scholarly journals Family Physicians' Awareness of Autism Spectrum Disorder: Results from a Survey Study

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (6) ◽  
pp. 967-972 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mengühan Araz Altay
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Clinical Features ◽  
Neurodevelopmental Disorder ◽  
Family Physicians ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Survey Study ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Adequate Education ◽  
Questionnaire Form

AIM: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder in children. Family physicians with the first medical contact of children are among the most frequent physicians with ASD. We aimed to investigate family physicians' awareness of ASD. METHODS: This study was carried out family physicians in between September 25-October 15, 2018. The questionnaire form on autism awareness prepared by the researcher was delivered to family physicians electronically and in printed form, and it was filled out by volunteers. RESULTS: Forty-eight family physicians with an average professional experience of 16.9 ± 8.8 years participated in the study. A group of 66.7% of the participants had not previously received education on ASD, and 70.8% of them did not refer any child to child psychiatry with suspected ASD in the last 6 months. The participants stated that the most common clinical features in children with ASD were the inability to make eye contact (72.9%) and repetitive movements (47.9%), and 56.3% of them stated one or more features that are not observed in ASD. The compliance of the participants' answers about the clinical features observed in children with ASD with the DSM-5 criteria was determined to be 54.6 ± 18.4%. Significantly higher compliance rates were observed in the participants with education on autism and those working as a physician below 15 years. CONCLUSION: In our study, family physicians' awareness of ASD was not found to be adequate. Education programs on autism awareness should be applied to family physicians who are probably the most frequently encountered physicians by children with ASD.

scholarly journals Perceptions of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Etiology among Parents of Children with ASD

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (13) ◽  
pp. 6774
Author(s):  
Wei-Ju Chen ◽  
Zihan Zhang ◽  
Haocen Wang ◽  
Tung-Sung Tseng ◽  
Ping Ma ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Neurodevelopmental Disorder ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Parental Perceptions ◽  
Repetitive Behaviors ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Religious Factors

Background: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by social communication deficits and restricted or repetitive behaviors. Parental perceptions of the etiology of their child’s ASD can affect provider–client relationships, bonding between parents and their children, and the prognosis, treatment, and management of children with ASD. Thus, this study sought to examine the perceptions of ASD etiology of parents of children with ASD. Methods: Forty-two parents of children diagnosed with ASD were recruited across Texas. Semi-structured interviews were conducted individually. All interviews were recorded and later transcribed verbatim for content analysis utilizing NVivo 12.0 (QSR International, Doncaster, Australia). Results: The content analysis identified the following themes regarding parental perceptions of ASD etiology: Genetic factors (40.5%), environmental factors (31.0%), problems that occurred during pregnancy or delivery (23.8%), vaccinations (16.7%), other health problems (7.1%), parental age at the time of pregnancy (4.8%), and spiritual or religious factors (2.4%). Conclusions: The parental perceptions of ASD etiology were diverse, but several views, such as vaccinations and spiritual or religious factors, were not based on scientific evidence. Health professionals and researchers can use these findings to develop and provide targeted education to parents who have children with ASD. Our findings also support policymakers in developing campaigns designed to increase parental ASD awareness and knowledge.

scholarly journals A Review of the Efficacy of the Dietary Intervention in Autism Spectrum Disorder

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (F) ◽  
pp. 88-94
Author(s):  
Zainab Taha ◽  
Khalid A. Abdalhai
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Dietary Intervention ◽  
Neurodevelopmental Disorder ◽  
Food Additives ◽  
Gastrointestinal Symptoms ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Omega 3 ◽  
Dietary Interventions ◽  
Children With Asd

BACKGROUND: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is an early-onset neurodevelopmental disorder with 1 in 68 children prevalence. The key symptoms of ASD include social deficits, verbal and non-verbal communication deficits, and restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities. For unknown reasons, gastrointestinal symptoms are related to ASD. The aim of the current paper is to review the available literature on dietary interventions in children with ASD and provide up-to-date evidence. METHODS: Searches in online databases, using the search terms’ dietary intervention, “autism spectrum disorders,” and “autism” were conducted. The search targeted publications ranging from 2010 to 2020. RESULTS: Twenty-six studies with different study designs which evaluated the effectiveness of specific dietary interventions in children with ASD were included in our review. Several dietary interventions were of popular practice in the management of children with ASD, including elimination (gluten-/casein-free diet and oligoantigenic diet), modification (modified ketogenic diet), supplementation (minerals, vitamins, omega 3, and omega 6), and exclusion (food additives). Studies showed different results with varying degrees of evidence. Overall, data were inadequate to make accurate conclusions. CONCLUSION: There is little evidence to support the use of dietary interventions for children with ASD. Additional high-quality studies and further research are, therefore, needed.

scholarly journals Mitochondrial morphology is associated with respiratory chain uncoupling in autism spectrum disorder

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard E. Frye ◽  
Loïc Lionnard ◽  
Indrapal Singh ◽  
Mohammad A. Karim ◽  
Hanane Chajra ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Complex I ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Neurodevelopmental Disorder ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Mitochondrial Metabolism ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Mitochondrial Morphology ◽  
Complex Iv ◽  
Children With Asd

AbstractAutism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that is associated with unique changes in mitochondrial metabolism, including elevated respiration rates and morphological alterations. We examined electron transport chain (ETC) complex activity in fibroblasts derived from 18 children with ASD as well as mitochondrial morphology measurements in fibroblasts derived from the ASD participants and four typically developing controls. In ASD participants, symptoms severity was measured by the Social Responsiveness Scale and Aberrant Behavior Checklist. Mixed-model regression demonstrated that alterations in mitochondrial morphology were associated with both ETC Complex I+III and IV activity as well as the difference between ETC Complex I+III and IV activity. The subgroup of ASD participants with relative elevation in Complex IV activity demonstrated more typical mitochondrial morphology and milder ASD related symptoms. This study is limited by sample size given the invasive nature of obtaining fibroblasts from children. Furthermore, since mitochondrial function is heterogenous across tissues, the result may be specific to fibroblast respiration. Previous studies have separately described elevated ETC Complex IV activity and changes in mitochondrial morphology in cells derived from children with ASD but this is the first study to link these two findings in mitochondrial metabolism. The association between a difference in ETC complex I+III and IV activity and normal morphology suggests that mitochondrial in individuals with ASD may require ETC uncoupling to function optimally. Further studies should assess the molecular mechanisms behind these unique metabolic changes.Trial registration: Protocols used in this study were registered in clinicaltrials.gov as NCT02000284 and NCT02003170.

CheerBrush: A Novel Interactive Augmented Reality Coaching System for Toothbrushing Skills in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Z. Kevin Zheng ◽  
Nandan Sarkar ◽  
Amy Swanson ◽  
Amy Weitlauf ◽  
Zachary Warren ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Augmented Reality ◽  
Neurodevelopmental Disorder ◽  
The United States ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Fine Motor ◽  
Fine Motor Skill ◽  
Intelligent Support ◽  
Children With Asd

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder that impacts one in every 54 children in the United States. Some children with ASD have learning and fine motor skill challenges that contribute to difficulties completing daily living tasks such as toothbrushing. Lack of toothbrushing skills may cause increased need for dental care and negative social feedback from peers. Technology based intelligent support systems offer the advantages of being accessible, engaging, and cost-effective. In this work, we present a novel interactive augmented reality coaching system, CheerBrush, to improve the toothbrushing skills of children with ASD. CheerBrush allows children to manipulate virtual objects like a toothbrush and toothpaste with their actual hand motions to practice the steps of toothbrushing. The virtual tasks of CheerBrush demonstrate these steps using audio and visual cues, while also showing the brushing process through a virtual avatar. CheerBrush also assesses toothbrushing skills with a custom designed mechatronic toothbrush to evaluate the system's coaching effectiveness. A feasibility study with 12 children (six children with ASD and six typically developing children) was conducted to evaluate the acceptability and effectiveness of CheerBrush. The data showed improvements in the toothbrushing motions and reduced stress for the children in the post-test. CheerBrush detects real-time movement of children and interacts with them by augmented reality, feedback and multimodal hints. We believe that CheerBrush has the potential to provide a low-cost, engaging and, beneficial intelligent support system to improve the toothbrushing skills of children with ASD.

Emotion Regulation in Autism Spectrum Disorder

2017 ◽  
pp. 235-258
Author(s):  
Jonathan A. Weiss ◽  
Priscilla Burnham Riosa ◽  
Carla A. Mazefsky ◽  
Renae Beaumont
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Emotion Dysregulation ◽  
Neurodevelopmental Disorder ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Expressive Suppression ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Regulatory Strategies ◽  
Patterns Of Behavior

Chapter 12 discusses childhood and adolescent autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a pervasive neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by deficits in social communication, and by restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities. Emotion regulation difficulty, particularly understanding emotion, is common in ASD, as is the use of maladaptive regulatory strategies (i.e., avoidance, expressive suppression). In terms of treatment, robust empirical evidence supports using mindfulness and cognitive behavioral approaches in treating anxiety, a frequent outcome of emotion dysregulation in youth ASD. In addition, two psychopharmacologic medications, risperidone and ariprazole, have well-established evidence supporting their utility in this population. Understanding the underlying dynamics of emotion regulation through ASD from a developmental perspective, whilst considering the stressors unique to this population, is imperative in order to improve treatment outcomes and optimize individualized skill development. The chapter concludes with a description of a novel intervention designed to specifically address emotion regulation difficulties in children with ASD.

scholarly journals Perception of Special Teachers on the Evidence based Intervention Strategies for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (3S2) ◽  
pp. 427-434
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Developmental Disorders ◽  
Neurodevelopmental Disorder ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Intervention Strategies ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Graduate Degree ◽  
Chi Square ◽  
Children With Asd

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is one of five developmental disorders, it is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder affecting the ability of the person to socialize, communicate along with stereotype behaviours. ASD can affect any person irrespective of the gender, caste, creed or religion. Intervention means doing something, taking action or using a treatment to try to improve a particular condition or a problem. When it comes to ASD, there are many kinds of interventions offered. Depending on the type, they can involve the child, the parent or both. They might be one-off events or involve many sessions spread over years. Interventions are based on different theories about what causes ASD. The current study which is a part of the PhD tries to study the perception of special teachers on the current Intervention strategies for children with ASD. The study was conducted by circulating the questionnaire developed to the special teachers (n=40) working for ASD in the country. The participants consisted of special teachers having Diploma, Degree) and Post Graduate degree in the field of ASD (n=40). Descriptive statistics; frequency, percentages, and chi square tests were done using SPSS. The results indicated that teachers accepted the need for evidence based intervention strategies for training children with ASD.

scholarly journals Priming the Pathway: Combining Oxytocin and Behavioral Intervention to Improve Outcomes in Autism Spectrum Disorder

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine Kuhl Meltzoff Stavropoulos ◽  
Elizabeth Baker
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Behavioral Intervention ◽  
Social Communication ◽  
Behavioral Interventions ◽  
Neurodevelopmental Disorder ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Restricted Interests ◽  
Children With Asd

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by social-communication deficits and the presence of restricted interests and/or repetitive behaviors. There are currently no psychopharmacological agents approved to treat core symptoms of ASD. As such, behavioral interventions are the most effective method for improving symptoms. In the current chapter, we propose that administering the neuropeptide oxytocin in conjunction with evidence-based behavioral interventions may lead to improved outcomes in social-communication for children with ASD. From a mechanistic perspective, we hypothesize that oxytocin may “prime” social reward circuitry in the brain, thereby allowing behavioral interventions designed to increase social motivation/initiation to be more effective. Extant literature related to theories of ASD, oxytocin administration in children with ASD, and behavioral intervention outcomes are reviewed, and considerations for individual characteristics (e.g., genetics, oxytocin availability, age, behavioral profile, etc.) that may affect efficacy are discussed.

scholarly journals Providing Inpatient Medical Care to Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 918-924
Author(s):  
Robyn P. Thom ◽  
Melissa M. Hazen ◽  
Christopher J. McDougle ◽  
Eric P. Hazen
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Neurodevelopmental Disorder ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Repetitive Behaviors ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Improvement Interventions ◽  
Communication Ability ◽  
Quality Improvement Interventions

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder, affecting an estimated 1 in 40 children. Children with ASD have high rates of medical comorbidity and often experience high levels of distress during medical admissions, increasing the risk of agitation. Pediatric hospitalists receive minimal formal training on the inpatient care of children with ASD. In this article, we review strategies that pediatric hospitalists can use to optimize the care of children with ASD during inpatient admissions. These include gathering an ASD-related history early in the admission to understand the child’s baseline core ASD symptoms, including social and communication ability, sensory needs, and restricted or repetitive behaviors. This information can be used to tailor the hospitalist’s approach in each of these 3 domains. We conclude by reviewing procedure-related considerations, an approach to managing agitation, and quality improvement interventions.

scholarly journals Sleep Disorders in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Insights From Animal Models, Especially Non-human Primate Model

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shufei Feng ◽  
Haoyu Huang ◽  
Na Wang ◽  
Yuanyuan Wei ◽  
Yun Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Animal Models ◽  
Sleep Disorders ◽  
Sleep Problems ◽  
Neurodevelopmental Disorder ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Repetitive Behaviors ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Human Primate

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a heterogeneous neurodevelopmental disorder with deficient social skills, communication deficits and repetitive behaviors. The prevalence of ASD has increased among children in recent years. Children with ASD experience more sleep problems, and sleep appears to be essential for the survival and integrity of most living organisms, especially for typical synaptic development and brain plasticity. Many methods have been used to assess sleep problems over past decades such as sleep diaries and parent-reported questionnaires, electroencephalography, actigraphy and videosomnography. A substantial number of rodent and non-human primate models of ASD have been generated. Many of these animal models exhibited sleep disorders at an early age. The aim of this review is to examine and discuss sleep disorders in children with ASD. Toward this aim, we evaluated the prevalence, clinical characteristics, phenotypic analyses, and pathophysiological brain mechanisms of ASD. We highlight the current state of animal models for ASD and explore their implications and prospects for investigating sleep disorders associated with ASD.

Parents’ Perceptions on Social Skills Functioning of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Preliminary Study

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 33-37
Author(s):  
Joanna Hie Ping Ting ◽  
Kee Jiar Yeo
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Social Skills ◽  
Social Communication ◽  
Neurodevelopmental Disorder ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Social Emotional ◽  
Social Reciprocity ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Social Skills Deficits

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is defined as a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects social communication, social interaction and sensory sensitivities. Social skills are one of the common deficits displayed by children with ASD. However, the level of impairment exerted by children with ASD relies on the disorder severity. Social skills are critical to successful social-emotional, communication and cognitive development. Specific social skills deficits include difficulties in initiating interactions, maintaining social reciprocity, sharing attention, taking another person’s perspective, and inferring the interests of others. In this study, social skills consist of social awareness, social cognition, social communication, social motivation and autism mannerism. This study aimed to uncover the conceptualization of social skills from the parents’ perspective, thus providing an indication of education on the topic of ASD.

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