The How Rather than the What: A Qualitative Analysis of Modalities and Caregiver Descriptions of Special Interests in Autistic Youth.

Nearly all autistic youth have special interests (SIs), which are associated with many benefits and challenges. Most research on SIs has focused on the subject matter of SIs, with less focus on understanding how youth engage in their SIs. We conducted a qualitative study using inductive content analysis (ICA) to examine: (1) The modalities youth use to engage in their SIs, (2) the degree to which such modalities are described by caregivers as adaptive or maladaptive, and (3) the extent to which the SIs themselves are described by caregivers positively or negatively.

The network structure of the Special Interests Survey.

Despite the prevalence of special interests (SIs) in autistic youth, research on SIs and how they are characterized is limited. Indeed, a significant challenge in identifying and classifying SIs lies in capturing the vast and diverse scope of potential interests in this population. The recently developed Special Interest Survey (SIS) is a caregiver-report measure to improve SI characterization by capturing a broad range of past and current SIs.

Corrigendum: Bias in measurement of autism symptoms by spoken language level and non-verbal mental age in minimally verbal children with neurodevelopmental disorders.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.

An Evaluation of Parent and Teacher Discrepancies on an Adaptive Behavior Measure for Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Intellectual Disability, and Global Developmental Delay.

Comprehensive evaluations include data from multiple informants, but discrepancies occur on adaptive skill measures of youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and intellectual disabilities (ID). This study investigated discrepancies between parent-teacher ratings on a measure of adaptive behavior [Adaptive Behavior Assessment System, Third Edition (ABAS-3)] in a clinical sample of 115 youth. Agreement between informants was determined and then discrepancies were identified using paired-sample t-tests for the whole sample and subsamples.

Brief report: The impact of the broad autism phenotype on parent perception of autism symptoms in their children with and without autism spectrum disorder compared to teachers.

Background: Evaluation of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) includes caregiver-reported rating scales of symptom presentation. The extent to which a broad autism phenotype (BAP) in parents of children with ASD might impact their endorsement of autism symptoms in their children with and without ASD has not been well evaluated.

Aims: This study analyzed whether varying degrees of parental BAP were associated with reported autism symptoms in offspring with and without ASD.

Characterization of Special Interests in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Brief Review and Pilot Study Using the Special Interests Survey.

Special interests (SIs) are part of the diagnostic criteria for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Though they can have both positive and negative effects on functioning and long-term outcomes, research on SIs is limited. This pilot study used a newly developed parent-report measure, the Special Interest Survey, to characterize SIs in 1992 children with ASD.

Catatonia in Down syndrome: systematic approach to diagnosis, treatment and outcome assessment based on a case series of seven patients.

Objective: The goal is to expand our knowledge of catatonia occurring in adolescents and young adults with Down syndrome (DS) by describing the first prospective, consecutive, well-characterized cohort of seven young people with DS diagnosed with catatonia and treated between 2013 and 2018, and to assess each patient's treatment responses. Longitudinal assessment of each patient's response to treatment is intended to provide clinicians and psychiatrists a firm foundation from which assess treatment efficacy.

Study Design: Young adults with Down syndrome were consecutively enrolled in the study as they were diagnosed with catatonia.

Cognitive Profiles in Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder: An Investigation of Base Rate Discrepancies using the Differential Ability Scales--Second Edition.

Extant data suggest that the cognitive profiles of individuals with ASD may be characterized by variability, particularly in terms of verbal intellectual functioning (VIQ) and non-verbal intellectual functioning (NVIQ) discrepancies. The Differential Ability Scales, Second Edition (DAS-II) has limited data available on its use with youth with ASD. The current study examined data from 2,110 youth with ASD in order to characterize performance on the DAS-II and to investigate potential discrepancies between VIQ and NVIQ.

Psychotropic medication use among children with autism spectrum disorders within the Simons Simplex Collection: are core features of autism spectrum disorder related?

Psychotropic medication use and its relationship to autism spectrum core features were examined in a well-characterized but nonstratified North American sample (N = 1605) of children/adolescents diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders utilizing the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule and the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised, from the multisite Simons Simplex Collection. Analyses included (a) prevalence of psychotropic use (overall, and by classes), (b) correlations between prevalence of use and autism spectrum core features, age, and cognitive functioning, and (c) logistic regression to identify whether these factors were predictive of psychotropic use. Results indicated 41.

Utility of the social communication questionnaire-current and social responsiveness scale as teacher-report screening tools for autism spectrum disorders.

Limited research exists regarding the role of teachers in screening for Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). The current study examined the use of the Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ) and Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) as completed by parents and teachers about school-age children from the Simons Simplex Collection. Using the recommended cutoff scores in the manuals and extant literature, the teacher-completed SCQ and SRS yielded lower sensitivity and specificity values than would be desirable; however, lowering the cutoff scores on both instruments improved sensitivity and specificity to more adequate levels for screening purposes.

Expanding the clinical spectrum of the 16p11.2 chromosomal rearrangements: three patients with syringomyelia.

16p11.2 rearrangements are associated with developmental delay, cognitive impairment, autism spectrum disorder, behavioral problems (especially attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder), seizures, obesity, dysmorphic features, and abnormal head size. In addition, congenital anomalies and abnormal brain findings were frequently observed in patients with these rearrangements.