1. {{Court finds no link between vaccines and autism}}. {Child Health Alert};2009 (Mar);27:4.
2. Eldevik S, Hastings RP, Hughes JC, Jahr E, Eikeseth S, Cross S. {{Meta-analysis of Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention for children with autism}}.{ J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol};2009 (May);38(3):439-450.
A systematic literature search for studies reporting effects of Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention identified 34 studies, 9 of which were controlled designs having either a comparison or a control group. We completed a meta-analysis yielding a standardized mean difference effect size for two available outcome measures: change in full-scale intelligence and/or adaptive behavior composite. Effect sizes were computed using Hedges’s g. The average effect size was 1.10 for change in full-scale intelligence (95% confidence interval = .87, 1.34) and .66 (95% confidence interval = .41, .90) for change in adaptive behavior composite. These effect sizes are generally considered to be large and moderate, respectively. Our results support the clinical implication that at present, and in the absence of other interventions with established efficacy, Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention should be an intervention of choice for children with autism.
3. Rao PA, Beidel DC. {{The Impact of Children With High Functioning Autism on Parental Stress, Sibling Adjustment, and Family Functioning}}. {Behav Modif};2009 (May 12)
The article discuses a study conducted to investigate the impact of children with high-functioning autism (HFa) on parental stress, sibling adjustment, and family functioning; the study involves a sample of parents of 15 children with HFa and parents of 15 matched control children who completed questionnaires measuring the dependent variables. The results indicate parents of children with HFa experience significantly more parenting stress than parents of children with no psychological disorder, which was found to be directly related to characteristics of the children. The study further shows that the higher intellectual functioning in children with HFa does not compensate for the stress associated with parenting children with autism spectrum disorders. Because the intervention efforts directed at children with HFa will not eliminate the child’s primary symptoms, treatment programs may need to address parental stress, which in turn will help optimize treatment outcome for the child and the family.
4. Saldana D, Carreiras M, Frith U. {{Orthographic and phonological pathways in hyperlexic readers with Autism Spectrum Disorders}}. {Dev Neuropsychol};2009;34(3):240-253.
Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) often present poor text comprehension relative to their ability to read individual words. Some of them have been considered hyperlexic because of their oustanding word-reading abilities. Although it has been suggested that these children access word reading in an atypical way, there is conflicting evidence on their use of phonological and orthograhic pathways. Fourteen adolescents with ASD with word reading to text comprehension discrepancy and 12 typically developing children, all matched on word reading and chronological age, were administered different lexical and sublexical tasks exploring semantic, orthographic, and phonological word representations and processes. No differences were found on any of the tasks between the children with ASD and the typically developing group. The children with ASD were further subdivided into two groups matched on word reading, one with outstanding word reading rela0tive to verbal IQ and another with word reading consistent with verbal IQ. The first group outperformed the second on tasks involving lexical orthographic and phonological representation. However, they were no different on sub-lexical phonological processing, on rapid naming or working, and short-term memory tasks.
