The purpose of the study was to compare the level of sense of coherence (SOC) in parents of children with autism and in parents of typically developing children, and to examine the association between SOC level and coping strategies. Two questionnaires were used: Sense of Coherence Scale (SOC-29) and Ways of Coping Questionnaire. Parents of…

Previous studies have reported that congenitally blind children without any additional impairment reveal a developmental delay of at least 4 years in perspective taking based on testing first-order false-belief tasks. These authors interpret this delay as a sign of autism-like behavior. However, the delay may be caused by testing blind children…

The extent to which parents of children with intellectual or developmental disabilities are adherent to prescribed treatments has not been investigated. In this treatment adherence study, parents (n = 220) of children with autism spectrum disorders were surveyed regarding implementation of recommended treatments to manage problem behavior of their…

Twenty-five individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder and 25 typically developed individuals participated in an Attentional Blink paradigm to determine whether emotional words would capture attention similarly in the two groups. Whilst the emotionality of words facilitated attention in typical comparison participants, this effect was attenuated in…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of wearing a pressure vest for a young boy with developmental delays. An A-B-A withdrawal design was used to examine the relation between wearing the pressure vest and child behaviors during a preschool art activity. Although the data showed moderate variability, no systematic differences were…

We present a new analysis of Whitehouse, Maybery, and Durkin's (2006, Experiment 3) data on inner speech in children with autism (CWA). Because inner speech development is thought to depend on linguistically mediated social interaction, we hypothesized that children with both autism and a nonverbal greater than verbal (NV greater than V) skills…

We compared the cognitive and language development at 4, 14, 24, 36, 54 months, and 7 years of siblings of children with autism (SIBS-A) to that of siblings of children with typical development (SIBS-TD) using growth curve analyses. At 7 years, 40% of the SIBS-A, compared to 16% of SIBS-TD, were identified with cognitive, language and/or academic…

This study provides new evidence of deficient auditory cortical processing of speech in noise in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Speech-evoked responses (approximately 100-300 ms) in quiet and background noise were evaluated in typically-developing (TD) children and children with ASD. ASD responses showed delayed timing (both conditions) and…

A consistent result in the evaluation of group-delivered intervention to promote social reciprocity in children with PDDs is that outcome data are inconclusive. Lack of robust evidence of efficacy confounds understanding of these interventions and their value to the field. It is conceivable that the construct of impaired social reciprocity in PDD…

Findings are mixed concerning inhibition in autism. Using the classic Stroop, children with autism (CWA) often outperform typically developing children (TDC). A classic Stroop and a chimeric animal Stroop were used to explore the validity of the Stroop task as a test of inhibition for CWA. During the classic Stroop, children ignored the word and…

We conducted a systematic review to determine the safety and efficacy of omega-3 fatty acids for autistic spectrum disorder (ASD). Articles were identified by a search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Database using the terms autism or autistic and omega-3 fatty acids. The search identified 143 potential articles and six satisfied all…

Little is known about how adolescents with autism spectrum conditions (ASC) experience the initial impact of ostracism. This study investigated whether a mild, short-term episode of experimentally induced ostracism (Cyberball) would affect self-reported anxiety, mood, and the extent to which four social needs (self-esteem, belonging, control and…

Factor structure and relationship between core features of autism (social impairments, communication difficulties, and restricted, repetitive behaviours or interests (RRBIs)) were explored in 189 children from the Twins Early Development Study, diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorders (ASDs) using the Development and Wellbeing Assessment (DAWBA;…

In this study we assessed the behavioral presentation of social anxiety in Cornelia de Lange syndrome (CdLS) using a contrast group of Cri du Chat syndrome (CdCS). Behaviors indicative of social anxiety were recorded in twelve children with CdLS (mean age = 11.00; SD = 5.15) and twelve children with CdCS (8.20; SD = 2.86) during social…

We analyzed predictors of parent-reported initial diagnosis (autistic disorder [AD], pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified [PDD-NOS], pervasive developmental disorder ["PDD"] and autism spectrum disorder ["ASD"], and Asperger syndrome [AS]), among 6,176 individuals with autism spectrum disorders diagnosed from 1994 through 2007.…