Improvement in social dysfunction of children with autism spectrum disorder following long term Kata techniques training

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of long term Kata techniques training on social interaction of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). We assigned 30 school aged children with ASD to an exercise (n = 15) or a no-exercise group (n = 15). We required participants of the exercise group to exercise Kata techniques for 14 weeks, while participants of the control group received no exercise. We evaluated the social interaction of the participants at baseline, post-intervention (week 14), and at one month follow up. Results revealed that Kata techniques training significantly improved social dysfunction in the exercise group. Interestingly, at one month follow up improvement in social deficiency in the exercise group remained unchanged compared to post-intervention time. The social deficiency of participants of the control group was not changed across the experimental period. We concluded that teaching martial arts techniques to children with ASD leads to significant improvement in their social interaction.     

Stimulus pairing training in children with autism spectrum disorder

In early training for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), matching-to-sample (MTS) tasks are widely used to teach various language and cognitive skills. However, some problems in conducting MTS training for children with developmental disabilities are also recognized. In this study, we examined the effectiveness of stimulus pairing training as a training procedure for children with ASDs. Two boys with ASDs participated in this study. During the stimulus pairing training trial, the children observed only two corresponding stimuli were paired successively. Participant's learning as a result of stimulus pairing training was assessed by MTS tests, which were conducted immediately after the training. In this study, visual–visual and visual–auditory stimulus relations were trained in stimulus pairing training. As a result, both participants could learn the stimulus relations by stimulus pairing training. The effectiveness and efficiency of the pairing training procedure and some issues to be considered in applying this procedure for children with ASDs are discussed.     

Indirect functional assessment of stereotypy in children with autism spectrum disorders

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are characterized by the presence of repetitive behavior and stereotyped patterns of interest and activities. It is common for clinicians to assume that repetitive behaviors are maintained by automatic reinforcement but, as with any challenging behavior, the function of stereotypy should not be assumed based on its topography. Previous research on the functional assessment of stereotypy has produced mixed results, and most previous studies on the functional assessment of stereotypy in children with ASD have included small sample sizes, so more research in this area is warranted. In the current study, indirect functional assessments consisting of the questions about behavioral function (QABF) were conducted across 53 children and adolescents with ASD. The QABF produced interpretable results in a high percentage of cases and 90% of the stereotypic behavior appeared to be maintained by automatic reinforcement.     

Sleep in children with autism spectrum disorder

Children with autism spectrum disorder demonstrate an increased prevalence of difficulties with sleep initiation and maintenance. The consequences may include alterations in daytime behavior, memory, and learning in patients, and significant stress in caretakers. The dysregulation of melatonin synthesis, sensitization to environmental stimuli, behavioral insomnia syndromes, delayed sleep phase syndrome, rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder, and comorbid anxiety, depression, and epilepsy comprise common etiologic factors. The clinical assessment of sleep problems in this population and a management algorithm are presented.     

Speech intonation in children with autism spectrum disorder

Objective: The prosody of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has several abnormal features. We assessed the speech tone of children with ASD and of children with typical development (TD) by using a new quantitative acoustic analysis. Methods: Our study participants consisted of 63 children (26 with ASD and 37 with TD). The participants were divided into 4 groups based on their developmental features and age. We assessed the variety of the fundamental frequency (F0) pattern quantitatively, using pitch coefficient of variation (CV), considering the different F0 mean for each word. Results: (1) No significant difference was observed between the ASD and TD group at pre-school age. However, the TD group exhibited significantly greater pitch CV than the ASD group at school age. (2) In pitch CV, range and standard deviation of the whole speech of each participant, no significant differences were observed between the type of participants and age. (3) No significant correlation was found between the pitch CV of each word and the Japanese Autism Screening Questionnaire total score, or between the pitch CV of each word and the intelligence quotient levels in the ASD group. A significant correlation was observed between the pitch CV of each word and social reciprocal interaction score. Conclusions: We assessed the speech tone of children with ASD by using a new quantitative method. Monotonous speech in school-aged children with ASD was detected. The extent of monotonous speech was related to the extent of social reciprocal interaction in children with ASD.     

Toilet training interventions for children with autism spectrum disorder: A systematic review

BackgroundChildren on the autism spectrum can often reach independence in toileting at a later age than nonautistic children, which impacts their health outcomes, independence and social participation. This study aimed to systematically review evidence-based toilet training interventions for children on the autism spectrum, and assess the quality of existing evidence.MethodGuided by the PRISMA statement, a search of scholarly databases was conducted and the study characteristics, methodological quality and intervention components of included studies were examined.ResultsThis systematic review identified 26 studies that evaluated toilet training interventions for children on the autism spectrum. Results identified that while Azrin and Foxx’s (1971) Rapid Toilet Training approach is most widely researched for children on the autism spectrum, investigating the effects of current toilet training approaches is limited by small sample sizes, low-level study designs and variable methods of reporting outcomes.ConclusionGreater consideration of parent-child communication, children’s developmental and toileting skill level may facilitate development of toileting approaches that better meet the needs of children on the autism spectrum and their families.     

孤独谱系障碍患儿的感觉特征

目的 使用中文版儿童感觉剖析量表探讨孤独谱系障碍(ASD)患儿的感觉特点.方法 采用中文版儿童感觉剖析量表对66例ASD患儿和66名健康发育儿童进行评定,由监护人完成.分析孤独症患儿与健康儿童在感觉方面的差异.结果 除感觉剖析量表的口腔感觉处理和影响活动水平的运动的调节部分外,ASD患儿在其他部分及全量表的得分均与健康儿童的差异有统计学意义(P<0.01).结论 除口腔感觉处理和影响活动水平的运动的调节外,ASD患儿的各项感觉特征与健康发育儿童均存在一定差异.中文版儿童感觉剖析量表对区别ASD患儿与健康发育儿童有一定的鉴别力.     

Minor neurological dysfunction in children with autism spectrum disorder

Aim The aim of this study was to improve the understanding of brain function in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in relation to minor neurological dysfunctions (MNDs). Method We studied MNDs in 122 children (93 males, 29 females; mean age 8y 1mo, SD 2y 6mo) who, among a total cohort of 705 children (513 males, 192 females; mean age 9y, SD 2y 0.5mo) referred to a regional outpatient non‐academic psychiatric centre in the Netherlands, were diagnosed with ASD after an extensive multidisciplinary psychiatric assessment. Children with clear neurological abnormalities (e.g. cerebral palsy or spina bifida) were excluded from the study. MNDs were assessed in all 705 children using the Touwen examination method. Special attention was paid to the severity and type of MND. Data of the children with ASD were compared with neurological morbidity data of children with other psychiatric disorders and with children in the general population, who were born at Groningen University Hospital between 1975 and 1978. Results Seventy‐four percent of the children with ASD showed complex MNDs compared with 52% of the children with other psychiatric disorders and 6% of the reference group (χ²=18.0, p<0.001; χ²=937.5, p<0.001 respectively). Specific dysfunctions frequently encountered in ASD were dysfunctional posture and muscle tone, fine manipulative disability, dyscoordination, and excessive associated movements. Conclusion These findings suggest a contribution of dysfunctional supraspinal networks involving multiple parts of the brain in the pathogenesis of ASD. This is consistent with findings from neuroimaging studies, and highlights the importance of neurological examinations in paediatric psychiatric assessments.     

Elevated cytokine levels in children with autism spectrum disorder

This study compared production of IL-2, IFN-gamma, IL-4, IL-13, IL-5 and IL-10 in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 20 children with autism spectrum disorder to those from matched controls. Levels of all Th2 cytokines were significantly higher in cases after incubation in media alone, but the IFN-gamma/IL-13 ratio was not significantly different between cases and controls. Cases had significantly higher IL-13/IL-10 and IFN-gamma/IL-10 than controls. Conclusion: Children with ASD had increased activation of both Th2 and Th1 arms of the adaptive immune response, with a Th2 predominance, and without the compensatory increase in the regulatory cytokine IL-10.     

Auditory-motor rhythm synchronization in children with autism spectrum disorder

BackgroundAutism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by difficulties in social and communication skills as well as atypical sensory perception and motor skills. Sensorimotor abilities such as auditory-motor integration are essential for social interaction and communication. The goal of this research was to investigate the development of auditory-motor rhythm synchronization for the first time in ASD versus typically-developing (TD) children.MethodsParticipants were 31 boys with ASD and 23 TD boys that were matched in age and IQ. Participants were tested on an auditory-motor rhythm synchronization task in which they tapped in synchrony with rhythms of varying metrical complexity.ResultsBoth children with ASD and TD performed similarly on this task and both groups performed better with age.ConclusionsThis work demonstrates that non-verbal rhythm synchronization is intact in ASD over the course of childhood development. This research serves to better understand sensorimotor interactions in ASD and to better define sensory phenotypes in ASD.     

Attentional network deficits in children with autism spectrum disorder

Statement of purpose: Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often demonstrate deficient attentional ability, but the specific nature of the deficit is unclear. The Attention Networks model provides a useful approach to deconstruct this attentional deficit into its component parts. Method: Fifty-two neurotypical (NT) children and 14 children with ASD performed the child version of the Attention Network Test (ANT). The latter requires participants to indicate the direction of a centre target stimulus, which is presented above/below fixation and sometimes flanked by either congruent or incongruent distractor stimuli. Results: Relative to NT children, those with ASD were: (1) slower to react to spatially cued trials and (2) more error prone on executive (conflict) attention trials. Conclusions: Young children with ASD have intact alerting attention, but less-efficient orienting and executive attention.     

An extended functional analysis protocol assesses the role of stereotypy in aggression in two young children with autism spectrum disorder

Two children with autism who engaged in aggression and stereotypy were assessed using common analogue functional analysis procedures. Aggression was maintained by access to specific preferred items. Data on the rates of stereotypy and appropriate play were collected during an extended functional analysis tangible condition. These data reveal that once the child was given access to the items shown to be maintaining challenging behavior that these items were then used to engage in stereotypy. These results suggest a relationship between stereotypy and socially mediated challenging behavior. Potential modifications to standard functional analysis procedures designed to identify this relationship and the implications of this relationship for intervention design are discussed.     

Anthropometric measures of Spanish children with autism spectrum disorder

We aimed to compare body mass index (BMI) and healthy eating index (HEI) in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD, n = 105) and typically developing (TD, n = 495) children. They were aged 6–9 years, lived in Valencia (Spain) and came from similar cultural and socio-economic backgrounds. In this case–control study, the weight, height and BMI were measured for both groups. Three-day food records were used to assess dietary intake. Although the differences between children with ASD and TD children in raw BMI (p = 0.44), BMI z-score (p = 0.37), HEI (p = 0.43) and total energy intake (p = 0.86) were not significant, children with ASD and the boys subgroup were shorter (p = 0.01), but not the girls subgroup, compared to TD children of the same gender. Using the controls values as a reference, the BMI distribution in children with ASD became distorted, with values below the 5th percentile (11% vs. 4%, p = 0.03) and above the 95th percentile (8% vs. 5%, p = 0.04). The gender- and age-adjusted odds ratios for being underweight in the groups of all children and boys with ASD were 3.03 and 2.39, respectively, vs. TD children. Our data suggest that routine monitoring of children with ASD should include anthropometric measurements and assessment of their dietary habits.     

Assessment of feeding problems in children with autism spectrum disorder

There is growing, but inconsistent, literature on feeding problems for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. The purposes of this study were to (a) investigate the relation of feeding problems to autism severity, (b) assess the validity of parent-report questionnaires widely used to assess feeding problems in terms of their relation to systematic behavior observations, and (c) determine the relation between child feeding behavior and family mealtime environment. Thirty-eight children and their parents participated in the study. Parents completed questionnaires, and both parents and children participated in mealtime observations. Results indicated that autism severity predicted scores on a measure of feeding problems as well as the duration of negative vocalizations during meal observations. Food Frequency Questionnaires better predicted behavior during meals than the Brief Mealtime Autism Behavior Inventory. Family environment alone did not explain feeding difficulties.     

Brain structural abnormalities in young children with autism spectrum disorder

OBJECTIVE: To explore the specific gross neuroanatomic substrates of this brain developmental disorder, the authors examine brain morphometric features in a large sample of carefully diagnosed 3- to 4-year-old children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) compared with age-matched control groups of typically developing (TD) children and developmentally delayed (DD) children. METHODS: Volumes of the cerebrum, cerebellum, amygdala, and hippocampus were measured from three-dimensional coronal MR images acquired from 45 children with ASD, 26 TD children, and 14 DD children. The volumes were analyzed with respect to age, sex, volume of the cerebrum, and clinical status. RESULTS: Children with ASD were found to have significantly increased cerebral volumes compared with TD and DD children. Cerebellar volume for the ASD group was increased in comparison with the TD group, but this increase was proportional to overall increases in cerebral volume. The DD group had smaller cerebellar volumes compared with both of the other groups. Measurements of amygdalae and hippocampi in this group of young children with ASD revealed enlargement bilaterally that was proportional to overall increases in total cerebral volume. There were similar findings of cerebral enlargement for both girls and boys with ASD. For subregion analyses, structural abnormalities were observed primarily in boys, although this may reflect low statistical power issues because of the small sample (seven girls with ASD) studied. Among the ASD group, structural findings were independent of nonverbal IQ. In a subgroup of children with ASD with strictly defined autism, amygdalar enlargement was in excess of increased cerebral volume. CONCLUSIONS: These structural findings suggest abnormal brain developmental processes early in the clinical course of autism. Research currently is underway to better elucidate mechanisms underlying these structural abnormalities and their longitudinal progression.     

Magnetoencephalography in the study of children with autism spectrum disorder

Magnetoencephalography (MEG) is a non‐invasive neuroimaging technique that provides a measure of cortical neural activity on a millisecond timescale with high spatial resolution. MEG has been clinically applied to various neurological diseases, including epilepsy and cognitive dysfunction. In the past decade, MEG has also emerged as an important investigatory tool in neurodevelopmental studies. It is therefore an opportune time to review how MEG is able to contribute to the study of atypical brain development. We limit this review to autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The relevant published work for children was accessed using PubMed on 5 January 2015. Case reports, case series, and papers on epilepsy were excluded. Owing to their accurate separation of brain activity in the right and left hemispheres and the higher accuracy of source localization, MEG studies have added new information related to auditory‐evoked brain responses to findings from previous electroencephalography studies of children with ASD. In addition, evidence of atypical brain connectivity in children with ASD has accumulated over the past decade. MEG is well suited for the study of neural activity with high time resolution even in young children. Although further studies are still necessary, the detailed findings provided by neuroimaging methods may aid clinical diagnosis and even contribute to the refinement of diagnostic categories for neurodevelopmental disorders in the future.     

Israeli children with autism spectrum disorder are not macrocephalic

The prevalence of macrocephaly in autism spectrum disorder is reported to be much higher than in the general population, 12% to 37%. Progressive macrocephaly is even considered a warning sign for the development of autism. We evaluated the prevalence of an abnormal head circumference in children with autism in Israel and compared it with the head circumferences of children with developmental language disorder and children with normal development. We did not find a higher prevalence of macrocephaly among Israeli children with autism spectrum disorder (4.4%). Although children with autism spectrum disorder had a significantly higher rate of a head circumference above the 75th percentile compared with children with developmental language disorder, it was not significantly different compared with normal controls. We conclude that there is no increased prevalence of macrocephaly in Israeli children with autism; this can be attributed to a different genetic background.