Autism Spectrum Disorder Face Research Articles

Independent living in adults with autism spectrum disorder: Stakeholders’ perspectives and experiences

Independent living is a basic human right that enables individuals with disabilities to determine where they live, who they live with and what kind of support that they receive. Limited research exists regarding the challenges that adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may face when attempting to live independently. Given the importance of independent living for adults with ASD, this study aimed to examine the perspectives of stakeholders about independent living among adults with ASD. MethodsWe recruited a total of 19 stakeholders including adults with ASD and parents of adults with ASD from Canadian provinces. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted to identify factors affecting independent living among adults with ASD. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed using thematic analysis to identify overarching themes. ResultsThree themes emerged in our findings, including: a) Psychophysical stability and daily living; b) Financial management and planning; and c) Integrated community living and independence. ConclusionThe findings from this study suggest that adults with ASD face several challenges related to independent living. Factors related to psychophysical stability and daily living, financial management, and integrated community living and housing were all found to influence the ability of adults with ASD to live independently. By exploring stakeholders’ perspectives of independent living for adults with ASD, this study provides some insight that can help inform the development of programs and services to facilitate independent living for adults with ASD.

Leveraging telehealth to evaluate infants with prodromal autism spectrum disorder characteristics using the telehealth evaluation of development for infants.

Many families seeking early evaluations for autism spectrum disorder face long waitlists, must often travel to centers with appropriate expertise, and are frequently told by providers to "wait and see." This results in significant stress for families and delayed supports to infants and their caregivers who could benefit. This study evaluated whether telehealth could be used to identify and evaluate infants with early autism spectrum disorder characteristics in the first year of life. In this study, we evaluated 41 infants via telehealth using a standard set of probes and scored behavior related to social communication, play, imitation, and other developmental domains. We found the majority of infants demonstrated elevated likelihood of autism spectrum disorder on both parent-reported questionnaires and examiner-rated behavior. Caregiver ratings of the overall utility of the protocol used in this study were high. Overall, this study demonstrates the feasibility for telehealth-based approaches to evaluate infants' with elevated likelihood of autism spectrum disorder in the first year of life, which could help to improve families' access to care and to expand our capacity to conduct studies evaluating possible intervention supports.

In-school transition challenges among primary school learners with autism spectrum disorders in South Africa: Parents and teachers' perspectives

Successful school transition is a basis for career development and eventual overall adult educational and socio-economic outcomes. Transitioning through primary school grades is a combination of relative academic and social skills acquired in each grade and forms the basis for subsequent academic and social success at ensuing educational pursuit and adult independent life. Evidence indicates that learners with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their families experience limiting challenges in their school transition at different levels. There is a gap in the literature as to the specific factors that constitute school transition difficulties in primary school learners with ASD in the area of study. The purpose of this study was to investigate challenges that learners with ASD face as they transition through school grades. The study adopted a phenomenological design with 12 participants (6 parents and 6 teachers). Two focus group discussions were held to collect data analysed using inductive thematic analysis. The results revealed three main themes, which included poor academic achievement and skills development, social and economic challenges as well as behavioural problems. The findings of the study suggest an increased need for home-school collaboration during the early stages and throughout the school years for the effective transition of learners with ASD. Thus, providing learners with ASD and their families with academic, emotional and behavioural intervention and support can help learners with autism to develop personal resources that will encourage their educational success.

Attentional shift within and between faces: Evidence from children with and without a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder.

Evidence of attentional atypicalities for faces in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are far from being confirmed. Using eye-tracking technology we compared space-based and object-based attention in children with, and without, a diagnosis of ASD. By capitalizing on Egly's paradigm, we presented two objects (2 faces and their phase-scrambled equivalent) and cued a location in one of the two objects. Then, a target appeared at the same location as the cue (Valid condition), or at a different location within the same object (Same Object condition), or at a different location in another object (Different Object condition). The attentional benefit/cost in terms of time for target detection in each of the three conditions was computed. The findings revealed that target detection was always faster in the valid condition than in the invalid condition, regardless of the type of stimulus and the group of children. Thus, no difference emerged between the two groups in terms of space-based attention. Conversely the two groups differed in object-based attention. Children without a diagnosis of ASD showed attentional shift cost with phase-scrambled stimuli, but not with faces. Instead, children with a diagnosis of ASD deployed similar attentional strategies to focus on faces and their phase-scrambled version.

The influence of emotional face distractors on attentional orienting in Chinese children with autism spectrum disorder.

The current study examined how emotional faces impact on attentional control at both involuntary and voluntary levels in children with and without autism spectrum disorder (ASD). A non-face single target was either presented in isolation or synchronously with emotional face distractors namely angry, happy and neutral faces. ASD and typically developing children made more erroneous saccades towards emotional distractors relative to neutral distractors in parafoveal and peripheral conditions. Remote distractor effects were observed on saccade latency in both groups regardless of distractor type, whereby time taken to initiate an eye movement to the target was longest in central distractor conditions, followed by parafoveal and peripheral distractor conditions. The remote distractor effect was greater for angry faces compared to happy faces in the ASD group. Proportions of failed disengagement trials from central distractors, for the first saccade, were higher in the angry distractor condition compared with the other two distractor conditions in ASD, and this effect was absent for the typical group. Eye movement results suggest difficulties in disengaging from fixated angry faces in ASD. Atypical disengagement from angry faces at the voluntary level could have consequences for the development of higher-level socio-communicative skills in ASD.

Autism-specific parenting self-efficacy: An examination of the role of parent-reported intervention involvement, satisfaction with intervention-related training, and caregiver burden

What is already known about the topic?Parents of children with autism experience enormous challenges managing the complex needs of caring for their children. This includes coordinating multiple and complex therapies and acting as partners in treatment. Parenting self-efficacy is the confidence a person has in their ability to manage the tasks that are part of raising a child. People who have more confidence, or greater parenting self-efficacy, often feel less stressed and are more able to manage the demands of family life. This is particularly important for parents with children who have autism spectrum disorder, since they experience more parenting pressures. Although a lot is known about parenting self-efficacy in parents of neurotypical children, we do not know enough about how to help parents of children with autism spectrum disorder develop greater parenting self-efficacy.What this paper adds?This study shows that parents gain a greater sense of parenting self-efficacy when they feel more involved in their child's therapy and are more satisfied with the training they receive as part of these therapies. We also find that feeling pressure related to being a caregiver of a child with autism spectrum disorder can undermine autism-specific parenting self-efficacy. However, parents' sense of confidence was not limited by the severity of their child's symptoms.Implications for practice, research, or policyThe results suggest that there is an opportunity to help parents develop a greater sense of confidence in their ability to manage the complexities of raising a child with autism spectrum disorder by helping them feel more involved in treatment and by creating intervention-related training experiences that are more satisfying. Providers might also help by taking time to address the challenges and pressures that parents are experiencing, and helping them find ways to deal with these challenges. We suggest that there needs to be more research exploring how providers can best design interventions that support autism-specific parenting self-efficacy as a way of improving parental and child well-being.

Children with autism spectrum disorder show altered functional connectivity and abnormal maturation trajectories in response to inverted faces.

The processing of information conveyed by faces is a critical component of social communication. While the neurophysiology of processing upright faces has been studied extensively in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), less is known about the neurophysiological abnormalities associated with processing inverted faces in ASD. We used magnetoencephalography (MEG) to study both long-range and local functional connectivity, with the latter assessed using local cross-frequency coupling, in response to inverted faces stimuli, in 7-18 years old individuals with ASD and age and IQ matched typically developing (TD) individuals. We found abnormally reduced coupling between the phase of the alpha rhythm and the amplitude of the gamma rhythm in the fusiform face area (FFA) in response to inverted faces, as well as reduced long-range functional connectivity between the FFA and the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) in response to inverted faces in the ASD group. These group differences were absent in response to upright faces. The magnitude of functional connectivity between the FFA and the IFG was significantly correlated with the severity of ASD, and FFA-IFG long-range functional connectivity increased with age in TD group, but not in the ASD group. Our findings suggest that both local and long-range functional connectivity are abnormally reduced in children with ASD when processing inverted faces, and that the pattern of abnormalities associated with the processing of inverted faces differs from the pattern of upright faces in ASD, likely due to the presumed greater reliance on top-down regulations necessary for efficient processing of inverted faces. LAY SUMMARY: We found alterations in the neurophysiological responses to inverted faces in children with ASD, that were not reflected in the evoked responses, and were not observed in the responses to upright faces. These alterations included reduced local functional connectivity in the fusiform face area (FFA), and decreased long-range alpha-band modulated functional connectivity between the FFA and the left IFG. The magnitude of long-range functional connectivity between the FFA and the inferior frontal gyrus was correlated with the severity of ASD.

Brief Report: Identifying Concerns of Military Caregivers with Children Diagnosed with ASD Following a Military Directed Relocation.

Military families relocate three times more often than non-military families. Those whom have children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder face challenges related to inconsistencies in services, delay of services, and lack of continuity of care. The current study expands the limited research examining the experiences of military families with children with Autism by focusing on impact of relocation, specifically identifying potential causes of delays in services. An online survey of 25 military caregivers of children with autism suggests potential delays in service related to provider waitlists, obtaining new referrals, and lengthy intake processes. The impact of these inconsistencies is discussed in relation to child progress and the need for future research in this area.

As Number of Adults With Autism Rise, Need For Better Services Apparent

As Number of Adults With Autism Rise, Need For Better Services Apparent

Neural responses to viewing human faces in autism spectrum disorder: A quantitative meta-analysis of two decades of research

The human face communicates a wealth of socially relevant information such as person identity, emotion, and intention. A consistent behavioral finding in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is reduced attention to or difficulty drawing meaning from faces. However, neuroimaging research into the neural correlates of face processing differences in ASD has returned mixed results. While many studies find hypo-activation or hypo-connectivity of core and extended face network regions, others show hyper-activation, equal activation, or even activation shifted to object-selective fusiform gyrus (FG) regions in ASD during face processing. This study consolidates two decades of literature to reveal common and consistent patterns of brain activation when viewing human faces in ASD. It also addresses whether face processing in ASD is routinely shifted to object-centric regions of the FG. To do so, we conducted an extensive search of the neuroimaging literature according to PRISMA guidelines. Peak activation coordinates from a final set of 23 studies, yielding a sample of 713 participants (338 ASD), were included for quantitative meta-analysis using Activation Likelihood Estimation (ALE). ASD within-group results across studies revealed a single activation cluster in the left FG, which presented laterally to the mid-fusiform sulcus (MFS). Typically developing groups displayed common activations across core and extended face network regions. Exploratory analysis of between group findings from the literature did not yield significant results. Overall, our results suggest that individuals with ASD consistently activate at least one typical face network region, the left FG, when processing faces and this activation is not routinely shifted to object-centric areas of the FG.

Parenting a Child With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Perspective of Jordanian Mothers.

Parenting a child diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is challenging for mothers because of concerns related to behavior, difficulties in accessing specialized care, and lack of community acceptance, yet their stories in Jordanian context are still unknown. Common challenges in Jordan include financial burdens, lack of public awareness, and lack of specialized knowledge even among health care providers, which may lead to delays in obtaining the diagnosis and interventions for ASD. A phenomenological descriptive approach was used to explore and understand the mothers' everyday lived experiences of raising a child with ASD. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 14 mothers to identify their challenges so that nurses can identify gaps in services, empower families, and facilitate optimum care to these Jordanian families. The main themes that emerged were (1) mothers' journeys with the diagnosis, in which mothers recognized the abnormalities of their children, reported delays in getting the diagnosis and initiation of treatment, and described a wide range of reactions to the diagnosis from grief and guilt to a blessing from God; (2) the burden of care, by which mothers reported physical and emotional exhaustion, financial burdens, and concerns about the quality of available services; and (3) the consequences and the hurdle of having a child with ASD, which affected the family relationships and social life. Jordanian mothers caring for children with ASD face several challenges, including physical, psychological, financial, and social challenges, in addition to limited specialized services. Identifying their unique challenges and needs are essential to support them, provide appropriate services and resources, and develop policies and guidelines for culturally competent quality services.

Comorbidity Matters: Social Visual Attention in a Comparative Study of Autism Spectrum Disorder, Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Their Comorbidity.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) represent two common neurodevelopmental disorders with considerable co-occurrence. Their comorbidity (ASD + ADHD) has been included in the latest diagnostic guidelines (DSM-V, 2013). The present study focuses on social visual attention that i) is a main aspect of social attention reflecting social cognition and ii) its atypicalities have been suggested as a potential biomarker for ASD. Considering the possible shared background of both disorders and their comorbidity, it is important to compare such traits directly. Here, 73 children and adolescents paired for age and IQ diagnosed with ASD (N = 12), ADHD (N = 21), comorbid ASD + ADHD (N = 15), and “typically developing” (TD) controls (N = 25), were shown static real-life social scenes while their gaze movements were recorded with eye-tracking. Scenes with two levels of social complexity were presented: low complexity (one person depicted) and high (four interacting individuals). Gaze fixation variables were investigated. Fixation duration on faces was significantly reduced only in ASD + ADHD which also required longer time to fixate all faces at least once. Fixation duration on faces in ASD was reduced, compared to TD, only when looking at scenes with high versus low social complexity. ADHD individuals did not differ from TD. Concluding, the observed alterations of social visual attention support the existence of possible dysfunctional particularities differentiating ASD, ADHD, and ASD + ADHD, which can be revealed with the new method of eye-tracking technique. The objective gaze measurements provided contribute to the development of biomarkers enabling early diagnosis, amelioration of care and further interventions specified for each group.

Improving peri-operative psychosocial interventions for children with autism spectrum disorder undergoing ENT procedures.

Children with autism spectrum disorder face a broad range of communication and sensory challenges. Many of these children also have chronic ENT issues. This study aims to better understand these challenges and improve our services for children with autism spectrum disorder. Questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were carried out with parents of children with autism spectrum disorder. Thirty-four individuals participated, comprising 9 caregivers and 25 staff members. All parents recognised their critical roles in understanding their children's special needs and sensitivities. Parents and staff stressed the importance of a partnership role that inquired about unique needs, leading to environmental modifications for individual children. The importance of listening to and involving caregivers is a fundamental tenet; parents must be recognised as the experts. Uncertainty must be kept to a minimum, with clear communication in a structured, low-arousal environment for these children. We have listened to parents and staff, and developed a social story.

The Lived Experiences of Low-Income Mothers Raising Children with Autism

Previous studies indicated that parents raising children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) experience higher rates of stress; however, no qualitative studies have addressed low-income parents’ lived experiences of raising children with ASD. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to understand the challenges that low-income parents of children with ASD face daily within the framework of family systems theory. Interview questions were used to focus on the impact of income and the core symptoms of ASD (social deficits, communication deficits, and repetitive behaviors) on marital and interpersonal relationships. Although the study was open to both mothers and fathers, only mothers participated in this study. Semi-structured interviews with 13 mothers were conducted, and transcripts were analyzed for themes. Results indicated some negative impacts on parents’ marital, social, and professional relationships. Themes included reports of stress and depression, decreased social interaction, low levels of personal and professional satisfaction, and decreased marital satisfaction. Results indicated that increased empathy and understanding of mothers’ challenges are needed to improve access to resources and services required for low-income parents of autistic children to enhance their family’s quality of life.

Challenges and Successes in Raising a Child With Type 1 Diabetes and Autism Spectrum Disorder: Mixed Methods Study.

BackgroundSelf-management of type 1 diabetes (T1D) requires numerous decisions and actions by people with T1D and their caregivers and poses many daily challenges. For those with T1D and a developmental disorder such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), more complex challenges arise, though these remain largely unstudied.ObjectiveThis study aimed to better understand the barriers and facilitators of raising a child with T1D and ASD. Secondary analysis of web-based content (phase 1) and telephone interviews (phase 2) were conducted to further expand the existing knowledge on the challenges and successes faced by these families.MethodsPhase 1 involved a qualitative analysis of publicly available online forums and blog posts by caregivers of children with both T1D and ASD. Themes from phase 1 were used to create an interview guide for further in-depth exploration via interviews. In phase 2, caregivers of children with both T1D and ASD were recruited from Penn State Health endocrinology clinics and through the web from social media posts to T1D-focused groups and sites. Interested respondents were directed to a secure web-based eligibility assessment. Information related to T1D and ASD diagnosis, contact information, and demographics were collected. On the basis of survey responses, participants were selected for a follow-up telephone interview and were asked to complete the adaptive behavior assessment system, third edition parent form to assess autism severity and upload a copy of their child’s most recent hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) result. Interviews were transcribed, imported into NVivo qualitative data management software, and analyzed to determine common themes related to barriers and facilitators of raising a child with both ASD and T1D.ResultsFor phase 1, 398 forum posts and blog posts between 2009 and 2016 were analyzed. Common themes related to a lack of understanding by the separate ASD and T1D caregiver communities, advice on coping techniques, rules and routines, and descriptions of the health care experience. For phase 2, 12 eligible respondents were interviewed. For interviewees, the average age of the child at diagnosis with T1D and ASD was 7.92 years and 5.55 years, respectively. Average self-reported and documented HbA1c levels for children with T1D and ASD were 8.6% (70 mmol/mol) and 8.7% (72 mmol/mol), respectively. Common themes from the interviews related to increased emotional burden, frustration surrounding the amount of information they are expected to learn, and challenges in the school setting.ConclusionsCaregivers of children with both T1D and ASD face unique challenges, distinct from those faced by caregivers of individuals who have either disorder alone. Understanding these challenges may help health care providers in caring for this unique population. Referral to the diabetes online community may be a potential resource to supplement the care received by the medical community.

A Distinction Between Linguistic and Social Pragmatics Helps the Precise Characterization of Pragmatic Challenges in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders and Developmental Language Disorder.

Purpose Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) and children with developmental language disorder (DLD) face challenges with pragmatics, but the nature and sources of these difficulties are not fully understood yet. The purpose of this study was to compare the competence of children with ASD and children with DLD in two pragmatics tasks that place different demands on theory of mind (ToM) and structural language. Method Twenty Spanish-speaking children with ASD, 20 with DLD, and 40 age- and language-matched children with neurotypical development were assessed using two pragmatics tasks: a linguistic pragmatics task, which requires competence with structural language, and a social pragmatics task, which requires competence with ToM as well. Results For linguistic pragmatics, the ASD group performed similarly to the DLD and language-matched groups, and performance was predicted by structural language. For social pragmatics, the ASD group performed lower than the DLD and language-matched groups, and performance was predicted both by structural language and ToM. Conclusions Children with ASD and children with DLD face difficulties in linguistic pragmatics tasks, in keeping with their structural language. Children with ASD face exceptional difficulties with social pragmatics tasks, due to their difficulties with ToM. The distinction between linguistic and social pragmatic competences can inform assessment and intervention for pragmatic difficulties in different populations.

Frequency-Tagging Electroencephalography of Superimposed Social and Non-Social Visual Stimulation Streams Reveals Reduced Saliency of Faces in Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have difficulties with social communication and interaction. The social motivation hypothesis states that a reduced interest in social stimuli may partly underlie these difficulties. Thus far, however, it has been challenging to quantify individual differences in social orientation and interest, and to pinpoint the neural underpinnings of it. In this study, we tested the neural sensitivity for social versus non-social information in 21 boys with ASD (8-12 years old) and 21 typically developing (TD) control boys, matched for age and IQ, while children were engaged in an orthogonal task. We recorded electroencephalography (EEG) during fast periodic visual stimulation (FPVS) of social versus non-social stimuli to obtain an objective implicit neural measure of relative social bias. Streams of variable images of faces and houses were superimposed, and each stream of stimuli was tagged with a particular presentation rate (i.e., 6 and 7.5 Hz or vice versa). This frequency-tagging method allows disentangling the respective neural responses evoked by the different streams of stimuli. Moreover, by using superimposed stimuli, we controlled for possible effects of preferential looking, spatial attention, and disengagement. Based on four trials of 60 s, we observed a significant three-way interaction. In the control group, the frequency-tagged neural responses to faces were larger than those to houses, especially in lateral occipito-temporal channels, while the responses to houses were larger over medial occipital channels. In the ASD group, however, faces and houses did not elicit significantly different neural responses in any of the regions. Given the short recording time of the frequency-tagging paradigm with multiple simultaneous inputs and the robustness of the individual responses, the method could be used as a sensitive marker of social preference in a wide range of populations, including younger and challenging populations.

Self-Determination Skills of College Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

Research has shown there is a positive correlation between self-determination skills and quality of life of college students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The purpose of this literature review is to highlight research on self-determination skills, instruments used to measure self-determination skills, and interventions used to teach self-determination skills of college students with ASD in postsecondary settings. The search revealed a dearth of literature on the topic. College students with ASD face many challenges, including problems with executive functioning, social-communication skills, and social-emotional skills, which negatively impact their ability to effectively use self-determination skills. Few instruments have been tailored to measure self-determination skills of students with ASD in higher education. Similarly, there was a scarcity of literature on effective intervention programs that foster self-determination skills in university students with ASD. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Интеграция помощи людям с РАС: этиология и жизненный цикл

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is linked to a multitude of genes, epigenetics, and environmental factors, which contribute to the complexities of treating ASD. A large body of literature suggests benefits from perinatal, early, and later intervention. It is common for physicians to struggle with making a diagnosis of ASD, but once it is made, parents who have been taught effective strategies can be impactful in their child’s positive development. Neuroimaging studies of children, adolescents and young adults with ASD suggest that their brain structures change over time and are also capable of being shaped through appropriate interventions. Interventions are also being adapted for adults with ASD to better address their needs, such as employment training programs. We review the wide array of risk factors and interventions to mitigate the challenges individuals with ASD face in their daily lives.

Stress Monitoring System for Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorders

In this article, a stress monitoring system tailored for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and developed for the educational institution is presented. People with ASD face problems with effective stress management due to their high self-perceived levels of stress, poor ability to cope with it, and difficulties with the accurate detection of the source of stress. Consistently, being able to measure stress appears to be highly vital for this specific group. The design and construction of the measuring system are introduced. The stress monitoring system including autonomic wearable device (wristband), both the electronics and mechanical part, as well as the software application for data analysis are shown. The wearable device includes sensors for measuring heart rate, skin resistance, temperature and movement. A dedicated software application allows for generating reports to evaluate therapeutic effects. The complex stress monitoring system has been tested in an educational institution. It can provide significant support in the stress management of people with ASD and become a meaningful assistance in the therapy of neurodiverse individuals.