Slipped lips: onset asynchrony detection of auditory-visual language in autism. Examining the intertwined development of prosocial skills and ASD symptoms in adolescence Social involvement of children with autism spectrum disorders in elementary school classrooms. Chelation for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Sleep behaviors and sleep quality in children with autism spectrum disorders. Neurofibromatosis Type 1 and Autism Spectrum Disorder
BACKGROUND It has frequently been suggested that individuals with autism spectrum disorder ( ASD ) have deficits in auditory-visual ( AV ) sensory integration . Studies of language integration have mostly used non-word syllables presented in congruent and incongruent AV combinations and demonstrated reduced influence of visual speech in individuals with ASD . The aim of our study was to test whether adolescents with high-functioning autism are able to integrate AV information of meaningful , phrase-length language in a task of onset asynchrony detection . METHODS Participants were 25 adolescents with ASD and 25 typically developing ( TD ) controls . The stimuli were video clips of complete phrases using simple , commonly occurring words . The clips were digitally manipulated to have the video precede the corresponding audio by 0 , 4 , 6 , 8 , 10 , 12 , or 14 video frames , a range of 0 - 500ms . Participants were shown the video clips in r and om order and asked to indicate whether each clip was in-synch or not . RESULTS There were no differences between adolescents with ASD and their TD peers in accuracy of onset asynchrony detection at any slip rate . CONCLUSION These data indicate that adolescents with ASD are able to integrate auditory and visual components in a task of onset asynchrony detection using natural , phrase-length language stimuli . We propose that the meaningful nature of the language stimuli in combination with presentation in a non-distracting environment allowed adolescents with autism spectrum disorder to demonstrate preserved accuracy for bi-modal AV integration Autism spectrum disorder ( ASD ) and reduced prosocial behaviour are strongly intertwined . However , social interactions with peers may be increasingly practice d over the course of development and may instigate a reduction in ASD symptoms and vice versa . We , therefore , sought to determine if , during adolescence , possible improvements in prosocial behaviours and ASD symptoms may benefit one another over time . Participants were 2773 adolescents from the Tracking Adolescents ’ Individual Lives Survey ( TRAILS ) cohorts . Measurements took place over three waves ( mean ages : 11.1 , 13.4 , and 16.2 years ) . Longitudinal associations between teacher-rated classroom prosocial skills and parent-rated ASD symptoms were examined using the r and om intercept cross-lagged panel model ( RI-CLPM ) . In addition to estimating the stable , between-person associations , the dynamical effects between prosocial skills and ASD symptoms over time were estimated at the within-person level . At the between-person level , prosocial skills and ASD symptoms were substantially negatively correlated . At the within-person level , a small and unexpected positive cross-lagged effect from wave 1 ASD symptoms on wave 2 prosocial skills was observed . We added to the existing literature by showing that , in addition to replicating the already firmly established between-person association between low prosocial skills and ASD , within-person gains in prosocial skills do not lead to subsequent reduction of ASD symptoms , and reductions in ASD symptoms do not lead to subsequent enhancement of prosocial skills . We , therefore , conclude from our findings that the inverse association between autistic symptoms and prosocial skills in adolescence is highly stable BACKGROUND Children with autism spectrum disorders ( ASD ) are increasingly included in general education classrooms in an effort to improve their social involvement . METHODS Seventy-nine children with ASD and 79 r and omly selected , gender-matched peers ( 88.6 % male ) in 75 early ( K-1 ) , middle ( 2nd-3rd ) , and late ( 4th-5th ) elementary classrooms across 30 schools completed social network surveys  examining each child 's reciprocal friendships , peer rejection , acceptance , and social involvement . RESULTS Across grade levels , peers less frequently reciprocated friendships with children with ASD than students in the matched sample . While children with ASD were not more likely to be rejected by peers , they were less accepted and had fewer reciprocal friendships than matched peers at each grade level . Although 48.1 % of children with ASD were involved in the social networks of their classrooms , children with ASD were more likely to be isolated or peripheral to social relationships within the classroom across all grade levels , and this difference is even more dramatic in later elementary grade s. CONCLUSIONS In inclusive classrooms , children with ASD are only involved in peers ' social relationships about half of the time , and appear to be even less connected with increasing grade level . Promoting children with ASD 's skills in popular activities to share with peers in early childhood may be a key preventive intervention to protect social relationships in late elementary school grade BACKGROUND It has been suggested that the severity of autism spectrum disorder ( ASD ) symptoms is positively correlated with the level of circulating or stored toxic metals , and that excretion of these heavy metals , brought about by the use of pharmaceutical chelating agents , results in improved symptoms . OBJECTIVES To assess the potential benefits and adverse effects of pharmaceutical chelating agents ( referred to as chelation therapy throughout this review ) for autism spectrum disorder ( ASD ) symptoms . SEARCH METHODS We search ed the following data bases on 6 November 2014 : CENTRAL , Ovid MEDLINE , Ovid MEDLINE In-Process , Embase , PsycINFO , Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature ( CINAHL ) and 15 other data bases , including three trials registers . In addition we checked references lists and contacted experts . SELECTION CRITERIA All r and omised controlled trials of pharmaceutical chelating agents compared with placebo in individuals with ASD . DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS Two review authors independently selected studies , assessed them for risk of bias and extracted relevant data . We did not conduct a meta- analysis , as only one study was included . MAIN RESULTS We excluded nine studies because they were non-r and omised trials or were withdrawn before enrolment . We included one study , which was conducted in two phases . During the first phase of the study , 77 children with ASD were r and omly assigned to receive seven days of glutathione lotion or placebo lotion , followed by three days of oral dimercaptosuccinic acid ( DMSA ) .  Forty-nine children who were found to be high excreters of heavy metals during phase one continued on to phase two to receive three days of oral DMSA or placebo followed by 11 days off , with the cycle repeated up to six times . The second phase thus assessed the effectiveness of multiple doses of oral DMSA compared with placebo in children who were high excreters of heavy metals and who received a three-day course of oral DMSA . Overall , no evidence suggests that multiple rounds of oral DMSA had an effect on ASD symptoms . AUTHORS ' CONCLUSIONS This review included data from only one study , which had method ological limitations . As such , no clinical trial evidence was found to suggest that pharmaceutical chelation is an effective intervention for ASD . Given prior reports of serious adverse events , such as hypocalcaemia , renal impairment and reported death , the risks of using chelation for ASD currently outweigh proven benefits . Before further trials are conducted , evidence that supports a causal link between heavy metals and autism and methods that ensure the safety of participants are needed STUDY OBJECTIVES ( 1 ) Compare sleep behaviors of children with autism spectrum disorders ( ASD ) with sleep behaviors of typically developing ( TD ) children using the Children 's Sleep Habits Question naire ( CSHQ ) ; ( 2 ) compare sleep quality --defined as mean activity , sleep latency , number of awakenings , sleep efficiency and total sleep time -- of the cohort of children with ASD and TD , as measured by 10 nights of actigraphy ; and ( 3 ) estimate the prevalence of sleep disturbances in the ASD and TD cohorts . DESIGN Descriptive cross-sectional study . SETTING The Children 's Hospital of Philadelphia . PARTICIPANTS R and omly selected children from the Regional Autism Center . The ASD cohort of 59 children , aged 4 to 10 years , ( 26 with autism , 21 with pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified [ PDD-NOS ] , and 12 with Asperger disorder ) were compared with 40 TD control subjects . MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS The  CSHQ  ,  sleep diaries  , and 10 nights of actigraphy  using the Sadeh algorithm of children with ASD and TD control subjects were compared . CSHQ showed 66.1 % of parents of children with ASD ( 62.5 % autism , 76.2 % PDD-NOS , 58.3 % Asperger disorder ) and 45 % of parents of the control subjects reported that their children had sleep problems . Actigraphic data showed that 66.7 % of children with ASD ( 75 % autism , 52.4 % PDD-NOS , 75 % Asperger disorder ) and 45.9 % of the control subjects had disturbed sleep . CONCLUSIONS The prevalence estimate of 45 % for mild sleep disturbances in the TD cohort highlights pediatric sleep debt as a public health problem of concern . The prevalence estimate of 66 % for moderate sleep disturbances in the ASD cohort underscores the significant sleep problems that the families of these children face . The predominant sleep disorders in the ASD cohort were behavioral insomnia sleep-onset type and insomnia due to PDD OBJECTIVE : To determine the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder ( ASD ) in Neurofibromatosis Type 1 ( NF1 ) . METHODS : Second-phase population -based epidemiologic study using an allcase NF1 registry in a defined UK 4.1 million population area . A total of 109 ( 52.7 % ) of 207 responders from the initial screening phase were grouped by using the parent-rated Social Responsiveness Scale ( SRS ) as significant ASD ( SRS≥76 ; n = 32 ) , moderate ASD ( SRS ≥ 60<76 ; n = 29 ) , or non-ASD ( SRS < 60 , n = 48 ) . Twenty-three cases from the significant ASD group , 16 from moderate ASD , and 8 from non-ASD ( total n = 47 ) , invited proportionately by r and om selection , were seen for detailed confirmatory ascertainment . Assessment s on Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised , Autism Diagnostic Observation Scale-Generic , and verbal IQ were combined by using st and ard Collaborative Program for Excellence in Autism criteria into an ASD categorization for each case ( ASD , broad ASD with partial features , non-ASD ) . A preplanned weighted analysis was used to derive prevalence estimates for the whole population . RESULTS : Fourteen ( 29.5 % ) of 47 showed ASD , 13 ( 27.7 % ) broad ASD , and 20 ( 42.5 % ) non-ASD . The ASD/broad ASD group showed male predominance ( 1.7:1.0 ) , but did not differ significantly from the non-ASD group on IQ , age , socioeconomic status , inheritance , physical severity , or education . The population prevalence estimate is 24.9 % ASD ( 95 % confidence interval 13.1%–42.1 % ) and 20.8 % broad ASD ( 95 % confidence interval 10.0%–38.1 % ) ; a total of 45.7 % showing some ASD spectrum phenotype . CONCLUSIONS : Findings indicate high prevalence of ASD in NF1 , with implication s for clinical practice and further research into NF1 as a single-gene model for autism
A significant between‐group difference in MSI was evident in the literature , with individuals with ASD demonstrating worse audiovisual integration on average across studies compared to TD controls .
This effect was moderated by mean participant age , such that between‐group differences were more pronounced in younger sample s. The mean correlation between MSI and autism and related symptomatology was also significant , indicating that increased audiovisual integration in individuals with ASD is associated with better language /communication abilities and /or reduced autism symptom severity in the extant literature .
This effect was moderated by whether the stimuli were linguistic versus non‐linguistic in nature , such that correlation magnitudes tended to be significantly greater when linguistic stimuli were utilized in the measure of MSI .
& NA ; An ever‐growing literature has aim ed to determine how individuals with autism spectrum disorder ( ASD ) differ from their typically developing ( TD ) peers on measures of multisensory integration ( MSI ) and to ascertain the degree to which differences in MSI are associated with the broad range of symptoms associated with ASD .
Findings , however , have been highly variable across the studies carried out to date .
The present work systematic ally review s and quantitatively synthesizes the large literature on audiovisual MSI  in individuals with ASD to evaluate the cumulative evidence for ( a ) group differences between individuals with ASD and TD peers , ( b ) correlations between MSI and autism symptoms in individuals with ASD and ( c ) study level factors that may moderate findings ( i.e. , explain differential effects ) observed across studies .