1. Abrams DA, Mistry PK, Baker AE, Padmanabhan A, Menon V. A Neurodevelopmental Shift in Reward Circuitry from Mother’s to Nonfamilial Voices in Adolescence. J Neurosci;2022 (May 18);42(20):4164-4173.

The social worlds of young children primarily revolve around parents and caregivers, who play a key role in guiding children’s social and cognitive development. However, a hallmark of adolescence is a shift in orientation toward nonfamilial social targets, an adaptive process that prepares adolescents for their independence. Little is known regarding neurobiological signatures underlying changes in adolescents’ social orientation. Using functional brain imaging of human voice processing in children and adolescents (ages 7-16), we demonstrate distinct neural signatures for mother’s voice and nonfamilial voices across child and adolescent development in reward and social valuation systems, instantiated in nucleus accumbens and ventromedial prefrontal cortex. While younger children showed greater activity in these brain systems for mother’s voice compared with nonfamilial voices, older adolescents showed the opposite effect with increased activity for nonfamilial compared with mother’s voice. Findings uncover a critical role for reward and social valuative brain systems in the pronounced changes in adolescents’ orientation toward nonfamilial social targets. Our approach provides a template for examining developmental shifts in social reward and motivation in individuals with pronounced social impairments, including adolescents with autism.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Children’s social worlds undergo a transformation during adolescence. While socialization in young children revolves around parents and caregivers, adolescence is characterized by a shift in social orientation toward nonfamilial social partners. Here we show that this shift is reflected in neural activity measured from reward processing regions in response to brief vocal samples. When younger children hear their mother’s voice, reward processing regions show greater activity compared with when they hear nonfamilial, unfamiliar voices. Strikingly, older adolescents show the opposite effect, with increased activity for nonfamilial compared with mother’s voice. Findings identify the brain basis of adolescents’ switch in social orientation toward nonfamilial social partners and provides a template for understanding neurodevelopment in clinical populations with social and communication difficulties.

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2. Chan KKS, Leung DCK, Fung WTW. Longitudinal impact of parents’ discrimination experiences on children’s internalizing and externalizing symptoms: A 2-year study of families of autistic children. Autism;2022 (May 18):13623613221093110.

Although many parents of autistic children are routinely discriminated against, the potential impact of this discrimination on their parenting processes and child-rearing outcomes has seldom been investigated. The present study addressed this gap in the literature by examining the longitudinal associations of parents’ discrimination experiences with children’s internalizing and externalizing symptoms among families of autistic children and testing whether these associations would be mediated by parental depression, harsh parenting, and coparenting conflict. On three occasions across 2 years (i.e. T1, T2, and T3), 441 parents of autistic children from Hong Kong, China, provided questionnaire data. Path analyses showed that parents’ discrimination experiences at T1 had significant direct effects on parental depression, harsh parenting, and coparenting conflict at T2, which, in turn, had significant direct effects on children’s internalizing and externalizing symptoms at T3. Bootstrap analyses further demonstrated that parents’ discrimination experiences at T1 had significant indirect effects on children’s internalizing and externalizing symptoms at T3 via parental depression, harsh parenting, and coparenting conflict at T2. Our findings have important theoretical contributions and significant practical implications. Theoretically, our findings elucidate how parents’ discrimination experiences may longitudinally heighten children’s internalizing and externalizing symptoms by adversely affecting parental well-being and parent-child and inter-parental relationships. Practically, our findings highlight the importance of designing and implementing community-based stigma reduction programs and family-based stigma coping interventions to reduce parents’ discrimination experiences and associated adverse outcomes on well-being, parenting, marriage, and child development.

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3. Dhaliwal KK, Avedzi HM, Richard C, Zwaigenbaum L, Haqq AM. Brief Report: Plasma Leptin and Mealtime Feeding Behaviors Among Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Pilot Study. J Autism Dev Disord;2022 (May 18)

We examined the relationship between weight status, appetite regulating hormones, and mealtime behaviors among children, (5-12 years old), diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in a cross-sectional study. All (N = 21) completed anthropometry measurements and (n = 18) provided blood samples for hormone analysis. Mealtime behavior, dietary, physical activity, puberty stage, and social impairment data were collected. Under fasting conditions, overweight/obese (OWOB) participants, (n = 6), had higher leptin concentrations (p < 0.02) and more feeding challenges (p < 0.05) than normal weight (n = 15). Higher leptin levels and disruptions in mealtime behaviors may exist among OWOB children in this study. Future longitudinal studies that examine appetite regulating hormones and mealtime behaviors may inform our understanding of the role of these markers in the development of obesity in ASD.

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4. Dimian AF, Symons FJ. A systematic review of risk for the development and persistence of self-injurious behavior in intellectual and developmental disabilities. Clin Psychol Rev;2022 (Jun);94:102158.

Self-injurious behavior (SIB) by individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities including autism (I/DD) is among the most clinically disturbing, socially costly, and scientifically challenging behavior disorders. Forty years of clinical research has produced a knowledge base supporting idiographic behavioral assessment and treatment approaches. Despite the treatment progress, from a public health and population perspective, we argue it is less clear that we have reduced the disorder’s burden. The developmental course of the disorder is mostly unknown and empirically informed population-level models of risk are absent. In this review, we systematically examined the published scientific literature specific to risk for SIB in the I/DD population. We reviewed study methodology in detail intentionally informed by an epidemiological perspective with a set of questions intended to test the quality of the inferences about risk. Results are discussed in terms of conceptual, methodological, and translational issues with respect to what needs to be done to create credible and useful clinical models for SIB risk in the I/DD population.

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5. Elumalai P, Yadav Y, Williams N, Saucan E, Jost J, Samal A. Graph Ricci curvatures reveal atypical functional connectivity in autism spectrum disorder. Sci Rep;2022 (May 18);12(1):8295.

While standard graph-theoretic measures have been widely used to characterize atypical resting-state functional connectivity in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), geometry-inspired network measures have not been applied. In this study, we apply Forman-Ricci and Ollivier-Ricci curvatures to compare networks of ASD and typically developing individuals (N = 1112) from the Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange I (ABIDE-I) dataset. We find brain-wide and region-specific ASD-related differences for both Forman-Ricci and Ollivier-Ricci curvatures, with region-specific differences concentrated in Default Mode, Somatomotor and Ventral Attention networks for Forman-Ricci curvature. We use meta-analysis decoding to demonstrate that brain regions with curvature differences are associated to those cognitive domains known to be impaired in ASD. Further, we show that brain regions with curvature differences overlap with those brain regions whose non-invasive stimulation improves ASD-related symptoms. These results suggest the utility of graph Ricci curvatures in characterizing atypical connectivity of clinically relevant regions in ASD and other neurodevelopmental disorders.

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6. Franz L, Goodwin CD, Rieder A, Matheis M, Damiano DL. Early intervention for very young children with or at high likelihood for autism spectrum disorder: An overview of reviews. Dev Med Child Neurol;2022 (May 18)

AIM: To identify which interventions are supported by evidence and the quality of that evidence in very young children with or at high likelihood for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to improve child outcomes. METHOD: We conducted an overview of reviews to synthesize early intervention literature for very young children with or at high likelihood for ASD. Cochrane guidance on how to perform overviews of reviews was followed. Comprehensive searches of databases were conducted for systematic reviews and meta-analyses between January 2009 and December 2020. Review data were extracted and summarized and methodological quality was assessed. Primary randomized controlled trial evidence was summarized and risk of bias assessed. This overview of reviews was not registered. RESULTS: From 762 records, 78 full texts were reviewed and seven systematic reviews and meta-analyses with 63 unique studies were identified. Several interventional approaches (naturalistic developmental behavioral intervention, and developmental and behavioral interventions) improved child developmental outcomes. Heterogeneity in design, intervention and control group, dose, delivery agent, and measurement approach was noted. Inconsistent methodological quality and potential biases were identified. INTERPRETATION: While many early interventional approaches have an impact on child outcomes, study heterogeneity and quality had an impact on our ability to draw firm conclusions regarding which treatments are most effective. Advances in trial methodology and design, and increasing attention to mitigating measurement bias, will advance the quality of the ASD early intervention evidence base.

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7. Garcés P, Baumeister S, Mason L, Chatham CH, Holiga S, Dukart J, Jones EJH, Banaschewski T, Baron-Cohen S, Bölte S, Buitelaar JK, Durston S, Oranje B, Persico AM, Beckmann CF, Bougeron T, Dell’Acqua F, Ecker C, Moessnang C, Charman T, Tillmann J, Murphy DGM, Johnson M, Loth E, Brandeis D, Hipp JF. Resting state EEG power spectrum and functional connectivity in autism: a cross-sectional analysis. Mol Autism;2022 (May 18);13(1):22.

BACKGROUND: Understanding the development of the neuronal circuitry underlying autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is critical to shed light into its etiology and for the development of treatment options. Resting state EEG provides a window into spontaneous local and long-range neuronal synchronization and has been investigated in many ASD studies, but results are inconsistent. Unbiased investigation in large and comprehensive samples focusing on replicability is needed. METHODS: We quantified resting state EEG alpha peak metrics, power spectrum (PS, 2-32 Hz) and functional connectivity (FC) in 411 children, adolescents and adults (n = 212 ASD, n = 199 neurotypicals [NT], all with IQ > 75). We performed analyses in source-space using individual head models derived from the participants’ MRIs. We tested for differences in mean and variance between the ASD and NT groups for both PS and FC using linear mixed effects models accounting for age, sex, IQ and site effects. Then, we used machine learning to assess whether a multivariate combination of EEG features could better separate ASD and NT participants. All analyses were embedded within a train-validation approach (70%-30% split). RESULTS: In the training dataset, we found an interaction between age and group for the reactivity to eye opening (p = .042 uncorrected), and a significant but weak multivariate ASD vs. NT classification performance for PS and FC (sensitivity 0.52-0.62, specificity 0.59-0.73). None of these findings replicated significantly in the validation dataset, although the effect size in the validation dataset overlapped with the prediction interval from the training dataset. LIMITATIONS: The statistical power to detect weak effects-of the magnitude of those found in the training dataset-in the validation dataset is small, and we cannot fully conclude on the reproducibility of the training dataset’s effects. CONCLUSIONS: This suggests that PS and FC values in ASD and NT have a strong overlap, and that differences between both groups (in both mean and variance) have, at best, a small effect size. Larger studies would be needed to investigate and replicate such potential effects.

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8. Harris LL, Coolidge FL. The psychometric properties of a self-report inventory of autistic symptoms in individuals with autism spectrum disorder. J Clin Psychol;2022 (May 17)

INTRODUCTION AND METHODS: This study examined 85 parental-reports with 85 self-reports of autistic symptoms with the 84-item Coolidge Autistic Symptom Survey (CASS). The CASS covers all of the diagnostic criteria for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), as no studies to date have compared the self-reports of individuals with autism with parent- or significant-other-reports of those individuals using the complete DSM-5. RESULTS: The CASS-Parental-Report and CASS-Self-Report exhibited excellent internal reliability (α = 0.97 and 0.96, respectively). There was support for the hypothesis that parental-reports and self-reports would be similar (r = 0.66, p < 0.001). DISCUSSION: In conclusion, the CASS should be considered a promising tool for assessing autistic symptoms from both parent- and self-perspectives.

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9. He L, Caudill MS, Jing J, Wang W, Sun Y, Tang J, Jiang X, Zoghbi HY. A weakened recurrent circuit in the hippocampus of Rett syndrome mice disrupts long-term memory representations. Neuron;2022 (May 18);110(10):1689-1699 e1686.

Successful recall of a contextual memory requires reactivating ensembles of hippocampal cells that were allocated during memory formation. Altering the ratio of excitation-to-inhibition (E/I) during memory retrieval can bias cell participation in an ensemble and hinder memory recall. In the case of Rett syndrome (RTT), a neurological disorder with severe learning and memory deficits, the E/I balance is altered, but the source of this imbalance is unknown. Using in vivo imaging during an associative memory task, we show that during long-term memory retrieval, RTT CA1 cells poorly distinguish mnemonic context and form larger ensembles than wild-type mouse cells. Simultaneous multiple whole-cell recordings revealed that mutant somatostatin expressing interneurons (SOM) are poorly recruited by CA1 pyramidal cells and are less active during long-term memory retrieval in vivo. Chemogenetic manipulation revealed that reduced SOM activity underlies poor long-term memory recall. Our findings reveal a disrupted recurrent CA1 circuit contributing to RTT memory impairment.

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10. Kehinde OA, Lindly OJ, Ntombela B, Hermann C. Brief Report: Gender-Based Stereotypical Roles of Parents Caring for Autistic Children in Nigeria and South Africa. J Autism Dev Disord;2022 (May 17)

In Nigeria and South Africa, women often have less voice and are less visible given cultural norms and related gender stereotypes. It is important to understand parents’ gender roles in the context of caregiving for children with autism spectrum disorder because inequality in caregiving roles may influence the health of children with autism and that of their parents. We explored the lived caregiving experiences of male and female parents with autistic children in Nigeria (n = 15) and South Africa (n = 10) using structured and unstructured questionnaire. Results showed that women often experienced stress in relationship to multiple and substantial caregiving roles while men commonly limited their caregiving roles based on a patriarchal ideology related to their culture.

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11. Lisøy RS, Biegler R, Haghish EF, Veckenstedt R, Moritz S, Pfuhl G. Seeing minds – a signal detection study of agency attribution along the autism-psychosis continuum. Cogn Neuropsychiatry;2022 (May 17):1-17.

INTRODUCTION: Diametrically aberrant mentalising biases, namely hypermentalising in psychosis and hypomentalising in autism, are postulated by some theoretical models. To test this hypothesis, we measured psychotic-like experiences, autistic traits and mentalising biases in a visual chasing paradigm. METHODS: Participants from the general population (N = 300) and psychotic patients (N=26) judged the absence or presence of a chase during five-second long displays of seemingly randomly moving dots. Hypermentalising is seeing a chase where there is none, whereas hypomentalising is missing to see a chase. RESULTS: Psychotic-like experiences were associated with hypermentalising. Autistic traits were not associated with hypomentalising, but with a reduced ability to discriminate chasing from non-chasing trials. Given the high correlation (τ = .41) between autistic traits and psychotic-like experiences, we controlled for concomitant symptom severity on agency detection. We found that all but those with many autistic and psychotic traits showed hypomentalising, suggesting an additive effect of traits on mentalising. In the second study, we found no hypermentalising in patients with psychosis, who performed also similarly to a matched control group. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that hypermentalising is a cognitive bias restricted to subclinical psychotic-like experiences. There was no support for a diametrically opposite mentalising bias along the autism-psychosis continuum.

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12. Mac Giolla Phadraig C, Kahatab A, Daly B. Promoting openness to autism amongst student dental care professional Students. Eur J Dent Educ;2022 (May 17)

INTRODUCTION: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a lifelong condition affecting communication and social interaction and characterized by repetitive or repeated patterns of behaviour. People with ASD experience poor systemic and oral health. They face reduced access to dental care related to provider barriers associated with lack of understanding of ASD , lack of training and a consequent reluctance to treat people with ASD. METHODS: The effectiveness of training given by a person with autism to student dental care professionals was evaluated by measuring change in 62 students’ openness to autism scale scores and confidence treating a person with autism. These students included third year dental students and second year dental nursing and hygiene students. This cohort was recruited as part of their curriculum and opted in for inclusion in the study. Data were analysed using SPSS® RESULTS: An increase in openness scale scores of 7.6% (p <0.05), and in confidence of 4.9% (p<0.05) between pre- and post-training was observed. Openness scale score predicted level of confidence at baseline (OR=0.21(95%CI=0.02-0.39). CONCLUSION: An educational intervention delivered by a person with autism promoted modest increases in openness towards autism and confidence amongst dental care pre-service professionals. While the results suggest that peer-led dental care professional teaching by people with autism may be beneficial, more research is needed.

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13. Madaus J, Reis S, Gelbar N, Delgado J, Cascio A. Perceptions of Factors that Facilitate and Impede Learning Among Twice-Exceptional College Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Neurobiol Learn Mem;2022 (May 14):107627.

This qualitative comparative case study explored the personal perceptions and institutional factors that facilitated academic success, as well as challenges, in college among a sample of 40 academically talented students with autism spectrum disorder (2e/ASD) who were enrolled in highly competitive colleges and universities in the United States. Findings from the study included that the majority had excellent reading and writing skills, but struggled with mathematics. The personal trait that most enabled them to be successful in college, described by 26 of the 40 students, was a driving passion for learning. Half of the participants were motivated to succeed academically by the independence college offers, as well the flexibility to take advantage of a range of opportunities, and the development of their personal autonomy. The majority of the participants indicated that faculty members’ instructional practices were their greatest barriers to learning.

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14. Marcotte J, Grandisson M, Milot É. What makes home environments favorable to independence: perspectives of autistic people and their parents. Disabil Rehabil;2022 (May 18):1-12.

PURPOSE: Few autistic adolescents and adults manage to integrate a home that enables them to fully exercise their independence, even if that is a desire shared by many of them. Creating residential environments that are favorable to their independence at home is a promising, yet poorly explored, avenue. The aim of this study conducted in Québec (Canada) is to identify the main environmental factors influencing their independence at home from the perspectives of autistic people and their parents. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The walking interview method was used to collect the perspectives of 10 dyads composed of an autistic person and at least one of their parents. RESULTS: Participants identified several factors, including: (a) support from parents, (b) support from extended social network, (c) a physical environment that meets one’s needs, (d) clear time indicators, (e) opportunities to perform life habits in other settings, and (f) support from professionals. They also gave many examples of concrete ways to implement these factors at home and suggested elements to consider when modifying the home environment. CONCLUSIONS: The results emphasize the need to involve both autistic people and their parents during the evaluation and implementation of these factors to optimize their benefits. IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATIONModifying the residential environments of autistic people is a promising way to foster their independence at home.The environmental factors of supportive home environments identified in this study can be used as a starting point when designing home environments for autistic people.As the needs and preferences of autistic people vary, they must be involved in the selection and the implementation of modifications in their home environments.Parents have a key role to play to support the development of their youth’s independence at home.

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15. Moore HL, Couteur AL, Charman T, Green J, Parr JR, Grahame V. What is the concordance between parent- and education professional-reported adaptive functioning in autistic children using the VABS-II?. J Autism Dev Disord;2022 (May 17)

Adaptive functioning of autistic children is traditionally measured through informant-report, often from parents. Behaviour varies across settings though, and context-specific reports should be considered. Limited and inconsistent results show low parent-education professional concordance, but no research has yet explored item level response variation. We investigated Vineland Adaptive Behaviour Scales-II concordance using 233 lower ability autistic children from the PACT-G sample. Domain and item level agreement was low, but better on objectively measured behaviours. Higher child nonverbal ability improved concordance. Where disagreements occurred, education professionals identified emergent skills more and parents were more likely to rate present/absent. Parents and education professionals view the adaptive abilities of autistic children differently and both should be considered when developing personalised interventions and support.

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16. Noel JP, Shivkumar S, Dokka K, Haefner RM, Angelaki DE. Aberrant causal inference and presence of a compensatory mechanism in Autism Spectrum Disorder. Elife;2022 (May 17);11

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is characterized by a panoply of social, communicative, and sensory anomalies. As such, a central goal of computational psychiatry is to ascribe the heterogenous phenotypes observed in ASD to a limited set of canonical computations that may have gone awry in the disorder. Here, we posit causal inference – the process of inferring a causal structure linking sensory signals to hidden world causes – as one such computation. We show that audio-visual integration is intact in ASD and in line with optimal models of cue combination, yet multisensory behavior is anomalous in ASD because this group operates under an internal model favoring integration (vs. segregation). Paradoxically, during explicit reports of common cause across spatial or temporal disparities, individuals with ASD were less and not more likely to report common cause, particularly at small cue disparities. Formal model fitting revealed differences in both the prior probability for common cause (p-common) and choice biases, which are dissociable in implicit but not explicit causal inference tasks. Together, this pattern of results suggests (i) different internal models in attributing world causes to sensory signals in ASD relative to neurotypical individuals given identical sensory cues, and (ii) the presence of an explicit compensatory mechanism in ASD, with these individuals putatively having learned to compensate for their bias to integrate in explicit reports.

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17. Özkul B, Urfalı FE, Sever İ H, Bozkurt MF, Söğüt İ, Elgörmüş Ç S, Erdogan MA, Erbaş O. Demonstration of Ameliorating Effect of Vardenafil Through Its Anti-Inflammatory and Neuroprotective Properties in Autism Spectrum Disorder Induced by Propionic Acid on Rat Model. Int J Neurosci;2022 (May 18):1-17.

Introduction: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder with complex etiology. In this study, we aimed to determine the ameliorating effects of vardenafil in the ASD rat model induced by propionic acid (PPA) in terms of neurobehavioral changes and also support these effects with histopathological changes, brain biochemical analysis and magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) findings.Materials and Methods: Twenty-one male rats were randomly assigned into 3 groups. Group 1 (control, 7 rats) did not receive treatment. Rats in groups 2 and 3 were given PPA at the dose of 250 mg/kg/day intraperitoneally for 5 days. After PPA administration, animals in group 2 (PPAS, 7 rats) were given saline and animals in group 3 (PPAV, 7 rats) were given vardenafil. Behavioral tests were performed between the 20th and 24th days of the study. The rats were taken for MRS on the 25(th) day. At the end of the study, brain levels of interleukin-2 (IL-2), IL-17, tumor necrosis factor-α, nerve growth factor, cGMP and lactate levels were measured. In the cerebellum and the CA1 and CA3 regions of the hippocampus, counts of neurons and Purkinje cells and glial fibrillary acidic protein (associated with gliosis) were evaluated histologically.Results: Three chamber sociability and passive avoiding test, histopathological results, lactate levels derived from MRS, and biochemical biomarkers revealed significant differences among the PPAV and PPAS groups.Conclusion: We concluded that vardenafil improves memory and social behaviors and prevent loss of neuronal and Purkinje cell through its anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective effect.

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18. Poll S, Fuhrmann M. O-LM interneurons: Gatekeepers of pyramidal neuron activity in the hippocampus. Neuron;2022 (May 18);110(10):1606-1608.

A balanced and fine-tuned ratio of neuronal excitation and inhibition is a prerequisite for information processing. In this issue of Neuron, He et al. (2022) reveal a causal link between reduced input to local somatostatin-expressing, MeCP2-negative O-LM interneurons in CA1 and long-term memory impairment in a mouse model of Rett syndrome.

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19. Reindal L, Nærland T, Sund AM, Glimsdal BA, Andreassen OA, Weidle B. The co-occurrence of motor and language impairments in children evaluated for autism spectrum disorder. An explorative study from Norway. Res Dev Disabil;2022 (May 14);127:104256.

BACKGROUND: Current research suggest that motor and language impairments are common and closely related in infants with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In older children, less is known about how these impairments are related to each other. AIMS: The current study explored the co-occurrence and potential impact of motor and language impairments in a sample of school-aged children evaluated for ASD by Norwegian specialist health services. METHODS: Besides clinical evaluation for ASD, all participants (N = 20, mean age 10.7 (SD = 3.4) years) underwent a standardized test of motor performance (MABC-2), parent report measures of current motor (DCDQ’07), language (CCC-2), and social (SRS) skills, and a caregiver interview on everyday functioning, providing an overall impairment score (DD-CGAS). RESULTS: The majority (85%) had motor and/or structural language deficits in addition to their social impairment. All children identified with motor impairment on both measures (39%) also had structural language deficits. Better motor performance was strongly correlated with better structural language skills (r = .618, p = .006). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that co-occurring motor and structural language deficits should be anticipated and assessed when evaluating children for ASD. These deficits may need specific interventions that complement those targeting social skills deficits and other ASD core symptoms.

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20. Reisinger DL, Hines E, Raches C, Tang Q, James C, Keehn RM. Provider and Caregiver Satisfaction with Telehealth Evaluation of Autism Spectrum Disorder in Young Children During the COVID-19 Pandemic. J Autism Dev Disord;2022 (May 17):1-15.

The present study examines provider and caregiver satisfaction with telehealth evaluation of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in young children during the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic. A telehealth model of ASD evaluation was implemented with 308 children ages 14 to 78 months between May 2020 to June 2021. Data were gathered from electronic health records, autism-specific telehealth diagnostic tools, and post-evaluation surveys. Overall, the majority of providers and caregivers were satisfied with telehealth ASD evaluation. Multiple variables were associated with ratings of satisfaction, differing by providers and caregivers. Findings have important implications for the feasibility and acceptability of telehealth ASD evaluations, in addition to key factors to consider in optimizing and sustaining telehealth evaluations beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.

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21. Stewart SL, Dave HP, Lapshina N. Family dynamics, trauma, and child-related characteristics: examining factors associated with co-occurring mental health problems in clinically-referred children with and without an intellectual (and developmental) disability. J Intellect Disabil;2022 (May 18):17446295221093967.

Psychiatric disorders are common in youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities. This is a vulnerable group of children whose behavioural problems often have more complicated care needs than other children, which can place a great deal of stress on their families. However, the association of family mental health issues, level of intellectual ability, and diagnostic co-morbidity in children is relatively under-studied. In the present study, we investigated the relationship among child diagnoses, family mental health problems, risk for self-injury, and disruption in care among children with (N = 517) and without (N = 517) intellectual and developmental disabilities. A negative binomial regression showed that mental health problems in multiple family members, self-injurious behaviour, and self-reported abuse/trauma was related to greater likelihood of provisional diagnoses of co-occurring psychiatric disorders in both a clinically referred sample and a sample with IDD. Implications for care-planning are discussed.

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22. Sturner R, Bergmann P, Howard B, Bet K, Stewart-Artz L, Attar S. Do Autism-Specific and General Developmental Screens Have Complementary Clinical Value?. J Autism Dev Disord;2022 (May 17)

Prior studies suggest autism-specific and general developmental screens are complementary for identifying both autism and developmental delay (DD). Parents completed autism and developmental screens before 18-month visits. Children with failed screens for autism (n = 167) and age, gender, and practice-matched children passing screens (n = 241) completed diagnostic evaluations for autism and developmental delay. When referral for autism and/or DD was considered, overall false positives from the autism screens were less frequent than for referral for autism alone. Presence of a failed communication subscale in the developmental screen was a red flag for autism and/or DD. An ordinally-scored autism screen had more favorable characteristics when considering autism and/or DD, yet none of the screens achieved recommended standards at 18 months, reinforcing the need for recurrent screening as autism emerges in early development.

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23. Yeh CH, Tseng RY, Ni HC, Cocchi L, Chang JC, Hsu MY, Tu EN, Wu YY, Chou TL, Gau SS, Lin HY. White matter microstructural and morphometric alterations in autism: implications for intellectual capabilities. Mol Autism;2022 (May 18);13(1):21.

BACKGROUND: Neuroimage literature of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has a moderate-to-high risk of bias, partially because those combined with intellectual impairment (II) and/or minimally verbal (MV) status are generally ignored. We aimed to provide more comprehensive insights into white matter alterations of ASD, inclusive of individuals with II (ASD-II-Only) or MV expression (ASD-MV). METHODS: Sixty-five participants with ASD (ASD-Whole; 16.6 ± 5.9 years; comprising 34 intellectually able youth, ASD-IA, and 31 intellectually impaired youth, ASD-II, including 24 ASD-II-Only plus 7 ASD-MV) and 38 demographic-matched typically developing controls (TDC; 17.3 ± 5.6 years) were scanned in accelerated diffusion-weighted MRI. Fixel-based analysis was undertaken to investigate the categorical differences in fiber density (FD), fiber cross section (FC), and a combined index (FDC), and brain symptom/cognition associations. RESULTS: ASD-Whole had reduced FD in the anterior and posterior corpus callosum and left cerebellum Crus I, and smaller FDC in right cerebellum Crus II, compared to TDC. ASD-IA, relative to TDC, had no significant discrepancies, while ASD-II showed almost identical alterations to those from ASD-Whole vs. TDC. ASD-II-Only had greater FD/FDC in the isthmus splenium of callosum than ASD-MV. Autistic severity negatively correlated with FC in right Crus I. Nonverbal full-scale IQ positively correlated with FC/FDC in cerebellum VI. FD/FDC of the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex showed a diagnosis-by-executive function interaction. LIMITATIONS: We could not preclude the potential effects of age and sex from the ASD cohort, although statistical tests suggested that these factors were not influential. Our results could be confounded by variable psychiatric comorbidities and psychotropic medication uses in our ASD participants recruited from outpatient clinics, which is nevertheless closer to a real-world presentation of ASD. The outcomes related to ASD-MV were considered preliminaries due to the small sample size within this subgroup. Finally, our study design did not include intellectual impairment-only participants without ASD to disentangle the mixture of autistic and intellectual symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: ASD-associated white matter alterations appear driven by individuals with II and potentially further by MV. Results suggest that changes in the corpus callosum and cerebellum are key for psychopathology and cognition associated with ASD. Our work highlights an essential to include understudied subpopulations on the spectrum in research.

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24. Yon-Hernández JA, Wojcik DZ, García-García L, Franco-Martín MA, Canal-Bedia R. Correction to: Differences in Daily Life Executive Functioning Between People with Autism and People with Schizophrenia. J Autism Dev Disord;2022 (May 18)

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