Autism Severity Research Articles

Comparing the effectiveness of robot-based to human-based intervention in improving joint attention in autistic children.

Children with autism have impairments in initiation of joint attention (IJA) and response to joint attention (RJA). The present study compared the learning effectiveness of robot-based intervention (RBI) with that of content-matched human-based intervention (HBI) in improving joint attention (JA). We examined whether RBI would enhance RJA, in comparison to HBI. We also examined whether RBI would increase IJA, in comparison to HBI. Thirty-eight Chinese-speaking children with autism aged 6 to 9 years were randomly assigned to RBI and HBI groups. Before intervention, their autism severity, cognitive abilities, and language skills were assessed. Each child received six 30-min training sessions over 3 weeks. During training, he/she watched one or two robot/human dramas twice where two robot/human actors demonstrated eye contact and RJA. Children in the RBI (but not HBI) group produced more RJA and IJA behaviors in the delayed post-test than in the pre-test. Parents of the RBI children rated the program more positively than those of the HBI children. RBI may be more effective than HBI in promoting JA in autistic children with high support needs. Our findings shed light on the application of robot dramas in enhancing social communication skills.

Genetic and environmental contributions to co-occurring physical health conditions in autism spectrum condition and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

BackgroundAutism spectrum condition and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are associated with a range of physical health conditions. The aim of this study was to examine the etiological components contributing to co-occurring physical health conditions in autism and ADHD.MethodsIn this nationwide Child and Adolescent Twin Study in Sweden, we analyzed data from 10,347 twin pairs aged 9 and 12. Clinical diagnoses of autism, ADHD, and physical health conditions were identified through the Swedish National Patient Register. Subclinical phenotypes of autism and ADHD were defined by symptom thresholds on a standardized parent-interview, the Autism–Tics, ADHD, and Other Comorbidities inventory. Associations between physical health conditions and autism/ADHD phenotypes were examined using generalized estimating equations. Bivariate twin models were applied to estimate the extent to which genetic and environmental risk factors accounted for physical health comorbidities.ResultsSimilar patterns of association with physical health conditions were found in clinical and subclinical autism/ADHD, with odds ratios ranging from 1.31 for asthma in subclinical ADHD to 8.03 for epilepsy in clinical autism. The estimated genetic correlation (ra) with epilepsy was 0.50 for clinical autism and 0.35 for subclinical autism. In addition, a modest genetic correlation was estimated between clinical autism and constipation (ra = 0.31), functional diarrhea (ra = 0.27) as well as mixed gastrointestinal disorders (ra = 0.30). Genetic effects contributed 0.86 for mixed gastrointestinal disorders in clinical ADHD (ra = 0.21). Finally, subclinical ADHD shared genetic risk factors with epilepsy, constipation, and mixed gastrointestinal disorders (ra = 0.30, 0.17, and 0.17, respectively).LimitationsImportantly, since medical records from primary care were not included in the registry data used, we probably identified only more severe rather than the full range of physical health conditions. Furthermore, it needs to be considered that the higher prevalence of physical health conditions among autistic children and children with ADHD could be associated with the increased number of medical visits.ConclusionsShared genetic effects contribute significantly to autism and ADHD phenotypes with the co-occurring physical health conditions across different organ systems, including epilepsy and gastrointestinal disorders. The shared genetic liability with co-occurring physical health conditions was present across different levels of autism and ADHD symptom severity.

A SURVEY ON PREDICTION OF AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER USING DATA SCIENCE TECHNIQUES

Autism Spectrum Disorder is a lifelong brain developmental disorder. Diagnosing the level of Autism and predicting the severity of the same are too complex, and it requires a depth analysis of the historical data on the autism patient. Nowadays, Data science techniques play a vital role in diagnosing autism. Decision Tree, Random Forest, Logistic Regression, Adaboost, Naïve Bayse, K-Nearest Neighbour, Support Vector Machine and etc., are the few techniques labeled under the roof of data science are used to predict such disorders. The paper aims to present a survey on the various models proposed by various researchers to predict the severity of autism using data science techniques.

A Comparison Controlled Study Examining Outcome for Children With Autism Receiving Intensive Behavioral Intervention (IBI).

This study evaluated the effects of a center-based Intensive Behavioral Intervention (IBI) model for preschool aged children with autism. Outcomes of 25 children receiving IBI was compared to the outcomes of 14 children receiving autism specific, eclectic, special education. Both provisions were described as appropriate treatment options by the professional agency who diagnosed the children, and the decision of where to enroll the child was made by the parents after consultations with the specialists. After 14 months of treatment, children from the IBI group improved significantly on standard scores in intellectual functioning and adaptive behavior and had a significant reduction in autism severity compared to the children in the autism specific, eclectic, special education group. Results suggest that preschool aged children with autism may make large gains in intellectual and adaptive functioning and improvement in autism severity with IBI, and that effects of IBI may be similar to that of EIBI. These findings must be interpreted with caution due to the limitations inherent in the present comparison-controlled design.

Association of early childhood constipation with the risk of autism spectrum disorder in Taiwan: Real-world evidence from a nationwide population-based cohort study.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental problem that presents with limited interests, repetitive behaviors, and deficits in reciprocal communication and social interactions. Mounting evidence indicates that an imbalanced gut microbiota contributes to autism via the gut-brain axis. Constipation may result in alteration of the gut microbiota. The clinical influence of constipation on ASD has not been fully researched. Thus, in this study we aimed to evaluate whether early childhood constipation influenced the risk of developing ASD using a nationwide population-based cohort study. We identified 12,935 constipated children aged 3 years or younger from the National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) in Taiwan from 1997 to 2013. Non-constipated children were also selected from the database and propensity score matching of age, gender, and underlying comorbidities was conducted with a ratio of 1:1. Kaplan-Meier analysis was applied to determine different levels of constipation severity and cumulative incidence of autism. Subgroup analysis was also applied in this study. The incidence rate of ASD was 12.36 per 100,000 person-months in the constipation group, which was higher than the rate of 7.84 per 100,000 person-months noted in the non-constipation controls. Constipated children had a significantly higher risk of autism when compared to the non-constipation group (crude relative risk = 1.458, 95% CI = 1.116-1.904; adjusted hazard ratio = 1.445, 95% CI = 1.095-1.907).Moreover, among constipated children, a higher number of laxative prescriptions, male gender, constipation during infancy, and atopic dermatitis were significantly associated with higher risks of ASD when compared to the non-constipation group. Constipation in early childhood was correlated with a significantly increased risk of ASD. Clinicians should pay attention to the possibility of ASD in constipated children. Further research is necessary to study the possible pathophysiological mechanisms of this association.

Randomized-controlled trial examining differing content of ABA therapy delivered to autistic children

The current study examined relative differences of the content of Applied Behavior Analytic (ABA) Therapy delivered to autistic children. A randomized trial was conducted using 73 school age children who either received a traditional ABA intervention (i.e., treatment as usual, TAU) that emphasized traditional reinforcement contingencies and Skinner's (1957) approach to language development, or a treatment which focused on derived learning and relational framing based on the PEAK curriculum (i.e., relational training, RT; Dixon, 2016). Results suggest that participants who were exposed to the RT gained more skills and had greater improvements in intelligence scores than those participants in the TAU group. Furthermore, indirect measures of positive change including autism severity also appeared to be affected by the group assignment. These data suggest that different types of ABA therapy can produce different degrees of progress for autistic children and have implications for instructional design and service delivery by behavior analysts.

Negative affect and respiratory sinus arrhythmia are differentially related to social anxiety and autism features in autistic preschoolers contrasted to fragile X syndrome.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a highly heterogeneous and complex disorder with co-occurring disorders commonplace. This presents tremendous diagnostic challenges given the phenotypic overlap between autism and other diagnoses, including social anxiety, as well as variance in specific genetic disorders like fragile X syndrome (FXS). Biobehavioral measurement approaches integrate behavioral and biological data, and by so doing have the potential to address diagnostic challenges and shed light on the mechanisms underlying social impairments. The present study utilized a biobehavioral approach to evaluate how biologically based indices of baseline respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and temperamental negative affect differ and predict autism and anxiety in a sample of 120 preschoolers with non-syndromic autism (nsASD) with co-occurring intellectual impairment, FXS, and neurotypical (NT) development. Results indicated that children with nsASD display elevated negative affect compared to both FXS and NT controls which did not differ from each other and females exhibited more negative affect relative to males. Interestingly, elevated negative affect predicted social anxiety, but not ASD in FXS. Baseline RSA did not differ across the groups; however, reduced RSA predicted elevated autism severity for the nsASD group but not those with FXS or NT development. Taken together, biobehavioral markers differentiated the groups in discrete ways that advance our understanding of autism and promote improved diagnostic clarity using objective measurement.

Predictors of age at diagnosis in autism spectrum disorders: the use of multiple regression analyses and a classification tree on a clinical sample.

The increasing prevalence of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) has led to worldwide interest in factors influencing the age of ASD diagnosis. Parents or caregivers of 237 ASD children (193 boys, 44 girls) diagnosed using the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) completed a simple descriptive questionnaire. The data were analyzed using the variable-centered multiple regression analysis and the person-centered classification tree method. We believed that the concurrent use of these two methods could produce robust results. The mean age at diagnosis was 5.8 ± 2.2years (median 5.3years). Younger ages for ASD diagnosis were predicted (using multiple regression analysis) by higher scores in the ADOS social domain, higher scores in ADOS restrictive and repetitive behaviors and interest domain, higher maternal education, and the shared household of parents. Using the classification tree method, the subgroup with the lowest mean age at diagnosis were children, in whom the summation of ADOS communication and social domain scores was ≥ 17, and paternal age at the delivery was ≥ 29years. In contrast, the subgroup with the oldest mean age at diagnosis included children with summed ADOS communication and social domain scores < 17 and maternal education at the elementary school level. The severity of autism and maternal education played a significant role in both types of data analysis focused on age at diagnosis.

Camouflage and masking behavior in adult autism.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction across multiple contexts. Social camouflaging was first shown to be a characteristic of autistic persons, who actively try to disguise and compensate for their autism features in social contexts in an effort to socially blend in better. Recently, an increasing, though still insufficient, number of studies has been conducted on the concept of camouflage; however, different aspect of it, from psychopathology and etiology to its complications and consequences, are not clearly defined. We aimed to systematically review the existing literature on camouflage in autistic adults to describe the correlates of camouflage, motivations for exhibiting camouflage behavior, and the potential impacts of camouflage on the mental health of autistic individuals. We followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) checklist guidelines to conduct a systematic review. The databases of PubMed and Scopus, and PsycInfo were searched for eligible studies. Studies were published between January 1st, 1980, to April 1st, 2022. We included 16 articles, of which four studies were qualitative and 11 were quantitative. One study used a mix method. The assessment tools used for camouflage, the correlates of camouflage including autism severity, gender, age, cognitive profile and neuroanatomical correlates, reasons for camouflage and the impacts of camouflaging behavior on mental health are discussed in this review. In synthesizing the literature, we conclude that camouflage seems to be more common among females who report more autistic symptoms themselves. There may also be some differences between men and women in reasons of exhibiting it and its neuroanatomical correlates. Further research is needed as to why this phenomenon is more prevalent in females with implications for gender related cognitive and neuroanatomical differences. Effects of camouflage on mental health and daily life measures of individuals such as employment, university graduation, relationship, financial status, and quality of life should be studied with more details in future studies.

Construction of copy number variation landscape and characterization of associated genes in a Bangladeshi cohort of neurodevelopmental disorders.

Introduction: Copy number variations (CNVs) play a critical role in the pathogenesis of neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD) among children. In this study, we aim to identify clinically relevant CNVs, genes and their phenotypic characteristics in an ethnically underrepresented homogenous population of Bangladesh. Methods: We have conducted chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA) for 212 NDD patients with male to female ratio of 2.2:1.0 to identify rare CNVs. To identify candidate genes within the rare CNVs, gene constraint metrics [i.e., "Critical-Exon Genes (CEGs)"] were applied to the population data. Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule-Second Edition (ADOS-2) was followed in a subset of 95 NDD patients to assess the severity of autism and all statistical tests were performed using the R package. Results: Of all the samples assayed, 12.26% (26/212) and 57.08% (121/212) patients carried pathogenic and variant of uncertain significance (VOUS) CNVs, respectively. While 2.83% (6/212) patients' pathogenic CNVs were found to be located in the subtelomeric regions. Further burden test identified females are significant carriers of pathogenic CNVs compared to males (OR = 4.2; p = 0.0007). We have observed an increased number of Loss of heterozygosity (LOH) within cases with 23.85% (26/109) consanguineous parents. Our analyses on imprinting genes show, 36 LOH variants disrupting 69 unique imprinted genes and classified these variants as VOUS. ADOS-2 subset shows severe social communication deficit (p = 0.014) and overall ASD symptoms severity (p = 0.026) among the patients carrying duplication CNV compared to the CNV negative group. Candidate gene analysis identified 153 unique CEGs in pathogenic CNVs and 31 in VOUS. Of the unique genes, 18 genes were found to be in smaller (<1 MB) focal CNVs in our NDD cohort and we identified PSMC3 gene as a strong candidate gene for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Moreover, we hypothesized that KMT2B gene duplication might be associated with intellectual disability. Conclusion: Our results show the utility of CMA for precise genetic diagnosis and its integration into the diagnosis, therapy and management of NDD patients.

The Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale for Schizophrenia Autism Severity Scale (PAUSS) in a sample of early-onset psychosis

IntroductionThe Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale for Schizophrenia Autism Severity Scale (PAUSS) scale can be derived from the Positive and Negative Schizophrenia Syndrome Scale, enabling an assessment of psychotic and autistic dimensions with a single tool.ObjectivesThe aim of the study was to investigate the prevalence of autistic traits and the diagnostic, developmental, clinical, and functional correlates of this phenotype in a sample of early-onset psychosis (onset before age 18 years; EOP).MethodsProspective observational 2 year- follow-up study in a sample of young people with a first-episode of EOP. Demographic, perinatal, developmental, cognitive, clinical, and functional data were collected. PAUSS total scores and socio-communication and repetitive behaviors subscores were calculated. We used the proposed cut-off points for adult populations to define prevalence of autistic traits (PAUSS≥30). Subgroups of patients with and without autistic traits were identified based on the total PAUSS terciles. We used the Cronbach’s alpha test to assess the PAUSS internal consistency. Linear mixed models were performed to compare changes in PAUSS during follow-up between diagnostic subgroups [i.e., non-affective psychosis (including schizophrenia and schizophreniform disorder), affective psychosis (including bipolar disorder, schizoaffective disorder and major depressive disorder with psychotic features), and other psychosis (including brief psychotic disorder and psychosis not otherwise specified)]. Developmental, clinical, and functional variables were compared between subgroups with and without autistic traits with logistic regression analysis.Results248 patients with PIT were included (age 15.69 ± 1.86 years, 38.65% female). The prevalence of autistic traits in EOP was 7.04%, with significantly higher prevalence in the group of patients with non-affective psychosis (15.20%) than in other diagnostic groups. PAUSS scores significantly decreased over time, with no significant differences in the trajectories of the total PAUSS and its subscores among the three diagnostic subgroups during the 2-year follow-up. The PAUSS showed good internal consistency at all visits (Cronbach’s alpha &gt; 0,88). Patients with autistic traits presented longer duration of untreated psychosis, longer duration of the first inpatient admission, poorer social adjustment in childhood, poorer functionality, greater clinical severity, and poorer response to treatment during follow-up than patients without autistic traits.ConclusionsThe PAUSS is an easy-to-apply tool that can be useful to differentiate psychosis subgroups with worse prognosis.Disclosure of InterestJ. Suárez Campayo: None Declared, L. Pina-Camacho: None Declared, J. Merchán-Naranjo: None Declared, C. Ordas: None Declared, V. Cavone: None Declared, R. Panadero: None Declared, G. Sugranyes: None Declared, I. Baeza: None Declared, J. Castro-Fornieles: None Declared, E. de la Serna: None Declared, C. Arango Consultant of: Acadia, Angelini, Gedeon Richter, Janssen Cilag, Lundbeck, Minerva, Otsuka, Roche, Sage, Servier, Shire, Schering Plough, Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma, Sunovion and Takeda, C. Diaz Caneja Grant / Research support from: Exeltis and Angelini

Natural IgG Anti-F (ab')2 Autoantibody Activity in Children with Autism.

Background: Many and diverse autoimmune abnormalities have been reported in children with autism. Natural autoantibodies (NAAbs) play important immunoregulatory roles in recognition of the immune self. The objective of this study was to examine the presence of NAAbs in the sera of children with autism and across severity subgroups of autistic behavioral impairments. Methods: NAAbs were titrated in sera through an ELISA procedure in 60 low-functioning children with autism and 112 typically developing controls matched for age, sex and puberty. Results: Serum titers of IgG anti-F(ab')2 autoantibodies were significantly lower in children with autism compared to typically developing controls (p < 0.0001), and were significantly negatively associated with autism severity (p = 0.0001). This data appears to be related more specifically to autism than to intellectual disability, given that IgG anti-F(ab')2 levels were significantly negatively correlated with IQ scores in the autism group (p = 0.01). Conclusions: This is the first report in autism of abnormally low natural anti-F(ab')2 autoantibody activity. The findings suggest a dysfunction of self-recognition mechanisms which may play a role in the pathogenesis of autism, especially for the severely affected children. These findings strengthen the hypothesis of an autoimmune process in autism and open the prospect of alternative medical treatment. Further neuroimmunological research is warranted to understand the exact mechanisms underlying this reduced natural IgG anti-F (ab')2 autoantibody activity, and to assess its impact on the pathophysiology and behavioral expression of autism.

Analysis of urinary 8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine as a biomarker of oxidative DNA damage in pediatric children with autism spectrum disorder

BackgroundAutism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition that manifests itself in infancy. While genetic factors are the most important in its development, numerous other variables, as neurological, environmental, and immunological factors, have been found. The imbalance of oxidants and antioxidants has a role in the pathogenesis of ASD. We evaluated children with autism for the presence of oxidative DNA damage (ODD) biomarker 8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine (8OHdG) and assessed its association with disease severity, and omega 3 supplementation. MethodsA total of 102 children (51 children with ASD and 51 typically developed children) were recruited for this observational controlled cross-sectional study. Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) was used to measure the severity of autism. The urinary 8-OH-dG was determined by using the ELISA method. Resultsurinary 8-OH-dG/creatinine levels were significantly higher in children with autism compared to their healthy peers (P < 0.001) with positive significant association with disease duration, severity, and positive family history (P = 0.03, P < 0.001, P = 0.03 respectively). Using a cut-of value of > 1.7, urinary 8-OHdG/creatinine ratios showed sensitivity and specificity of 80.39% and 74.51% respectively as a good discriminating power between normal and autistic children. Additionally, statistically lower significant urinary 8-OHdG/creatinine was found among ASD children received omega 3 than those who didn’t receive it (p < 0.001). ConclusionIncreased urinary 8-OHdG/creatinine levels indicate an important role of oxidative DNA damage in ASD, and its significant higher level in ASD children with severe social impairment may be used as a potential non-invasive biomarker for disease severity.

Autism severity and its relationship to disability.

Autism severity is currently defined and measured based exclusively on the severity levels of the two core symptom domains: social-communication and restricted or repetitive patterns of behaviors and interests. Autistic individuals, however, are often diagnosed with other medical, developmental, and psychological co-occurring conditions. These additional challenges such as intellectual disability, limited expressive and/or receptive language, and anxiety disorders, can have a tremendous impact on the day-to-day lives of autistic individuals, for both their adaptive functioning as well as their sense of wellbeing. Furthermore, the initial presentation of core symptoms and their likelihood of changing over time are influenced by the presence of such co-occurring conditions. In order to truly understand how a person's autism impacts their life, both core symptoms as well as other challenges should be considered. This approach was recently taken byThe Lancet Commission on the future of care and clinical research in autism, which proposed the term "profound autism" for a subgroup of individuals presenting with high core symptom severity, co-occurring intellectual disability, and little or no language, who require extensive long-term care. Considering other individual factors such as daily living skills, specific support needs and environmental resources would also enhance the evaluation of disability in autistic individuals. As currently employed in the assessment of intellectual disability, a multidimensional approach to autism could provide a more comprehensive system for classification of impairment. At present, however, there is no formal way to designate the combined effect of these different aspects of autism on a person's life. A comprehensive outlook that acknowledges impairments, capabilities, co-occurring conditions, and environmental factors would be useful for identifying subgroups of individuals as well as for determining individual needs and strengths in clinical assessments.

Visual Support Based on Indonesian Local Wisdom for Personal Hygiene Learning of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

The degree of severity of autism can cause deficits in the development of activities of daily living, one of which is personal hygiene skills (bathing, toileting, washing hands, brushing teeth). The development of personal hygiene skills is important for children with autism spectrum disorders for health promotion and ensuring opportunities for increased socialization and participation in various environments. Strategies that incorporate visual support are considered evidence-based practices that capitalize on the strengths of children with ASD. Sources of images for creating visual support are actually quite a lot available on the internet, but they are still rarely suitable for Indonesian culture. This study aims to (1) develop visual support products based on local wisdom as a personal hygiene learning strategy for children on the autistic spectrum, and (2) determine the feasibility of visual support products based on local wisdom in learning personal hygiene for children with autism spectrum disorders. This study adapted the ADDIE approach to only 3 stages: Analyze, Design, and Develop. The findings of this study are: (1) this development resulted in an electronic catalog book and visual supports on personal hygiene based on Indonesian local wisdom, and (2) the electronic catalog book and visual supports based on Indonesian local wisdom in learning personal hygiene for children with autism spectrum disorders are very feasible based on expert validation.

Correlation between 5-HT, Hcy and the incidence and severity of autism in children.

This experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of serotonin or 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) and homocysteine (Hcy) levels on the incidence and severity of autism in children. For this aim,120 autistic children were selected as the study group, and 120 children who took early psychological intervention were included in the study group I, and 120 children who took late psychological intervention were included in study group II. 120 non-autistic children hospitalized in the same period were selected as the control group. The levels of serotonin and Hcy were compared between the two groups. At the same time, the effects of different levels of serotonin and Hcy on the severity of autism in children were compared. Results showed that there were significant differences in 5-HT level, Hcy level, cesarean section, breast milk mode, premature delivery, vitamin B12 level, birth weight and early illness between study group I and control group, and between study group II and control group (all P < 0.01). The ASD score growth rate, ASD score change rate, 5-HT change rate and complications of study group I were lower than those of study group II, but the cure rate was significantly higher than that of study group II (P < 0.01). 5-HT, breast feeding, Hcy, vitamin B12 level, febrile convulsion and traumatic brain injury were the main risk factors for children with autism, while the psychological intervention was the main protective factor, which had a significant positive impact on the severity of children with autism (p < 0.05). 5-HT and Hcy levels have significant predictive effects on the development of children with autism and can be used as predictive indicators for the development of autism. In conclusion, 5-HT, feeding mode, Hcy, vitamin B12 level and febrile convulsion are the main risk factors for autism in children, and there are significant correlations.

Designing Sensory Integration Spaces in Autism Centers (A Descriptive Approach)

According to World Health Organization, it has been proven that autism is on the rise worldwide and has become a significant challenge in education. Therefore, the research aims to (recognise the design of sensory integration spaces in autistic children's centres to improve the learning environment for the autism category. The research hypothesis states that (the process of designing sensory integration spaces in autism centres is achieved through developing various sensory spaces, applying design strategies, and adding elements that will contribute to creating integrated sensory spaces). The research adopted the descriptive analysis method based on the theoretical framework vocabulary extracted from the previous literature. The Art Therapy Cenproject Center, located in the southern region of the United States, was chosen for practical application. Research recommends that when designing spaces for autistic children, taking into account The severity of autism, where each type has a different sensory space. Inflated sense, spaces are white, and lighting devices are colored. While low sense recommends black walls and the use of ultraviolet lighting.

Optimizing Sensory Loads Using a Sensory Processing Skills Therapy among Autistic Spectrum Disorder

Introduction Sensory integration therapy can improve language skills, attention, and social interactions in children with ASD. However, it is also important to note that research in this field is ongoing and more studies are needed to confirm the effectiveness of these therapies. The present study is aimed to identify the effects of occupational therapy-based sensory processing skill therapies in improving the autism severity and QoL among ASD children. Methodology The intervention was performed for 12-weeks, 6 sessions per week, each session based on 60 minutes of duration. The treatment protocol comprised four sensory processing skills in which Each child was trained on every skill for 15 minutes, making a total of 60 minutes of duration for a single session. Results Significant improvements in CARS, CGAS and PedsQL (p&lt;0.001) were observed after 12-weeks of intervention. Conclusion Sensory processing skills therapies are a practical treatment approach in optimizing sensory load among ASD children. Keywords Art therapies, Autism, Quality of life, Sensory integration

Plasma Amino Acid Profile in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Southern China: Analysis of 110 Cases

To retrospectively explore the characteristics of plasma amino acids (PAAs) in children with autism spectrum disorder and their clinical association via case-control study. A total of 110 autistic and 55 healthy children were recruited from 2014 to 2018. The clinical phenotypes included severity of autism, cognition, adaptability, and regression. Compared with the control group, autistic children had significantly elevated glutamate, γ-Amino-n-butyric acid, glutamine, sarcosine, δ-aminolevulinic acid, glycine and citrulline. In contrast, their plasma level of ethanolamine, phenylalanine, tryptophan, homocysteine, pyroglutamic acid, hydroxyproline, ornithine, histidine, lysine, and glutathione were significantly lower. Elevated neuroactive amino acids (glutamate) and decreased essential amino acids were mostly distinct characteristics of PAAs of autistic children. Increased level of tryptophan might be associated with severity of autism.

Autistic features and executive functions in first episode psychosis: Associations with functionality and quality of life.

The present study aimed at investigating the relationships between autistic features and cognitive deficits, functionality and quality of life in first episode psychosis (FEP) patients. Sixty FEP patients [mean age (SD)=32.53 (10.74), n=23 female, n=37 male] were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. Data was collected using a sociodemographic and clinical data form, the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), the PANSS Autism Severity Score (PAUSS), the Personal and Social Performance Scale (PSP), the Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB), and the World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale Short Form in Turkish Version (WHOQOL-BREF TR). Autistic symptom severity was found to be higher in males than females, and higher in patients with a family history of psychotic disorder. An inverse relationship was found between the duration of education and the severity of autistic symptoms. While there was an inverse relationship between autistic symptom severity and executive functions and functionality, no significant correlation was found with quality of life. Negative symptom severity was a predictor of executive functions and functionality. No significant difference was observed between autistic and psychotic domains which were related to executive functions. Our study is the first to examine the relationship between autistic/psychotic symptoms and executive functions and functionality in patients with FEP. The results show that autistic symptoms are associated with worse social and personal functioning and worse executive functions in patients with FEP. Longitudinal follow-up studies with larger samples are required to determine the direction of the relations.