Ostracism and Peer Victimization in Adolescents With and Without Mental Health Diagnoses in a Public Middle School Setting.

To better understand adolescents experiencing peer victimization, ostracism, and emotional health problems, this study aimed to describe a cohort of middle school students identified as having school peer-related social difficulties as 2 groups: those with mental health diagnoses (MHDs; n = 17) and those without diagnoses (n = 8). Participants were administered a test battery to examine communication ability, social responsiveness, social activity, ostracism, victimization, and emotional health. Results showed that adolescents with MHDs, relative to those without, scored significantly lower on measures of communication ability, social responsiveness, and social activity but similarly on measures of victimization, ostracism, and internalizing/externalizing factors.

Patterns of Gesture Use in Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine patterns of spontaneous gesture use in a sample of adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Method: Thirty-five adolescents with ASD ages 11 to 16 years participated (mean age = 13.51 years; 29 boys, 6 girls).

A Few Close Friends: The Pediatrician's Role in the Management of Social Skills Deficits in Adolescent Children.

Pediatricians must recognize and respond to adolescents with social skills deficits because they are at heightened risk for mental health disorders, peer victimization, and social isolation. The aim of this project was to describe a group of adolescent children at the time of enrollment into social skills treatment. Ninety participants with neurodevelopmental weaknesses or disorders, to include high-functioning autism spectrum disorder, participated.

Reported communication ability of persons with trisomy 18 and trisomy 13.

Objective: The aim of this study was to describe the communication ability of individuals with trisomy 18 and trisomy 13 syndromes.

Methods: Parents reported on children's potential communication acts, words, spontaneous gesture, and augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) using a parent report inventory (n = 32; age range 3-35 years). Potential communicative acts are defined as behaviors produced by an individual that may be interpreted by others to serve communicative functions.

Potential communicative acts in children with autism spectrum disorders.

Objective: To describe potential communicative acts in a sample of 17 children with autism spectrum disorders who produced few to no intelligible words (mean age = 32.82 months).

Methods: Parents reported on children's potential communicative acts for 10 different communicative functions.

Gesture and motor skill in relation to language in children with language impairment.

Purpose: To examine gesture and motor abilities in relation to language in children with language impairment (LI).

Method: Eleven children with LI (aged 2;7 to 6;1 [years;months]) and 16 typically developing (TD) children of similar chronological ages completed 2 picture narration tasks, and their language (rate of verbal utterances, mean length of utterance, and number of different words) and gestures (coded for type, co-occurrence with language, and informational relationship to language) were examined. Fine and gross motor items from the Battelle Developmental Screening Inventory (J.

Oromotor and communication findings in joubert syndrome: further evidence of multisystem apraxia.

This study provides descriptive information in the areas of oromotor abilities and communication to better understand the spectrum of disability in individuals with Joubert syndrome. Participants included 21 individuals with the diagnosis of Joubert syndrome (mean age 10.45 years).