The heterogeneous nature of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) makes accurate diagnosis challenging. Best practice assessments in schools can open pathways to appropriate interventions and educational placements for those with ASD, as well as help identify a student's strengths. There are various tools used in school settings to assess autism. In this…

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends autism spectrum disorder screening at the 18- and 24-month well-child visits. However, despite widespread toddler screening, many children are not diagnosed until school age, and delayed diagnosis is more common among low-income and minority children. Offering autism spectrum disorder screening at…

Attentional impairments are among the earliest identifiable features of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Three attention networks have been extensively studied using the attention network test (ANT), but this long and repetitive task may pose challenges for individuals with ASDs. The AttentionTrip was developed as a more engaging measure of…

The purpose of this manuscript is to identify social narrative strategies that can be used to enhance the social skills of young children identified with autism spectrum disorder. We provide a description as well as scenarios describing how educators might consider using social narrative strategies. We conclude with resources to attain additional…

Anti-Black racism is a pervasive issue in the autism field that affects the autism service pathway, which ranges from identification of concerns to ongoing service navigation. In this short report, we provide a working model of the autism service pathway and highlight ways in which anti-Black racism affects all components of the pathway. We…

In public schools, Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) students are overidentified with autism (AU) but are underrepresented in other special education categories. Such patterns may be result, in part, from overaggregation of data from students representing diverse AAPI ethnic groups. Yet, professionals' implicit biases, limited cultural…

Objective: Young adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are enrolling in colleges at increasing rates. This case highlights the need for college mental health clinicians to be aware of features of ASD in emerging adults. Participants: A case of a young woman with dysphoria and anxiety who also met ASD criteria during a diagnostic evaluation.…

Each year, the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) releases a list of scientific advances that represent significant progress in the field. The "2018 Summary of Advances" provides short, plain language summaries of the top research breakthroughs selected by the IACC from a pool of research articles nominated by the members.…

The present contribution discusses the legislation referring to persons diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD). From international documents (The Charter for Persons with Autism, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities), to national legislation (The Law on Autism, The Methodological Norms for Applying the Law on…

Food selectivity is the most commonly reported feeding problem in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD.) Schreck et al. (2004) surveyed 472 caregivers of children between 5 and 12 years of age. They found that 72% of those children diagnosed with ASD had feeding difficulties, significantly higher than same-age peers without ASD.…

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and ASD are two common neurobiological disorders in school-age children. In fact, approximately 6.4 million children between the ages of 4 and 17 have been diagnosed with ADHD since 2011 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2017). More recent prevalence estimates suggest that five percent of all…

Over the past decade there has been a substantial increase in research addressing the needs of children in China who have an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Despite the fact the country has the largest educational system in the world and has numerous policies to ensure all children's rights to an education, opportunities are limited for children…

Upon entering the workplace, speech-language pathologists (SLPs) are required to work on interprofessional teams, yet many of these professionals have not received adequate preservice instruction on how to collaborate. Furthermore, collaborating to provide services for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has been found to improve…

An administrator of an elementary school shares her experience with students exhibiting signs of twice-exceptionality.

Understanding what autism means on a personal level can be an important process for young people on the autistic spectrum, and being able to reflect on this and discuss with autistic peers can be particularly helpful. However, opportunities may be restricted by reluctance to talk about diagnosis and because of difficulties in communication…