Prevalence of discrimination experienced by autistic youth as compared to neurotypical youth and youth with other neurodevelopmental diagnoses.

Autistic individuals have described facing unfair or discriminatory treatment across settings, such as in school and at work. However, there have been few studies examining how widespread or prevalent discrimination is against autistic individuals. We aimed to fill that gap by examining how prevalent or common it is for autistic youth to experience discrimination based on race or ethnicity, sexual orientation or gender identity, and health condition or disability.

Adapting measures of motor imitation for use by caregivers in virtual contexts: Reliability, validity, and sensitivity to change.

Early imitation challenges for children with autism are thought to contribute to broader delays in their social communication development. As such, imitation is an important intervention target for young children with and showing early signs of autism, and efforts are underway to disseminate evidence-based imitation interventions into community settings. To our knowledge, there are currently no established imitation assessments that have been validated for use in virtual contexts.

Alexithymia, Inner Thinking Patterns, and Perceptions of Mental Health Therapy Strategies Among Autistic Adults.

Purpose: Autistic adults are at high risk for mental health challenges, yet there has been limited research on mental health interventions for this population. Individual differences in how thoughts and emotions are perceived may directly relate to the success of specific therapy strategies. This study examined whether alexithymia and inner thinking patterns relate to helpfulness and ease of use of mental health therapy strategies among autistic adults.

Inner experiences, mental health, and well-being in autistic and non-autistic adults.

The nature of autistic adults' everyday inner experiences has been largely unstudied. The purpose of this study was to examine patterns of inner experiences and how they relate to mental health and wellness among autistic and non-autistic adults. Autistic (n = 303) and non-autistic (n = 289) adults (ages 21-82) completed online surveys assessing their anxiety, depression, happiness, life satisfaction, and inner thinking patterns, (inner speaking [i.

Employing user-centered design to develop a remote technology kit for studying young children's social communication skills.

Objective: The COVID-19 pandemic required behavioral researchers to rapidly pivot to the implementation of remote study protocols to facilitate data collection. Remote implementation required robust and flexible research protocols including reliable audio/visual technology that met all the quality, security, and privacy hallmarks of lab-based equipment, while also being portable and usable by nontechnical staff and participants. The project's primary purpose was to develop a technology kit that could be deployed for data collection in homes with young children.

Applying a User-Centered Design Framework to Develop a Remote Research Assessment Protocol for a Randomized Clinical Trial for Toddlers with Early Autism Characteristics.

COVID-19 required many research teams to shift from in-person to remote assessments, which posed both procedural and theoretical challenges. While research has explored the utility of remote assessments for autism diagnosis from the perspective of families and clinicians, less is known about their application in clinical trials. This paper describes the development of a remote research assessment protocol for a randomized clinical trial focusing on the implementation of reciprocal imitation teaching (RIT) with toddlers in Part C early intervention.

Integration of Family Navigation into ECHO Autism for Pediatric Primary Care in Underserved Communities.

Children with autism from underserved communities face complex system-, provider-, and family-level barriers to accessing timely diagnosis and early intervention. The current study evaluated the preliminary effects and feasibility of a new program (ECHO Autism LINKS) that integrated pediatric primary care provider (PCP) training with family navigation (FN) to bridge the gaps between screening, referral, and service access. Three cohorts of PCPs (n = 42) participated in the program, which consisted of 60-minute sessions delivered by Zoom twice per month for 12 months.

Relative Efficacy of Self-directed and Therapist-assisted Telehealth Models of a Parent-mediated Intervention for Autism: Examining Effects on Parent Intervention Fidelity, Well-being, and Program Engagement.

Purpose: Although there is growing interest in telehealth to deliver parent-mediated intervention for autistic children, empirical evaluations are limited, and little is known regarding the relative benefits of self-directed and therapist-assisted telehealth interventions. This study examined the effect of self-directed and therapist-assisted ImPACT Online on parent learning and well-being, moderators of treatment, and predictors of program engagement.

Method: Sixty-four young autistic children and their primary caregiver participated.

A mixed-methods examination of clinicians' perceived barriers to telehealth delivered applied behavior analysis.

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, clinicians relied on telehealth to ensure continuity of essential healthcare services, such as Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). Identifying barriers and examining them in the context of other implementation outcomes is important to support appropriate adaptations and sustainability of telehealth-delivered ABA services. Convergent mixed methods design was utilized to identify barriers experienced by ABA clinicians ( = 388) when delivering ABA services over telehealth to autistic children and their families following the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Reciprocal Associations Between Language Ability and Social Functioning Development in Pre-verbal Autistic Children.

Longitudinal research on language abilities and social functioning in young children suggests that gains in one domain affect gains in the other. However, few studies have examined inter-relations of language and social functioning jointly among young children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Pre-verbal toddlers with ASD are a group of particular clinical relevance, given that greater language abilities at school entry have been associated with positive long-term adjustment in many areas, including adaptive and social functioning.