1. Banda DR, Copple KS, Koul RK, Sancibrian SL, Bogschutz RJ. {{Video modelling interventions to teach spontaneous requesting using AAC devices to individuals with autism: a preliminary investigation}}. {Disabil Rehabil} (May 13)
This multiple baseline study investigated to what extent individuals with autism would learn to operate a speech generating device (SGD) to request a preferred object by observing a video model. The intervention consisted of each participant viewing a 10- to15-s video model that demonstrated the requesting of a preferred object using a SGD. Baseline, intervention and generalisation were all implemented within a public school, special education classroom. After viewing the video model, two participants displayed the ability to request preferred items using the SGD without prompting or cues. However, the participants did not generalise requesting using the SGD to a second preferred object. The study provides preliminary evidence that video modelling can be used to teach individuals with autism and severe cognitive disabilities requesting skills using an SGD.
2. Becker KG. {{Autism and Urbanization}}. {Am J Public Health} (May 13)
This letter does not have an abstract.
3. Castorina LL, Negri LM. {{The Inclusion of Siblings in Social Skills Training Groups for Boys With Asperger Syndrome}}. {J Autism Dev Disord} (May 12)
This pilot investigation evaluated the effectiveness of siblings as generalisation agents in an 8-week social skills training (SST) program designed for boys with Asperger syndrome (AS). Twenty-one boys aged 8-12 participated in a SST group alone, with a sibling, or remained in a wait-list control group. After training, participants’ identification of non-verbal social cues significantly improved and was maintained at 3-month follow-up, irrespective of sibling involvement. Similar trends existed for participants’ ability to accurately interpret emotions relative to controls. Improvements did not extend to parent and teacher ratings on standardised social skills measures, suggesting poor generalisation, or questionable sensitivity of measures to taught skills. Results suggest some promise in improving social skills training for children with AS.
4. Charman T. {{Developmental Approaches to Understanding and Treating Autism}}. {Folia Phoniatr Logop} (May 11);62(4):166-177.
Over the past decade our understanding of early social communication development in young children with autism has undergone a remarkable change. We now know something about how young children with autism process the social world in a very different way from typical children. This has led to truly developmental models of autism. In turn, these have had profound impacts on research and practice. Several screening instruments to prospectively identify autism have been developed. In some cases autism can be diagnosed in children as young as 2 years of age. The study of ‘high-risk’ siblings has allowed prospective study of infants from as young as 6 months of age. There is increasing evidence that intervention approaches that focus on social and communication development can ameliorate symptoms and change the developmental course of the disorder. This article will highlight some of the key theoretical and clinical lessons learned from this decade of research.
5. Tracy JL, Robins RW, Schriber RA, Solomon M. {{Is Emotion Recognition Impaired in Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders?}}. {J Autism Dev Disord} (May 13)
Researchers have argued that individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) use an effortful « systematizing » process to recognize emotion expressions, whereas typically developing (TD) individuals use a more holistic process. If this is the case, individuals with ASDs should show slower and less efficient emotion recognition, particularly for socially complex emotions. We tested this account by assessing the speed and accuracy of emotion recognition while limiting exposure time and response window. Children and adolescents with ASDs showed quick and accurate recognition for most emotions, including pride, a socially complex emotion, and no differences emerged between ASD and TD groups. Furthermore, both groups trended toward higher accuracy when responding quickly, even though systematizing should promote a speed-accuracy trade-off for individuals with ASDs.
6. Yap IK, Angley M, Veselkov KA, Holmes E, Lindon JC, Nicholson JK. {{Urinary Metabolic Phenotyping Differentiates Children with Autism from Their Unaffected Siblings and Age-Matched Controls}}. {J Proteome Res} (May 13)
Autism is an early onset developmental disorder with a severe life-long impact on behavior and social functioning that has associated metabolic abnormalities. The urinary metabolic phenotypes of individuals (age range=3-9 years old) diagnosed with autism using the DSM-IV-TR criteria (n = 39; male = 35; female = 4), together with their nonautistic siblings (n = 28; male = 14; female = 14) and age-matched healthy volunteers (n = 34, male = 17; female = 17) have been characterized for the first time using (1)H NMR spectroscopy and pattern recognition methods. Novel findings associated with alterations in nicotinic acid metabolism within autistic individuals showing increased urinary excretion of N-methyl-2-pyridone-5-carboxamide, N-methyl nicotinic acid, and N-methyl nicotinamide indicate a perturbation in the tryptophan-nicotinic acid metabolic pathway. Multivariate statistical analysis indicated urinary patterns of the free amino acids, glutamate and taurine were significantly different between groups with the autistic children showing higher levels of urinary taurine and a lower level of urinary glutamate, indicating perturbation in sulfur and amino acid metabolism in these children. Additionally, metabolic phenotype (metabotype) differences were observed between autistic and control children, which were associated with perturbations in the relative patterns of urinary mammalian-microbial cometabolites including dimethylamine, hippurate, and phenyacetylglutamine. These biochemical changes are consistent with some of the known abnormalities of gut microbiota found in autistic individuals and the associated gastrointestinal dysfunction and may be of value in monitoring the success of therapeutic interventions.
