Texas Woman's University offers a unique combination of programs and opportunities, not only to its students and faculty, but to researchers and practitioners across the country. To a significant extent, these programs owe their existence to the professional and financial support of Dr. Richard W. Woodcock and the Woodcock Institute for the…

Appreciating autistic neurodiversity is important when supporting autistic people who experience distress. Specifically, use of a profiling model can reveal less visible autistic differences, including strengths and abilities. Binary logistic regressions showed that the likelihood of extreme distress responses could be interpreted based on…

Individuals with ASD have been shown to have different pattern of functional connectivity. In this study, brain activity of participants with many and few autistic traits, was recorded using an fNIRS device, as participants preformed an interpersonal synchronization task. This type of task involves synchronization and functional connectivity of…

This article offers a unique look into the cognitive processes of students with autism spectrum disorder in music classrooms. Concepts include theory of mind, weak central coherence, executive function, joint attention, and social attention. Behavior implications are also examined. Specific examples of support tools for the music classroom are…

This proposed volume will provide in-depth coverage about a construct known as the broad autism phenotype (BAP). The BAP encompasses biological, cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and interpersonal characteristics resembling those found on the autism spectrum, although more subtle than what is evident among individuals who meet formal criteria for…

The prevalence of children with autism spectrum disorders appears to be on the increase and educators are becoming more aware of their educational and social needs. In particular, many students with high-functioning autism have a deficit in reading comprehension. As a consequence, there is now a greater determination by educators to design the…

This article addresses the complexity of what it means to "be social" from the perspective of social thinking. This perspective recognizes social cognitive processing abilities as the foundation for social knowledge and, in turn, social behaviors. The article further describes variables that influence how one understands how to do what…

Because of the importance of contextual sensitivity in several cognitive processes that are affected in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), such as social cognition, understanding of language, or cognitive shifting, we argue that a lack of contextual sensitivity or "context blindness" should be given more attention in a neurocognitive…

Educators and employers are working together to promote students diagnosed with autism by developing skills related to the STEM fields. Students diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are showing high levels of interest in STEM fields. This paper will review STEM and ASD literature and offer methods for improving student access to…

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) refers to several conditions that share the feature of persistent social impairment. The rate of ASD diagnosis has climbed to one in 88 (CDC, 2012), and increasing numbers of individuals with ASD attend college. College students with ASD may share academic challenges related to critical thinking, executive…

This paper charts the journey made towards verbal communication with Mackenzie, a boy who was three years old at the start of treatment and diagnosed with pervasive developmental disorder. In this paper, I bring together diverse areas of research and demonstrate how they inform my clinical practice. Together, these ideas created a multimodal and…

The purpose of this document is to provide a brief overview of how links are being developed between the rapidly expanding field of neuroscience and the practice of special education. The first part of the document introduces definitions and terminology, provides an overview of how findings from neuroscience are being applied to the field of…

There has been a widely held belief that people with autism spectrum disorders lack empathy. This article examines the empathy imbalance hypothesis (EIH) of autism. According to this account, people with autism have a deficit of cognitive empathy but a surfeit of emotional empathy. The behavioral characteristics of autism might be generated by…

Play is a complex phenomenon that occurs naturally for most children; they move through the various stages of play development and are able to add complexity, imagination, and creativity to their thought processes and actions. However, for many children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), the various stages of play never truly develop, or occur…

The term "literacy" is often used synonymously with reading and writing. However, literacy entails more than reading and writing. Literacy involves communicating with others and includes listening, viewing, following, and reading directions and interacting with friends and colleagues. The literacy skills and abilities are essential for all…