Core Deficits Of Autism Spectrum Disorder Research Articles

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Therapy in the Era of the Covid-19 Pandemic

Background: Autism Spectrum Disorder is a common neurodevelopmental disorder with a reported prevalence in the United States of around 1.7%. The core deficits of ASD were identified in 2 domains: social communication/interaction and restrictive, repetitive behavior patterns. Children and adolescents with ASD have service needs in behavior, education, health, recreation, family support, and other areas. For individuals with autism spectrum disorders, school and therapy services can serve various essential functions, from delivering academic instruction to developing effective communication and building social skills.Objective: This study is to examine ASD during the COVID-19 pandemic. The researcher has emphasized the importance of specific therapies for children with ASD and has repeatedly shown their association with positive outcomes across various skill domains.Method: The literature review is processed based on academic journals published on Science Direct, PubMed, and Google Scholar, from 2019 to 2020.Results: The study found various methods and learning methods for children with ASD in the COVID-19 pandemic.Conclusion: Many obstacles have been overcome for children with ASD and therapists during the COVID-19 period. Suggestions and tips for parents and therapists to take further action on children.

The Relationship Between Developmental Coordination Disorder and Concurrent Deficits in Social Communication and Repetitive Behaviors Among Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), characterized by core deficits in social communication and restrictive behaviors, can exhibit concurrent motor incoordination and/or intellectual disability (ID). While pervasive delays in motor behavior are common, formal diagnosis of Development Coordination Disorder (DCD) is uncommon. It is not clear how DCD and ID impact core deficits in ASD. This study utilized the Simons Foundation SPARK cohort to describe the scope of motor incoordination among children with ASD and examine the interrelationships between DCD risk, ID, and ASD core deficits. 10,234 children with ASD, between the ages of 5 and 15 years, were included in the analysis. Parents completed online versions of the DCD Questionnaire (DCD-Q), Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ) and Restrictive Behavior Scale (RBS-R). 85% of children with ASD had DCD-Q scores consistent with being at-risk for DCD, but only 14% reported a formal diagnosis. Children with ID exhibited significantly greater motor incoordination compared to children without ID (P < 0.001). Significantly, greater core deficits were identified in both children at-risk for DCD (P < 0.001) and with ID (P < 0.001). However, the effects of DCD risk were independent of ID and exhibited a medium effect size for SCQ (η2p = 0.063) and a small effect size for RBS-R (η2p = 0.04) scores. Collectively, study outcomes reinforce the pervasiveness of motor incoordination among children with ASD, both with and without concurrent ID, and provide further justification for the inclusion of motor behavior in the early intervention and prescription for children with ASD. LAY SUMMARY: This secondary data analysis of the Simons Foundation SPARK cohort found high rates (85%) of DCD risk among children with ASD. Deficits in motor coordination were greater among children with ASD with concurrent ID diagnoses. Meaningful differences in ASD core deficits (social communication and repetitive behaviors) were independently found in children at risk for DCD, both with and without ID. Autism Res 2021, 14: 804-816. © 2021 International Society for Autism Research and Wiley Periodicals LLC.

The Urine Metabolome of Young Autistic Children Correlates with Their Clinical Profile Severity.

Autism diagnosis is moving from the identification of common inherited genetic variants to a systems biology approach. The aims of the study were to explore metabolic perturbations in autism, to investigate whether the severity of autism core symptoms may be associated with specific metabolic signatures; and to examine whether the urine metabolome discriminates severe from mild-to-moderate restricted, repetitive, and stereotyped behaviors. We enrolled 57 children aged 2–11 years; thirty-one with idiopathic autism and twenty-six neurotypical (NT), matched for age and ethnicity. The urine metabolome was investigated by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The urinary metabolome of autistic children was largely distinguishable from that of NT children; food selectivity induced further significant metabolic differences. Severe autism spectrum disorder core deficits were marked by high levels of metabolites resulting from diet, gut dysbiosis, oxidative stress, tryptophan metabolism, mitochondrial dysfunction. The hierarchical clustering algorithm generated two metabolic clusters in autistic children: 85–90% of children with mild-to-moderate abnormal behaviors fell in cluster II. Our results open up new perspectives for the more general understanding of the correlation between the clinical phenotype of autistic children and their urine metabolome. Adipic acid, palmitic acid, and 3-(3-hydroxyphenyl)-3-hydroxypropanoic acid can be proposed as candidate biomarkers of autism severity.

Examination of Stimulus Over-Selectivity in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder and Its Relationship to Stereotyped Behaviors and Cognitive Flexibility

Stimulus over-selectivity describes a phenomenon in which an individual responds only to a subset of the stimuli present in the environment and, thus, may restrict learning. This study aimed to develop understanding of the nature and role of over-selectivity in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) by analyzing the relationship of over-selectivity to core deficits of ASD: stereotyped responding and inflexibility. Over-selectivity was investigated in a visual discrimination task in 24 children, 12 diagnosed with ASD and 12 mental-age-matched typically developing children. In addition, the participants’ levels of intellectual functioning, stereotypy, and cognitive flexibility were assessed using established tools. Results showed that over-selectivity was associated with IQ and stereotyped behavior but was not related to levels of cognitive flexibility nor did cognitive flexibility significantly correlate with stereotyped behavior in individuals with ASD. The current findings require consideration when designing behavioral interventions for individuals with ASD.

Treating Anxiety and Social Deficits in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Two Schools in Nairobi, Kenya.

Anxiety in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) contributes to their functional impairment. We evaluated a cognitive-behavioral program for anxiety and social deficits in children with ASD in two schools in Nairobi City, Kenya. Parents and teachers of 40 children and adolescents with ASD (5-21years) participated, randomized by school. The two schools were randomly assigned to either intervention (n = 20) or control (n = 20). There was a significant improvement in ASD severity as well as anxiety within the treatment group, which was not seen in the control group. These findings support the expansion of treatments for ASD core deficits and secondary problems in youth with ASD in developing countries.

Sensory-Motor-Cognitive Functions in Preschool Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Amaç: Araştırmanın amacı okulöncesi otizm spektrum bozukluğu (OSB) olan çocukların duyu, motor ve sözel olmayan bilişsel işlevleri arasındaki ilişkiyi incelemek ve otizmden etkilenme derecesine göre bu işlevlerin farklılaşıp farklılaşmadığını keşfetmektir. Gereç ve Yöntem: Çalışmaya 4-6 yaş 30 OSB’li çocuk dahil edilmiştir. Bu çalışmada otizm şiddetini değerlendirmek için Gilliam Otistik Bozukluk Derecelendirme Ölçeği 2 – Türkçe Versiyonu (GOBDÖ-2-TV), duyusal sorunları değerlendirmek için Duyu Profili (DP), motor profili ölçmek için Bruininks-Oseretsky Motor Yeterlik Testi 2-Kısa Form (BOMYT-2) ve bilişsel işlevleri değerlendirmek için Okulöncesi Sözel Olmayan Zekâ Testi (OSOZT) kullanılmıştır. Sonuçlar: Okulöncesi OSB’li çocukların atipik duyusal yanıtlar sergilediği, sözel olmayan biliş ve motor performanslarının düşük olduğunu göstermiştir. OSB’li çocukların % 96.6’sının BOMYT-2 kategorilerine göre ortalamanın altı ve oldukça altında olduğu tespit edilmiştir. BOMYT-2 ve GOBDÖ-2-TV arasında orta düzey negatif ilişki (r = -.587), OSOZT ve GOBDÖ-2-TV arasında orta düzey negatif ilişki (r = -.402) ve BOMYT-2 ve OSOZT arasında orta düzey pozitif ilişki (r = .442) tespit edilmiştir. Otizmden etkilenme derecesine göre motor performans % 39 ve sözel olmayan işlevler % 27 farklılaşmıştır. Tartışma: OSB’li çocukların duyu-motor-bilişsel işlevlerindeki yaygın bozukluğa rağmen, bireysel eğitim programları OSB’nin temel yetersizliklerine sadece odaklanmamalı, okulöncesi dönemde duyu-motor temelli müdahaleleri de kapsamalıdır.

Design, Development, and Evaluation of a Noninvasive Autonomous Robot-mediated Joint Attention Intervention System for Young Children with ASD.

Research indicates that human-robot interaction can help children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). While most early robot-mediated interaction studies were based on free interactions, recent studies have shown that robot-mediated interventions that focus on the core impairments of ASD such as joint attention deficit tend to produce better outcomes. Joint attention impairment is one of the core deficits in ASD that has an important impact in the neuropsychological development of these children. In this work, we propose a novel joint attention intervention system for children with ASD that overcomes several existing limitations in this domain such as the need to use body-worn sensors, non-autonomous robot operation requiring human involvement and lack of a formal model for robot-mediated joint attention interaction. We present a fully autonomous robotic system, called NORRIS, that can infer attention through a distributed non-contact gaze inference mechanism with an embedded Least-to-Most (LTM) robot-mediated interaction model to address the current limitations. The system was tested in a multi-session user study with 14 young children with ASD. The results showed that participants' joint attention skills improved significantly, their interest in the robot remained consistent throughout the sessions, and the LTM interaction model was effective in promoting the children's performance.

Coherence and content of relating emotions to life events in autism spectrum disorder and typical development: a cross-sectional age study.

Understanding one's own emotions is an important part of social-emotional development in early childhood. Few studies have looked at the ability of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to relate their own emotions to previous life events. Our previous study showed that the description of events that elicited specific emotions is qualitatively and quantitatively different in ASD in comparison to typically developing (TD) pre-adolescents. The current study evaluated differences in coherence and content of responses to questions on emotions in ASD and TD in two age groups. The evaluation was based on the section on Emotions of the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule Module 3 test. The study included 96 boys, 48 diagnosed with ASD (IQ≥85) and 48 TD children, divided into younger (6:0-8:0y) and older (8:2-11:0y) groups. Young TD children were able to give coherent responses to questions on experiences that evoked basic emotions. Children with ASD gave fewer coherent responses and more 'no response' and 'odd' responses across the examined age range. Only in the TD group was the level of vocabulary associated with the number of coherent statements. TD children gave more responses with content related to interpersonal relationships, self-awareness and social events than children with ASD. Deficits in coherence and content of responses to questions on emotions related to previous life events derive from the core deficits of ASD. The significant quantitative and qualitative gap that exists between ASD and TD may be useful during the diagnostic process of ASD in childhood.

Auditory spatial attention to speech and complex non-speech sounds in children with autism spectrum disorder.

One of the earliest observable impairments in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a failure to orient to speech and other social stimuli. Auditory spatial attention, a key component of orienting to sounds in the environment, has been shown to be impaired in adults with ASD. Additionally, specific deficits in orienting to social sounds could be related to increased acoustic complexity of speech. We aimed to characterize auditory spatial attention in children with ASD and neurotypical controls, and to determine the effect of auditory stimulus complexity on spatial attention. In a spatial attention task, target and distractor sounds were played randomly in rapid succession from speakers in a free-field array. Participants attended to a central or peripheral location, and were instructed to respond to target sounds at the attended location while ignoring nearby sounds. Stimulus-specific blocks evaluated spatial attention for simple non-speech tones, speech sounds (vowels), and complex non-speech sounds matched to vowels on key acoustic properties. Children with ASD had significantly more diffuse auditory spatial attention than neurotypical children when attending front, indicated by increased responding to sounds at adjacent non-target locations. No significant differences in spatial attention emerged based on stimulus complexity. Additionally, in the ASD group, more diffuse spatial attention was associated with more severe ASD symptoms but not with general inattention symptoms. Spatial attention deficits have important implications for understanding social orienting deficits and atypical attentional processes that contribute to core deficits of ASD. Autism Res 2017, 10: 1405-1416. © 2017 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Brain responses to biological motion predict treatment outcome in young children with autism.

Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are common yet complex neurodevelopmental disorders, characterized by social, communication and behavioral deficits. Behavioral interventions have shown favorable results—however, the promise of precision medicine in ASD is hampered by a lack of sensitive, objective neurobiological markers (neurobiomarkers) to identify subgroups of young children likely to respond to specific treatments. Such neurobiomarkers are essential because early childhood provides a sensitive window of opportunity for intervention, while unsuccessful intervention is costly to children, families and society. In young children with ASD, we show that functional magnetic resonance imaging-based stratification neurobiomarkers accurately predict responses to an evidence-based behavioral treatment—pivotal response treatment. Neural predictors were identified in the pretreatment levels of activity in response to biological vs scrambled motion in the neural circuits that support social information processing (superior temporal sulcus, fusiform gyrus, amygdala, inferior parietal cortex and superior parietal lobule) and social motivation/reward (orbitofrontal cortex, insula, putamen, pallidum and ventral striatum). The predictive value of our findings for individual children with ASD was supported by a multivariate pattern analysis with cross validation. Predicting who will respond to a particular treatment for ASD, we believe the current findings mark the very first evidence of prediction/stratification biomarkers in young children with ASD. The implications of the findings are far reaching and should greatly accelerate progress toward more precise and effective treatments for core deficits in ASD.

Reducing Disparities in Timely Autism Diagnosis Through Family Navigation: Results From a Randomized Pilot Trial.

Emerging evidence suggests that autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can be diagnosed by age 18 months and that early intensive behavioral intervention positively affects ASD core deficits. This pilot randomized controlled trial examined the feasibility of using an adapted form of patient navigation, Family Navigation (FN), to improve timely diagnosis of ASD in low-income families from racial-ethnic minority groups. Forty children referred for an ASD diagnostic assessment were randomly allocated to receive FN or usual care. The primary outcome, time to diagnostic resolution, was assessed with survival analysis. Nineteen of 20 FN children completed the diagnostic assessment, compared with 11 of 19 children receiving usual care (hazard ratio=3.21, 95% confidence interval=1.47-6.98, p<.01). In regard to engagement of participants, 17 of 20 families (85%) met with the navigator for the targeted three in-person visits (median=4, range 1-9). FN may be a promising intervention to address barriers that impede timely ASD diagnosis.

Brain connectivity in autism spectrum disorder.

Many studies have reported that individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have different brain connectivity patterns compared with typically developing individuals. However, the results of more recent studies do not unanimously support the traditional view in which individuals with ASD have lower connectivity between distant brain regions and increased connectivity within local brain regions. In this review, we discuss different methods for measuring brain connectivity and how the use of different metrics may contribute to the lack of convergence of investigations of connectivity in ASD. The discrepancy in brain connectivity results across studies may be due to important methodological factors, such as the connectivity measure applied, the age of patients studied, the brain region(s) examined, and the time interval and frequency band(s) in which connectivity was analyzed. We conclude that more sophisticated electroencephalography analytic approaches should be utilized to more accurately infer causation and directionality of information transfer between brain regions, which may show dynamic changes of functional connectivity in the brain. Moreover, further investigations of connectivity with respect to behavior and clinical phenotype are needed to probe underlying brain networks implicated in core deficits of ASD.

The effect of ketogenic diet in an animal model of autism induced by prenatal exposure to valproic acid

Objectives: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by impairments in social interaction and communication, and by restricted repetitive behaviors and interests. Its etiology is still unknown, but different environmental factors during pregnancy, such as exposure to valproic acid (VPA), are associated with high incidence of ASD in children. In this context, prenatal exposure to VPA in rodents has been used as a reliable model of ASD. Ketogenic diet (KD) is an alternative therapeutic option for refractory epilepsy; however, the effects of this approach in ASD-like behavior need to be evaluated. We conducted a behavioral assessment of the effects of KD in the VPA model of autism.Methods: Pregnant animals received a single-intraperitoneal injection of 600 mg/kg VPA, and their offspring were separated into four groups: (1) control group with standard diet (C-SD), (2) control group with ketogenic diet (C-KD), (3) VPA group with standard diet (VPA-SD), and (4) VPA group with ketogenic diet (VPA-KD).Results: When compared with the control group, VPA animals presented increased social impairment, repetitive behavior and higher nociceptive threshold. Interestingly, the VPA group fed with KD presented improvements in social behavior. These mice displayed higher scores in sociability index and social novelty index when compared with the SD-fed VPA mice.Discussion: VPA mice chronically exposed to a KD presented behavioral improvements; however, the mechanism by which KD improves ASD-like features needs to be further investigated. In conclusion, the present study reinforces the potential use of KD as a treatment for the core deficits of ASD.

Pain Assessment of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders.

Pain assessment of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is largely unexplored. The core deficits of ASD may interfere with this population's ability to effectively use traditional pain assessment tools. Accurate pain assessment is essential to providing quality care. The objective was to illuminate barriers to pain assessment in children with an ASD, describe novel methods to communicate about their pain experience, and identify vocabularies that hold meaning with respect to pain to better understand pain from their context. Qualitative descriptive study using semistructured interviews including interactive electronic technology to enhance communication. Subjects included children aged 6 to 17 years with ASD experiencing acute pain after a surgical procedure at a large urban tertiary children's hospital. Based on the analysis of 40 interviews, participants consisted of 34 (85%) male, 29 (72.5%) non-Hispanic white with mean age 11.75 ± 3.36 years (range: 6-17). All subjects were able to describe and locate their pain but required a variety of approaches. Assessment preferences included minimal time spent focusing on pain and simplistic language and actions using terms familiar to each subject. Notably, subjects were able to reliably demonstrate understanding of graded response and seriation. Parent involvement was essential, both in helping interpret the child's needs and providing trusted support. Some children with ASD require an alternate interactive approach to pain assessment. Individualized consideration and estimation of pain assessment methods for use in this population may provide more meaningful interactions, ultimately guiding better pain management interventions.

Specificity of autonomic arousal to anxiety in children with autism spectrum disorder.

Anxiety is one of the most concerning comorbidities in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) due to its high prevalence, negative impact on physical and psychological well-being, and interaction with core deficits of ASD. Current assessment and treatment of anxiety, which rely on the observation of behavior and self-reports, are often ineffective as ASD is associated with deficits in communication and diminished introspective ability. In this light, autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity has been suggested as a marker of physiological arousal associated with anxiety. However, physiological arousal measured by ANS indices also occurs with other cognitive and emotional processes, and it is unclear whether anxiety-related arousal can be differentiated from that related to other cognitive processes. To address this gap, we investigated the use of linear and nonlinear classification techniques for differentiating anxiety-related arousal from arousal due to three cognitive processes (attention, inhibitory control, and social cognition) and physical activity based on electrocardiography signal features. Our results indicate that over 80% classification accuracy can be achieved, suggesting that ANS response can be used as a specific marker of anxiety-related arousal in a subgroup of children with ASD who demonstrate an increase in heart rate in response to anxiogenic stimuli.

Does Gender Moderate Core Deficits in ASD? An Investigation into Restricted and Repetitive Behaviors in Girls and Boys with ASD.

Due to the uneven gender ratio of autism spectrum disorders (ASD), girls are rarely studied independently from boys. Research focusing on restricted and repetitive behaviors (RRBs) indicates that above the age of six girls have fewer and/or different RRBs than boys with ASD. In this study we investigated whether girls and boys with ASD demonstrated similar rates and types of RRBs in early childhood, using discrete observational coding from a video-taped play interaction. Twenty-nine girls with ASD were matched to 29 boys based on ASD severity. While boys in our sample demonstrated a greater frequency of RRBs, this was not significant and our findings indicate that girls and boys under five are more similar than dissimilar on this core deficit. However our data also revealed a trend toward gender-differential growth trajectories--a finding worthy of further investigation in larger samples.

Does Gender Influence Core Deficits in ASD? An Investigation into Social-Communication and Play of Girls and Boys with ASD

Due to the predominance of boys diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), girls are rarely studied independently. Research specifically focusing on play and social-communication in girls with ASD is extremely varied. We were interested in whether girls with ASD demonstrated equivalent social-communication and play skills in early childhood relative to boys, using two measures focused on the specific quantification of these variables. We also examined whether the associations between developmental variables and social-communication and play differed by gender. Forty girls with ASD were individually matched to 40 boys based on ASD severity. Our results suggest that girls and boys were more similar than different, however they also raise questions about the potential differential associations between development and requesting ability in girls and boys with ASD.

Potential neural mechanisms underlying the effectiveness of early intervention for children with autism spectrum disorder.

Although evidence supports the efficacy of early intervention for improving outcomes for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the mechanisms underlying their effectiveness remain poorly understood. This paper reviews the research literature on the neural bases of the early core deficits in ASD and proposes three key features of early intervention related to the neural mechanisms that may contribute to its effectiveness in improving deficit areas. These features include (1) the early onset of intensive intervention which capitalizes on the experience-expectant plasticity of the immature brain, (2) the use of treatment strategies that address core deficits in social motivation through an emphasis on positive social engagement and arousal modulation, and (3) promotion of complex neural networks and connectivity through thematic, multi-sensory and multi-domain teaching approaches. Understanding the mechanisms of effective early intervention will enable us to identify common or foundational active ingredients for promoting optimal outcomes in children with ASD.

A pilot controlled trial of insulin-like growth factor-1 in children with Phelan-McDermid syndrome.

BackgroundAutism spectrum disorder (ASD) is now understood to have multiple genetic risk genes and one example is SHANK3. SHANK3 deletions and mutations disrupt synaptic function and result in Phelan-McDermid syndrome (PMS), which causes a monogenic form of ASD with a frequency of at least 0.5% of ASD cases. Recent evidence from preclinical studies with mouse and human neuronal models of SHANK3 deficiency suggest that insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) can reverse synaptic plasticity and motor learning deficits. The objective of this study was to pilot IGF-1 treatment in children with PMS to evaluate safety, tolerability, and efficacy for core deficits of ASD, including social impairment and restricted and repetitive behaviors.MethodsNine children with PMS aged 5 to 15 were enrolled in a placebo-controlled, double-blind, crossover design study, with 3 months of treatment with IGF-1 and 3 months of placebo in random order, separated by a 4-week wash-out period.ResultsCompared to the placebo phase, the IGF-1 phase was associated with significant improvement in both social impairment and restrictive behaviors, as measured by the Aberrant Behavior Checklist and the Repetitive Behavior Scale, respectively. IGF-1 was found to be well tolerated and there were no serious adverse events in any participants.ConclusionsThis study establishes the feasibility of IGF-1 treatment in PMS and contributes pilot data from the first controlled treatment trial in the syndrome. Results also provide proof of concept to advance knowledge about developing targeted treatments for additional causes of ASD associated with impaired synaptic development and function.

Bullying Interventions Should Address Core Autism Deficits

Back to table of contents Previous article Next article Clinical & Research NewsFull AccessBullying Interventions Should Address Core Autism DeficitsLeslie SinclairLeslie SinclairSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:2 Nov 2012https://doi.org/10.1176/pn.47.21.psychnews_47_21_15-bAbstractBullying has been a hot topic of discussion for the better part of the past decade, but research is only just now beginning to elucidate the specific characteristics of those who bully and those who are bullied. Paul Sterzing, Ph.D., M.S.S.W., and his colleagues have recently sought to determine how many adolescents with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are affected by bullying.Social skills protect adolescents with ASD from bullying, but having some level of conversational ability—compared with those who do not—may make them more susceptible.O Driscoll Imaging/ShutterstockSterzing, a recent graduate of the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis, is now an assistant professor at the School of Social Welfare at the University of California, Berkeley. He and colleagues based at Washington University published in the online September 3 Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine a report that delves more deeply into how adolescents with an ASD experience bullying—as victims, as perpetrators, and as “victims/perpetrators,” those children who are both the bully and the bullied.Their study sample consisted of the participants in the National Longitudinal Transition Study 2, a 10-year, five-wave prospective study of adolescents receiving special-education services. The survey was conducted by SRI International for the U.S. Department of Education. The study identified 1,100 students in the autism category, and Sterzing and his colleagues analyzed interviews with 920 of their parents and analyzed data from the Student’s School Program Survey and the School Characteristics Survey to evaluate the students. The parent report was used to assess age, sex, race, ethnicity, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), income level, social skills, and conversational ability of the adolescents.They found that the rate of bullying victimization for adolescents with an ASD (46.3 percent) was substantially higher than the national prevalence estimate for the general adolescent population (10.6 percent). The rates of perpetration of bullying (14.8 percent) and victimization/perpetration (8.9 percent), however, were roughly equivalent to national estimates found among typically developing adolescents.Adolescents with an ASD and comorbid ADHD were more likely to be victims, bullies, and victim/perpetrators. They found as well that adolescents with greater social skills were significantly less likely to experience victimization, a finding Sterzing and colleagues said was consistent with prior research. Conversational ability, however, correlated strongly with victimization. Compared with adolescents with no conversational ability, adolescents with some level of conversational ability were significantly more likely to be victimized.The researchers were somewhat skeptical of this finding, however, theorizing that adolescents with no conversational ability might be protected by such institutional measures as lower teacher-student classroom ratios, or that school staff might not be informing parents about their child’s bullying involvement.Sterzing and colleagues said their work demonstrated that school-based bullying interventions need to target the core deficits of ASD, such as conversational ability and social skills, and the presence of comorbid conditions such as ADHD.“Future bullying interventions also need to address the higher rates of victimization that occur in general education settings by increasing social integration into protective peer groups and increasing the empathy and social skills of typically developing students toward their peers with an ASD,” they concluded.The study was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health, the Organization for Autism Research, and Autism Speaks. An abstract of “Bullying Involvement and Autism Spectrum Disorders” is posted at www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22945284. ISSUES NewArchived