1. Fletcher-Watson S, Petrou A, Scott-Barrett J, Dicks P, Graham C, O’Hare A, Pain H, McConachie H. {{A trial of an iPad intervention targeting social communication skills in children with autism}}. {Autism}. 2015.
This study evaluated a technology-based early intervention for social communication skills in pre-schoolers in a randomised controlled trial. Participants were 54 children aged under 6 years with a diagnosis of autism, assigned to either intervention or control conditions. The app engaged children, who played consistently, regardless of developmental level, and was rated highly by parents. There were no significant group differences in parent-report measures post-intervention, nor in a measure of parent-child play at follow-up. Therefore, this intervention did not have an observable impact on real-world social communication skills and caution is recommended about the potential usefulness of iPad apps for amelioration of difficulties in interaction. However, positive attitudes among participants, lack of harms and the potential of apps to deliver therapeutic content at low economic cost suggest this approach is worth pursuing further, perhaps targeting other skill domains.
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2. Madsen EK, Peck JA, Valdovinos MG. {{A review of research on direct-care staff data collection regarding the severity and function of challenging behavior in individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities}}. {J Intellect Disabil}. 2015.
In working with individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs), it is direct care staff who are often required to collect data on individuals’ behavior which is used as the basis for implementation of empirically based approaches for intervention and treatment. Due to limited resources, indirect and descriptive measures of challenging behaviors are employed to analyze the function of individuals’ behaviors in place of the preferred method of multimodal assessment, which includes experimental functional analysis. To ensure the most effective services and support to individuals with IDDs, accurate and consistent data collection is critical. In this article, we highlight the importance of accurate data collection practices, conduct a comparison of data collection methods, and discuss limitations …. and barriers for staff. The article concludes with recommendations for best practices and future research.
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3. Ozcaliskan S, Adamson LB, Dimitrova N. {{Early deictic but not other gestures predict later vocabulary in both typical development and autism}}. {Autism}. 2015.
Research with typically developing children suggests a strong positive relation between early gesture use and subsequent vocabulary development. In this study, we ask whether gesture production plays a similar role for children with autism spectrum disorder. We observed 23 18-month-old typically developing children and 23 30-month-old children with autism spectrum disorder interact with their caregivers (Communication Play Protocol) and coded types of gestures children produced (deictic, give, conventional, and iconic) in two communicative contexts (commenting and requesting). One year later, we assessed children’s expressive vocabulary, using Expressive Vocabulary Test. Children with autism spectrum disorder showed significant deficits in gesture production, particularly in deictic gestures (i.e. gestures that indicate objects by pointing at them or by holding them up). Importantly, deictic gestures-but not other gestures-predicted children’s vocabulary 1 year later regardless of communicative context, a pattern also found in typical development. We conclude that the production of deictic gestures serves as a stepping-stone for vocabulary development.
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4. Pisula E, Danielewicz D, Kawa R, Pisula W. {{Autism spectrum quotient, coping with stress and quality of life in a non-clinical sample – an exploratory report}}. {Health Qual Life Outcomes}. 2015; 13(1): 173.
BACKGROUND: It has been shown that autistic traits may be observed both in individuals with autism spectrum disorders and to a lesser extent in the general population. Since these traits are closely associated with limitations in social functioning, they make development of interpersonal relations difficult, and therefore may have a negative impact on an individual’s quality of life (QoL). The purpose of this study was to explore these links, including the mediating effects of coping styles. METHODS: A sample of 154 adults aged 19-38 years completed three questionnaires: Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ), Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations and World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF. Pearson’s r correlation coefficients were analysed, followed by path analysis. RESULTS: All domains of QoL (Physical health, Psychological, Relationships and Environmental) were negatively correlated with AQ. The correlations were low or moderate (from -0.36 to -. 42). AQ was also correlated with two coping styles: positively with Emotion-oriented coping and negatively with Social diversion. Path analysis models showed the mediating effect of coping styles with respect to the relationships between autistic traits and QoL domains. Autistic traits and coping styles explained the greatest level of variance for the Psychological domain (41 %). CONCLUSIONS: The results confirmed the relationship between autistic traits and QoL, mediated by two coping styles. Due to the small sample and narrow age range of participants, our findings should be treated as a preliminary report.
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5. Rutherford MD, Subiaul F. {{Children with autism spectrum disorder have an exceptional explanatory drive}}. {Autism}. 2015.
An « explanatory drive » motivates children to explain ambiguity. Individuals with autism spectrum disorders are interested in how systems work, but it is unknown whether they have an explanatory drive. We presented children with and without autism spectrum disorder unsolvable problems in a physical and in a social context and evaluated problem-solving and explanation-seeking responses. In the physical context (but not the social context), the children with autism spectrum disorder showed a stronger explanatory drive than controls. Importantly, the number of explanatory behaviors made by children with autism spectrum disorder in the social context was independent of social and communicative impairments. Children with autism spectrum disorder did not show an exceptional explanatory drive in the social domain. These results suggest that children with autism spectrum disorder have an explanatory drive and that the explanatory drive may be domain specific.
