Effect of community interventions on social-communicative abilities of preschoolers with autism spectrum disorder

2014 ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Van der Paelt ◽  
Petra Warreyn ◽  
Herbert Roeyers
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Community Interventions ◽  
Social Communicative ◽  
Communicative Abilities

scholarly journals Gaze to faces across interactive contexts in infants at heightened risk for autism

Autism ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. 763-768 ◽  
Author(s):  
Devon N Gangi ◽  
AJ Schwichtenberg ◽  
Ana-Maria Iosif ◽  
Gregory S Young ◽  
Fam Baguio ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Social Partner ◽  
Infant Behavior ◽  
Gaze Behavior ◽  
Communicative Behavior ◽  
The Face ◽  
High Risk Infants ◽  
Social Communicative

Infant social-communicative behavior, such as gaze to the face of an interactive partner, is an important early developmental skill. Children with autism spectrum disorder exhibit atypicalities in social-communicative behavior, including gaze and eye contact. Behavioral differences in infancy may serve as early markers of autism spectrum disorder and help identify individuals at highest risk for developing the disorder. Researchers often assess social-communicative behavior in a single interactive context, such as during assessment with an unfamiliar examiner or play with a parent. Understanding whether infant behavior is consistent across such contexts is important for evaluating the validity of experimental paradigms and the generalizability of findings from one interactive context/partner to another. We examined infant gaze to the face of a social partner at 6, 9, and 12 months of age in infants who were later diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, as well as low- and high-risk infants without autism spectrum disorder outcomes, across two interactive contexts: structured testing with an unfamiliar examiner and semi-structured play with a parent. By 9 months, infant gaze behavior was significantly associated between the two contexts. By 12 months, infants without autism spectrum disorder outcomes exhibited higher mean rates of gaze to faces during parent–child play than Mullen testing, while the gaze behavior of the autism spectrum disorder group did not differ by context—suggesting that infants developing autism spectrum disorder may be less sensitive to context or interactive partner. Findings support the validity of assessing infant social-communicative behavior during structured laboratory settings and suggest that infant behavior exhibits consistency across settings and interactive partners.

Self-initiations in young children with autism during Pivotal Response Treatment with and without robot assistance

Autism ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (8) ◽  
pp. 2117-2128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manon WP De Korte ◽  
Iris van den Berk-Smeekens ◽  
Martine van Dongen-Boomsma ◽  
Iris J Oosterling ◽  
Jenny C Den Boer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Pivotal Response Treatment ◽  
Robot Assisted ◽  
Communicative Skills ◽  
Robot Assistance ◽  
Social Communicative

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of Pivotal Response Treatment versus robot-assisted Pivotal Response Treatment on self-initiations of children with autism spectrum disorder and to explore the relation between self-initiations and collateral gains in general social-communicative skills. Forty-four participants with autism spectrum disorder aged 3–8 years (Pivotal Response Treatment: n = 20, Pivotal Response Treatment + robot: n = 24), who were recruited as part of a larger randomized controlled trial (number NL4487/NTR4712, https://www.trialregister.nl/trial/4487 ), were included. Self-initiations were blindly coded, assessing video probes of all parent–child sessions using an event-recording system. General social-communicative skills were assessed with the parent- and teacher-rated Social Responsiveness Scale during intervention and at 3-month follow-up. Results using linear mixed-effects models showed overall gains in self-initiations during both Pivotal Response Treatment intervention groups (estimate = 0.43(0.15), 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.13–0.73), with larger gains in functional self-initiations in children receiving robot-assisted Pivotal Response Treatment (estimate = −0.27(0.12), 95% confidence interval: −0.50 to −0.04). Growth in self-initiations was related to higher parent-rated social awareness at follow-up compared with baseline in the total sample ( r = −0.44, p = 0.011). The clinical implications of these findings, as well as directions for future research in the utility of Pivotal Response Treatment and robot assistance in autism spectrum disorder intervention, are discussed. Lay abstract The initiation of social interaction is often defined as a core deficit of autism spectrum disorder. Optimizing these self-initiations is therefore a key component of Pivotal Response Treatment, an established intervention for children with autism spectrum disorder. However, little is known about the development of self-initiations during intervention and whether this development can be facilitated by robot assistance within Pivotal Response Treatment. The aim of this study was to (1) investigate the effect of Pivotal Response Treatment and robot-assisted Pivotal Response Treatment on self-initiations (functional and social) of young children with autism spectrum disorder over the course of intervention and (2) explore the relation between development in self-initiations and additional gains in general social-communicative skills. Forty-four children with autism spectrum disorder (aged 3–8 years) were included in this study. Self-initiations were assessed during parent–child interaction videos of therapy sessions and coded by raters who did not know which treatment (Pivotal Response Treatment or robot-assisted Pivotal Response Treatment) the child received. General social-communicative skills were assessed before start of the treatment, after 10 and 20 weeks of intervention and 3 months after the treatment was finalized. Results showed that self-initiations increased in both treatment groups, with the largest improvements in functional self-initiations in the group that received robot-assisted Pivotal Response Treatment. Increased self-initiations were related to higher parent-rated social awareness 3 months after finalizing the treatment.

Differentiating Autism Spectrum Disorder and OCD

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert E. Accordino ◽  
Philip Bartel ◽  
Isobel W. Green ◽  
Christen L. Kidd ◽  
Christopher J. McDougle
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Autistic Traits ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Repetitive Behaviors ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Obsessive Compulsive ◽  
Communicative Behavior ◽  
Compulsive Disorder ◽  
Communication Difficulties ◽  
Social Communicative

This chapter explores the overlapping clinical presentation and shared genetics and neurobiology of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). ASD often presents with repetitive behaviors reminiscent of OCD, whereas OCD, at times, can include autistic traits involving social and communication difficulties. This can lead to difficult diagnostic distinctions, which can at times have relevance to treatment. The distinction between compulsions and autistic stereotypies merits particular discussion. Clinical features that should lead to exploration of a diagnosis of ASD include stereotypies such as hand flapping, body rocking or twirling; fixed interests or preoccupations that are ego-syntonic; and impaired social-communicative behavior.

scholarly journals Social Communication and pragmatic skills of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Developmental Language Disorder

CoDAS ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Simone Vasconcelos Rocha Hage ◽  
Lidiane Yumi Sawasaki ◽  
Yvette Hyter ◽  
Fernanda Dreux Miranda Fernandes
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Social Communication ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Language Disorder ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Pragmatic Language ◽  
Developmental Language Disorder ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Social Communicative

ABSTRACT Purpose to assess the pragmatic and social communicative abilities of children with Typical Language Development (TLD), Autism Spectrum disorder (ASD) and Developmental Language Disorder (DLD). Methods Participants were 40 parents and 29 teachers of 40 children ages between 3 and 6 years. Ten children had DLD, ten had ASD and 20 had typical development. All participants answered to the questionnaire of the “Assessment of Pragmatic Language and Social Communication – APLSC – parent and professional reports – beta research version. Data were submitted to statistical analysis. Results The assessment tool was useful in identifying the difference in performance of children with different social communicative profiles. Conclusion Children with ASD presented social and pragmatic impairments that were more significant than those presented by children with DLD. However, both children with ASD and with DLD presented more social pragmatic difficulties than children with TLD.

scholarly journals Altered Inferior Parietal Functional Connectivity is Correlated with Praxis and Social Skill Performance in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas F Wymbs ◽  
Mary Beth Nebel ◽  
Joshua B Ewen ◽  
Stewart H Mostofsky
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Skill Acquisition ◽  
Parietal Lobe ◽  
Premotor Cortex ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Dorsal Premotor Cortex ◽  
Communicative Skills ◽  
Social Communicative

Abstract Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have difficulties perceiving and producing skilled gestures, or praxis. The inferior parietal lobule (IPL) is crucial to praxis acquisition and expression, yet how IPL connectivity contributes to autism-associated impairments in praxis as well as social-communicative skill remains unclear. Using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging, we applied independent component analysis to test how IPL connectivity relates to praxis and social-communicative skills in children with and without ASD. Across all children (with/without ASD), praxis positively correlated with connectivity of left posterior-IPL with the left dorsal premotor cortex and with the bilateral posterior/medial parietal cortex. Praxis also correlated with connectivity of right central-IPL connectivity with the left intraparietal sulcus and medial parietal lobe. Further, in children with ASD, poorer praxis and social-communicative skills both correlated with weaker right central-IPL connectivity with the left cerebellum, posterior cingulate, and right dorsal premotor cortex. Our findings suggest that IPL connectivity is linked to praxis development, that contributions arise bilaterally, and that right IPL connectivity is associated with impaired praxis and social-communicative skills in autism. The findings underscore the potential impact of IPL connectivity and impaired skill acquisition on the development of a range of social-communicative and motor functions during childhood, including autism-associated impairments.

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