1. Bedford R, Jones EJ, Johnson MH, Pickles A, Charman T, Gliga T. {{Sex differences in the association between infant markers and later autistic traits}}. {Mol Autism};2016;7:21.
BACKGROUND: Although it is well established that the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is higher in males than females, there is relatively little understanding of the underlying mechanisms and their developmental time course. Sex-specific protective or risk factors have often been invoked to explain these differences, but such factors are yet to be identified. METHODS: We take a developmental approach, using a prospective sample of 104 infants at high and low familial risk for ASD, to characterise sex differences in infant markers known to predict emerging autism symptoms. We examine three markers previously shown to be associated with later autistic social-communication symptoms: the Autism Observation Scale for Infants (AOSI) total score, attention disengagement speed and gaze following behaviour. Our aim was to test whether sex differences were already present in these markers at 1 year of age, which would suggest sex-specific mechanisms of risk or protection. RESULTS: While no sex differences were found in any of the three markers investigated, we found sex differences in their relationship to 3-year autism traits; all three markers significantly predicted later autism traits only in the boys. CONCLUSIONS: Previously identified ‘early autism markers’ were associated with later autism symptoms only in boys. This suggests that there may be additional moderating risk or protective factors which remain to be identified. Our findings have important implications for prospective studies in terms of directly testing for the moderating effect of sex on emerging autistic traits.
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2. Choteau L, Raynal P, Goutaudier N, Chabrol H. {{Psychopathological traits in college students from top-ranking french schools: Do autistic features impair success in science when associated with schizotypal traits?}}. {Psychiatry Res};2016 (Mar 30);237:218-223.
The link between personality and the interest of individuals for science has not been thoroughly explored. In this report, we studied psychopathological traits in students studying science in French top-ranking institutions. Three hundred and forty seven individuals answered questionnaires assessing autistic and schizotypal dimensions, as well as anxiety, depression symptomatology and attachment quality. A cluster analysis based on autistic and schizotypal traits led to the identification of 4 distinct profiles: a « low trait cluster », a « moderate autistic trait cluster », a « moderate schizotypal trait cluster » and a « high trait cluster » (HTC) composed of individuals with high scores on both autistic and schizotypal scales. Each cluster represented 20.1-27.1% of participants and was clearly different from the three others, both on autistic and on schizotypal dimensions. These groups could be also typified by their level of anxiety, depression or degraded attachment, which are proportional to the extent of psychopathological traits. Moreover, students from the HTC cluster displayed lower academic results, thus implying that autistic traits might impair success in science when they are associated with moderate schizotypal personality features. This study also suggests that depression and anxiety might mediate performance inhibition in the HTC group.
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3. Dean Iii DC, Travers B, Adluru N, Tromp DP, Destiche D, Samsin D, Prigge MB, Zielinski BA, Fletcher PT, Anderson JS, Froehlich AL, Bigler E, Lange N, Lainhart JE, Alexander AL. {{Investigating the Microstructural Correlation of White Matter in Autism Spectrum Disorder}}. {Brain Connect};2016 (Mar 28)
White matter microstructure forms a complex and dynamical system that is critical for efficient and synchronized brain function. Neuroimaging findings in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) suggest this condition is associated with altered white matter microstructure, which may lead to atypical macroscale brain connectivity. In the present study, we used diffusion tensor imaging measures to examine the extent that white matter tracts are interrelated within ASD and typical development. We assessed the strength of inter-regional white matter correlations between typically developing and ASD diagnosed individuals. Using hierarchical clustering analysis, clustering patterns of the pairwise white matter correlations were constructed and revealed to be different between the two groups. Additionally, we explored the use of graph theory analysis to examine the characteristics of the patterns formed by inter-regional white matter correlations and compared these properties between ASD and typical development. We demonstrate that the ASD sample has significantly less coherence in white matter microstructure across the brain compared to that in the typical development sample. The ASD group also presented altered topological characteristics, which may implicate less efficient brain networking in ASD. These findings highlight the potential of graph theory based network characteristics to describe the underlying networks as measured by diffusion MRI and furthermore indicates that ASD may be associated with altered brain network characteristics. Our findings are consistent with those of a growing number of studies and hypotheses that have suggested disrupted brain connectivity in ASD.
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4. Hodgetts S, Park E. {{Preparing for the future: a review of tools and strategies to support autonomous goal setting for children and youth with autism spectrum disorders}}. {Disabil Rehabil};2016 (Mar 30):1-9.
PURPOSE: Despite recognized benefits, current clinical practice rarely includes direct input from children and youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in setting rehabilitation goals. This study reviews tools and evidence-based strategies to assist with autonomous goal settings for children and youth with ASD. METHOD: This study included two components: (1) A scoping review of existing tools and strategies to assist with autonomous goal setting in individuals with ASD and (2) a chart review of inter-disciplinary service plan goals for children and youth with ASD. RESULTS: Eleven data sources, evaluating five different tools to assist with autonomous goal setting for children and youth with ASD, were found. Three themes emerged from the integration of the scoping review and chart review, which are discussed in the paper: (1) generalizability of findings, (2) adaptations to support participation and (3) practice implications. CONCLUSIONS: Children and youth with ASD can participate in setting rehabilitation goals, but few tools to support their participation have been evaluated, and those tools that do exist do not align well with current services foci. Visual aids appear to be one effective support, but further research on effective strategies for meaningful engagement in autonomous goal setting for children and youth with ASD is warranted. Implications for rehabilitation Persons with ASD are less self-determined than their peers. Input into one’s own rehabilitation goals and priorities is an important component of self-determination. Few tools exist to help engage children and youth with ASD in setting their own rehabilitation goals. An increased focus on identifying, developing and evaluating effective tools and strategies to facilitate engagement of children and youth with ASD in setting their own rehabilitation goals is warranted.
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5. Huisman-van Dijk HM, Schoot R, Rijkeboer MM, Mathews CA, Cath DC. {{The relationship between tics, OC, ADHD and autism symptoms: A cross- disorder symptom analysis in Gilles de la Tourette syndrome patients and family-members}}. {Psychiatry Res};2016 (Mar 30);237:138-146.
Gilles de la Tourette’s syndrome (GTS) is a disorder in which obsessive-compulsive (OC), Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and autism symptoms occur in up to 60% of patients, suggesting shared etiology. We explored the phenotypic structure of tic, OC, ADHD, and autism symptoms as measured by the YGTSS,Y-BOCS,CAARS and AQ, in 225 GTS patients and 371 family members. First, Confirmatory Factor Analyses (CFA) were performed on the symptom structure of each separate symptom scale. Second, the symptom dimensions derived from each scale were combined in one model, and correlations between them were calculated. Using the correlation matrix, Exploratory Factor Analyses (EFA) were performed on the symptom dimensions across the scales. EFA revealed a five factor structure: tic/aggression/symmetry; OC symptoms/compulsive tics/ numbers and patterns; ADHD symptoms; autism symptoms; and hoarding/inattention symptoms. The results are partly in line with the traditional categorical boundaries of the symptom scales used, and partly reveal a symptom structure that cuts through the diagnostic categories. This phenotypic structure might more closely reflect underlying etiologies than a structure that classically describes GTS patients according to absence or presence of comorbid OCD, ADHD and autism, and might inform both future genetic and treatment studies.
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6. James WH. {{The Sex Ratio of the Sibs of Probands Diagnosed With Autism}}. {J Theor Biol};2016 (Mar 30)
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7. Patil I, Melsbach J, Hennig-Fast K, Silani G. {{Divergent roles of autistic and alexithymic traits in utilitarian moral judgments in adults with autism}}. {Sci Rep};2016;6:23637.
This study investigated hypothetical moral choices in adults with high-functioning autism and the role of empathy and alexithymia in such choices. We used a highly emotionally salient moral dilemma task to investigate autistics’ hypothetical moral evaluations about personally carrying out harmful utilitarian behaviours aimed at maximizing welfare. Results showed that they exhibited a normal pattern of moral judgments despite the deficits in social cognition and emotional processing. Further analyses revealed that this was due to mutually conflicting biases associated with autistic and alexithymic traits after accounting for shared variance: (a) autistic traits were associated with reduced utilitarian bias due to elevated personal distress of demanding social situations, while (b) alexithymic traits were associated with increased utilitarian bias on account of reduced empathic concern for the victim. Additionally, autistics relied on their non-verbal reasoning skills to rigidly abide by harm-norms. Thus, utilitarian moral judgments in autism were spared due to opposite influences of autistic and alexithymic traits and compensatory intellectual strategies. These findings demonstrate the importance of empathy and alexithymia in autistic moral cognition and have methodological implications for studying moral judgments in several other clinical populations.
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8. Rafie F, Ghasemi A, Zamani Jam A, Jalali S. {{Effect of exercise intervention on the perceptual- motor skills in adolescents with autism}}. {J Sports Med Phys Fitness};2016 (Mar 30)
BACKGROUND: Motor skill impairment has been reported in many studies of autistic adolescents. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of selected physical exercise on Perceptual- motor skills in adolescents with autism. METHODS: Twenty adolescents with autism that were under special education in Tehran based on their Childhood Autism Rating Scale scores (CARS) and level of abilities were selected. Measurement tool was Bruininks Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency (BOTMP). Selected group motor program in this study includes motor activities, games and sports for adolescents that were performed for 10 weeks. RESULTS: Results showed that selected physical exercise training has significant effects on all of the variables (p<0.001) except the speed of running and agility (p=0.61), bilateral coordination (p=0.12) and response speed (p=0.42). CONCLUSIONS: It seems that miscellaneous physical exercise programs which include ball games, delightful play and targeted play can improve perceptual- motor skills in adolescents with autism.
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9. Robeyns I. {{Conceptualising well-being for autistic persons}}. {J Med Ethics};2016 (Mar 30)
In the philosophy of well-being, there is hardly anything written on the lives of people with autism or on the question whether existing philosophical theories of well-being are suited for understanding how well the lives of autistic persons are going. This paper tries to make some progress towards filling this gap. I start by giving a concise account of autism, which highlights the huge heterogeneity among autistics. I discuss some basic features of autism, ask whether there are good reasons why we would need an account of well-being specifically for autistics and what philosophical well-being research could learn from being informed by autistic experiences and phenomenology. I then investigate to what extent the capability approach gives us a helpful theory of well-being for autistics, and what looking through an autism-lens can contribute to the further development of the capabilitarian well-being. In particular, I show that some capabilities that are crucially relevant for autistics are also relevant for the lives of non-autistic people. The final part of the paper looks at an important difficulty in using the capabilitarian account of well-being for autistics, namely: should the normative focus be on achievements (functionings) or real opportunities (capabilities)?
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10. Schrooten I, Scholte RH, Cillessen AH, Hymel S. {{Participant Roles in Bullying Among Dutch Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorders}}. {J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol};2016 (Mar 30):1-14.
This study investigated whether participant roles (i.e., bully, assistant, follower, defender, outsider, victim) identified in bullying among normative groups of adolescents educated in regular education could also be found among adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) educated in special education classrooms. Relationships between the participant roles and three social status measures (social preference, social impact, and popularity) were also examined. There were 260 Dutch adolescents with ASD, ages 12-18 (M = 13.75, SD = 1.42; 224 boys, 36 girls), and 743 Dutch typically developing (TD) adolescents, ages 11-17 (M = 13.41, SD = 1.24; 380 boys, 363 girls) who filled out questionnaires during classroom testing sessions conducted by the first author and trained (under)graduate students. Participant roles could be distinguished, although role distributions differed across groups and across sexes. There were more outsiders and defenders, and fewer followers among boys with ASD than among TD boys. Among girls with ASD, there were more victims than among TD girls. Students with ASD could more often be assigned multiple roles and were less often uninvolved than TD students. The relationships between participant roles and social status measures also differed across groups and across sexes. Whereas bullying is considered a universal social phenomenon, the existence of participant roles in bullying situations might be considered universal, as well. Apparently, the social difficulties of students with ASD do not seem to prevent them from taking on various participant roles in bullying situations. Additional practical implications are discussed.
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11. Webster CD, Fruchter D, Dean J, Konstantareas MM, Sloman L. {{Lessons that Linger: A 40-Year Follow-Along Note About a Boy with Autism Taught to Communicate by Gestures when Aged Six}}. {J Autism Dev Disord};2016 (Mar 28)
We draw on an article published in 1973 in this journal. We described how we taught « Geoff, » a 6-year old boy with autism, an elementary form of sign language during the course of 24 one-hour sessions held over a 12-week period (Webster et al. in J Autism Child Schizophr 3:337-346, 1973; Fruchter in Autism: new directions in research and education, pp 184-186, 1980). Here, we describe how it is that Geoff has maintained the vestiges of what we taught him (and indeed what he taught us) over the long span. This basic communication strategy has endured well and continues to contribute to his enjoyment of life.
