1. Chenausky K, Nelson C, 3rd, Tager-Flusberg H. {{Vocalization Rate and Consonant Production in Toddlers at High and Low Risk for Autism}}. {J Speech Lang Hear Res};2017 (Apr 03):1-12.
Background: Previous work has documented lower vocalization rate and consonant acquisition delays in toddlers with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We investigated differences in these variables at 12, 18, and 24 months in toddlers at high and low risk for ASD. Method: Vocalization rate and number of different consonants were obtained from speech samples from a prospective study of infant siblings of children with ASD. Three groups were compared: 18 toddlers at low risk for ASD (low-risk control), 18 high-risk siblings without ASD (HRA-), and 10 high-risk siblings with ASD (HRA+). Results: All groups’ mean language scores were within the normal range. HRA+ toddlers showed consistently lower vocalization rate; vocalization rate did not predict number of different consonants at 12 months for HRA+. HRA-, not HRA+, toddlers had the smallest number of different consonants and produced significantly fewer different consonants than predicted by their vocalization rate at 12 months. Consonant-acquisition trajectories differed between groups, with HRA- showing the greatest increase from 12 to 18 months. Conclusion: Lower vocalization rate was not associated with reduced number of different consonants in these toddlers. Between-groups differences in developmental trajectories are discussed in the context of the social feedback loop and differential ability to benefit from adult feedback between groups.
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2. English MC, Maybery MT, Visser TA. {{Reduced Pseudoneglect for Physical Space, but not Mental Representations of Space, for Adults with Autistic Traits}}. {J Autism Dev Disord};2017 (Apr 03)
Neurotypical individuals display a leftward attentional bias, called pseudoneglect, for physical space (e.g. landmark task) and mental representations of space (e.g. mental number line bisection). However, leftward bias is reduced in autistic individuals viewing faces, and neurotypical individuals with autistic traits viewing ‘greyscale’ stimuli, suggestive of atypical lateralization of attention in autism. We investigated whether representational pseudoneglect for individuals with autistic traits is similarly atypically lateralized by comparing biases on a greyscales, landmark, and mental number line task. We found that pseudoneglect was intact only on the representational measure, the mental number line task, suggesting that mechanisms for atypical lateralization of attention in individuals with autistic traits are specific artefacts of processing physically visual stimuli.
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3. Lunsky Y, R PH, Weiss JA, A MP, Hutton S, White K. {{Comparative Effects of Mindfulness and Support and Information Group Interventions for Parents of Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Other Developmental Disabilities}}. {J Autism Dev Disord};2017 (Apr 03)
This study evaluated two community based interventions for parents of adults with autism spectrum disorder and other developmental disabilities. Parents in the mindfulness group reported significant reductions in psychological distress, while parents in the support and information group did not. Reduced levels of distress in the mindfulness group were maintained at 20 weeks follow-up. Mindfulness scores and mindful parenting scores and related constructs (e.g., self-compassion) did not differ between the two groups. Results suggest the psychological components of the mindfulness based group intervention were effective over and above the non-specific effects of group processes and informal support.
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4. McKechanie AG, Moffat VJ, Johnstone EC, Fletcher-Watson S. {{Links between Autism Spectrum Disorder Diagnostic Status and Family Quality of Life}}. {Children (Basel)};2017 (Apr 03);4(4)
Quality of life is often relatively lowered in families of children with additional needs, and this may be particularly the case where additional needs are accompanied by an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Here we explore the effects of diagnostic status specifically, comparing families with children with an ASD diagnosis with others who a) have additional needs but no signs of ASD; and b) have additional needs and signs of ASD but no diagnosis. Mothers (n = 76) of children with additional needs completed standardised questionnaires about quality of life, stress, service provision, child behaviour and presence and severity of ASD traits. In addition, a group of mothers of typically developing young people (n = 17) completed standardised questionnaires on individual and family quality of life and on the behaviour of their son or daughter. Mothers of typically developing young people had significantly higher individual and family quality of life scores than each of the three other groups. Increased severity of ASD was associated with increased maternal stress, which in turn was associated with decreased family and maternal quality of life. The group reporting the lowest quality of life and the highest stress were the mothers of individuals with signs of ASD but no diagnosis. This pattern did not seem to be explained by lack of access to services, or rates of intellectual disability or challenging behaviour in this sub-group. The finding that poor quality of life and high stress was most apparent in the sub-group of mothers with children who had signs of ASD but did not have a diagnosis of ASD suggests that an interesting topic for further investigation is whether receipt of a diagnosis itself can positively influence quality of life and levels of maternal stress.
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5. Pellissier LP, Gandia J, Laboute T, Becker JA, Le Merrer J. {{Mu opioid receptor, social behaviour and autism spectrum disorder: reward matters}}. {Br J Pharmacol};2017 (Apr 03)
The endogenous opioid system is well known to relieve pain and underpin the rewarding properties of most drugs of abuse. Among opioid receptors, the mu opioid receptor (muOR) mediates most of the analgesic and rewarding properties of opioids. Based on striking similarities between social distress, physical pain and opiate withdrawal, muOR has been proposed to play a critical role in modulating social behaviour in humans and animals. This review summarizes experimental data demonstrating such role and proposes a novel model, the muOR Balance Model, to account for muOR contribution to the subtle regulation of social behaviour. Interestingly, muOR null mice show behavioural deficits similar to these observed in patients with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), including severe impairment in social interactions. Therefore, after a brief summary of recent evidence for blunted (social) reward processes in subjects with ASD, we review here arguments for altered muOR function in this pathology.
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6. Schlebusch L, Dada S, Samuels AE. {{Family Quality of Life of South African Families Raising Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder}}. {J Autism Dev Disord};2017 (Apr 03)
This article describes the family quality of life among families who are raising a young child with autism spectrum disorder. Survey research was conducted with 180 families of children with autism spectrum disorder who were receiving disability-related services in the Gauteng province of South Africa. The principle measure used was the Beach Center Family Quality of Life Scale to assess five subdomains: family interaction, parenting, emotional well-being, material/physical well-being, and disability-related support. Results indicated that families felt the most satisfied with disability-related support and the least satisfied with the family’s emotional well-being. Family income, family type, and the severity level of autism were significantly associated with how satisfied families felt about their quality of life.
