1. Chiang HM. {{Naturalistic observations of elicited expressive communication of children with autism: An analysis of teacher instructions}}. {Autism};2009 (Mar);13(2):165-178.
This study observed expressive communication of 17 Australian and 15 Taiwanese children with autism who were mute or had limited spoken language during 2 hour regular school routines and analyzed teacher instructions associated with elicited expressive communication. Results indicated: (a) the frequency of occurrence of elicited expressive communication was very low; (b) the incidence of elicited expressive communication was negatively correlated with autism severity; (c) verbal prompt and a combination of verbal prompt and modeling were the most common types of teacher instruction and the use of physical prompt was a rate event; (d) modeling and verbal prompt were positively correlated with speech and unaided augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) and a combination of verbal prompt and modeling was positively associated with aided AAC; and (e) modeling, verbal prompt, and a combination of modeling and verbal prompt were positively correlated with requesting function and commenting function was positively correlated with modeling and verbal prompt.
2. Colombi C, Liebal K, Tomasello M, Young G, Warneken F, Rogers SJ. {{Examining correlates of cooperation in autism: Imitation, joint attention, and understanding intentions}}. {Autism};2009 (Mar);13(2):143-163.
The goal of the current study was to examine the contribution of three early social skills that may provide a foundation for cooperative performance in autism: (1) imitation, (2) joint attention, and (3) understanding of other people’s intentions regarding actions on objects. Fourteen children with autistic disorder (AD) and 15 children with other developmental disabilities (DDs) matched on non-verbal developmental age (AD, mean 27.7, SD 9.8; DD, mean 33.4, SD 11.1) and verbal developmental age (AD, mean 21.5, SD 12.3; DD, mean 28.4, SD 11.0) participated in the study. Children with autism showed poorer performance on imitation and joint attention measures, but not on the intentionality task. Multiple regression analyses showed that imitation skills and joint attention contributed independently to cooperation, above and beyond the understanding of intentions of actions on objects.
3. Fei C. {{Inverse correlation between the conceptual and perceptual processing in children with autism may be due to processing bias differences in information recall}}. {Autism};2009 (Mar);13(2):193-194.
4. Lathe R. {{Fragile X and autism}}. {Autism};2009 (Mar);13(2):194-197.
5. Pandolfi V, Magyar CI, Dill CA. Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Child Behavior Checklist 1.5-5 in a Sample of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. J Autism Dev Disord;2009 (Mar 5)
6. Portoghese C, Buttiglione M, Pavone F, Lozito V, De Giacomo A, Martinelli D, Margari L. {{The usefulness of the Revised Psychoeducational Profile for the assessment of preschool children with pervasive developmental disorders}}. {Autism};2009 (Mar);13(2):179-191.
Data from the Psychoeducational Profile-Revised (PEP-R) were analysed in a sample of 46 children, aged from 1.7 to 5.11 years, of whom 21 had autistic disorder (AD) and 25 had pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS). Analysis with a t-test for independent samples revealed a significant difference (p < 0.05) between children with AD and those with PDD-NOS on both developmental and behavioural PEP-R scales, supporting the utility of the PEP-R in discriminating between two diagnostic groups. This study emphasizes the effectiveness of the PEP-R as a tool for the early assessment of children with pervasive developmental disorders.
7. Stewart ME, Watson J, Allcock AJ, Yaqoob T. {{Autistic traits predict performance on the block design}}. {Autism};2009 (Mar);13(2):133-142.
The Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ) has been developed to measure the degree to which an adult with normal intelligence has autistic traits. Although use of the AQ has resulted in a number of important findings, few studies have assessed whether scores predict cognitive aspects of ASD. This study assessed whether AQ scores predicted performance on an adapted block design. The test was adapted with a ;whole’ and a ;segmented’ task. High AQ scorers performed better than low scorers on the ;whole’ task in the block design but performed equivalently on the ;segmented’ task, as would be predicted in the autism spectrum. These findings add to the evidence showing construct validity for the AQ.
