scholarly journals Sensory Processing Issues and Their Association with Social Difficulties in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (10) ◽  
pp. 1508 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kojovic ◽  
Ben Hadid ◽  
Franchini ◽  
Schaer
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Sensory Processing ◽  
Adaptive Functioning ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Visual Exploration ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Social Difficulties ◽  
Spectrum Disorders ◽  
The One ◽  
Social Scenes

Sensory processing issues have been frequently reported in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), but their relationship with social and overall adaptive functioning has not been extensively characterized to date. Here, we investigate how sensory processing atypicalities relate with deficits in social skills, impaired social cognition, and general adaptive functioning in a group of preschoolers with ASD. Sixty-four children with ASD aged 3 to 6 were included in this study, along with 36 age-matched typically-developing (TD) peers. Parent-reported measures of sensory processing, social difficulties and overall adaptive functioning were collected for all children. We also obtained precise measures of social attention deployment using a custom-design eye-tracking task depicting naturalistic social scenes. Within the group of children with ASD, higher intensities of sensory issues were associated with more prominent social difficulties and lower adaptive functioning. We also found that children with ASD who had more sensory issues showed visual exploration patterns of social scenes that strongly deviated from the one seen in the TD group. The association of sensory processing atypicalities with “higher-order” functional domains such as social and adaptive functioning in children with ASD stresses the importance of further research on sensory symptoms in autism.

scholarly journals Glutathione S-Transferase Polymorphisms and Clinical Characteristics in Autism Spectrum Disorders

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vanja Mandic-Maravic ◽  
Marija Mitkovic-Voncina ◽  
Marija Pljesa-Ercegovac ◽  
Ana Savic-Radojevic ◽  
Miroslav Djordjevic ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Clinical Characteristics ◽  
Developmental Disorders ◽  
Adaptive Functioning ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Diagnostic Interview ◽  
Environment Interaction ◽  
Gst Polymorphisms ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Spectrum Disorders

Background: Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are a heterogeneous group of developmental disorders, with different levels of symptoms, functioning, and comorbidities. Recent findings suggested that oxidative stress and genetic variability in glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) might increase the risk of ASD development. We aimed to determine whether GST polymorphisms influence the severity of symptoms as well as the cognitive and adaptive abilities in children with ASD.Methods: The sample included 113 ASD cases. All participants were genotyped for GSTA1, GSTM1, GSTT1, and GSTP1 polymorphisms. The clinical characteristics were determined with Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R) in all of the participants. In non-verbal participants, we explored the adaptive functioning using the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale II, while in verbal participants, we used the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (WASI).Results: It was shown that the GSTA1*CC genotype was a predictor of a lower non-verbal communication impairment as well as of a lower chance of having seizures during life. GSTM1-active genotype predicted a higher adaptive functioning. The predictive effect of GSTA1, GSTM1, and GSTT1 genotype was moderated by exposure during pregnancy (maternal smoking and medication). The GSTP1*IleIle genotype was significantly associated to a better cognitive functioning in children with ASD.Conclusion: Besides the complex gene-environment interaction for the specific risk of developing ASD, there is also a possible complexity of interactions between genetic and environmental factors influencing the level of symptoms and impairment in people with ASD. Detoxification and antioxidant enzymes, such as GSTA1, might contribute to the core of this complexity.

Providing Interventions for Young Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders

2011 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 321-332 ◽  
Author(s):  
Phillip S. Strain ◽  
Ilene S. Schwartz ◽  
Erin E. Barton
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Future Research ◽  
The Past ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Comprehensive Service ◽  
Spectrum Disorders ◽  
The One

Over the past 25 years, we have learned a great deal about the diagnosis, treatment, and impact of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) on young children and their families. The authors describe several overarching themes that have emerged in the educational research on young children with ASD. The focus of their article is on education-based research because public education remains the one comprehensive service to which all children with ASD are entitled to free of charge. Four themes (i.e., inclusion, systematic and effective instruction, intensity, and social context) are described in terms of the major findings and impact on policy and practices. The authors conclude with a summary of implications for future research for the next 25 years.

scholarly journals Physiological and Behavioral Stress and Anxiety in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders during Routine Oral Care

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leah I. Stein ◽  
Christianne J. Lane ◽  
Marian E. Williams ◽  
Michael E. Dawson ◽  
José C. Polido ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Sensory Processing ◽  
Oral Care ◽  
Objective Measure ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Parent Report ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Physiological Measures ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Spectrum Disorders

Background. Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) commonly exhibit uncooperative behaviors which impede oral care. Previous studies have utilized dentist-report measures of uncooperative behaviors in children with ASD but none have utilized an objective measure of children’s behavior or a physiological measure of distress. This study investigated behavioral and physiological distress in children with ASD during routine oral care and examined factors associated with this distress.Methods. Participants were 44 children (n=22typical,n=22ASD) aged 6–12 receiving routine dental cleanings. Behavioral and physiological measures of stress and anxiety were collected during dental cleanings.Results. Children with ASD exhibited greater distress, compared to the typical group, on dentist-report and researcher-coded measures of overt distress behaviors and on physiological measures. Correlations between physiological and behavioral measures of distress were found in the ASD but not in the typical group. Behavioral distress was correlated with age in the typical group and with expressive communication ability and sensory processing difficulties in the ASD group; physiological distress was correlated with parent-report of anxiety in the typical group and sensory processing difficulties in the ASD group.Conclusions. Novel strategies may be required to decrease behavioral and physiological distress in children with ASD in the dental clinic.

scholarly journals Association of Sensory Processing and Eating Problems in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geneviève Nadon ◽  
Debbie Ehrmann Feldman ◽  
Winnie Dunn ◽  
Erika Gisel
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Sensory Processing ◽  
Attention Deficit Disorder ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Sensory Profile ◽  
Eating Problems ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Definite Difference

“Selective” or “picky eating” is a frequent problem in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Many of these children do not treat sensory input, particularly olfactory, auditory, visual, and tactile information in the same manner as their typically developing peers of the same age. The purpose of this paper was to examine the relationship between problems of sensory processing and the number of eating problems in children with ASD. Of 95 children with ASD, 3 to 10 years of age, 65 percent showed a definite difference and 21 percent a probable difference in sensory processing on the total score of theShort Sensory Profile. These results were significantly related to an increase in the number of eating problems measured by theEating Profile. These results could not be explained by age, sex, mental retardation, attention deficit disorder, or hyperactivity. Timely interventions focusing on the sensory components of eating must now be developed.

scholarly journals Coloured Filters Enhance the Visual Perception of Social Cues in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda K. Ludlow ◽  
Elaine Taylor-Whiffen ◽  
Arnold J. Wilkins
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Coloured Filters ◽  
Social Difficulties ◽  
Periocular Region ◽  
Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Perceptual Impairment ◽  
The Mind

Coloured filters have been found to reduce visual distortion of text in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). We investigated the effect of the overlays on the “mind in the eye” task in children with ASD and controls matched for age, gender, and nonverbal IQ. Children were shown photographs of the periocular region of various faces and were asked to judge which emotion was being expressed in the eyes. In children with ASD, the perception of the emotion was significantly improved when the photograph was covered by a coloured overlay. The improvement was significantly greater than in the controls, who showed no significant effect of the overlay. A perceptual impairment may contribute to the social difficulties shown in ASD.

Disfluency Characteristics Observed in Young Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Preliminary Report

2010 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 42-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura W. Plexico ◽  
Julie E. Cleary ◽  
Ashlynn McAlpine ◽  
Allison M. Plumb
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Descriptive Study ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Young Children With Autism ◽  
Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Developmental Stuttering

This descriptive study evaluates the speech disfluencies of 8 verbal children between 3 and 5 years of age with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Speech samples were collected for each child during standardized interactions. Percentage and types of disfluencies observed during speech samples are discussed. Although they did not have a clinical diagnosis of stuttering, all of the young children with ASD in this study produced disfluencies. In addition to stuttering-like disfluencies and other typical disfluencies, the children with ASD also produced atypical disfluencies, which usually are not observed in children with typically developing speech or developmental stuttering. (Yairi & Ambrose, 2005).

scholarly journals Oral Health and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Unique Collaboration between Dentistry and Occupational Therapy

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 135
Author(s):  
Dominique H. Como ◽  
Leah I. Stein Duker ◽  
José C. Polido ◽  
Sharon A. Cermak
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Oral Health ◽  
Emotional Regulation ◽  
Occupational Therapists ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Clinic Visit ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Dental Practitioners ◽  
Spectrum Disorders

Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are at risk for oral health disparities. With the dramatic rise in ASD prevalence to 1 in 54 children, it is likely that an increasing number of dental practitioners will encounter or be asked to treat children with ASD. This paper reviews explanations related to the increasing prevalence of ASD, provides reasons why children with ASD are at increased risk for poor oral health, and discusses unique interprofessional collaborations between dental practitioners and occupational therapists. Occupational therapists and dentists can work together to plan modifications to the dental environment or adapt dental protocols to reduce some of the barriers encountered by those with ASD, provide desensitization strategies before the clinic visit, or help a child with emotional regulation during clinical treatments.

scholarly journals Increased Serum Levels of Tumor Necrosis Factor-Alpha, Resistin, and Visfatin in the Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Case-Control Study

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Ali Ghaffari ◽  
Elham Mousavinejad ◽  
Forough Riahi ◽  
Masoumeh Mousavinejad ◽  
Mohammad Reza Afsharmanesh
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Tumor Necrosis Factor ◽  
Tumor Necrosis ◽  
Serum Levels ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Necrosis Factor Alpha ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Factor Alpha ◽  
Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Necrosis Factor

Background. Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are complex disorders where the pathogenesis is not fully understood. Several proinflammatory and immunoinflammatory disturbances have been observed in the etiology of ASD. There is, however, limited knowledge on variations of adipokines in ASD. The present study aimed to analyze the serum levels of resistin, visfatin, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) in children with ASD in relation to body weight, gender, and ASD severity level. Method. In total, 30 children with ASD (mean age: 7.72±2.65 y; range; 4–12 y) and 30 healthy children (mean age: 8.4±2.66 y; range: 4–12 y), including males and females, were matched for age, gender, and body mass index (BMI). Serum samples were collected, and visfatin, resistin, and TNF-α serum levels were measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit. Result. Serum visfatin, resistin, and TNF-α levels in children with ASD were significantly higher than that in the healthy patients (p<0.05). Two significant correlations were found: a correlation between resistin and visfatin with TNF-α in children with ASD (R = 0.8 and R = 0.62, resp.) and a correlation between resistin and visfatin in children with ASD (R = 0.66). Conclusion. Higher TNF-α, resistin, and visfatin levels were found in children with ASD in comparison with controls, suggesting that elevated levels of serum proinflammatory agents may be implicated in the pathophysiology of ASD.

scholarly journals Early Adaptive Functioning Trajectories in Preschoolers With Autism Spectrum Disorders

2018 ◽  
Vol 43 (7) ◽  
pp. 800-813 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martina Franchini ◽  
Daniela Zöller ◽  
Edouard Gentaz ◽  
Bronwyn Glaser ◽  
Hilary Wood de Wilde ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Adaptive Functioning ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorders

Handedness in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. S214-S214 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Kobylinska ◽  
C.G. Anghel ◽  
I. Mihailescu ◽  
F. Rad ◽  
I. Dobrescu
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Training Programs ◽  
Hand Preference ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Left Handedness ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Hand Laterality ◽  
Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Competing Interest

Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have a less definitive hand preference for certain actions as opposed to neurotypical children. Moreover, left-handedness in children with ASD has been associated with more echolalia. The objective was to conduct a screening of potential risk and associated features for autism spectrum disorders, among which the hand preference of the child. The current aim is to compare the perceived handedness of children with autism spectrum disorders with that of children with other psychiatric pathologies.MethodsEight hundred and forty-two parents completed our risk and associated features screening questionnaire. Out of these, 494 answered the question regarding handedness (209 had children diagnosed with ASD). This asked the parents to state how they perceived their child's handedness. An ADOS assessment has been conducted for 170 of the children whose parents were included in the study, based on clinical relevance for the case. The data were analysed using Excel and SPSS 22.0. For the comparisons, Chi2 and the Kruskal–Wallis test were used.ResultsChildren with ASD had more left-handedness (χ2(2) = 12.54, P = 0.002). There were no differences between boys and girls in terms of perceived handedness in any of the groups. There were no differences in the ADOS scores according to the perceived hand laterality (χ2(2) = 0.58, P = 0.74).ConclusionRightward-asymmetry in regions of corpus callosum has been reported to correlate with symptoms severity in ASD. The finding of different perceived handedness in children with ASD versus children with other psychiatric pathologies is useful for designing appropriate, individualized training programs for motor therapy.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document