Autism Spectrum Disorder Asd Research Articles

Effect of Infra Low Frequency (ILF) neurofeedback training on EEG in children with autism spectrum disorders.

To investigate whether Infra-low frequency Neurofeedback (ILF-NFB) training can improve brain electrical activity in children with autism spectrum disorders ASD. This single arm pre and post intervention study was carried out at IBMS (Institute of Basic Medical Sciences), Khyber Medical University, Peshawar and Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University (SZABMU), Islamabad from January 2021 to December 2022. A purposive sampling technique was used. Thirty-five ASD children (male=24; female=11; 7-17 years) were provided with 30 sessions of infra low frequency (ILF) neurofeedback training for 15-20 minutes, during 10 weeks. Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) scoring was done and electroencephalogram (EEG) activity was compared before and after ILF-NF training sessions. Around 62.9% participants had mild-moderate autism and 37.1% had severe autism. Wilcoxon Signed rank test revealed a significant decline in delta (Pre-test=47.31±19.22, Post-test=22.07±6.83; p=<0.001), theta (Pre-test=24.75±16.62, Post-test=12.37±3.59; p=<0.001) and alpha (Pre-test=12.01±9.81, Post-test=4.03±1.61; p=< 0.001) waves. Mann Whitney U test exhibited no significant gender differences in EEG pattern before and after neurofeedback except in theta waves (p=0.03) before the intervention. Decline in delta, theta, beta and alpha waves propose that ILF-NF training can be effective in improving the EEG activity. ILF-NFB can be perceived as a valuable non-invasive, non-pharmacological intervention for improving EEG pattern via reintegration of brain activity resulting in increased the attention and focus, enhanced mental stability and cognitive engagement.

Validating motor delays across the developmental coordination disorder-questionnaire and the Vineland adaptive behavior scales (VABS) in children with autism spectrum disorderASD: A SPARK dataset analysis.

Motor delays in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are being increasingly recognized using a brief screening tool, called the Developmental Coordination Disorder-Questionnaire (DCD-Q). Further validation of these motor delays using a more robust normed, developmental measure is clearly warranted. In this analysis, a nationally representative sample from the SPARK study was used wherein parents completed the DCD-Q and a more widely used developmental/adaptive functioning measure, called the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (VABS); which comprises of various developmental domains including the motor domain (N = 2,644 completed the DCD-Q and VABS). Eighty two percent children with ASD had a motor delay based on their DCD-Q scores whereas 77% children with ASD had a motor delay based on their VABS motor domain scores. Approximately 70% children with ASD had concurrent motor delay on the DCD-Q and the VABS (i.e., positive predictive value of DCD-Q). Furthermore, there was 81.2% accuracy in reporting a risk/no risk of motor delay across both measures. Overall, these statistics align with the recent reports on proportions of children with ASD having motor delays. Parents of ~70% children with ASD are reporting motor delays that are corroborated across two different motor measures. This not only validates the motor delays reported based on the DCD-Q but also indicates the need for concurrent motor screening using both DCD-Q and VABS for better detection of motor delays in children with ASD. Only 10%-32% of the current SPARK sample received any physical or recreational therapies. This mismatch between presence of motor delays and the lack of access to motor services highlights the need for more motor intervention referrals for children with ASD.

Surveillance and monitoring program of child neurodevelopment in population born during social confinement due to covid contigence: monteria-colombia experience

IntroductionThe American Academy of Pediatrics reports an incidence of 1 in every 54 children (Council on Children with Disabilities, 2021). The unique circumstances surrounding children born in 2020, who have experienced the COVID-19 pandemic since birth, present a distinct set of challenges for their neurodevelopmental well-being. The pandemic has led to reduced opportunities for learning and social interaction, masking mandates, decreased social support for research, and the potential misattribution of Autism Spectrum Disorders ASD symptoms to the effects of social isolation.ObjectivesThis study aims to develop such a program for children born during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020-2022).MethodsAll children born in March 2020 were included in the study. The initial assessment involved administering the ASQ-3 to evaluate their development across the specified domains. Diagnostic Evaluation: Among the population, 6% (4 children) displayed concerning signs on the ASQ-3, warranting further diagnostic evaluation by specialized health professionals for possible ASD.ResultsEarly Intervention and School Monitoring: Of the remaining 72% (46 children), who did not require diagnostic evaluation, intervention guidelines were provided, both within the school environment and at home. These children were reevaluated after a three-month period. Follow-up in the School Environment: Those children who underwent reevaluation were categorized into three groups: Nine children fell into the “gray” category on the ASQ-3 and were subsequently referred for diagnostic evaluation. Thirty-seven children progressed to the “white” category on the ASQ-3 after receiving intervention guidelines in both school and home settings. The findings of this research underscore the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the neurodevelopment of children born in 2020. 6% of the evaluated population were referred for diagnostic evaluation due to signs of ASD, suggesting a potential association between the pandemic and an increased risk of ASD within this cohort.72% of children who received intervention guidelines demonstrated significant improvements in their neurodevelopment, highlighting the critical role of early intervention and school-based monitoringConclusionsImplementing support strategies within educational settings was linked to positive developments in neurodevelopmental outcomes. Consequently, school-based neurodevelopmental monitoring, complemented by cohesive curricular guidelines, emerges as a beneficial approach for enhancing child development outcomes. The ASQ-3, as a structured instrument, proves invaluable in facilitating neurodevelopmental surveillance within educational settings, particularly in contexts with high demand and limited access to specialized care.Disclosure of InterestNone Declared

Food and Development: Children and Adolescents with Neurodevelopmental and Comorbid Eating Disorders-A Case Series.

The impact of psychiatric comorbidities in the diagnosis and treatment of feeding and eating disorders (FEDs) represents an emerging research topic. The current literature, nonetheless, lacks studies investigating the developmental paths of individuals with FEDs and comorbid neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs). Here, we report 11 cases of children and adolescents with comorbid FEDs and NDDs, as assessed along the neuropsychological, psychopathological, and nutritional developmental pathways. The onset of FED-related psychopathology was preceded, sometimes undiagnosed, by altered neurodevelopmental features leading to specific NDD diagnoses (autism spectrum disorder-ASD; attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder-ADHD; specific learning disorder-SLD). NDDs appeared to influence the diagnoses and treatments of FEDs, frequently with an impact on socio-relational and emotional premorbid features, and on the possibility to receive and attend FED-targeted treatments. Further studies should longitudinally contribute to assessing the experiences of care and neurodevelopmental pathways of children with FEDs and specific NDD comorbidities.

The Influence of Comorbidity and Perceived Complexity on Outcomes of Referrals to Children and Young Person Mental Health Services (UK): A Mixed Methods Vignette Study.

Children and young people (CYP) with long-term physical conditions (LTCs) are four times more likely to develop mental health disorders yet many cannot access Children and Young People's Mental Health Services (CYPMHS) or evidence-based interventions. This study aimed to understand the reasons for this; presence of an LTC neurodevelopmental disorder, or service requirements. 79 CYP mental health practitioners were randomly assigned to read vignettes depicting a hypothetical referral letter for a child with a mental health condition alone (n = 27), mental health condition and LTC (n = 25), or mental health condition and neurodevelopmental disorder (Autism Spectrum Disorder-ASD) (n = 27), answering questions about their likelihood of accepting the referral and proposed treatment plan. There were no significant differences between accessing CYPMHS or being offered first line evidence-based interventions in those with a LTC or ASD compared to those without. However, additional perceived complexity was frequently provided as a reason for rejecting referrals and not offering evidence-based intervention, with clinicians' predicted success of intervention significantly lower for these CYP. Clinicians were significantly more likely to suggest adapting the intervention in the LTC and the ASD groups to account for additional perceived complexity. The research suggests a need for additional services for CYP with LTCs and those with neurodevelopmental disorders, as well as training/awareness for clinicians.

Autism Spectrum Disorder: An Overview of Early Detection, and Role of Nurses

Autism spectrum disorder ASD is a neurological and developmental illness that affects social relationships and communication as well as a variety of challenging behaviors. Children are not screened for ASD despite the fact that it is generally recommended. The best outcomes for people with ASD come from early intervention and developmental surveillance and screening are essential before intervention. Nurses are the primary healthcare providers for children and they are in a unique position to encourage their development. They have regular contact with children before they start school and can deliver family-centered comprehensive coordinated care including a more thorough medical assessment if a screening suggests a child is at risk for a developmental condition. The diagnosis of ASD is on the continual rise usually diagnosed in the younger years of life but this is not always the case. Regardless of when the diagnosis is received it is important to remember that individuals diagnosed with ASD continue to grow into adulthood and experience many of the same illnesses and disorders as the rest of society thus rendering the nurse the possibility of interacting with this special population sometime throughout his or her career.

Inter-Rater Agreement on the Scale Developed for Identification of Autism Spectrum Disorder in Early Childhood

Background Early identification and diagnosis of Autism spectrum disorder ASD is highly beneficial as it facilitates parents to access early intervention which leads to improved childrsquos quality of life. The newly developed scale for identifying ASD is comprised of 40 items which were extracted from 120 pooled items with each component extracted based on the sensitivity and specificity of the scale. The scale included items related to cognitive behaviour and communication components.Aim To estimate the inter-rater agreement on newly developed scale for identification of ASD.Methodology This prospective study was conducted in a tertiary care hospital setting involving children diagnosed with ASD. Two independent raters were involved in the study and the data collected was analysed to determine the inter-rater agreement.Results A total of 45 children were included in the study of which 32 were males and 13 were females and the mean age was recorded as 62.13plusmn1.6 months. The children were predominantly from urban domicile. Both the raters showed very good inter-rater agreement with K statistic varying between 0.683 to 1 and a P value of 0 was derived for each item of the scale mentioned.Conclusion Overall the study results demonstrated a very good inter-rater agreement on the scale among all the 40 items.

Explainable Gated Recurrent Unit to explore the effect of co-exposure to multiple air pollutants and meteorological conditions on mental health outcomes

Mental health conditions have the potential to be worsened by air pollution or other climate-sensitive factors. Few studies have empirically examined those associations when we faced to co-exposures, as well as interaction effects. There would be an urgent need to use deep learning to handle complex co-exposures that might interact in multiple ways, and the model performance reinforced by SHapely Additive exPlanations (SHAP) enabled our predictions interpretable and hence actionable. Here, to evaluate the mixed effect of short-term co-exposure, we conducted a time-series analysis using approximately 1.47 million hospital outpatient visits of mental disorders (i.e., depressive disorder-DD, Schizophrenia-SP, Anxiety Disorder-AD, Bipolar Disorder-BD, Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder-ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorder-ASD), with matched meteorological observations from 2015 through 2019 in Nanjing, China. The global insights of gated recurrent unit model revealed that most of input features with similar effect size caused the illness risk of SP and ASD increase, and most markedly, 73% of relative humidity, 44.6 µg/m3 of NO2, and 14.1 µg/m3 of SO2 at 5-year average level associated with 2.27, 1.14, and 1.29 visits increase for DD, SP, and AD, respectively. Both synergic and antagonistic effect among informative paired-features were distinguished from local feature dependence. Interestingly, variation tendencies of excessive visits of bipolar disorder when atmospheric pressure, PM2.5, and O3 interacted with one another were inconsistent. Our results provided added qualitative and quantitative support for the conclusion that short-term co-exposure to ambient air pollutants and meteorological conditions posed threats to human mental health.

Particularități ale integrărilor și procesărilor senzoriale în Tulburarea de spectru autist TSA

In recent years, the prevalence of autism spectrum disorders ASD has increased alarmingly, currently affecting 1 in 44 children according with CDC. The difficulties that people with ASD face are diverse, but sensory integration and processing problems are present in different ASD situations or settings. This study aims to reflect what are the sensory integration sensitivities reported by people with ASD and related to the age, the standard of living of the people, the gender of the participants, etc. A better understanding of the difficulties these individuals have may bring long-term functionality and impacts clinical and educational settings.

AGGRESSIVE ACTION IDENTIFICATION IN AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER USING VIDEO ANALYSIS

Autism Spectrum Disorder ASD is a clinical condition associated with brain development. It affects how a person perceives the world, Pathological symptoms of ASD varies from mild to severe. Repetitive action or pattern of action is often associated with ASD. One of the main concerns of autistic children is the aggressive behavior that can be directed towards them, which may lead to self injuries. Constant monitoring is required in case of autism with aggressive behavior to prevent self injuries. The proposed work aims to recognize three classes of violent action namely head banging against wall or any object, arm flapping continuously and spinning uncontrollably from video data. The proposed work uses a 3DCNN model with Skeleton Joint features for recognizing the said actions. The accuracy of proposed model is 83.56% in dataset validation. The cross data accuracy is about 65%. The proposed work also aims at analyzing the difficulties in live video analysis and recognition of actions from live stream video. The self-stimulatory behavior dataset – SSBD is used is this work. KEYWORDS— 3DCNN, Deep Learning, Action Recognition, Autism Spectrum Disorder

A Comparative Study of Adaptive Behavior and Intellectual Functioning in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, and Typically Developing Children

Background Autism Spectrum Disorder ASD known to include several differences in cognitive functions requires measurement of intellectual functioning along with adaptive behavior assessment.Objectives To understand the relationship between adaptive behavior scores and the findings of intellectual quotient IQ assessments in children with ASD to be able to use adaptive behavior scores for treatment and therapy plans in the absence of IQ scores.Method A cross-sectional comparative study was undertaken in a group of children with ASD N110 age 6 years to 12 years Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ADHD N31 and Typically Developing Children TDC N40 both groups aged between 7 years to 12 years. The diagnosis of ASD and ADHD was made by a consultant at the outpatient facility. The diagnosis was confirmed with the Social Communication Questionnaire SCQ and the Conners Rating Scale ndash Parent Short. The TDC group were recruited from the community. Adaptive behavior was assessed using the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale II VABS II. The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-IV WISC-IV yielded a Full-scale IQ FSIQ and four index scores. The domain scores and the Adaptive Behaviour Composite ABC of the VABS II were analyzed with the FSIQ and index scores of the WISC-IVResults The obtained IQ scores were understood in association with adaptive scores. The scores were compared among three groups ndash ASD ADHD and TDC. There was a significant correlation between the VABS scores and the IQ scores for the entire sample. For the ASD group the Processing Speed Index PSI and Motor Skills MS domains did not share a relationship with the other domains. Similarly the Working Memory Index WMI and PSI indices did not have a significant correlation with the domains of the VABS. VABS and WISC-IV were poorly correlated for the TDC group.Conclusion The VABS and the IQ had a strong positive relationship in ASD. For children who were unable to complete a cognitive assessment and obtain an IQ score the VABS score could be the primary assessment to make treatment and therapy decisions and IQ assessment could be deferred until the child is more cooperative.nbsp

Tipik Gelişen ve Otizm Spektrum Bozukluğu Olan Çocukların Ebeveynlerinin Yemek Zamanı Davranışları ile Aile İçi Yeme Alışkanlıklarının İncelenmesi

Objective: Eating behaviors of children can be affected by parental eating behaviors as well as they may influence parental eating behaviors. In this mutual interaction, parental attitudes towards eating can also shape eating habits at home. In the study, it was aimed to examine the differences between parental mealtime actions and the family eating routines. Material and Methods: The parents of 180 children (90 with typical development-TD and 90 with autism spectrum disorder-ASD) aged 3-5 participated. The Parent Mealtime Action Scale was used to determine parents' eating behaviors and attitudes towards their children, and a personal information was used to determine family routines. Results: Considering the results obtained, limiting the number of snacks consumed daily by the parents of children with typically developing is more frequent in the group where the whole family eats at a specific time. In the parents of children with ASD, those who eat separately from the child consume less vegetable-fruit daily than those who eat together. In addition, the parents of children with ASD in the group where the whole family eats together, whether or not for a specific time, show more snacking models than those in the group where children eat separately. The parents of children with ASD whose foods are processed exhibit more positive persuasion. Conclusion: Family eating habits can be shaped in parallel with parental attitudes and behaviors. Therefore, fostering parental behaviors towards proper and healthy nutrition is thought to affect the eating behaviors of family members. It is considered that future studies should investigate the eating behaviors of children and parents through observing the natural environment of children.

Teachers’ Opinions towards Educational Robotics for Special Needs Students: An Exploratory Italian Study

Research reveals that robotics can be a valuable tool for school students with special needs (SNs). However, to our knowledge, empirical studies on teachers’ attitudes towards educational robotics for SNs students have been very limited and, in general, do not account for the great variability in the existent difficulties of school-aged children. Our aim is to fill this research gap. This post-test empirical study assessed Italian pre-service and in-service learning support teachers’ attitudes towards the application of Educational Robotics—ER with their students with SNs at the end of a 12-h training course. The results generally showed that most teachers perceived ER as a powerful tool for children with numerous SNs, particularly for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder—ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorder—ASD, and Dyspraxia. Looking at the differences depending on the school level, kindergarten teachers perceived that ER is mostly helpful for ASD, ADHD, Down Syndrome—DS as well as with psychological or emotional distress or the needs of foreign students. For primary school teachers, ER was mostly helpful with ADHD, Dyspraxia and ASD. For both junior secondary school teachers and high school teachers, ER was mostly helpful with ASD, Dyspraxia, and ADHD.

Using the five to fifteen-collateral informant questionnaire for retrospective assessment of childhood symptoms in\xa0adults with and without autism or ADHD

Due to lack of previous studies, we aimed at evaluating the use of the Five to Fifteen (FTF) questionnaire in adults with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD) and in controls without NDD. The NDD group consisted of adults with autism spectrum disorder ASD (n = 183) or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (n = 174) without intellectual disability, recruited from a tertiary outpatient clinic. A web survey was used to collect data from general population adult control group without NDD (n = 738). The participants were retrospectively rated by their parents regarding childhood symptoms, using five to fifteen-collateral informant questionnaire (FTF-CIQ). Adults with NDD had higher FTF-CIQ domain and subdomain scores than controls, and displayed similar test profiles as children with corresponding diagnosis in previous studies. Based on the FTF-CIQ domain scores, 84.2% of the study participants (93% of the controls; 64% of the adults with NDD) were correctly classified in a logistic regression analysis. Likewise, Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve analysis on FTF-CIQ total sum score indicated that a cut-off value of 20.50 correctly classified 90% of the controls and 67% of the clinical cases, whilst a cut-off value of 30.50 correctly classified 84% of the controls and 77% of the clinical cases. The factor analysis revealed three underlying components: learning difficulties, cognitive and executive functions; social skills and emotional/behavioural symptoms; as well as motor and perceptual skills. Whilst not designed as a diagnostic instrument, the FTF-CIQ may be useful for providing information on childhood symptoms and associated difficulties in individuals assessed for NDD as adults.

A Case Study on Management of Rett Syndrome by Wholistic approach

Background: Rett syndrome-RS comes under Autism spectrum disorder-ASD which is a neurodevelopmental syndrome. It is diagnosed by the main differentiating features of lack of interpersonal and communication skills, poor eye contact, delayed speech with pervasive abnormal body movements. Aim and Objectives: This case report is aimed at dissemination of comprehensive role of Ayurveda in management of ASD, Rett syndrome. Material and Methods: RS is the severe form of ASD. This case study of 2.3 year’s girl presented with RS and global delay, being treated with wholistic approach. It comprises Ayurveda chikitsa and other therapies like Yoga, hydrotherapy, occupational, music, physiotherapy and many more. Observation and Result: Patient has shown promising results in all developmental milestones such as gross motor, fine motor and personal social in 6 months duration except language. Different varieties of massage therapy, diet and Basti, Nasya (Panchkarma) procedures, Omkar mantra chanting, passive Yogasana were done. Conclusion: In this case report, mainly Ayurveda interventions were implemented with wholistic approach as an adjuvant, received good result in gross motor development which is very difficult in RS, hence it is a unique case. It also opened the door of wholistic approach with the hope to deliver the good result in similar disorders.

Current Approaches to Differential Diagnostics of Autism Spectrum Disorders and Similar Conditions

Autism spectrum disorders ASD is a group of pervasive developmental disorders, manifested mainly through the lack of ability to social interaction, communication disruption and stereotyped behavior. Despite of generally recognized practical and theoretical significance of studying the mechanisms of formation, it still has got little attention. The article represents some approaches to differential diagnosis of autism and similar conditions. The authors make an attempt to find out the main reasons for such sharp increase in the number of patients suffering from this disease. The article aims analysis of existing research and contains the results of complex diagnostics and the mechanisms of disorders formation. In solving the problem of ASD formation mechanisms, clinical data, medical history data, genetic confounding factors and course of prenatal, natal and postnatal periods are used. In their findings, the authors develop the technology for ASD and similar conditions differential diagnostics; diagnostic markers and algorithm for the development of psychological and pedagogical treatment programs are suggested

تحسين مهارات التواصل والتفاعل الاجتماعي وخفض السمات الذاتوية لدى أطفال اضطراب طيف الذاتوية باستخدام الأنسان الآلي

هدفت الدراسة فحص مدى فاعلية برنامج علاج الذاتوية بمساعدة الأنسان الآلي في خفض السمات الذاتوية وتحسين مهارات التواصل والتفاعل الاجتماعي لدى الأطفال الذاتويين، ولقد تم تطبيق مقياس تقدير الذاتوية على العينة (ن=10) قبل الاشتراک في البرنامج وبعد الانتهاء منه. وخلصت الدراسة إلى مجموعة من النتائج أهمها وجود فروق ذات دلالة إحصائية بين القياسين قبل وبعد البرنامج في مستوى السمات الذاتوية لدى الأطفال في إتجاه القياس البعدي، وکذلک ظهرت فروق دالة إحصائيا بين القياسين القبلى والبعدي للمقياس الفرعي لمجال التواصل والتفاعل الاجتماعي في إتجاه القياس البعدي، وبالإضافة إلى ذلک؛ فلقد ظهرت فروق ذات دلالة إحصائية في درجة سلوکيات التقيد والتکرارية لدى الأطفال الذاتويين بين القياسين القبلي والبعدي في إتجاه القياس البعدي أيضا. وخلصت الدراسة إلى أن برنامج علاج الذاتوية باستخدام الأنسان الآلي ذو فعالية مرتفعة في خفض السمات الذاتوية وتحسين مهارات التواصل والتفاعل الاجتماعي. Improve The Skills of Communication And Social Interaction And Reduce The Autistic Characteristics Of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder Asd Using Robot Dina Ali Ahmed Ali Iskandarani Abstract The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of Robot-Assisted Autism Therapy Program (RAATP) in decreasing the autistic features and improving the communication and social interaction skills of autistic children. Autistic rate scale has been administered on the sample (n=10 autistic child) before and after the program's application. The study concluded series results; the most important one is the significant differences in sample's autistic features' level between pre and post administration toward post one, as well as it has been found significant differences between pre and post administration of communication and social interaction's subscale toward post administration. Additionally, the study revealed that there are significant differences in sample's degree between pre and post administration of Restricted and repetitive behaviors' subscale toward post one. The study concluded that the (RAATP) has a high efficacy in decreasing the autistic features and improving the communication and social interaction skills of autistic children.

A comparative consecutive case series of 20 children with a diagnosis of ADHD receiving homeopathic treatment, compared with 10 children receiving usual care

L) every 4 months, from which DSMIV total scores were extracted; and Measure Your Own Medical Outcome Profile (MYMOP) every consultation. An interaction between time (baseline/4 months) and group (treatment/non-treatment) was found .756 F (1,28)=9.06, p=0.005. The intervention was associated with statistically significant improvements in treated children over the year: L (t (18)=4.529, p≤0.000); MYMOP (t (18)=6.938, p≤0.000). Mean DSMIV total t scores decreased at each time point: baseline: 85 (SD 5.1); 4 months 76.2 (SD 10.9); and 12 months 71.5 (SD 12.77). Recruitment of control participants was problematic. Recruitment to treatment was feasible via ADHD support groups, charities, police support agencies and social services, not schools or NHS services. Attending appointments was problematic for some participants, but home visits did not improve uptake. The best venue was a familiar clinic. Some participants took medicines inappropriately, but generally taking homeopathic remedies was acceptable and well implemented. L (80 items) was problematic for some parents. MYMOP was preferred by parents but not acceptable to stakeholders. In this small consecutive sample the intervention was associated with improvements in criminality, anger and children with a concomitant diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder ASD. Treatment by a homeopath was associated with sustained, increasing improvements and the intervention was acceptable to participants. More methodically rigorous research is warranted. "We recommend that future research in this area uses comparative effectiveness randomised controlled trial designs. We also recommend that these trials measure outcomes of relevance to stakeholder needs - the people and services who care for those with ADHD - parents, teachers and social workers and the criminal justice system".

The design and development of a mobile communication tool for autistic individuals - AutiSay

Children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders ASD often have social communication difficulties and/or display restrictive and repetitive behaviours. This paper focuses on the social communication difficulties and the design of a mobile application to be used as a communication tool between the autistic child and his/her caregivers. The advances in mobile ubiquitous technologies provide an opportunity to develop a tool to improve the social communication of the autistic child. Relevant design requirements were identified and incorporated into an application that is highly customisable. The application has undergone a usability inspection to collect feedback for further refinement.

The Impact of IQ on Using High-tech Augmentative Alternative Communication AAC in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder ASD

BackgroundASDs with lower functioning have always been eliminated from using high–tech AAC based on myths that are too high for their abilities. The current study examined the role of IQ on using the augmentative and alternative communication system (AAC) that runs on an iPod touch to improve spontaneous communication of low functioning ASDs children in their daily communication needs. Material/Methods22 subjects, diagnosed with an ASD, were randomly assigned to receive a standardized AAC and were divided to three groups based on their IQ level; the AAC sessions were for a period of 8 weeks. Measures included changes in professionally completed Pervasive Developmental Disorder Behaviour Intervention (PDDBI), and Aberrant Behaviour Checklist (ABC). ResultsResults indicated no significant difference between the three groups in terms of ABC and PDDBI, the three groups gained the same benefits from the high – tech AAC. ConclusionsASDs with lower functioning could gain benefits from high–tech AAC with the same rate as kids with high functioning.