Autism News and Articles

There are many interventions available for children with autism, but the effectiveness of these interventions is the subject of great debate. The researchers conducted a meta-analysis to summarize the effects of seven different types of intervention for children diagnosed with autism (up to 8 years old).

Many children with autism develop proficient verbal language skills, but some remain minimally verbal into adulthood. In this study, children with autism were assessed in preschool and again at school age to identify skills that predicted their language development.

The use of repetitive speech is common in individuals with autism, but little is known about factors that increase or decrease its use. Four categories of repetitive speech (delayed echolalia, immediate echolalia, vocal stereotypy, verbal stereotypy) were evaluated in 11 school-aged children with autism.

Studies have shown that parent language input influences child communication, but less is known about how child characteristics impact the language that parents use. In this study, the researchers analyzed play interactions over time between parents and their toddlers with high- and low-risk of being diagnosed with autism.

Many autism interventions target early social communication, skills such as joint attention and imitation. These researchers conducted a meta-analysis of 41 social communication intervention studies for children with autism under the age of six years old.

A recent study utilized statistical modeling to develop a novel way to predict adult outcomes among individuals with ASD. Researchers measured core clinical features, such as intelligence or degree of ASD related symptoms, in individuals who had been diagnosed before age two.

The belief that vaccines cause autism has pervaded popular culture despite robust evidence refuting any connection. In this study, over 15,000 parents of children with autism were surveyed to identify characteristics that predicted whether or not parents believe vaccines caused autism.

Children with autism are placed in a variety of classroom settings including self-contained rooms with children with other disabilities and inclusive rooms with typically developing peers. These researchers analyzed the language environment of three types of preschool classrooms and children’s language during free play.

Each individual with autism has unique strengths and areas of challenge, and providers have struggled to find interventions suited for the broad profiles of this population. The researchers analyzed a group of 188 preschoolers with autism to identify 3 statistically distinct “clusters” of children.

The developmental individual-difference relationship-based (DIR) model is a commonly used autism intervention model in which providers are taught to meet each child at their developmental level to build relationships and social skills through child-initiated activities. This study explored the effectiveness of the DIR model in a parent-mediated intervention, when compared to a parent-mediated intervention focusing on typical developmental milestones and parent-led activities.