1. {{The emerging neuroscience of autism spectrum disorders. Proceedings of a satellite symposium to the Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience. November 11-12, 2010. San Diego, California, USA}}. {Brain Res}. 2011 Mar 22;1380:1-270.
2. Amirabdollahian F, Robins B, Dautenhahn K, Ji Z. {{Investigating tactile event recognition in child-robot interaction for use in autism therapy}}. {Conference proceedings : Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society Conference}. 2011 Aug;2011:5347-51.
The work presented in this paper is part of our investigation in the ROBOSKIN project. The project aims to develop and demonstrate a range of new robot capabilities based on robot skin tactile feedback from large areas of the robot body. The main objective of the project is to develop cognitive mechanisms exploiting tactile feedback to improve human-robot interaction capabilities. The project aims also to investigate the possible use of this technology in robot-assisted play in the context of autism therapy. This article reports progress made in investigating tactile child-robot interactions where children with autism interacted with the humanoid robot KASPAR equipped with the first prototype of skin patches, introducing a new algorithm for tactile event recognition which will enhance the observational data analysis that has been used in the past.
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3. Dickstein-Fischer L, Alexander E, Yan X, Su H, Harrington K, Fischer GS. {{An affordable compact humanoid robot for autism spectrum disorder interventions in children}}. {Conference proceedings : Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society Conference}. 2011 Aug;2011:5319-22.
Autism Spectrum Disorder impacts an ever-increasing number of children. The disorder is marked by social functioning that is characterized by impairment in the use of nonverbal behaviors, failure to develop appropriate peer relationships and lack of social and emotional exchanges. Providing early intervention through the modality of play therapy has been effective in improving behavioral and social outcomes for children with autism. Interacting with humanoid robots that provide simple emotional response and interaction has been shown to improve the communication skills of autistic children. In particular, early intervention and continuous care provide significantly better outcomes. Currently, there are no robots capable of meeting these requirements that are both low-cost and available to families of autistic children for in-home use. This paper proposes the piloting the use of robotics as an improved diagnostic and early intervention tool for autistic children that is affordable, non-threatening, durable, and capable of interacting with an autistic child. This robot has the ability to track the child with its 3 degree of freedom (DOF) eyes and 3-DOF head, open and close its 1-DOF beak and 1-DOF each eyelids, raise its 1-DOF each wings, play sound, and record sound. These attributes will give it the ability to be used for the diagnosis and treatment of autism. As part of this project, the robot and the electronic and control software have been developed, and integrating semi-autonomous interaction, teleoperation from a remote healthcare provider and initiating trials with children in a local clinic are in progress.
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4. Fletcher PC, Markoulakis R, Bryden PJ. {{The costs of caring for a child with an autism spectrum disorder}}. {Issues in comprehensive pediatric nursing}. 2012;35(1):45-69.
Background: The primary purpose of this exploratory autism research was to examine the lived experiences of female primary caregivers of children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Methods: Specifically the costs and benefits of the primary caregivers’ experiences were examined through semi-structured one-one-one interviews. The specific focus of this paper was to examine the costs of caring for a child with an ASD, whereby costs did not refer solely to monetary costs, but were related to all aspects of the caregivers’ lives. Interviews were completed with 8 mothers of children that had been formally diagnosed with an ASD. Results: Undoubtedly all family members within the family unit were affected by a child’s diagnosis with ASD as evidenced by the costs revealed by mothers. The subthemes derived from the theme of costs included the following: financial and work costs, costs to the health of family, social costs, and costs to overall family life. The results from this research provide evidence of the challenges associated with caring for a child with an ASD. Conclusions: It is anticipated that the insights provided by these mothers can act as a source of support for others faced with a similar situation. Additionally health care professionals may be able to use the knowledge gained from such qualitative endeavors in order to help parents cope more effectively with their caregiving responsibilities associated with children with ASDs. The mothers within this study are remarkable women that, for the most part, were able to rise above the negatives/costs associated with caring for a child with an ASD and find the silver linings amidst the turmoil. As remarkable as these women are in the daily struggles they face with their children, it is evident that more resources and support are required to assist these women and their families.
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5. Gianoumis S, Sturmey P. {{Generalization Procedures in Training Interventionists for Individuals With Developmental Disabilities}}. {Behav Modif}. 2012 Jan 17.
The literature pertaining to training staff, parents, and peers to implement interventions for individuals with developmental disabilities was reviewed for training procedures that incorporated strategies to promote generalization. The search engines for the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis and Pubmed(c) were used to find relevant studies. Studies met the inclusion criteria if they sufficiently operationalized their training procedure, took data on individual trainees’ performance, and used a single-subject experimental design. The training procedures were coded for generalization procedures as per Stokes and Baer. Of the 54 studies, 46 considered used procedures to promote generalization. The most prevalent generalization procedures were use of common stimuli, followed by using sufficient exemplars and mediated generalization. Studies demonstrated empirical support for these procedures producing generalized use of newly acquired direct-care skills. The remaining generalization procedures cited in Stokes and Baer were absent or far less prevalent. Future research should explore the use of these procedures and their effectiveness as a technology to bring about generalized responding of interventionists’ skills.
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6. Hirosawa M. {{[Pervasive developmental disorder in adults; importance of diagnosis in concern to the type of ego structure with PDD]}}. {Seishin shinkeigaku zasshi = Psychiatria et neurologia Japonica}. 2011;113(11):1116-22.
Most adult patients with pervasive developmental disorder (PDD) who consult with psychiatrists for the first time may have normal intelligence. In diagnosing high-functioning PDD to adult patients, we should pay much attention to psychological consistency which exists between developmental problems in childhood, developed personality, recent problems in social adjustment, and manifested psychiatric symptoms. In order to understand these relationships, considering the patients’ type of ego structure (« PDD ego type ») seems to be useful. « PDD ego type » is characterized by their unique self-universe image which takes form of grid one (just like a touch panel), which is decisively different from the form of a radial or concentric circle held by most people (Jung, C.G). This self-universe image characterizes adult PDD patients’ psychiatric symptoms, unsuitable social performance, and their « personality. »
7. Hunter JE, Sherman S, Grigsby J, Kogan C, Cornish K. {{Capturing the fragile X premutation phenotypes: A collaborative effort across multiple cohorts}}. {Neuropsychology}. 2012 Jan 16.
Objective: To capture the neuropsychological profile among male carriers of the FMR1 premutation allele (55-200 CGG repeats) who do not meet diagnostic criteria for the late-onset fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome, FXTAS. Method: We have initiated a multicenter collaboration that includes 3 independent cohorts, totaling 100 carriers of the premutation and 216 noncarriers. The initial focus of this collaboration has been on executive function. Four executive function scores are shared among the 3 cohorts (Controlled Oral Word Association Test, Stroop Color-Word Test, and Wechsler backward digit span and letter-number sequencing) whereas additional executive function scores are available for specific cohorts (Behavior Dyscontrol Scale, Hayling Sentence Completion Test Part B, and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test). Raw scores were analyzed by using statistical models that adjust for cohort-specific effects as well as age and education. Results: Carriers scored significantly lower compared to noncarriers on the Stroop Color-Word Test (p = .01), Hayling Sentence Completion Test Part B (p < .01), and Behavioral Dyscontrol Scale (p = .03), with the Hayling displaying a significant age-related decline (p = .01), as assessed by an age and repeat length-group interaction. Follow-up analysis of the collective data did not identify any specific age groups or repeat length ranges (i.e., low premutation = 55-70 repeats, midpremutation = 71-100 repeats, high premutation = 101-199 repeats) that were associated with an increased risk of executive function deficits. Conclusions: Preliminary analyses do not indicate global executive function impairment among male carriers without FXTAS compared to noncarriers. However, impairment in inhibitory capacity may be present among a subset of carriers, though the risk factors for this group do not appear to be related to age or repeat length. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).
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8. Inoue K. {{[Adult pervasive developmental disorder: introducing multidimensional trait assessment for PDD diagnosis and the working diagnosis of probable PDD]}}. {Seishin shinkeigaku zasshi = Psychiatria et neurologia Japonica}. 2011;113(11):1130-6.
This paper proposes how adult pervasive developmental disorder (PDD) should be diagnosed. PDD patients diagnosed in adulthood for the first time differ from PDD children in the following points: first, they have comparatively inconspicuous PDD traits which have gone unnoticed for years, and second, the PDD features can be modified by comorbid psychiatric disorders. It has also been reported that PDD symptoms such as social interaction disturbance or communicative problems of verbal patients with autism would gradually improve with maturity. These factors make the clinical entity of adult PDD obscure. Therefore, it is difficult to diagnose adult PDD based on the categorical concept of disorder only from assessing present status without taking a precise developmental history. On the other hand, there is the concept of « Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) ». This concept of a spectrum could be adapted for adult cases including a wide range of PDD. To do so, however, two issues must be resolved: 1) whether it is possible to set a common diagnostic threshold, and 2) how the use of the term « spectrum » invites the misperception of PDD as only unidimensional. For their resolution, the author proposes two novel concepts: multidimensional trait assessment for PDD (or ASD) diagnosis and a working diagnosis of probable PDD (or ASD). The former can be depicted as a radiating chart having multi-axes of PDD (or ASD) traits, whereas a spectrum assessment would be only a single point on a straight line. This trait assessment can provide tailor-made help for individual patients. The latter can allow proper treatment of underdiagnosed patients who have obvious PDD features but a poor developmental history. These concepts will enable us to treat elusive cases of adult PDD.
9. Keyes KM, Susser E, Cheslack-Postava K, Fountain C, Liu K, Bearman PS. {{Cohort effects explain the increase in autism diagnosis among children born from 1992 to 2003 in California}}. {International journal of epidemiology}. 2011 Dec 7.
BACKGROUND: The incidence and prevalence of autism have dramatically increased over the last 20 years. Decomposition of autism incidence rates into age, period and cohort effects disentangle underlying domains of causal factors linked to time trends. We estimate an age-period-cohort effect model for autism diagnostic incidence overall and by level of functioning. METHODS: Data are drawn from sequential cohorts of all 6 501 262 individuals born in California from 1992 to 2003. Autism diagnoses from 1994 to 2005 were ascertained from the California Department of Development Services Client Development and Evaluation Report. RESULTS: Compared with those born in 1992, each successively younger cohort has significantly higher odds of an autism diagnosis than the previous cohort, controlling for age and period effects. For example, individuals born in 2003 have 16.6 times the odds of an autism diagnosis compared with those born in 1992 [95% confidence interval (CI) 7.8-35.3]. The cohort effect observed in these data is stronger for high than for low-functioning children with an autism diagnosis.Discussion Autism incidence in California exhibits a robust and linear positive cohort effect that is stronger among high-functioning children with an autism diagnosis. This finding indicates that the primary drivers of the increases in autism diagnoses must be factors that: (i) have increased linearly year-to-year; (ii) aggregate in birth cohorts; and (iii) are stronger among children with higher levels of functioning.
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10. Matthews NL, Goldberg WA, Lukowski AF, Osann K, Abdullah MM, Ly AR, Thorsen K, Anne Spence M. {{Does theory of mind performance differ in children with early-onset and regressive autism?}}. {Dev Sci}. 2012 Jan;15(1):25-34.
A deficit in theory of mind (ToM), or the ability to infer the mental states of others, has been implicated as one of the major characteristics of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD); however, little attention has been devoted to possible differences in ToM ability within ASD. The current study examined ToM performance in children with early-onset autism and regressive autism in comparison to typically developing children. Results indicated that children in the regressive autism group performed significantly better than the early-onset autism group on the non-verbal appearance-reality task. Additionally, Fisher’s exact tests indicated a pattern of lowest scores in the early-onset group and highest scores in the typically developing group, whereas the regressive autism group tended to score in between the early-onset and typically developing groups. The apparent heterogeneity in ToM performance within ASD could account for the lack of universality in ToM ability found in previous studies.
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11. Mazzei D, Lazzeri N, Billeci L, Igliozzi R, Mancini A, Ahluwalia A, Muratori F, De Rossi D. {{Development and evaluation of a social robot platform for therapy in autism}}. {Conference proceedings : Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society Conference}. 2011 Aug;2011:4515-8.
People with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorders) have difficulty in managing interpersonal relationships and common life social situations. A modular platform for Human Robot Interaction and Human Machine Interaction studies has been developed to manage and analyze therapeutic sessions in which subjects are driven by a psychologist through simulated social scenarios. This innovative therapeutic approach uses a humanoid robot called FACE capable of expressing and conveying emotions and empathy. Using FACE as a social interlocutor the psychologist can emulate real life scenarios where the emotional state of the interlocutor is adaptively adjusted through a semi closed loop control algorithm which uses the ASD subject’s inferred « affective » state as input. Preliminary results demonstrate that the platform is well accepted by ASDs and can be consequently used as novel therapy for social skills training.
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12. Noris B, Barker M, Nadel J, Hentsch F, Ansermet F, Billard A. {{Measuring gaze of children with autism spectrum disorders in naturalistic interactions}}. {Conference proceedings : Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society Conference}. 2011 Aug;2011:5356-9.
In this paper, we report on a study on gaze behavior by children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) during a dyadic interaction in a naturalistic environment. Twelve children with ASD were contrasted to twelve typically developing (TD) children, in a semi-structured interaction with a selection of items from the Early Social Communication Scale (ESCS). We used the WearCam, a novel head-mounted eye-tracker designed for children, to obtain gaze information across the broad field of view from the viewpoint of the child. Children with ASD looked downwards more often, and explored their lateral field of view more extensively compared to TD children. We discuss a number of hypotheses in support of these observations.
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13. Schengrund CL, Ali-Rahmani F, Ramer JC. {{Cholesterol, GM1, and Autism}}. {Neurochemical research}. 2012 Jan 18.
Disruption of cholesterol metabolism has been hypothesized to contribute to dementia, possibly due to its role in maintaining membrane fluidity as well as the integrity of lipid rafts. Previously, we reported an apparent inverse relationship between membrane cholesterol levels and those of GM1, another lipid that can be found in rafts. This paper describes the observation that red blood cell (RBC) membranes isolated from blood drawn from children diagnosed with autism have on the average significantly less cholesterol and significantly more GM1 than RBC membranes isolated from blood obtained from control children. While cholesterol in the circulation does not cross the blood brain barrier, a generalized defect in its synthesis could affect its concentration in the central nervous system and that, coupled with a change in ganglioside expression, could contribute to development of the behaviors associated with autism.
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14. Tanaka S. {{[The changes of PDD symptoms according to their mental growth]}}. {Seishin shinkeigaku zasshi = Psychiatria et neurologia Japonica}. 2011;113(11):1123-9.
We proposed and compared 3 cases with PDD whose clinical problems are varied according to their mental growth. Although common clinical symptoms were not found, when deciding their behavior, all of the cases have different priorities to people withoue PDD, and their relationship with social interaction was confused. Our understanding is that concept of « developmental disorder » may be helpful to comprehend young adults’ behavioral problems, though it may have some risk for over-diagnosing.
15. Tiinanen S, Matta A, Silfverhuth M, Suominen K, Jansson-Verkasalo E, Seppanen T. {{HRV and EEG based indicators of stress in children with asperger syndrome in audio-visual stimulus test}}. {Conference proceedings : Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society Conference}. 2011 Aug;2011:2021-4.
Asperger syndrome (AS) is a neurobiological condition which is characterized by poor skills in social communication, and restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior and interests. We studied whether stress-related indices of heart rate variability (HRV) and electroencephalography (EEG) are different in children with AS than normal controls. We analyzed retrospectively the data of the test where audiovisual stimuli were used. We hypothesized that this test is a stressful situation for individuals with AS and they would have a greater reaction than control subjects. EEG and one-channel electrocardiography (ECG) were collected for children with diagnosis of AS (N = 20) and their age-matched controls (N = 21). HRV indices, frontal EEG asymmetry index and brain load index were calculated. HRV based indices revealed increased sympathetic activity during the test in children with AS. EEG based indices increased more in children with AS during the test compared to baseline. Thus, the children with AS seems to have a greater reaction to stressful situation.
