This paper presents a best evidence synthesis of interventions to increase social behavior for individuals with autism. Sixty-six studies published in peer-reviewed journals between 2001 and July 2008 with 513 participants were included. The results are presented by the age of the individual receiving intervention and by delivery agent of…

Thirty-four toddlers with autism and their mothers participated in an early intervention targeting joint engagement. Across the 24 intervention sessions, any significant distress episode in the child was coded for emotion regulation outcomes including child negativity, child emotion self-regulation, and mother emotion co-regulation. Results…

This study examined the sequential relationship between parent attentional cues and sustained attention to objects in young children with autism during a 20 min free-play interaction session. Twenty-five parent-child dyads with a preschool child with autism participated. Results indicated that (a) parent attentional cues that maintained the…

The purpose of this study was to assess the validity of the diagnosis of childhood autism in the Danish Psychiatric Central Register (DPCR) by reviewing medical records from 499 of 504 total children with childhood autism born 1990-1999. Based on review of abstracted behaviors recorded in case records from child psychiatric hospitals, case status…

Individuals with pervasive developmental disorder (PDD) have difficulty with social communication via emotional facial expressions, but behavioral studies involving static images have reported inconsistent findings about emotion recognition. We investigated whether dynamic presentation of facial expression would enhance subjective perception of…

Autobiographical memory impairments in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have been attributed to a failure in using the self as an effective memory organisational system. To explore this hypothesis, we compared self-defining and everyday memories in adults with and without ASD. Results demonstrated that both groups were able to distinguish between…

The effects of noncontingent reinforcement (NCR) schedules on responding were assessed across two parameters: presence of signal and schedule density. Results indicated that signaled NCR schedules were correlated with greater overall reductions in responding and quicker reductions relative to NCR schedules without a signal. The clinical…

We performed cerebellum segmentation and parcellation on magnetic resonance images from right-handed boys, aged 6-13 years, including 22 boys with autism [16 with language impairment (ALI)], 9 boys with Specific Language Impairment (SLI), and 11 normal controls. Language-impaired groups had reversed asymmetry relative to unimpaired groups in…

Quick and effective screening measures are needed for detecting Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Thirty typically developing children and 30 children with ASD aged 24-68 months were used. This study explored if the ASD group would exhibit less object exploration, diversity of play, and turn-taking than the typically developing group. Older children…

Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia (RSA), heart rate, and accuracy and latency of emotion recognition were evaluated in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and typically developing children while viewing videos of faces slowly transitioning from a neutral expression to one of six basic emotions (e.g., anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness,…

This study evaluated "The Transporters", an animated series designed to enhance emotion comprehension in children with autism spectrum conditions (ASC). n = 20 children with ASC (aged 4-7) watched "The Transporters" everyday for 4 weeks. Participants were tested before and after intervention on emotional vocabulary and emotion recognition at three…

The PEP-R (psychoeducational profile revised) is an instrument that has been used in many countries to assess abilities and formulate treatment programs for children with autism and related developmental disorders. To the end to provide further information on the PEP-R's psychometric properties, a large sample (N = 137) of children presenting…

Mentalizing refers to making inferences about other people's mental states, whereas visuospatial perspective taking refers to inferring other people's viewpoints. Both abilities seem vital for social functioning; yet, their exact relationship is unclear. We directly compared mentalizing and visuospatial perspective taking in nineteen adults with…

The purposes of the present study were to establish the mortality rate in a representative group of individuals (n = 120) born in the years 1962-1984, diagnosed with autism/atypical autism in childhood and followed up at young adult age (greater than or equal to 18 years of age), and examine the risk factors and causes of death. The study group,…

Patterns of current psychotropic medication use among 5,181 children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) enrolled in a Web-based registry were examined. Overall, 35% used at least one psychotropic medication, most commonly stimulants, neuroleptics, and/or antidepressants. Those who were uninsured or exclusively privately insured were less likely…