1. Eack SM, Mazefsky CA, Minshew NJ. {{Misinterpretation of facial expressions of emotion in verbal adults with autism spectrum disorder}}. {Autism};2014 (Feb 17)
Facial emotion perception is significantly affected in autism spectrum disorder, yet little is known about how individuals with autism spectrum disorder misinterpret facial expressions that result in their difficulty in accurately recognizing emotion in faces. This study examined facial emotion perception in 45 verbal adults with autism spectrum disorder and 30 age- and gender-matched volunteers without autism spectrum disorder to identify patterns of emotion misinterpretation during face processing that contribute to emotion recognition impairments in autism. Results revealed that difficulty distinguishing emotional from neutral facial expressions characterized much of the emotion perception impairments exhibited by participants with autism spectrum disorder. In particular, adults with autism spectrum disorder uniquely misinterpreted happy faces as neutral, and were significantly more likely than typical volunteers to attribute negative valence to nonemotional faces. The over-attribution of emotions to neutral faces was significantly related to greater communication and emotional intelligence impairments in individuals with autism spectrum disorder. These findings suggest a potential negative bias toward the interpretation of facial expressions and may have implications for interventions designed to remediate emotion perception in autism spectrum disorder.
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2. Kanner L. {{The specificity of early infantile autism}}. {Z Kinderpsychiatr};1958 (Mar);25(1-2):108-113.
3. Mavropoulou S, Sideridis GD. {{Knowledge of Autism and Attitudes of Children Towards Their Partially Integrated Peers with Autism Spectrum Disorders}}. {J Autism Dev Disord};2014 (Feb 18)
This study aimed to measure the effects of contact with integrated students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) on the knowledge, attitudes and empathy of children (n = 224) from grades 4-6. A comparison group of children (n = 251) who had no contact with classmates with ASD was also included. All participants completed self-report instruments. The implementation of multilevel modeling and moderation analysis indicated significant effects on all dependent variables as well as differences across gender and grades. Implications are discussed regarding the role of contact on peers’ conceptions of autism and their attitudes towards children with ASD within inclusionary settings.
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4. Medeiros K, Winsler A. {{Parent-Child Gesture Use During Problem Solving in Autistic Spectrum Disorder}}. {J Autism Dev Disord};2014 (Feb 18)
This study examined the relationship between child language skills and parent and child gestures of 58 youths with and without an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis. Frequencies and rates of total gesture use as well as five categories of gestures (deictic, conventional, beat, iconic, and metaphoric) were reliably coded during the collaborative Tower of Hanoi task. Children with ASD had lower Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test scores and gestured less and at lower rates compared to typically developing children. Gesture use was unrelated to vocabulary for typically developing children, but positively associated with vocabulary for those with ASD. Demographic correlates of gesturing differed by group. Gesture may be a point of communication intervention for families with children with ASD.
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5. Nuske HJ, Vivanti G, Dissanayake C. {{Brief Report: Evidence for Normative Resting-State Physiology in Autism}}. {J Autism Dev Disord};2014 (Feb 19)
Although the conception of autism as a disorder of abnormal resting-state physiology has a long history, the evidence remains mixed. Using state-of-the-art eye-tracking pupillometry, resting-state (tonic) pupil size was measured in children with and without autism. No group differences in tonic pupil size were found, and tonic pupil size was not related to age or cognitive ability in either group, and nor was it related to autistic symptoms. We suggest that previous findings of hyper-arousal in autism at baseline may be a product of different recording methods, in particular different movement-artifact removal techniques. These results question the notion that autism is associated with a fundamental dysregulation in resting-state physiology. Further research, employing such techniques is needed to confirm these findings.
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6. Plaut A. {{The autistic attitude in medicine and science}}. {Bull Menninger Clin};1950 (Jul);14(4):131-137.
7. Roche L, Sigafoos J, Lancioni GE, O’Reilly MF, Green VA, Sutherland D, van der Meer L, Schlosser RW, Marschik PB, Edrisinha CD. {{Tangible Symbols as an AAC Option for Individuals with Developmental Disabilities: A Systematic Review of Intervention Studies}}. {Augment Altern Commun};2014 (Feb 18)
We reviewed nine studies evaluating the use of tangible symbols in AAC interventions for 129 individuals with developmental disabilities. Studies were summarized in terms of participants, tangible symbols used, communication functions/skills targeted for intervention, intervention procedures, evaluation designs, and main findings. Tangible symbols mainly consisted of three-dimensional whole objects or partial objects. Symbols were taught as requests for preferred objects/activities in five studies with additional communication functions (e.g., naming, choice making, protesting) also taught in three studies. One study focused on naming activities. With intervention, 54% (n = 70) of the participants, who ranged from 3 to 20 years of age, learned to use tangible symbols to communicate. However, these findings must be interpreted with caution due to pre-experimental or quasi-experimental designs in five of the nine studies. Overall, tangible symbols appear promising, but additional studies are needed to establish their relative merits as a communication mode for people with developmental disabilities.
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8. Rosenstein MG, Newman TB, Norton ME. {{Re: Does augmentation or induction of labor with oxytocin increase the risk for autism?}}. {Am J Obstet Gynecol};2014 (Feb 14)
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9. Sizoo BB, van der Gaag RJ, van den Brink W. {{Temperament and character as endophenotype in adults with autism spectrum disorders or attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder}}. {Autism};2014 (Feb 17)
Autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder overlap in several ways, raising questions about the nature of this comorbidity. Rommelse et al. published an innovative review of candidate endophenotypes for autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder in cognitive and brain domains. They found that all the endophenotypic impairments that were reviewed in attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder were also present in autism spectrum disorder, suggesting a continuity model with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder as « a light form of autism spectrum disorder. » Using existing data, 75 adults with autism spectrum disorder and 53 with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder were directly compared on autistic symptoms with the autism spectrum quotient, and on the endophenotypic measure of temperament and character, using the Abbreviated (Dutch: Verkorte) Temperament and Character Inventory. Based on the hypothesis that attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and autism spectrum disorder are disorders on a continuous spectrum, autism spectrum quotient scores and abbreviated Temperament and Character Inventory scores were expected to be different from normal controls in both disorders in a similar direction. In addition, the autism spectrum quotient and abbreviated Temperament and Character Inventory scores were expected to be closely correlated. These conditions applied to only two of the seven Abbreviated Temperament and Character Inventory scales (harm avoidance and self-directedness), suggesting that temperament and character as an endophenotype of autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder provides only partial support for the continuity hypothesis of autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
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10. Tierney CD, Kurtz M, Panchik A, Pitterle K. {{‘Look at Me When I Am Talking to You’: evidence and assessment of social pragmatics interventions for children with autism and social communication disorders}}. {Curr Opin Pediatr};2014 (Feb 15)
PURPOSE OF REVIEW: This article provides an analysis of the effectiveness of commonly used interventions for social pragmatic interventions for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and social communication disorders. RECENT FINDINGS: Several evidence-based social skills interventions are emerging, including peer mentoring, social skills groups, and video modeling. Social stories are effective as supports for improved interactions but generalization is limited. Research supports the need for multimodality and individualized treatment programs. Research validates that video and visual learning is highly effective with children with ASD when utilized with specific, appropriate targets. Multiple studies have shown that picture-based communication systems are effective at improving functional communication with moderate effects on social communication. Despite limitations in research, there is strong evidence in the existing literature for the role of alternative augmentative communication in improving both functional and social communication. SUMMARY: Social pragmatic interventions when individualized are effective for improving language, adaptive behavior and social skills.
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11. Van Krevelen DA. {{[Early infantile autism]}}. {Z Kinderpsychiatr};1952 (Apr);19(2):81-97.
12. Werling DM, Lowe JK, Luo R, Cantor RM, Geschwind DH. {{Replication of linkage at chromosome 20p13 and identification of suggestive sex-differential risk loci for autism spectrum disorder}}. {Mol Autism};2014 (Feb 17);5(1):13.
BACKGROUND: Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are male-biased and genetically heterogeneous. While sequencing of sporadic cases has identified de novo risk variants, the heritable genetic contribution and mechanisms driving the male bias are less understood. Here, we aimed to identify familial and sex-differential risk loci in the largest available, uniformly ascertained, densely genotyped sample of multiplex ASD families from the Autism Genetics Resource Exchange (AGRE), and to compare results with earlier findings from AGRE. METHODS: From a total sample of 1,008 multiplex families, we performed genome-wide, non-parametric linkage analysis in a discovery sample of 847 families, and separately on subsets of families with only male, affected children (male-only, MO) or with at least one female, affected child (female-containing, FC). Loci showing evidence for suggestive linkage (logarithm of odds >=2.2) in this discovery sample, or in previous AGRE samples, were re-evaluated in an extension study utilizing all 1,008 available families. For regions with genome-wide significant linkage signal in the discovery stage, those families not included in the corresponding discovery sample were then evaluated for independent replication of linkage. Association testing of common single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) was also performed within suggestive linkage regions. RESULTS: We observed an independent replication of previously observed linkage at chromosome 20p13 (P < 0.01), while loci at 6q27 and 8q13.2 showed suggestive linkage in our extended sample. Suggestive sex-differential linkage was observed at 1p31.3 (MO), 8p21.2 (FC), and 8p12 (FC) in our discovery sample, and the MO signal at 1p31.3 was supported in our expanded sample. No sex-differential signals met replication criteria, and no common SNPs were significantly associated with ASD within any identified linkage regions. CONCLUSIONS: With few exceptions, analyses of subsets of families from the AGRE cohort identify different risk loci, consistent with extreme locus heterogeneity in ASD. Large samples appear to yield more consistent results, and sex-stratified analyses facilitate the identification of sex-differential risk loci, suggesting that linkage analyses in large cohorts are useful for identifying heritable risk loci. Additional work, such as targeted re-sequencing, is needed to identify the specific variants within these loci that are responsible for increasing ASD risk.
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13. Zaidman-Zait A, Mirenda P, Duku E, Szatmari P, Georgiades S, Volden J, Zwaigenbaum L, Vaillancourt T, Bryson S, Smith I, Fombonne E, Roberts W, Waddell C, Thompson A. {{Examination of Bidirectional Relationships Between Parent Stress and Two Types of Problem Behavior in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder}}. {J Autism Dev Disord};2014 (Feb 19)
Path analysis within a structural equation modeling framework was employed to examine the relationships between two types of parent stress and children’s externalizing and internalizing behaviors over a 4-year period, in a sample of 184 mothers of young children with autism spectrum disorder. Parent stress was measured with the Parenting Stress Index-Short Form and child behavior was measured with Child Behavior Checklist/1.5-5. Across all time points, parent general distress predicted both types of child behaviors, but not vice versa. In addition, there was modest evidence of a bidirectional relationship between parenting distress and both types of child behaviors from 12 months post-diagnosis to age 6. Results are compared to previous work in this area, with implications for early intervention.
