scholarly journals Electrophysiological Measures of Tactile and Auditory Processing in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Girija Kadlaskar ◽  
Sophia Bergmann ◽  
Rebecca McNally Keehn ◽  
Amanda Seidl ◽  
Brandon Keehn
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Auditory Processing ◽  
Speech Sound ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Auditory Stimuli ◽  
Oddball Paradigm ◽  
Children With Asd

Behavioral differences in responding to tactile and auditory stimuli are widely reported in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, the neural mechanisms underlying distinct tactile and auditory reactivity patterns in ASD remain unclear with theories implicating differences in both perceptual and attentional processes. The current study sought to investigate (1) the neural indices of early perceptual and later attentional factors underlying tactile and auditory processing in children with and without ASD, and (2) the relationship between neural indices of tactile and auditory processing and ASD symptomatology. Participants included 14, 6–12-year-olds with ASD and 14 age- and non-verbal IQ matched typically developing (TD) children. Children participated in an event-related potential (ERP) oddball paradigm during which they watched a silent video while being presented with tactile and auditory stimuli (i.e., 80% standard speech sound/a/; 10% oddball speech sound/i/; 10% novel vibrotactile stimuli on the fingertip with standard speech sound/a/). Children’s early and later ERP responses to tactile (P1 and N2) and auditory stimuli (P1, P3a, and P3b) were examined. Non-parametric analyses showed that children with ASD displayed differences in early perceptual processing of auditory (i.e., lower amplitudes at central region of interest), but not tactile, stimuli. Analysis of later attentional components did not show differences in response to tactile and auditory stimuli in the ASD and TD groups. Together, these results suggest that differences in auditory responsivity patterns could be related to perceptual factors in children with ASD. However, despite differences in caregiver-reported sensory measures, children with ASD did not differ in their neural reactivity to infrequent touch-speech stimuli compared to TD children. Nevertheless, correlational analyses confirmed that inter-individual differences in neural responsivity to tactile and auditory stimuli were related to social skills in all children. Finally, we discuss how the paradigm and stimulus type used in the current study may have impacted our results. These findings have implications for everyday life, where individual differences in responding to tactile and auditory stimuli may impact social functioning.

scholarly journals Auditory Processing Differences in Toddlers With Autism Spectrum Disorder

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (5) ◽  
pp. 1608-1617
Author(s):  
Maranda K. Jones ◽  
Nina Kraus ◽  
Silvia Bonacina ◽  
Trent Nicol ◽  
Sebastian Otto-Meyer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Language Development ◽  
Auditory Processing ◽  
Auditory Brainstem ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Auditory Brainstem Responses ◽  
School Age Children ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Children With Asd

Purpose Auditory processing measures have been used in an attempt to understand the relationship between neurological mechanisms and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) symptomatology in school-age children. The focus of the current study was to understand neural auditory processing in 2- to 3-year-olds with ASD. Method Auditory processing measures (click auditory brainstem responses and speech-evoked frequency-following responses) were hypothesized to differ between typically developing children ( n = 18) and children with ASD ( n = 18). Auditory processing measures were hypothesized to relate to language development in children with ASD. Results The current study found limited differences in auditory processing measures between the two groups. No relationships were found between auditory processing measures and language development measures. Conclusions Future research is necessary to characterize auditory processing in toddlers with ASD. Longitudinal approaches should be considered when studying auditory processing in children with ASD in order to explore its developmental relationship with ASD symptomatology.

scholarly journals Brief Report: Preliminary Evidence of the N170 as a Biomarker of Response to Treatment in Autism Spectrum Disorder

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shashwat Kala ◽  
Max J. Rolison ◽  
Dominic A. Trevisan ◽  
Adam J. Naples ◽  
Kevin Pelphrey ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Treatment Response ◽  
Behavioral Treatment ◽  
Clinical Care ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Waitlist Control ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Before And After

Background: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by primary difficulties in social function. Individuals with ASD display slowed neural processing of faces, as indexed by the latency of the N170, a face-sensitive event-related potential. Currently, there are no objective biomarkers of ASD useful in clinical care or research. Efficacy of behavioral treatment is currently evaluated through subjective clinical impressions. To explore whether the N170 might have utility as an objective index of treatment response, we examined N170 before and after receipt of an empirically validated behavioral treatment in children with ASD.Method: Electroencephalography (EEG) data were obtained on a preliminary cohort of preschool-aged children with ASD before and after a 16-week course of PRT and in a subset of participants in waitlist control (16-weeks before the start of PRT) and follow-up (16-weeks after the end of PRT). EEG was recorded while participants viewed computer-generated faces with neutral and fearful affect.Results: Significant reductions in N170 latency to faces were observed following 16 weeks of PRT intervention. Change in N170 latency was not observed in the waitlist-control condition.Conclusions: This exploratory study offers suggestive evidence that N170 latency may index response to behavioral treatment. Future, more rigorous, studies in larger samples are indicated to evaluate whether the N170 may be useful as a biomarker of treatment response.

Evaluating the Impact of a Multisensory Environment on Target Behaviors of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

2021 ◽  
pp. 193758672110506
Author(s):  
Min-Kyoung Kim ◽  
Nam-Kyu Park
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
South Korea ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Sensory Characteristics ◽  
Sensory Profile ◽  
Auditory Stimuli ◽  
Target Behaviors ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Multisensory Environment

Background: Worldwide, children are increasingly being diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The case of South Korea is not exceptional. One of the core symptoms of children with ASD is sensory reactivity issues, such as an unusual interest in the sensory aspects of the environment. One promising development in sensory enrichment for individuals with ASD is a multisensory environment (MSE). Objectives: This study investigated the influence of MSE on the target behaviors of children with ASD with different sensory characteristics in the case of South Korea. Methods: A multiple treatment design {A-B-C-D (B + C) phases} was implemented to observe the six target behaviors of three children with ASD. The sensory environmental intervention focusing on visual and auditory stimuli was manipulated as a stimulating MSE or a relaxing MSE depending on the sensory profile of each participant. The analysis was undertaken using visual inspection with data patterns and graph slopes, which is a customary method of analyzing the single-subject design data. In addition, the means and standard deviations of the two target behaviors of each participant were analyzed together. Results: The findings reveal that MSE interventions positively affected the target behaviors of children with ASD with diverse sensory characteristics. The stimulating MSE created by the integration of visual and auditory stimuli was the most effective intervention for the participants with hypo-visual and hypo-auditory sensitivities in this study. Conclusions: The MSE could be meaningful as a nonpharmaceutical therapy that could influence the daily behaviors of children with ASD.

scholarly journals Effectiveness of Earmuffs and Noise-cancelling Headphones for Coping with Hyper-reactivity to Auditory Stimuli in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Preliminary Study

2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nobuhiko Ikuta ◽  
Ryoichiro Iwanaga ◽  
Akiko Tokunaga ◽  
Hideyuki Nakane ◽  
Koji Tanaka ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Goal Attainment ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Baseline Period ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Auditory Stimuli ◽  
Goal Attainment Scaling ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Noise Cancelling

Objective/Background The purpose of this pilot study was to examine the effectiveness of standard earmuffs and noise-cancelling (NC) headphones in controlling behavioural problems related to hyper-reactivity to auditory stimuli in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Methods Twenty-one children with ASD aged 4–16 years (16 boys and 5 girls), after a 2-week nonwearing baseline period, were asked to use standard earmuffs and NC headphones for 2 weeks, in a random order. Parents or teachers rated participants’ behaviours that were related to their reaction to auditory stimuli. Results Four participants refused to wear either the earmuffs or the NC headphones. It was found that the T-score on the Goal Attainment Scaling was significantly higher during the earmuff period than that in the baseline period (Z = 2.726, p = .006). The behaviours of 5 children with ASD improved during the NC headphone period as compared with those in the baseline period; there were no differences in the T-scores on the Goal Attainment Scaling between the NC headphone period and the baseline period (Z = 1.689, p = .091) and between the earmuff and NC headphone periods (Z = −0.451, p = .678). Conclusion This study demonstrated the effectiveness of standard earmuffs and NC headphones in helping children with ASD to cope with problem behaviours related to hyperreactivity to auditory stimuli, therefore, children with ASD could use earmuffs to help to deal with unpleasant sensory auditory stimuli.

scholarly journals Shorter P1m Response in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder without Intellectual Disabilities

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (5) ◽  
pp. 2611
Author(s):  
Yuko Yoshimura ◽  
Takashi Ikeda ◽  
Chiaki Hasegawa ◽  
Kyung-Min An ◽  
Sanae Tanaka ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Intellectual Disability ◽  
Intellectual Disabilities ◽  
Auditory Processing ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Brain Maturation ◽  
Neural Basis ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Conceptual Ability

(1) Background: Atypical auditory perception has been reported in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Altered auditory evoked brain responses are also associated with childhood ASD. They are likely to be associated with atypical brain maturation. (2) Methods: This study examined children aged 5–8 years old: 29 with ASD but no intellectual disability and 46 age-matched typically developed (TD) control participants. Using magnetoencephalography (MEG) data obtained while participants listened passively to sinusoidal pure tones, bilateral auditory cortical response (P1m) was examined. (3) Results: Significantly shorter P1m latency in the left hemisphere was found for children with ASD without intellectual disabilities than for children with TD. Significant correlation between P1m latency and language conceptual ability was found in children with ASD, but not in children with TD. (4) Conclusions: These findings demonstrated atypical brain maturation in the auditory processing area in children with ASD without intellectual disability. Findings also suggest that ASD has a common neural basis for pure-tone sound processing and language development. Development of brain networks involved in language concepts in early childhood ASD might differ from that in children with TD.

scholarly journals Behavioral Auditory Processing in Children and Young Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin C. Schafer ◽  
Lauren Mathews ◽  
Kamakshi Gopal ◽  
Emilee Canale ◽  
Avery Creech ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Auditory Processing ◽  
Repeated Measures ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Effect Sizes ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Adults And Children ◽  
Adults With Asd

Abstract Background Auditory-processing deficits are common in children and adults who are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). These deficits are evident across multiple domains as exhibited by the results from subjective questionnaires from parents, teachers, and individuals with ASD and from behavioral auditory-processing testing. Purpose Few studies compare subjective and behavioral performance of adults and children diagnosed with ASD using commercially available tests of auditory processing. The primary goal of the present study is to compare the performance of adults and children with ASD to age-matched, neurotypical peers. The secondary goal is to examine the effect of age on auditory-processing performance in individuals with ASD relative to age-matched peers. Research Design A four-group, quasi-experimental design with repeated measures was used in this study. Study Sample Forty-two adults and children were separated into four groups of participants: (1) 10 children with ASD ages 14 years or younger; (2) 10 age-matched, neurotypical children; (3) 11 adolescents and young adults with ASD ages 16 years and older; and (4) 11 age-matched, neurotypical adolescents or young adults. Data Collection and Analysis Data from each participant were collected in one test session. Data were analyzed with analysis of variance (ANOVA), repeated measures ANOVA, or nonparametric analyses. Effect sizes were calculated to compare performance between those with ASD and those who were neurotypical within each age group. Results Across all the questionnaires and the majority of the behavioral test measures, participants with ASD had significantly poorer ratings or auditory-processing performance than age-matched, neurotypical peers. Adults had more favorable performance than children on several of the test measures. Medium to large effect sizes corroborated the significant results. Conclusion Overall, the questionnaires and behavioral tests used in this study were sensitive to detecting auditory-processing differences between individuals diagnosed with ASD and those who are considered neurotypical. On most test measures, children performed more poorly than adults. The findings in this study support that both children and adults with ASD exhibit auditory-processing difficulties. Appropriate school and work accommodations will be necessary to ensure appropriate access to speech in challenging environments.

scholarly journals Expanding Communication Modalities and Functions for Preschoolers With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Secondary Analysis of a Peer Partner Speech-Generating Device Intervention

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 190-205 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathy S. Bourque ◽  
Howard Goldstein
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Secondary Analysis ◽  
Social Validity ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Communicative Functions ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Speech Generating Device ◽  
Communication Modalities

Purpose This study reports a secondary analysis of the nature of communicative functions and modalities used in initiations and responses of minimally verbal preschoolers with severe autism spectrum disorder (ASD) from a previously published study ( Thiemann-Bourque, Feldmiller, Hoffman, & Johner, 2018 ). This analysis focused on the final cohort ( n = 6) from a group design study ( N = 45) that examined a peer mediation and speech-generating device (SGD) intervention compared to an SGD-only condition. Method After teaching peers to use an iPad as an SGD within a modified stay-play-talk approach, school staff implemented SGD instruction in child–peer dyads during typical preschool activities. To investigate individual differences among children who demonstrated increased communication acts in the peer + SGD condition, changes in reciprocity, modalities used, and communicative functions were examined using a multiple-baseline design across children. Fidelity of implementation and social validity data were also collected. Results Six children with ASD and their peers demonstrated more balanced reciprocity, with individual differences in how and why children communicated during exchanges. That is, all children with ASD increased in SGD use as their primary communication mode; 3 children used different modalities including more speech, and 3 children used primarily gestures and SGD. The most frequent function expressed was requests for objects. More modest increases were observed in comments and requests for actions, with negligible changes in gaining attention. Social validity reports by naïve judges reflected clear improvements in communication interactions. Conclusion Findings are promising for a preschool SGD intervention that can expand children's modalities and communicative functions to engage in balanced exchanges with peer partners. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.11374203

The Influence of Language Context on Repetitive Speech Use in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 327-334 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allison Gladfelter ◽  
Cassidy VanZuiden
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
Receptive Vocabulary ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
School Age Children ◽  
Social Responsiveness ◽  
Contributing Factors ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Language Context

Purpose Although repetitive speech is a hallmark characteristic of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the contributing factors that influence repetitive speech use remain unknown. The purpose of this exploratory study was to determine if the language context impacts the amount and type of repetitive speech produced by children with ASD. Method As part of a broader word-learning study, 11 school-age children with ASD participated in two different language contexts: storytelling and play. Previously collected language samples were transcribed and coded for four types of repetitive speech: immediate echolalia, delayed echolalia, verbal stereotypy, and vocal stereotypy. The rates and proportions of repetitive speech were compared across the two language contexts using Wilcoxon signed-ranks tests. Individual characteristics were further explored using Spearman correlations. Results The children produced lower rates of repetitive speech during the storytelling context than the play-based context. Only immediate echolalia differed between the two contexts based on rate and approached significance based on proportion, with more immediate echolalia produced in the play-based context than in the storytelling context. There were no significant correlations between repetitive speech and measures of social responsiveness, expressive or receptive vocabulary, or nonverbal intelligence. Conclusions The children with ASD produced less immediate echolalia in the storytelling context than in the play-based context. Immediate echolalia use was not related to social skills, vocabulary, or nonverbal IQ scores. These findings offer valuable insights into better understanding repetitive speech use in children with ASD.

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>

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