Autism

Past research has highlighted the importance of early identification of developmental differences to improve targeted access to early interventions or supports. As such, it is of particular importance in the context of children at elevated likelihood of autism (such as where an older sibling has a diagnosis of autism), to better understand when and which early concerns are important as predictors of which children will benefit from pre-diagnostic supports. This study explored the number and frequency of retrospective parent reported concerns within the first year of life for children diagnosed with autism, both those who had an older sibling diagnosed with autism and those who did not, as well as for undiagnosed siblings...

Many autistic people struggle with mental health problems like anxiety, depression, inattention, and aggression, which can be challenging to treat. Executive function challenges, which impact many autistic individuals, may serve as a risk factor for mental health problems or make treating mental health conditions more difficult. While some people respond well to medication or therapy, others do not. This study tried to understand if there are different subgroups of autistic young people who may have similar patterns of executive function strengths and challenges-like flexibility, planning, self-monitoring, and emotion regulation...

To date, information on associations between motor skills and executive functions (EF) in autistic children is limited. The purpose of this study was to compare motor skills and EF performance between autistic children and typically developing (TD) children and to examine the relationships between motor skills and EF in these two groups. Forty-eight autistic children and 48 TD children aged 6 to 12 years were recruited for this study. Motor skills were measured with the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency-2 (BOT-2)...

An early detection of Neurodevelopmental Disorders (NDDs) is crucial for their prognosis; however, the clinical heterogeneity of some disorders, such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is an obstacle to accurate diagnoses in children. In order to facilitate the screening process, the current study aimed to identify symptom-based clusters among a community-based sample of preschool and school-aged children, using behavioral characteristics reported by teachers...

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate associations between change in weight z-score after neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) discharge and neurodevelopmental outcomes and obesity at 12-48 months of age among individuals born very preterm. STUDY DESIGN: This secondary analysis used data from infants born very preterm participating in the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes cohort (n=1400). Growth during infancy was calculated as change in weight z-score between NICU discharge and follow-up at a mean of 27 months of age...

Growing evidence suggested that individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) associated with stroke and cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, the causal association between ASD and the risk of stroke and CVD remains unclear. To validate this, we performed two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) and two-step mediation MR analyses, using relevant genetic variants sourced from the largest genome-wide association studies (GWASs). Two-sample MR evidence indicated causal relationships between ASD and any stroke (OR = 1...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

BACKGROUND: Neurophysiological studies recognized that Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is associated with altered patterns of over- and under-connectivity. However, little is known about network organization in children with ASD in the early phases of development and its correlation with the severity of core autistic features. METHODS: The present study aimed at investigating the association between brain connectivity derived from MEG signals and severity of ASD traits measured with different diagnostic clinical scales, in a sample of 16 children with ASD aged 2 to 6 years...

BACKGROUND: The Medical Emergencies in Eating Disorders (MEED) report was first released by the Royal College of Psychiatrists in 2022 (updated 2023) to aid clinicians in recognising medical compromise due to an eating disorder and to provide guidance for management. AIMS: This study looked at admissions over 5 years to explore whether there is a correlation between MEED medical compromise parameters and three outcomes: length of stay, detainment under the Mental Health Act 1983, and discharge destination...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

INTRODUCTION: The Pathway for Eating disorders and Autism developed from Clinical Experience (PEACE pathway) is a clinical pathway of adapted treatment for individuals with eating disorders and autism in the UK. This study aims to investigate multidisciplinary clinicians' views of the strengths and challenges of PEACE pathway adaptations, while identifying areas where further improvement is needed. METHOD: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 clinicians who worked on the PEACE pathway...

PURPOSE: Parent involvement is crucial for tailored early intervention programs. The Hanen More Than Words (HMTW) program is a parent-implemented language intervention for autistic children. The current study examined the effectiveness of the HMTW program delivered online among Chinese families. METHODS: Using a randomized controlled trial design, 22 Chinese families of autistic children in Hong Kong completed the trial. Baseline and post-intervention assessments were conducted to measure changes in parent-child interaction, parents' use of linguistic facilitation techniques (LFTs), and children's communication skills...

BACKGROUND: Helsmoortel-Van der Aa syndrome is a neurodevelopmental disorder in which patients present with autism, intellectual disability, and frequent extra-neurological features such as feeding and gastrointestinal problems, visual impairments, and cardiac abnormalities. All patients exhibit heterozygous de novo nonsense or frameshift stop mutations in the Activity-Dependent Neuroprotective Protein (ADNP) gene, accounting for a prevalence of 0.2% of all autism cases worldwide. ADNP fulfills an essential chromatin remodeling function during brain development...

Most autistic people experience difficulties in sensory processing, including interoceptive processing. For example, they often report subjective difficulties in the interoceptive processing of interoceptive input, such as difficulty in interpreting bodily signals, including hunger, thirst, and fatigue. However, whether these subjective interoceptive difficulties are from underlying problems in interoceptive accuracy remains unclear. This study investigated the relationship between subjective interoceptive difficulty and behavioral interoceptive accuracy in autistic adults and a control group...

Pitt-Hopkins syndrome (PTHS) is a neurodevelopmental disorder caused by haploinsufficiency of transcription factor 4 (TCF4). In this work, we focused on the cerebral cortex and investigated in detail the progenitor cell dynamics and the outcome of neurogenesis in a PTHS mouse model. Labeling and quantification of progenitors and newly generated neurons at various time points during embryonic development revealed alterations affecting the dynamic of cortical progenitors since the earliest stages of cortex formation in PTHS mice...

BACKGROUND: Cultural-based literature focusing on Asian autistic immigrants living in Western countries is very limited. AIMS: The present study is a quality improvement exercise aiming to fill the gap by investigating the employment needs of and barriers for Chinese autistic youth and young adults in Ontario, Canada. METHODS & PROCEDURES: 71 individuals diagnosed with autism and 24 diagnosed with other mental illnesses, aged 12-29, participated in an online survey regarding their work readiness, work skills, interests, health and cultural concerns...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

INTRODUCTION: Neuropsychological deficits in areas of Executive Functioning (EF), theory of mind, and central coherence have been well-documented among children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD); however, there remains a significant gap in knowledge with regards to neuropsychological profile in adults with ASD. This study aims to investigate the intellectual functioning and neuropsychological profiles of a clinical population of adults with ASD. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included 40 available autistic individuals referred to an adult developmental disorders clinic at a hospital between 2021 and 2022...

This study applied the functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to investigate frontal activity in autism when performing verbal fluency test and emotion recall task. We recruited 32 autistic adults without intellectual disability and 30 typically-developing controls (TDC). Prefrontal hemodynamic changes were evaluated by fNIRS when the participants performed the verbal fluency test and emotion recall task. fNIRS signals in the prefrontal cortex were compared between autism and TDC. Compared to TDC, autistic adults showed comparable performance on the verbal fluency test but exhibited lower frontal activity on the vegetable category...

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are five times more likely to have feeding difficulties than neurotypical peers, although the majority of evidence describes feeding difficulty in children age 2 years and older. The purpose of this study is to systematically review the literature on feeding characteristics of children age 0-24 months who were later diagnosed with ASD with an emphasis on the measurement tools used to assess these feeding behaviors. We conducted a systematic review of the literature using PRISMA guidelines...