The Role of Occupational Therapy in Managing Food Selectivity of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Scoping Review

Food selectivity is common in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). It can be defined as the unwillingness to eat common or new foods, resulting in a lack of variety in the diet or limited food consumption for multiple reasons, such as inflexibility or sensory alterations. We conducted a peer scoping review to describe the interventions that are carried out from occupational therapy (OT) in children with ASD with food selectivity. Two authors independently searched the databases PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and EMBASE, as well as the OT journals indexed in Journal Citation Reports. Articles exploring OT interventions in children (≤12 years) with ASD and food selectivity, published in Spanish or English, with experimental design, and with full text available were included. Of the 1445 articles identified, 8 articles met the inclusion criteria. Three main intervention categories were identified: sensory–behavioral, family focused, and other interventions. Most of the interventions from OT were aimed at treating sensory–behavioral aspects. Only three articles described interventions led exclusively by occupational therapists, and the rest were led by a multidisciplinary team. Finally, although these interventions are not exclusive to OT, occupational therapists can participate together with other professionals as an essential component in the treatment of food selectivity in children with ASD.

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Case study assessing the feasibility of using a wearable haptic device or humanoid robot to facilitate transitions in occupational therapy sessions for children with autism spectrum disorder

Journal of Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies Engineering ◽

10.1177/20556683211049041 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 ◽

pp. 205566832110490

Author(s):

Audrée Jeanne Beaudoin ◽

Frédérique Pedneault ◽

Marina Houle ◽

Cynthia Bilodeau ◽

Marie-Pier Gauvin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽

Occupational Therapy ◽

Humanoid Robot ◽

Single Case ◽

Children With Autism ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Haptic Device ◽

Spectrum Disorder ◽

Children With Asd ◽

Therapy Sessions

Introduction Some children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have difficulties with transitions that may lead to problem behaviours. Although the use of technologies with children with ASD is receiving increasing attention, no study has looked at their effect on transitions in activities of daily living. This study aimed to document the feasibility of (1) using two intervention technologies (NAO humanoid robot or wearable haptic device) separately to facilitate transitions in occupational therapy sessions for children with ASD and (2) the method used to document changes. Methods Using a single case reversal (ABA) design, two children with ASD were randomly assigned to one of the intervention technologies (humanoid robot or haptic bracelet). Each technology was used as an antecedent to stimulate the start of transitions in eight intervention sessions at a private occupational therapy clinic. Data concerning the time required for transitions, child’s behaviours during transitions at the clinic and mother’s perception of the child’s performance in transitions at home were analysed graphically. Results When using technology, both children’s behaviours were appropriate, quick and relatively stable. Also, both mothers reported improved perceptions of their child’s performance in transitions. Conclusions This exploratory study suggests no detrimental effect of using these technologies.

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No evidence of a minimal clinically important difference for the Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration in children with autism spectrum disorder

British Journal of Occupational Therapy ◽

10.1177/03080226211057834 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 030802262110578

Author(s):

Alisha Ohl ◽

David Schelly

Keyword(s):

Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽

Minimal Clinically Important Difference ◽

Occupational Therapists ◽

Children With Autism ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Spectrum Disorder ◽

Change Scores ◽

Children With Asd ◽

Clinically Important Difference ◽

Visual Motor

The Beery Visual-Motor Integration (VMI) battery of tests are some of the most commonly used assessments in pediatric occupational therapy, often used to measure change over time. However, the minimal clinically important difference (MCID) has not been estimated for interpreting change scores. We estimated the MCID for the Beery VMI battery of tests in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Four occupational therapists collected data in a public elementary school on 64 children with ASD. The Beery VMI battery was administered to children with ASD twice, approximately 11 months apart. To estimate MCID values, Beery VMI battery scores were anchored to 15-point Likert questions measuring occupational therapists’ ratings of functional change over three domains: fine motor skills, handwriting, and activities of daily living (ADLs). Using this anchor-based method, we were unable to estimate MCID values for the Beery VMI battery. Children’s Beery VMI battery scores did not change significantly over the course of the school year, and there was only one weak correlation between VMI battery change scores and therapists’ ratings of change. The inability to estimate Beery VMI battery MCID values for children with ASD adds further support for research cautioning the use of the Beery VMI as an outcome measure.

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Analysis Of Occupational Therapy’s Role to Promote Healthy Sleep Participation to Support Caregivers of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

10.46409/sr.aqgf6621 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

◽

Sophia Roman

Keyword(s):

Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽

Occupational Therapy ◽

Sleep Disturbances ◽

Sleep Problems ◽

Occupational Therapists ◽

Children With Autism ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Occupational Engagement ◽

Sleep Habits ◽

Children With Asd

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) face sleep disturbances. Healthy sleep habits are essential for children with ASD and their caregivers to properly engage in their everyday lives. Occupational therapists are trained to evaluate clients in areas that contribute to sleep dysfunction and to focus on promoting optimal sleep performance. There is limited research on caregivers’ perceptions of their child’s sleep disturbances, these disturbances’ influence on occupational engagement, and whether occupational therapists have collaborated with caregivers of children with ASD to treat this area of occupation. Collecting data from caregivers by using a questionnaire can provide occupational therapy (OT) practitioners the emphasis on healthy sleep habits to promote healthy occupational engagement for children with ASD. This project was pursued to see if all research questions relating to sleep, occupational therapy, and occupational engagement were answered. Although rest and sleep are part of the OT practice framework, there is not enough literature to describe roles and caregivers’ perceptions to determine evidence for sleep interventions in children with ASD. This study will benefit caregivers to express their perceptions on how OT manages sleep difficulties to increase their children’s occupational engagement. The benefit of having more sleep resources available for these families can also assist caregiver stresses. The questionnaire results suggested that there is a relationship between age of child and sleep disturbance, there is a relationship between a caregiver expressing concerns about their child’s sleep problems with their occupational therapist and receiving services to address sleep during the OT intervention, there is a relationship between a caregiver expressing concerns about their child’s sleep problems with their occupational therapist and receiving services to address sleep during the OT evaluation, and there is a relationship between sleep disturbances and occupational engagement. The findings from this quantitative study support an increased role for OT practitioners to address sleep in the initial evaluation and treatment sessions.

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Parents’ Perceptions of Early Interventions and Related Services for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Saudi Arabia

International Education Studies ◽

10.5539/ies.v9n10p128 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 9 (10) ◽

pp. 128 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

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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Implication of the Sensory Environment in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Perspectives from School

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18147670 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (14) ◽

pp. 7670

Author(s):

Ana Gentil-Gutiérrez ◽

José Luis Cuesta-Gómez ◽

Paula Rodríguez-Fernández ◽

Jerónimo Javier González-Bernal

Keyword(s):

Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽

Sensory Processing ◽

Children With Autism ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Spectrum Disorder ◽

Sensory Profile ◽

School Factors ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Sensory Stimuli ◽

Children With Asd

(1) Background: Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) frequently have difficulties in processing sensory information, which is a limitation when participating in different contexts, such as school. The objective of the present study was to compare the sensory processing characteristics of children with ASD in the natural context of school through the perception of professionals in the field of education, in comparison with neurodevelopmental children (2) Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study as conducted with study population consisting of children between three and ten years old, 36 of whom were diagnosed with ASD and attended the Autismo Burgos association; the remaining 24 had neurotypical development. The degree of response of the children to sensory stimuli at school was evaluated using the Sensory Profile-2 (SP-2) questionnaire in its school version, answered by the teachers. (3) Results: Statistically significant differences were found in sensory processing patterns (p = 0.001), in sensory systems (p = 0.001) and in school factors (p = 0.001). Children with ASD who obtained worse results. (4) Conclusions: Children with ASD are prone to present sensory alterations in different contexts, giving nonadapted behavioral and learning responses.

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Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Fifth Edition Profiles of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder Using a Classification and Regression Trees Analysis

Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment ◽

10.1177/07342829211025924 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 073428292110259

Author(s):

Brittany A. Dale ◽

W. Holmes Finch ◽

Kassie A. R. Shellabarger ◽

Andrew Davis

Keyword(s):

Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽

Language Impairment ◽

Children With Autism ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Spectrum Disorder ◽

Intelligence Scale ◽

Cart Analysis ◽

Children With Asd ◽

Classification And Regression ◽

Pattern Of Performance

The Wechsler Intelligence Scales for Children (WISC) are the most widely used instrument in assessing cognitive ability, especially with children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Previous literature on the WISC has demonstrated a divergent pattern of performance on the WISC for children ASD compared to their typically developing peers; however, there is a lack of research concerning the most recent iteration, the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Fifth Edition (WISC-V). Due to the distinctive changes made to the WISC-V, we sought to identify the pattern of performance of children with ASD on the WISC-V using a classification and regression (CART) analysis. The current study used the standardization sample data of the WISC-V obtained from NCS Pearson, Inc. Sixty-two children diagnosed with ASD, along with their demographically matched controls, comprised the sample. Results revealed the Comprehension and Letter-Number Sequencing subtests were the most important factors in predicting group membership for children with ASD with an accompanying language impairment. Children with ASD without an accompanying language impairment, however, were difficult to distinguish from matched controls through the CART analysis. Results suggest school psychologists and other clinicians should administer all primary and supplemental subtests of the WISC-V as part of a comprehensive assessment of ASD.

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Comparative Effects of Picture Symbol With Paired Text and Text-Only Augmentative and Alternative Communication Representations on Communication From Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology ◽

10.1044/2020_ajslp-20-00099 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 30 (2) ◽

pp. 584-597

Author(s):

Christine Holyfield

Keyword(s):

Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽

Augmentative And Alternative Communication ◽

Children With Autism ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Spectrum Disorder ◽

School Age Children ◽

Book Reading ◽

Single Subject ◽

Alternative Communication ◽

Children With Asd

Purpose Technology features that maximize communicative benefit while minimizing learning demands must be identified and prioritized to amplify the efficiency and effectiveness of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) intervention. Picture symbols with paired text are a common representation feature in AAC systems for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who are preliterate, yet little research about their comparative benefit exists. Method Four school-age children with ASD and limited speech who were preliterate participated in two single-subject studies. In one study, communication of high imageability words (e.g., nouns) on an AAC app during a book-reading activity was compared across two representation conditions: picture symbols with paired text and text only. In the second study, communication of low imageability words (e.g., verbs) was compared. Both studies had baseline, intervention, generalization, and maintenance phases. Results Prior to intervention, participants communicated across both representation conditions at low rates except two participants who were relatively successful using picture symbol with paired text representations of high imageability words. In response to intervention, all participants demonstrated increases in communication across representation conditions and maintained the increases. Participants demonstrated generalization in the text-only representation condition. Conclusions Children with ASD who were preliterate acquired communication at comparable rates regardless of whether an AAC app utilized picture symbol with paired text or text-only representation. Therefore, while larger scale research is needed, clinicians and technology developers could consider increasing the use of text in AAC representation given the inherent value associated with learning to recognize written words. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.13661357

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Listening to Bedouin fathers of children with autism spectrum disorder

Transcultural Psychiatry ◽

10.1177/1363461518808148 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 56 (2) ◽

pp. 345-358 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Iris Manor-Binyamini

Keyword(s):

Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽

Support Services ◽

Cultural Context ◽

Children With Autism ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Spectrum Disorder ◽

Structured Interviews ◽

Raising Children ◽

Cultural Perspectives ◽

Children With Asd

Although children across the world experience autism spectrum disorder (ASD), most research on ASD has been conducted using Western cultural perspectives and has focused primarily on mothers, leaving significant gaps in the literature. This study aimed to address these gaps by exploring the experiences of fathers raising children with ASD in a Bedouin community. To this end, a sample of 19 fathers of children (aged 6–15 years) with ASD living in recognized and unrecognized Bedouin settlements in the Negev participated in ethnographic, semi-structured interviews designed to investigate their experiences with raising a child with ASD in their community. Two major themes emerged: the challenges that Bedouin fathers of children with ASD face, and the influence of socio-demographic and cultural characteristics on their experience. Findings reflect the complex experiences of fathers raising children with ASD in the Bedouin community, stemming from their socio-cultural context and the limited knowledge and support services that are available in the community for these children. This article concludes with recommendations on how to enhance professional sensitivity and provide more culturally tailored services for parents of children with ASD.

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When Will He Talk? An Evidence-Based Tutorial for Measuring Progress Toward Use of Spoken Words in Preverbal Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology ◽

10.1044/2020_ajslp-20-00206 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 30 (1) ◽

pp. 1-18

Author(s):

Jena McDaniel ◽

C. Melanie Schuele

Keyword(s):

Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽

Progress Monitoring ◽

Children With Autism ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Spectrum Disorder ◽

Evidence Based ◽

Therapeutic Setting ◽

Children With Asd ◽

Spoken Words ◽

Sampling Procedures

Purpose Professionals face substantial challenges determining whether and when children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who are not yet using spoken words will use spoken language as their primary means of communication. This tutorial provides speech-language pathologists with practical guidance on how to measure expressive language predictors for progress monitoring and making intervention decisions for children with ASD who are preverbal. Method This tutorial is a repackaging effort that seeks to make the research accessible to clinicians wishing to implement evidence-based practice. Results We describe intentional communication, consonant inventory in communication acts, and responding to joint attention as particularly valuable prelinguistic skills to measure. We explain how and when to efficiently assess progress using published assessments periodically and using brief (5-min) communication samples for more frequent progress monitoring. Conclusions Communication samples can be used to show how a child performs within a therapeutic setting during teaching (treatment data) and outside of the therapeutic setting (generalization probe data). Both types of data are critical for determining whether the child is exhibiting progress and which aspects of intervention are facilitating progress toward use of spoken words. These recommendations also balance the evidence for best practices for progress monitoring and the demands on clinicians' time and effort. To encourage the measurement of prelinguistic skills of children with ASD who are preverbal in clinical practice, we include (a) example data collection documents, (b) examples with hypothetical data and interpretation, and (c) guidance on communication sampling procedures. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.13557836

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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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