Utensil Fading to Increase Appropriate Utensil Acceptance.

Unlabelled: Escape extinction is an empirically supported treatment to increase food and drink acceptance in children with feeding difficulties. However, nonremoval of the spoon or cup may not be effective in isolation when children press their lips closed or clench their teeth. Physical guidance procedures may circumvent this concern, though this is not always the case and may require the bite or drink be deposited with an alternate utensil.

CHARGE Syndrome and Comorbid Feeding Difficulties: A Summary of Outcomes following Behavior Analytic Treatment.

CHARGE syndrome is a genetic disorder caused by mutation of the CHD7 gene. Children with CHARGE syndrome often experience vision and hearing impairments, delayed growth and development, heart abnormalities, and artesia/stenosis of the chonae. Although not part of the diagnostic criteria, many individuals with CHARGE syndrome experience feeding and gastrointestinal difficulties.

Toward Better Understanding of Pediatric Feeding Disorder: A Proposed Framework for Patient Characterization.

To establish a foundation for methodologically sound research on the epidemiology, assessment, and treatment of pediatric feeding disorder (PFD), a 28-member multidisciplinary panel with equal representation from medicine, nutrition, feeding skill, and psychology from seven national feeding programs convened to develop a case report form (CRF). This process relied upon recent advances in defining PFD, a review of the extant literature, expert consensus regarding best practices, and review of current patient characterization templates at participating institutions. The resultant PFD CRF involves patient characterization in four domains (ie, medical, nutrition, feeding skill, and psychosocial) and identifies the primary features of a feeding disorder based on PFD diagnostic criteria.

Simultaneous Presentation to Decrease Packing in a Child With a Feeding Disorder.

Children with feeding disorders may pack food (i.e., hold food in the mouth for a prolonged period of time).

Comparing behavioral treatment of feeding difficulties and tube dependence in children with cerebral palsy and autism spectrum disorder.

Background: Feeding disorders are multifaceted with behavioral components often contributing to the development and continuation of food refusal. In these cases, behavioral interventions are effective in treating feeding problems, even when medical or oral motor components are also involved. Although behavioral interventions for feeding problems are frequently employed with children with autism, they are less commonly discussed for children with cerebral palsy.

Treatments for the challenging behaviours of adults with intellectual disabilities.

Objective: To provide an overview and critical assessment of common problems and best evidence practice in treatments for the challenging behaviours (CBs) of adults with intellectual disabilities (IDs).

Method: Commonly observed problems that present obstacles to successful treatment plans are discussed, followed by an analysis of available research on the efficacy of behavioural and pharmacological therapies.

Results: Behavioural and pharmacological interventions are most commonly used when addressing CBs in people with IDs.

Factor structure of the Matson Evaluation of Social Skills with Youngsters-II (MESSY-II).

The importance of social skills in development is a well studied area of research, and deficits in these skills can have implications long into adulthood. Therefore, assessment tools must be able to aid clinicians in identifying areas of weaknesses to target in treatment. The purpose of the current paper was to investigate the factor structure of a well researched measure of social skills, the Matson Evaluation of Social Skills with Youngsters (MESSY), which has recently been re-normed to update its psychometric properties.

DSM-IV vs DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for toddlers with autism.

Purpose: To evaluate prevalence rates of autism and autism symptomatology in toddlers using DSM-IV vs DSM-5 criteria.

Method: Two thousand seven hundred and twenty-one toddlers at risk for a developmental disability participated. DSM-IV and DSM-5 criteria were applied and overall prevalence using each set of criteria was established.

The effects of developmental quotient and diagnostic criteria on challenging behaviors in toddlers with developmental disabilities.

Previous research has found that individuals with intellectual disability and/or autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and those with greater symptom severity within these diagnoses, show higher rates of aggressive/destructive behavior, stereotypic behavior, and self-injurious behavior. In this exploratory cross-sectional study, toddlers at-risk for a developmental disorder (n=1509) ranging from 17 to 36 months fell into one of three diagnostic categories: Autistic Disorder, Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified [PDD-NOS], and atypically developing - no ASD diagnosis. Mental health professionals from EarlySteps, Louisiana's Early Intervention System, interviewed parents and guardians using the Baby and Infant Screen for Children with aUtIsm Traits (BISCUIT) -Part 3 (Matson, Boisjoli, & Wilkins, 2007) to obtain measures of challenging behaviors and the Battelle Developmental Inventory, 2nd Edition (BDI-2) (Newborg, 2005) to obtain developmental quotients (DQ).

The relationship between race and challenging behaviours in infants and toddlers with autistic disorder and pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified.

Objective: To examine the contributions of race and diagnostic category to endorsement rates of challenging behaviours in infants and toddlers with autism, PDD-NOS and atypical development without ASD, using the Baby and Infant Screen for Children with aUtIsm Traits, Part-3 (BISCUIT Part-3).

Design: Multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVAs) on each sub-scale of the BISCUIT Part-3. Follow-up univariate analyses and post-hoc tests as needed.

The effects of hearing impairment on symptoms of autism in toddlers.

Objective: Individuals diagnosed with certain medical conditions, such as those with hearing loss or impairment, may present with symptoms that mimic those of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate how hearing-compromised toddlers would score relative to toddlers diagnosed with an ASD on a measure of autism symptomatology.

Methods: The Baby and Infant Screen for Children with aUtIsm Traits (BISCUIT) was utilized to compare toddlers diagnosed with an ASD or who had hearing problems.

The relationship among side effects associated with anti-epileptic medications in those with intellectual disability.

Seizures are fairly common in those with intellectual disabilities. In order to treat these seizures, antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) are often used and in many cases are effective. However, these medications often create a variety of associated side effects.

Parents' first concerns of their child's development in toddlers with autism spectrum disorders.

Objective: Investigations about first concerns among parents of toddlers with ASD and comparisons of the same with children diagnosed with other developmental disorders are scarce.

Method: The current study utilized a sample of toddlers diagnosed with an ASD or other developmental delay and examined the nature of parents' first concern and the age of first concern compared to the age of first assessment.

Results: The majority of parents of both toddlers diagnosed with ASD and non-ASD related developmental delays indicated that the area of first concern was in communication.

The relationship between psychopathology symptom clusters and the presence of comorbid psychopathology in individuals with severe to profound intellectual disability.

In the typically developing population, comorbid psychopathology refers to the co-occurrence of two different psychopathologies other than cognitive impairments. With respect to individuals with intellectual disability, comorbidity is often described as cognitive deficits and one additional psychopathology manifesting together. However, just as within the typically developing population, individuals with intellectual disability may also present with symptoms of two or more additional disorders.

Stability of symptoms of autism spectrum disorders in toddlers: an examination using the Baby and Infant Screen for Children with aUtIsm Traits-Part 1 (BISCUIT).

Objective: The diagnostic stability of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) at very young ages continues to be debated, despite empirical evidence that ASDs can be reliably diagnosed in children under the age of 3 years. This topic is of the upmost importance given that early intervention increases long-term outcomes in this population.

Methods: The goal of the current study was to examine the stability of symptoms of ASD between two assessment times for 114 toddlers.

Behaviors and corresponding functions addressed via functional assessment.

One-hundred seventy-three studies that employed functional assessment were evaluated with respect to types of challenging behaviors studied and the functions identified that maintained those behaviors. For most studies, two to three behaviors were targeted. Of the 38 different challenging behaviors identified, self-injurious behavior (SIB) and aggression were by far the most studied.

Person characteristics of individuals in functional assessment research.

This paper is a review of person characteristics that were present in 173 studies that were reviewed on functional assessment. The purpose was to give the reader an idea about the types of individuals for which functional assessment is appropriate and to outline persons and their characteristics which have the best research support. The majority of participants were diagnosed with intellectual disability and/or autism.

Replacement behaviors for identified functions of challenging behaviors.

Functional assessment has become a major feature of learning-based research. A critical element of the majority of these studies includes not only methods and procedures to identify the cause of the challenging behavior, but to establish replacement treatment methods. By far the most common intervention in the 176 studies we reviewed was reinforcement.

What is the evidence for environmental causes of challenging behaviors in persons with intellectual disabilities and autism spectrum disorders?

An extensive literature on the causes of challenging behaviors has been developed, primarily in the applied behavior analysis literature. One hundred and seventy-three empirical studies were reviewed where functional assessment serves as the primary method of identifying these causes. Most of the studies were able to identify a clear function or functions.

An examination of differences in symptom endorsements of autism spectrum disorders: a comparison between mothers and fathers.

Objective: Best assessment practices for Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) incorporate both multimodal and multi-informant assessments. However, differences in symptoms reports from multiple informants can lead to diagnostic decision-making problems.

Methods: Thus, the purpose of this paper was to examine differences in the reports of symptoms of ASD between parents (i.

Assessment of toileting difficulties in adults with intellectual disabilities: an examination using the profile of toileting issues (POTI).

A lack of toileting skills is one of many impairments that individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities experience. Unfortunately, little research has focused on problems in this area including assessment, function, and treatment. A newly developed checklist, the Profile of Toileting Issues (POTI), is being considered for use to screen for toileting issues in this population, and to identify potential functions to target in treatment.

Developmental milestones in toddlers with autistic disorder, pervasive developmental disorder--not otherwise specified and atypical development.

Objective: To investigate age differences in developmental milestone attainment among toddlers with Autistic Disorder, PDD-NOS and atypical development.

Methods: A questionnaire was administered to caregivers of toddlers to obtain ages of onset of developmental milestones. The study included 1044 participants with 442, 112, 498 and 497 participants in first word, first phrase, crawling and walking analyses, respectively.