest that context memory performance is not always disrupted in adults with ASD, even when demands on selective attention are high. We discuss the need for continued research to evaluate episodic memory in a wider variety of adults with ASD.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Massaccesi ◽  
Alexander Groessing ◽  
Lisa A. Rosenberger ◽  
Helena Hartmann ◽  
Michela Candini ◽  
...  

AbstractInterpersonal space can be defined as a safety zone immediately surrounding our body, which allows us to feel comfortable during social interactions. Previous studies indicate that the size of interpersonal space at which the other is perceived as intrusive (permeability) and the ability to adapt interpersonal distance based on contextual factors (flexibility) are altered in children and adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The present fMRI study aimed at extending the previous findings by investigating the behavioral and neurophysiological underpinnings of interpersonal space permeability and flexibility in adults with ASD.Individuals with ASD and matched controls (CTR) performed a modified version of the stop-distance paradigm for measuring interpersonal space preferences. Participants observed prerecorded videos of two confederates moving towards them and rated their comfort to the observed distance. The assessment of interpersonal space preferences was performed before and after engaging in cooperative and non-cooperative social interactions with the confederates, experimentally induced by means of a repeated trust game.We observed general lower comfort in response to an approaching confederate in the ASD group compared to the CTR group, indicating preference for larger interpersonal space in autism (altered permeability). This preference was accompanied by reduced activity in bilateral dorsal intraparietal sulcus (dIPS) and left fusiform face area (FFA), regions previously shown to be involved in interpersonal space regulation. Furthermore, we observed differences in effective connectivity among dIPS, FFA, and amygdala in ASDs compared to CTRs, depending on the level of experienced comfort. No differences between ASDs and CTRs were observed in the adaptation of interpersonal space following a cooperative and non-cooperative social interaction, suggesting preserved interpersonal space flexibility in the ASD adult population.The present study provides evidence for impaired permeability of interpersonal space in adults with ASD. The findings suggest that a dysregulation of the activity and connectivity of brain areas involved in the processing of interpersonal space may contribute to preference for larger distance and avoidance of physical proximity in ASDs. Future research is needed to examine whether the observed alteration of interpersonal space processing is an effect of or a contributing factor to the social disabilities characterizing autism.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abigail Dickinson ◽  
Shafali Jeste ◽  
Elizabeth Milne

AbstractEmerging evidence suggests that aging processes may be altered in adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, it remains unclear if oscillatory slowing, a key neurophysiological change in the aging brain, manifests atypically in this population. This study sought to examine patterns of age-related oscillatory slowing in adults with ASD, captured by reductions in the brain’s peak alpha frequency. Resting-state EEG data from adults (18-70 years) with ASD (N=93) and age-matched neurotypical (NT) controls (N=87) were pooled from three independent datasets. A robust curve-fitting procedure quantified the peak frequency of alpha oscillations (7-13Hz) across all brain regions. Associations between peak alpha frequency and age were assessed and compared between groups. Consistent with characteristic patterns of oscillatory slowing, peak alpha frequency was negatively associated with age across the entire sample (p<.0001). A significant group by age interaction revealed that this relationship was more pronounced in adults with ASD (p<.01), suggesting that that age-related oscillatory slowing may be accelerated in this population. Scalable EEG measures such as peak alpha frequency could provide insights into neural aging that are crucially needed to inform care plans and preventive interventions that can promote successful aging in ASD.


Author(s):  
David W. Test ◽  
Debra G. Holzberg ◽  
Kelly Clark ◽  
Misty Terrell ◽  
Dana E. Rusher

Despite legislation to improve post-school outcomes for young adults with autism spectrum disorder, they experience poorer employment outcomes than their peers without disabilities. Data indicate persons with ASD experience lower employment rates, earn less money, work fewer hours, are less engaged in their communities, and live independently less frequently than their peers without disabilities. Furthermore, the earnings of individuals with ASD lag behind earnings of their peers both with and without disabilities. In order to help improve employment outcomes for youth with ASD, this chapter describes the characteristics contributing to employment of individuals with ASD, the factors influencing employment of individuals with ASD, and the research related to evidence-based practices for young adults with ASD.


2020 ◽  
pp. 109830072092121
Author(s):  
Katerina Ford ◽  
Mian Wang ◽  
Lynn Kern Koegel ◽  
Robert L. Koegel ◽  
Andrew Fedders

Given the increasing number of individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), there is a critical need to develop programs that facilitate positive behavior outcomes during the transition to adulthood. Furthermore, many adults with ASD do not have access to intervention programs due to remote locations, lack of qualified personnel, and/or long waitlists. This study, conducted within the context of a combined multiple baseline and changing criterion design, examined the use of videoconferencing (VC) to provide intervention from a remote location. Results showed that following intervention participants were able to independently perform the targeted skills and all targeted skills maintained during follow-up probes. All participants rated the intervention highly and said that they would recommend the intervention to others. These results are discussed in relation to potential avenues to increase access to services for individuals with ASD, particularly in remote and underserved areas, using VC.


2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 1123-1132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex Bacon ◽  
C. Philip Beaman ◽  
Fang Liu

AbstractIndividuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) reportedly possess preserved or superior music-processing skills compared to their typically developing counterparts. We examined auditory imagery and earworms (tunes that get “stuck” in the head) in adults with ASD and controls. Both groups completed a short earworm questionnaire together with the Bucknell Auditory Imagery Scale. Results showed poorer auditory imagery in the ASD group for all types of auditory imagery. However, the ASD group did not report fewer earworms than matched controls. These data suggest a possible basis in poor auditory imagery for poor prosody in ASD, but also highlight a separability between auditory imagery and control of musical memories. The separability is present in the ASD group but not in typically developing individuals.


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