This study was designed to identify specific difficulties and associated features related to the problems with social interaction experienced by individuals with pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS) using an emotion-recognition task. We compared individuals with PDD-NOS or Asperger's disorder (ASP) and typically…

Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) routinely fail false belief tests of theory of mind (ToM), even at advanced chronological and mental ages. Initial training efforts were largely disappointing for those with ASD, suggesting an intractable deficit. However, more recently, children with ASD trained with various pictorial strategies…

This study evaluated the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the Social Responsiveness Scale (Chinese SRS). We assessed 1419 grade 1 to grade 8 students from northern Taiwan and 401 clinic-based participants (aged 3-20, male 90.3%). All clinic-based participants were clinically diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs),…

The range of interventions available for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) has increased in recent years. This has led to an interest in the decision-making process related to intervention choices for parents of children with ASD. The present paper reviewed 16 studies examining the factors declared by parents as affecting their…

Aims: This study examined parental perspectives on the importance and likelihood of future adult outcomes for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), Intellectual Disabilities (ID), or Multiple Disabilities (MD) and some of the factors that may affect parental aspirations. Methods: Parents of 105 children with ASD, ID, or MD were presented…

There is literature suggesting that some demographic characteristics actually can influence how parents or caregivers respond on informant-based measures for their children. The current study aimed to expand that research to include analysis of the relationship of maternal age and education level on mothers' ratings of their child's ASD by…

The current study aims to describe the cognitive profile, autism profile, medical and behavioral presentation of children with a dual diagnosis of cerebral palsy (CP) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Little is known about the dual presentation of CP and ASD. Timely diagnosis is imperative as early intervention may impact a child's developmental…

A behavioral skills training package was used to teach vocal and non-vocal conversation skills to young adults with autism spectrum disorders. A task analysis was created and verified that included both vocal conversation skills such as making comments related to the conversation topic, and non-vocal conversation skills such as maintaining…

The purpose of this paper was to update the psychometrics of the "Matson Evaluation of Social Skills for Youngsters" ("MESSY") with children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), specifically with respect to internal consistency, split-half reliability, and inter-rater reliability. In Study 1, 114 children with ASD (Autistic Disorder, Asperger's…

Articles that empirically investigated the emergence of untaught equivalence relations among individuals with autism are presented in this review. Systematic searches of academic databases, journals and ancestry searches identified nine studies that met inclusion criteria. These studies were evaluated according to: (a) participants, (b)…

Speech and other communication deficits are core features of the autism spectrum. This topic has become one of the most heavily studied in the child health/mental health field. Even within this group of disorders, considerable variability in symptoms is evident. A variety of subtopics within this area have been studied. Topics include types of…

This preliminary study examined the effects of 10 weekly lessons of therapeutic horseback riding (THR) on 42 participants diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ages 6-16 years) compared to a subset (n=16) of the total study population who were first evaluated before and after a 10-week waitlist control condition. All participants received…

This study assessed parents' first concerns about their autistic child. This information was categorized so that it could help healthcare professionals improve early detection of autism. We designed a questionnaire using an open-ended format, and 459 questionnaires were completed by parents to assess difficulties encountered in obtaining a…

This review involved a systematic search and analysis of behavioral intervention studies aimed at improving adaptive skills in high-functioning young adults with autism spectrum disorders. Through electronic databases and hand searching, 20 studies were identified meeting pre-determined inclusion criteria. Studies were summarized and analysed in…

We compared the comprehension of verbal irony presented in computer-mediated conversations for older children and adolescents with high-functioning autism spectrum disorders (HFASD) and typically developing (TD) controls. We also determined whether participants' interpretations of irony were affected by the relationship between characters in the…