1. Addington AM, Gauthier J, Piton A, Hamdan FF, Raymond A, Gogtay N, Miller R, Tossell J, Bakalar J, Germain G, Gochman P, Long R, Rapoport JL, Rouleau GA. {{A novel frameshift mutation in UPF3B identified in brothers affected with childhood onset schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorders}}. {Mol Psychiatry} (Sep 7)
2. Karanth P, Shaista S, Srikanth N. {{Efficacy of Communication DEALL-An Indigenous Early Intervention Program for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders}}. {Indian J Pediatr} (Sep 7)
OBJECTIVE: To establish the efficacy of Communication DEALL, an indigenous early intervention program; in the management of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). METHODS: ABA design of pre intervention assessment, intervention and post intervention assessment was utilized, across an 8 month period. The first set of measures covered the assessment of developmental skills in the eight areas of gross motor skills, fine motor skills, activities of daily life skills, receptive language, and expressive language, cognitive, social and emotional skills. The second independent measure was the rating of each child on the Childhood Autism Rating Scale. Parental observations and parental estimation of the child’s progress were also recorded. The study was conducted in the Com DEALL units in Bangalore, including thirty subjects diagnosed with ASD. Main Outcome Measures were developmental skill gains and decrease in behavioral issues. RESULTS: Statistically significant increase in all eight developmental domains and statistically significant decrease in behavioral symptoms as measured by the CARS, were seen. CONCLUSIONS: Thus, the Communication DEALL program shows promise as an effective early intervention program. It also indicates a need to further enhance the stabilization of the pre linguistic skills such as maintenance of eye contact, attention, sitting tolerance and compliance, in the program.
3. Rodger S, Vishram A. {{Mastering Social and Organization Goals: Strategy Use by Two Children with Asperger Syndrome during Cognitive Orientation to Daily Occupational Performance}}. {Phys Occup Ther Pediatr} (Sep 7)
ABSTRACT Preliminary data supports the effectiveness of Cognitive Orientation to (daily) Occupational Performance (CO-OP) for children with Asperger syndrome (AS). Children with AS often experience social and organizational difficulties spanning daily occupations. This case study explored the pattern of Global Strategies and Domain-Specific Strategies (DSS) use, the type of guidance, and dimensions of time on task used by two children with AS (aged 10 and 12 years) in addressing social and organizational goals during the CO-OP intervention. Coding of the videotaped CO-OP sessions suggested that both children (a) utilized all the Global strategies, particularly « understanding the context » and « plan »; (b) used six common DSS, namely transitional supports, affective supports, attending, task-specification, task modification, and supplementing task knowledge, with task-specification being most prominent; (c) required minimal guidance while « doing »; and (d) engaged in considerable time « talking about the task. » The results provide initial insights into strategies that may enable children with AS to achieve social and organizational goals.
