Likelihood of being Physically Inactive from a Nationally Representative sample of Autistic Children

Despite the many health risks of physical inactivity, studies have demonstrated individual, family, and environmental determinants of inactivity for autistic children. However, these studies never examined these correlates at the same time. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore these ecological domains concurrently when examining physical inactivity correlates for autistic children. This study used data from the 2016-2020 National Survey of Childrens Health. The authors predicted physical inactivity while controlling for child, parental/household, and neighborhood correlates with autism status as the comparison group. When controlling for covariates, children with co-occurring autism and intellectual and developmental disability (IDD) (adjusted odds ratio (aOR)= 1.91, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.36-2.68) or ASD only (aOR = 1.91, CI: 1.48-2.48) were significantly more likely to be inactive when compared to children without autism or IDD. However, autism medicine and autism severity were not predictors for obese autistic children. These findings indicate that it is important to take a holistic, ecological approach when exploring the correlates of inactivity for autistic children.

Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial of the WHO Caregiver Skills Training in Public Health Services in Italy

Parents of children with ASD (N = 86; mean age 44.8 months; 67 boys) were randomized to either WHO Caregiver Skills Training (CST) delivered in public health settings in Italy or enhanced treatment-as-usual. Primary blinded outcomes were 3-months post-intervention change scores of autism severity and engagement during caregiver-child interaction. CST was highly acceptable to caregivers and feasibly delivered by trained local clinicians. Intention-to-treat analysis showed a large and significant effect on parent skills supporting joint engagement and a smaller significant effect on flow of interaction. Expected changes in child autism severity and joint engagement did not meet statistical significance. Analysis of secondary outcomes showed a significant effect on parenting stress, self-efficacy, and child gestures. Strategies to improve the effectiveness of CST are discussed.

Connection Beyond Words: Establishing Emotional Communication with Autistic Children

To help autistic children promote Social Competence (SC) and connect to other people, the study designed a therapy toy that can react emotional response and provide haptic communication, in a comfortable and engaging way. Five children with autism were invited to play with the device focusing on the evaluation of interactions and behaviors. The results show significant relief of autism severity and improvements on the willing of expression.

Effectiveness, durability, and clinical correlates of the PEERS social skills intervention in young adults with autism spectrum disorder: the first evidence outside North America

Background Despite the fact that social deficits among individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are lifelong and impact many aspects of personal functioning, evidence-based programs for social skills training were not available until recently. The Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills (PEERS®) has been shown to effectively improve social skills for adolescents on the spectrum across different social cultures. However, the effectiveness for young adults beyond North America has yet to be examined. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of the PEERS intervention in Taiwanese young adults with ASD, and examine its durability and clinical correlates. Methods We recruited 82 cognitively-able young adults with ASD, randomized to the PEERS treatment or treatment-as-usual. Results Following treatment, significant improvement was found in aspects of social deficits, autism severity, social interaction anxiety, empathy, and social skills knowledge either by self-report or coach-report. Additionally, communicative behaviors rated by observers improved throughout the sessions, showing a trend toward more appropriate eye contact, gestures, facial expression during conversation, and appropriate maintenance of conversation and reciprocity. Most effects maintained at 3-month and 6-month follow-ups. The improvement of social deficits was positively correlated with baseline severity, while gains in social skills knowledge were positively correlated with IQ. The improvement of social deficits, autism severity, and empathy were positively correlated with each other. Conclusion Overall, the PEERS intervention appears to effectively improve social functioning in Taiwanese young adults with ASD. Improvement of social response and knowledge may be predicted by baseline severity and intelligence respectively.

Behavioural Concerns of Children on the Autism Spectrum and the Impact on Parental Quality of Life

PurposeThis study aimed to determine the association between parental quality of life (QoL) and autism severity, child’s cognitive level, adaptive behaviour and behavioural profile, and sociodemographic factors utilising the Quality of Life in Autism Questionnaire (QoLA).MethodsParents of children attending an autism specific preschool centre completed a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Quality of Life in Autism Questionnaire (QoLA), Vineland Adaptive Behaviour Scales 2nd edition (VABS) and Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL). Trained researchers assessed autism severity with the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule-2 (ADOS-2) and the cognitive level with the Mullen Scales of Early Learning (MSEL).ResultsFor parents of children on the autism spectrum, having other children without the condition buffered the potential negative effects on parental QoL. Lower levels of autism severity and internalising behaviours, and higher levels of daily living scores predicted greater perceived parental QoL. Parents perceived their child’s autism-specific behaviour as less problematic when the child had higher socialisation scores. While lower levels of Attention Problems, Withdrawn Behaviour and lower scores on the Dysregulation Profile (Externalising Behaviours, Aggressive Behaviour and Anxious/Depressed) predicted greater perceived parental QoL, higher levels of Withdrawn Behaviour, Aggression and Externalising Behaviour predicted poorer perceived parental QoL. There were no significant findings for the relationship between parental QoL and cognitive level.ConclusionThe present research establishes the complex effects of raising a child on the autism spectrum on parental QoL. Findings indicate a child’s autism symptom severity, adaptive functioning and behavioural profile has greater impact on parental QoL than cognitive level.

The relationship between the motor skills level and the severity of autism disorder in children with autism

Background and Study Aim. This study aimed to determine the relationship between the level of fine and gross motor skills and motor proficiency with the severity of autism disorder in children with autism. Material and Methods. 68 children with autism, ranged from 3-16 years old, were selected. Motor Assessment Battery for Children-2 (MABC-2) was used to assess fine and gross motor skills and motor proficiency. Gilliam Autism Rating Scale-2 (GARS-2) test was also used for assessing the severity of autism disorder in the participants. Results. The obtained results from the Pearson correlation test showed that there was a significant and negative relationship between sub-scales of GARS-2 and MABC-2 tests (P<0.05). It means that decreasing the level of motor skills increases the autism severity. The results of the regression test also showed that only the total score of motor proficiency among microscales of the MABC-2 test could predict the stereotypes, social skills, communication skills, and autism severity (P<0.05). Conclusion. The results of the current study indicated the pivotal role of motor skills growth in determining the level of autism disorder. It also emphasized on embedding motor interventions in rehabilitation programs of such people.

Assessment of presentation patterns of repetitive behaviors in Autism: a cross-sectional video-recording study. Preliminary report

Twenty expert caregivers wearing a body cam recorded 1868 videoclips in 67 autistic subjects along a 3 months close follow-up. A team consisting of a senior child neuro-psychiatrist and a senior psychologist selected 780 of them as expressing repetitive behaviors (RB) and made an empirical classification according to components, complexity, body parts and sensory channels involved, with the aim to understand better the pattern complexity and correlate with autism severity. The RB spectrum for each subject ranged from 1 to 33 different patterns (average= 11.6; S.D.= 6.82). Forty subjects expressed prevalent simple pattern and 27 prevalent complex patterns. No significant differences are found between the two groups according to ADOS score severity. This study represents a first attempt to systematically document expression patterns of RB with a data driven approach. This may provide a better understanding of the pathophysiology, diagnosis, and treatment of RB.