Policing Black autistic children: A qualitative approach to understanding Black caregivers' concerns.

In the United States, Black autistic youth face elevated risk of negative outcomes during police interactions. Although the outcomes of these interactions are well-documented, less is known about Black autistic youths' experiences during police encounters, as the current literature has largely examined the experiences of autistic adults, mostly White American samples, and/or autistic youth abroad. This study utilizes qualitative methods to examine the perceptions and concerns of 43 Black caregivers (N = 43; 98% parents; 2% legal guardians; 93% mothers) of Black autistic children (mean age: 16.

Neurocognitive Concussion Test Performance for Student Athletes on the Autism Spectrum.

Objective: To examine baseline neurocognitive functioning among adolescent athletes on the autism spectrum based on self-reported level of academic performance.

Method: Participants in this cross-sectional, observational study were 6,441 adolescent athletes with a self-reported diagnosis of autism who completed pre-season neurocognitive testing using Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing (ImPACT); 4,742 reported a co-occurring learning disorder (LD), and 6,612 individuals without autism or LD were included as a control group. The majority (57%) self-reported Average Academic Performance, 39% Above Average, and 4% Below Average performance.

A delayed intervention start randomized controlled trial of high- and low-tech communication training approaches for school-age autistic children with co-occurring intellectual disability.

The researchers designed a delayed intervention start randomized controlled trial to compare improvements in functional communication following augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) interventions. The study compared outcomes from function-based applied behavior analytic (ABA) and eclectic non-ABA forms of classroom-based communication strategies (waitlist control) as well as from high- and low-tech forms of AAC. High-tech AAC consisted of tablet-based communication, and low-tech AAC used an exchange of picture cards.

Sex differences in social and emotional insight in youth with and without autism.

Autism was formally recognized by the medical community in the first half of the twentieth century. Almost 100 years later, a small but growing literature has reported sex differences in the behavioral expression of autism. Recent research has also begun to explore the internal experiences of individuals with autism, including social and emotional insight.

Safety and Feasibility of an Immersive Virtual Reality Intervention Program for Teaching Police Interaction Skills to Adolescents and Adults with Autism.

Low-cost, wireless immersive virtual reality (VR) holds significant promise as a flexible and scalable intervention tool to help individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) learn and develop critical practical life skills, including interacting safely and effectively with police officers. Previous research suggests that VR is a motivating intervention platform, but many individuals with ASD also exhibit anxiety and sensory sensitivities which might make it difficult to tolerate VR experiences. Here, we describe the results of a relatively large-scale, National Institutes of Health-funded systematic examination of the safety, feasibility, and usability of an immersive VR training program in adolescents and adults with ASD, aged 12 and older.

A Lifespan Approach to Patient-Reported Outcomes and Quality of Life for People on the Autism Spectrum.

Autistic self-advocates, family members, and community organizations have called for greater emphasis on enhancing quality of life (QoL) for people with autism. Doing this is critical to understand how QoL unfolds across the life course and to clarify whether gender affects QoL, health, and functioning for people with autism. The purpose of this study was to curate and test a lifespan QoL measurement tool using freely available and well-constructed National Institutes of Health Parent-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS).

Maternal pre-pregnancy weight and twins' temperament.

Maternal pre-pregnancy weight has been related with young singletons' cognitive and behavioral development, but it is not clear if it has an effect on temperament. We used a twin cohort to evaluate the association between maternal pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) and infants' temperament. The mothers of 834 twins answered questions regarding their pre-pregnancy BMI and their 0- to 18-month-old children's temperament using the Revised Infant Behavior Questionnaire.

What's in a name? A preliminary event-related potential study of response to name in preschool children with and without autism spectrum disorder.

The ability to selectively respond to one's own name is important for social and language development, and is disrupted in atypically developing populations (e.g., autism spectrum disorder).

A pilot community-based randomized comparison of speech generating devices and the picture exchange communication system for children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder.

A pilot community-based randomized controlled trial was conducted to compare the effects of the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) to a teaching sequence using a high-tech Speech Generating Device (SGD) to teach social communication behaviors. The two approaches were compared to evaluate the effectiveness of the newer, more high-tech intervention using technology to improve social and communicative behavior of children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. A total of 35 school-age children were randomized to either a high-tech (SGD device) or low-tech (PECS cards) form of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC).

Diagnosis and management of Cornelia de Lange syndrome: first international consensus statement.

Cornelia de Lange syndrome (CdLS) is an archetypical genetic syndrome that is characterized by intellectual disability, well-defined facial features, upper limb anomalies and atypical growth, among numerous other signs and symptoms. It is caused by variants in any one of seven genes, all of which have a structural or regulatory function in the cohesin complex. Although recent advances in next-generation sequencing have improved molecular diagnostics, marked heterogeneity exists in clinical and molecular diagnostic approaches and care practices worldwide.

The Association of Intrapair Birth-Weight Differences With Internalizing and Externalizing Behavior Problems.

Problem behaviors are of increasing public health concern. Twin studies have revealed substantial genetic and environmental influences on children's behavior, and examining birth-weight difference could allow the identification of the specific contribution of multiple non-shared prenatal environmental factors. The Twins and Multiple Births Association Heritability Study, a UK, volunteer-based study, recruited mothers of twins aged 18 months to 5 years; 960 twins (480 pairs) were included in the analysis.

Do Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder Benefit from Structural Alignment When Constructing Categories?

Individuals with ASD seem to construct categories via processes different to typically developing individuals. We examined whether individuals with ASD engage in structural alignment of exemplars when constructing categories. We taught children with ASD and typically developing children novel nouns for either single or multiple exemplars, and then examined their extensions of the learned nouns to objects that were either a perceptual or conceptual match to the original exemplar(s).

Effects of maternal depression in the Still-Face Paradigm: A meta-analysis.

The Still-Face Paradigm (SFP) enables researchers to examine the quality of mother-infant interactions. In typical infants, a classic still-face effect (SFE) has been confirmed whereby infants demonstrate reduced positive affect (PA), reduced gaze (GA), and increased negative affect (NA). Recently, the SFP has been used to examine the effect of maternal depression upon infant behaviour.

Atypical speech versus non-speech detection and discrimination in 4- to 6- yr old children with autism spectrum disorder: An ERP study.

Previous event-related potential (ERP) research utilizing oddball stimulus paradigms suggests diminished processing of speech versus non-speech sounds in children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). However, brain mechanisms underlying these speech processing abnormalities, and to what extent they are related to poor language abilities in this population remain unknown. In the current study, we utilized a novel paired repetition paradigm in order to investigate ERP responses associated with the detection and discrimination of speech and non-speech sounds in 4- to 6-year old children with ASD, compared with gender and verbal age matched controls.

Serotonin 5-HTTLPR Genotype Modulates Reactive Visual Scanning of Social and Non-social Affective Stimuli in Young Children.

Previous studies have documented the 5-HTTLPR polymorphisms as genetic variants that are involved in serotonin availability and also associated with emotion regulation and facial emotion processing. In particular, neuroimaging and behavioral studies of healthy populations have produced evidence to suggest that carriers of the Short allele exhibit heightened neurophysiological and behavioral reactivity when processing aversive stimuli, particularly in brain regions involved in fear. However, an additional distinction has emerged in the field, which highlights particular types of fearful information, i.

Visual preference for social stimuli in individuals with autism or neurodevelopmental disorders: an eye-tracking study.

Background: Recent research has identified differences in relative attention to competing social versus non-social video stimuli in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Whether attentional allocation is influenced by the potential threat of stimuli has yet to be investigated. This is manipulated in the current study by the extent to which the stimuli are moving towards or moving past the viewer.

Neural mechanisms of the observation of human and non-human object touch in children: An event-related potential study.

Previous behavioural research on the development of self-other tactile processing and perception suggests that this system may develop in a somewhat protracted manner relative to other aspects of social development. Neuroimaging research has shown that somatosensory mechanisms are activated when adults observe another person or object being touched. In this study, we measured event-related potentials from 4- to 5-year-old children to investigate the development of the neural correlates of the observation of human and object touch.

Comment on Technology-Based Intervention Research for Individuals on the Autism Spectrum.

The purpose of this letter to the editor is to comment on several review papers recently published in the current Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, Special Issue on Technology: Software, Robotics, and Translational Science. These reviews address a variety of aspects relating to technology-aided intervention and instruction for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs). Here, I comment on and evaluate the overall status of research and development in this area, including reflection on current challenges in this area in the context of previous challenges and resolutions in behavioral intervention research.

Face scanning and spontaneous emotion preference in Cornelia de Lange syndrome and Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome.

Background: Existing literature suggests differences in face scanning in individuals with different socio-behavioural characteristics. Cornelia de Lange syndrome (CdLS) and Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome (RTS) are two genetically defined neurodevelopmental disorders with unique profiles of social behaviour.

Methods: Here, we examine eye gaze to the eye and mouth regions of neutrally expressive faces, as well as the spontaneous visual preference for happy and disgusted facial expressions compared to neutral faces, in individuals with CdLS versus RTS.

BDNF Val(66)Met and 5-HTTLPR Genotype are Each Associated with Visual Scanning Patterns of Faces in Young Children.

Previous studies have documented both neuroplasticity-related BDNF Val(66)Met and emotion regulation-related 5-HTTLPR polymorphisms as genetic variants that contribute to the processing of emotions from faces. More specifically, research has shown the BDNF Met allele and the 5-HTTLPR Short allele to be associated with mechanisms of negative affectivity that relate to susceptibility for psychopathology. We examined visual scanning pathways in response to angry, happy, and neutral faces in relation to BDNF Val(66)Met and 5-HTTLPR genotyping in 49 children aged 4-7 years.

Implicit Discrimination of Basic Facial Expressions of Positive/Negative Emotion in Fragile X Syndrome and Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Fragile X syndrome (FXS) and autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are characterized by impaired social functioning. We examined the spontaneous discrimination of happy and disgusted facial expressions, from neutral faces, in individuals with FXS (n  =  13, Mage  =  19.70) and ASD (n  =  15, Mage  =  11.

Variation in serotonin transporter linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR) short/long genotype modulates resting frontal electroencephalography asymmetries in children.

Previous studies have documented the serotonin transporter linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR) as a genetic susceptibility variant that contributes to variability in outcomes related to affective psychopathology, with the short allele associated with negative affectivity and the long allele associated with positive affectivity. In a separate but related line of research, extensive evidence suggests that frontal electroencephalography (EEG) hemispheric asymmetry in the alpha band is also associated with risk for affective psychopathologies, with leftward asymmetry associated with approach-related behavior patterns and rightward frontal EEG asymmetry associated with withdrawn behavioral tendencies. We examined frontal EEG hemispheric asymmetries in relation to 5-HTTLPR genotyping in 70 children between 4 and 6 years of age.

Maternal pre-pregnancy weight and externalising behaviour problems in preschool children: a UK-based twin study.

Objective: To estimate the heritability of child behaviour problems and investigate the association between maternal pre-pregnancy overweight and child behaviour problems in a genetically sensitive design.

Design: Observational cross-sectional study.

Setting: The Twins and Multiple Births Association Heritability Study (TAMBAHS) is an online UK-wide volunteer-based study investigating the development of twins from birth until 5 years of age.

Associative learning alone is insufficient for the evolution and maintenance of the human mirror neuron system.

Cook et al. argue that mirror neurons originate from associative learning processes, without evolutionary influence from social-cognitive mechanisms. We disagree with this claim and present arguments based upon cross-species comparisons, EEG findings, and developmental neuroscience that the evolution of mirror neurons is most likely driven simultaneously and interactively by evolutionarily adaptive psychological mechanisms and lower-level biological mechanisms that support them.