After School Care for Children on the Autism Spectrum

Few programs exist for after school care designed to support children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Not only do parents often depend on after school care, but also children with ASD are likely to benefit from opportunities to generalize skills in an authentic setting and interact with typically developing peers. This lack of support occurs at a time during which there is increasing research and community awareness regarding the need for high quality after school programs to support typically developing children. This study investigates reported experiences with and needs for after school care by parents of children with ASD. Survey results (N = 54) revealed that the majority of parents surveyed desired after school programs within their child’s school but are often denied access to such services or received low quality care for their child in after school programs. Recommendations are provided for future research and program development.     

Treating Couples Raising Children on the Autism Spectrum: A Marriage-Friendly Approach

Available research demonstrates that autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) affect couples in a variety of different ways. Some partners draw closer to one another through the experience of caring for a child on the autism spectrum while others experience relationship dissatisfaction, separation, and divorce. Yet other research reveals that many couples raising children with ASDs may experience an initial dip in relationship satisfaction but, after adjusting to a new way of life and developing new expectations for their children, are later able to bond in novel ways. Thus, a marriage-friendly approach to therapy, which focuses on helping partners remain committed to each other through the trials and tribulations of life, may allow these couples to work through the difficulties of raising children on the autism spectrum without resorting to separation or divorce. Ethical implications of a marriage-friendly approach to therapy with couples raising children with ASDs are also considered.     

Intensive Child-Centered Play Therapy for Children on the Autism Spectrum: A Pilot Study

To investigate the effectiveness of intensive child-centered play therapy (CCPT) for children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the authors randomly assigned 23 children with diagnosed ASD and symptoms of ASD on the Social Responsiveness Scale–2nd Edition (Constantino, 2012), to an intensive CCPT condition (n = 12) or a no-intervention control group (n = 11). Children who participated in 24 sessions of CCPT showed a statistically significant decrease in ASD core symptoms and behavioral symptoms, such as externalizing problems, attention problems, and aggression, compared with children in the control group. Implications are discussed.     

Anxiety Levels in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Meta-Analysis

The aim of the current study was to meta-analytically examine whether anxiety levels in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are elevated. A total of 83 articles were selected from a systematic literature search and were included in the meta-analyses. Results demonstrated that children with ASD had higher anxiety levels compared to typically developing children, and this difference increased with IQ. Youth with ASD also tended to have higher anxiety levels compared to clinically referred children, and this difference increased with age. Children with ASD had higher anxiety levels compared to youth with externalizing or developmental problems, but not when compared to youth with internalizing problems. The study findings highlight the importance of more research in order to fully understand the nature and development of anxiety in children with ASD. More specifically, the results suggest that especially high-functioning adolescents with ASD may be at risk for developing anxiety disorders. Therefore, it seems important to carefully follow and monitor children with ASD transcending to adolescence.     

Psychiatric Comorbidity in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Comparison with Children with ADHD

The present study was conducted with the aim to identify comorbid psychiatric disorders in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) (n = 40) and to compare those comorbidity rates to those in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (n = 40). Participants were clinically referred children aged 7–18 years. DSM-IV classifications were used for the primary diagnosis (ASD/ADHD), while comorbid psychiatric disorders were assessed using a structured diagnostic interview, the structured clinical interview for DSM-IV, childhood diagnoses (KID-SCID). Twenty-three children with ASD (57.5 %) had at least one comorbid disorder, whereas 16 children with ADHD (40.0 %) were classified as having at least one comorbid disorder. No group differences were found with respect to this comorbidity rate or for the rate of comorbid externalizing disorders (ODD and/or CD). However, children with ASD had more comorbid internalizing disorders compared to children with ADHD. More specifically, children with ASD had higher rates of anxiety disorders, but not mood disorders. No associations between comorbidity and age or between comorbidity and the intelligence quotient was found. It is important for clinicians to always be aware of, and screen for, comorbidity, and to consider treatment for these comorbid disorders. In addition, research should focus on establishing valid and reliable screening tools as well as effective treatment options for these comorbid disorders.     

Children with Autism and Their Friends: A Multidimensional Study of Friendship in High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder

This study of Israeli and American preadolescent children examined characteristics of friendship in 44 children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder (HFASD) compared to 38 typically developing children (TYP), as they interacted with a close friend Participants were 8-12 years of age (HFASD: Israel, n = 24; USA, n = 20; TYP: Israel, n = 23; USA, n = 15), and were matched on SES, receptive language vocabulary, child age, and gender (each study group included one girl). Multidimensional assessments included: individual behaviors of target children and observed child-friend interactions during construction and drawing scenarios; target child's and friend's self-perceived mutual friendship qualities; and mother-reported characteristics (friendship's duration/frequency; friend's age/gender/disability status). Overall, children with HFASD displayed a number of differences on individual and dyadic friendship measures. Both age and verbal abilities affected friendship behaviors. Children with HFASD and their friends perceived friendship qualities similarly, suggesting that preadolescents with HFASD have capacities for interpersonal awareness. Between-group similarities also emerged on several complex social behaviors, suggesting that friendship follows a developmental trajectory in autism and may enhance social interaction skills in autism.     

Single Session Psychology Clinic for Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Feasibility Study

Children are being diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder at much higher rates than in the past, with the increasing rates arising primarily from the broadened diagnostic criteria and increased public and professional awareness of the disorder. In turn, this has resulted in increased demands for psychological services, which many service providers struggle to meet. Single session clinics are an innovative form of intervention which can facilitate quick access to psychological services, without the burden of lengthy waiting times. This feasibility study examined the nature of presenting problems, attendance rates and parental satisfaction with a single session clinic for parents of children with autism spectrum disorder. The service offers short one-to-one consultation with a psychologist and sessions can be booked up to one month in advance. The single session clinic was developed to provide individual intervention to families within the constraints of an overwhelmed service. Good attendance rates and relatively high satisfaction suggest the single-session consultation for parents of children with autism spectrum disorder is an acceptable form of service. Limitations include the a need for more detailed evaluation of the impact of the sessions on both parental anxiety and child outcomes, and to identify more clearly who may benefit most from this model.     

Diagnostic and Assessment Findings: A Bridge to Academic Planning for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Increasing numbers of children diagnosed and treated for autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) has impacted both neuropsychologists and educators. Though both play key evaluative and treatment roles, there is no available method or process in place enabling the translation of the neuropsychological report recommendations into a format educational teams can easily use, leading to a gap between neuropsychological recommendations and educational planning. In the following, we review the areas evaluated by a neuropsychologist when assessing a child with an ASD, discuss the domains targeted by educational teams when designing an educational plan, and then present a process that has met with some success creating a "bridge" between the diagnostic/assessment process and the subsequent academic planning. Though presented in the context of ASD, the process described can be used by neuropsychologists for various populations to facilitate partnerships with educators that result in improved care for the child.     

Current Perspectives on Interventions for Self-Injurious Behavior of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review of the Literature

Our purpose in this systematic review was to identify, evaluate, and summarize the single-case research design studies examining behavioral interventions to address self-injurious behavior for young children with autism spectrum disorder. We identified 24 studies published between 2000 and 2016 that met the inclusion criteria. We reviewed and coded each study across five content areas using systematic procedures. These content areas consisted of the methodological quality of single-case research designs, children’s demographic information, conditions under which the intervention was implemented, characteristics of intervention, and outcomes. Our findings indicate that procedural integrity data were reported for only one study and social validity for two studies. The majority of studies were implemented by researchers or therapists in the school setting. For 24 of 30 children included in the studies reviewed, the authors taught a replacement behavior selected on the basis of an assessment conducted prior to intervention. All authors reported a decrease in the self-injurious behavior post-intervention. A limited number of authors examined generalization and maintenance of low rates of self-injurious behavior. Limitations of the present review and future directions and implications for research and practice are discussed.     

Matrix Training for Generative Spelling in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Children with autism often have difficulty in generative learning. Effective training program for generative learning in these children is needed. In this study, we examined the effectiveness of matrix training for generative spelling in two children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Matrix training is a procedure in which stimuli used in teaching are arranged with overlapping within‐syllable units. After training with a Constructed‐Response Matching to Sample (CRMTS) with matrix training, both participants' generative spelling was assessed by CRMTS test using untrained combinations of characters. In this study, spoken syllables (auditory stimuli) are presented as the sample stimulus, and written characters (visual stimuli) are presented as comparison stimuli in CRMTS task. As a result, both participants showed generative spelling by matrix training, however, one of the two participants needed additional matrix training. The results discussed the effectiveness of matrix training as a procedure for teaching generative spelling and some issues to be conducted in applying this procedure for Japanese reading and spelling in children with ASD. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Parent Perspectives on Community Mental Health Services for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

The community mental health (CMH) system provides treatment for behavioral and psychiatric problems in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Although parent stakeholder perspectives are important to improving care, these perspectives have not been systematically examined for this population in the CMH sector. Twenty-one semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with parents of children with ASD who received services in CMH clinics. Themes related to child clinical histories, service access and experiences with the CMH system revealed a specific trajectory of service need identification, obtaining a diagnosis, and experience with services. Each trajectory stage was marked by high parent stress. Results provide information about the characteristics of children with ASD served in community mental health clinics and direction for targeted improvement efforts.     

Interventions for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders in Inclusive School Settings

Students with ASD present unique challenges to school systems. Despite these challenges, federal laws require that schools implement research-based practices in the least restrictive environment (LRE). The LRE is often deemed to be the general education classroom and the primary intervention agent is often the classroom teacher. Ensuring students with ASD receive effective intervention in these least restrictive and inclusive school settings will depend, in part, on the extent to which teachers and school personnel are prepared to implement research-based interventions. The purpose of this article is to provide a summary of research-based interventions for students with ASD. Our focus in this summary is on interventions that can be implemented in inclusive school settings by teachers and classroom support personnel. We first provide a general overview of interventions designed to reduce challenging behavior, teach communication skills, and improve social relationships. This is followed by a discussion of the obstacles to intervention implementation that may be present in school settings. Finally, we conclude by offering a list of intervention guidelines.     

Parenting Interventions for Children with Autism Spectrum and Disruptive Behavior Disorders: Opportunities for Cross-Fertilization

Empirical support exists for parent training/education (PT/PE) interventions for children with disruptive behavior disorders (DBD) and autism spectrum disorders (ASD). While the models share common roots, current approaches have largely developed independently and the research findings have been disseminated in two different literature traditions: mental health and developmental disabilities. Given that these populations often have overlapping clinical needs and are likely to receive services in similar settings, efforts to integrate the knowledge gained in the disparate literature may be beneficial. This article provides a systematic overview of the current (1995–2005) empirical research on PT/PE for children with DBD and ASD; attending to factors for cross-fertilization. Twenty-two ASD and 38 DBD studies were coded for review. Literature was compared in three main areas: (1) research methodology, (2) focus of PT/PE intervention, and (3) PT/PE procedures. There was no overlap in publication outlets between the studies for the two populations. Results indicate that there are opportunities for cross-fertilization in the areas of (1) research methodology, (2) intervention targets, and (3) format of parenting interventions. The practical implications of integrating these two highly related areas of research are identified and discussed.     

Autism,Attachment and Parenting: A Comparison of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder,Mental Retardation,Language Disorder,and Non-clinical Children

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have severe and pervasive impairments in the development of social interaction, which may affect the attachment relationship with their parents and may have an impact on parenting. In the current investigation 89 families with young children (mean age 26.5 months) were involved, who were diagnosed as ASD, mentally retarded (MR), or language delayed (LD), or part of a non-clinical comparison group. Attachment security was observed with the Brief Attachment Screening Questionnaire, and several parental self-report questionnaires assessed the parenting style, parental efficacy, parental experiences of daily hassles, social support, and psychological problems. Children with ASD were rated as less secure compared to the other clinical and normal comparison groups. Parents of non-clinical children reported higher levels of authoritative parenting than parents in the ASD group and in the total clinical group, and they also received less social support. Parents of children with ASD coped remarkably well with the challenges of raising a child with ASD.     

Antecedent Selection: Comparing Simplified and Typical Verbal Antecedents for Children with Autism

This study measured the differential effects of simplified and typical verbal antecedents on acquisition of picture discriminations for four preschool children with autism. During baseline probes, participants emitted no correct selection responses to pictures of common stimuli during either simplified or typical verbal antecedent conditions. Using an adapted alternating treatments design during training, instructors presented a simplified verbal antecedent (i.e., “Give me car”) or a typical verbal antecedent (i.e., “One of these is a car. Which one is it?”), and differentially reinforced participants’ correct selection responses given the target picture and two non-targets. Results showed that one participant emitted more correct responses during simplified than typical verbal antecedent conditions, one participant emitted more correct responses during typical than simple verbal antecedent conditions, and there was no clear difference for the other two participants.     

A Pilot Study of a Co-parenting Intervention for Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Journal of Child and Family Studies - The aims of this pilot study are to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of a peer-delivered co-parenting program, Autism Parent...     

Parent-Implemented Early Social Communication Intervention for Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Journal of Behavioral Education - Numerous developmental difficulties differentiate children with autism from typically developing children, including delays in social communication skills. In this...