Vocal imitation in English-speaking autistic individuals has been shown to be atypical. Speaking a tone language such as Mandarin facilitates vocal imitation skills among non-autistic individuals, yet no studies have examined whether this effect holds for autistic individuals. To address this question, we compared vocal imitation of speech and…

Compared to their neurotypically developing peers, children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders tend to have attenuated neural responses in the parietal lobe when attending sensory input, as reflected by a reduced P3b amplitude measured with electroencephalography. However, it is unknown whether a reduced P3b amplitude in autistic…

This study examined trajectories of repetitive sensorimotor (RSM), insistence on sameness (IS), and verbal RRBs from ages 2-19 in a well-characterized longitudinal cohort. We also tested the factor structure of the ADI-R restricted and repetitive behavior (RRB) domain at age 19 and the inclusion of a verbal RRBs factor, in addition to previously…

Approximately 3-4 boys for every girl meet the clinical criteria for autism in studies of community diagnostic patterns and studies of autism using samples of convenience. However, girls with autism have been hypothesized to be underdiagnosed, possibly because they may present with differing symptom profiles as compared to boys. This secondary…

Fatigue is associated with numerous harmful physical and mental health outcomes. Despite the established relationship between sleep and fatigue, research examining sleep variability within a person (i.e. intraindividual variability; IIV) and fatigue is limited. In addition, the associations between child and parent sleep regarding parent fatigue…

Elopement is a common and dangerous behavior among autistic children. Behavioral treatments can reduce elopement, but most evidence comes from small-N evaluations in specialized settings with strategies varying across studies. The current study compared the efficacy of the caregiver-mediated function-based elopement treatment to parent education…

Emerging research suggests that episodic memory challenges are commonly encountered by autistic individuals; however, the specific nature of these memory challenges remains elusive. Here, we address critical gaps in the literature by examining pattern separation memory, the ability to store distinct memories of similar stimuli, and its links to…

Prior research has shown conflicting findings on decision-making differences between autistic and non-autistic individuals. To address this issue, we applied the Ultimatum and Dictator Games to examine explicit measures (probability of endorsing monetary offers) and implicit measures (response times) associated with decision-making behaviors. By…

The ability to repair breakdowns in communication is a critical pragmatic language skill. To date however, studies of repairs have been conducted with mothers or examiners. Little is known about repairs children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) use in interactions with fathers. Expanding our understanding of communication repairs used with…

Autistic youth often experience challenges in interactions with neurotypical peers. One factor that may influence successful interactions with peers is interpersonal synchrony, or the degree to which interacting individuals align their behaviors (e.g. facial expressions) over time. Autistic and neurotypical youth were paired together into three…

When partners coordinate their movement in time and space to reach a goal, they perform joint action, an important part of every interaction. Joint action involves motor abilities and socio-cognitive skills like theory of mind. Autistic children's lower joint motor coordination (joint action) abilities as well as their motor functioning and theory…

Motor stereotypies are frequently reported in individuals with autism spectrum disorder, but determinants of stereotypies remain poorly understood. In this study, a randomized sample of children with diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder was investigated to identify the prevalence and determinants of stereotypies. A total of 134 children who…

There is limited research regarding the Gilliam Autism Rating Scales-3rd Edition (GARS-3) despite its extensive use. A comprehensive diagnostic evaluation, including the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule--2nd Edition (ADOS-2) was provided to 186 clinically referred children suspected of autism ([x-bar] age = 8.98; Autism [AUT] n = 87; Not…

Successful social interactions are assumed to depend on theory of mind--the ability to represent others' mental states--yet most studies of the relation between theory of mind and social-interactive success rely on non-interactive tasks that do not adequately capture the "spontaneous" engagement of theory of mind, a crucial component of…

The COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent social distancing policies forced healthcare teams to drastically alter the way they deliver services. This was particularly challenging for clinicians involved in diagnosing autism spectrum disorder (ASD), as assessment tools and methods required face-to-face social interactions between clinicians and…