Over the past 20 years a variety of treatments have been developed to remediate deficits associated with autism. Since the early 1990s, Social Stories[TM] have been suggested to positively affect the social development of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Despite much research, there remains uncertainty regarding the effectiveness of…

The present study examined the understanding of emotional transfer in 11 children with autism, 20 children with PDD-NOS and 31 typically developing children, aged 6 to 12 years. Children were asked about their emotional responses to successive, conflicting emotional situations. All children reported that preceding emotional situations would…

Recent findings indicate that individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) could, surprisingly, infer traits from behavioural descriptions. Now we need to know whether or not individuals with ASD are able to use trait information to identify people by their faces. In this study participants with and without ASD were presented with pairs of…

The aim of the study was to examine the temporal characteristics of information processing in individuals with high-functioning autism and Asperger's disorder using a rapid serial visual presentation paradigm. The results clearly showed that such people demonstrate an attentional blink of similar magnitude to comparison groups. This supports the…

The effectiveness of three local authority early teaching interventions for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) was studied. Thirty-three children (2:6 to 4:0 years old) received one of three early teaching interventions: a 1:1 home-based programme, and two different forms of special nursery placement. Measures from the…

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of a 10 week water exercise swimming program (WESP) on the aquatic skills and social behaviors of 16 boys with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). In the first 10 week phase (phase I), eight children (group A) received the WESP while eight children (group B) did not. A second 10 week phase…

One of the most noticeable problems in autism involves the social use of language such as metaphor and metonymy, both of which are very common in daily language use. The present study is the first to investigate the development of metaphor and metonymy comprehension in autism. Eleven children with autism were compared to 17 typically developing…

Many students with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) have delays learning to recognize emotions. Social behavior is also challenging, including initiating interactions, responding to others, developing peer relationships, and so forth. In this single case design study we investigated the relationship between use of computer software ("Mind Reading:…

A 14-year-old male with autism and mild mental retardation developed malignant catatonia characterized by classic symptoms of catatonia, bradycardia and hypothermia. Bilateral electroconvulsive therapy and lorazepam were required for resolution. The case expands the occurrence of catatonia in autism into its malignant variant.

We present results obtained with new instrumental methods for the acoustic analysis of prosody to evaluate prosody production by children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Typical Development (TD). Two tasks elicit focal stress--one in a vocal imitation paradigm, the other in a picture-description paradigm; a third task also uses a vocal…

Computer Assisted Instruction (CAI) has shown increased popularity recently and there are many studies showing promise for this approach for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). However, there are no between-subject studies to date assessing the efficacy of CAI with this population. In this study, 47 preschool and K-1 students in ASD…

The present study compared how parents of preschoolers with and without Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) perceived and felt about participation in community activities. A questionnaire survey was conducted with 380 Hong Kong parents of preschoolers with ASD and 214 Hong Kong parents of preschoolers without ASD. The two groups were not different in…

This study sought to determine the effects of using music and non-music interventions on the social responsive and avoidant behaviours of a preschool child with autism. A single-subject alternating treatment design was used in which two interventions were presented in a similar fashion except for the addition of music during the music condition.…

Studies of emotion processing in autism have produced mixed results, with fewer studies observing autism-specific deficits than might be imagined. In the current study, 21 individuals with autism and 21 age- and ability-matched, learning disabled comparison participants were tested for their ability to (a) recognise, "in others", expressions of…

Tangible user interfaces (TUIs) embed computer technology in graspable objects. This study assessed the potential of Topobo, a construction toy with programmable movement, to support social interaction in children with Autistic Spectrum Conditions (ASC). Groups of either typically developing (TD) children or those with ASC had group play sessions…