To examine differences by sex in the timing of identification of individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), survey data were collected in the Netherlands from 2,275 males and females with autistic disorder, Asperger's syndrome and PDD-NOS. Among participants less than 18 years of age, females with Asperger's syndrome were identified later…

Background: Non-word repetition (NWR) tasks have been found to correlate with language skills and to discriminate between groups of typically developing (TD) children and children with speci?c language impairment (SLI) across languages. Aims: The main aim was to develop an easily-administered NWR screening test that could discriminate between…

Assessment of children's restricted and repetitive behaviours offers potential opportunities to improve early diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and timely access to interventions and support. To facilitate this requires understanding of the phenomenology of repetitive behaviours in ASD, including differentiating behaviours seen in ASD…

We examined social attention and attention shifting during (a) a play interaction between 12-month olds and an examiner and (b) after the examiner pretended to hurt herself. We coded the target and duration of infants' visual fixations and frequency of attention shifts. Siblings of children with autism and controls with no family history of autism…

ADHD is an impairing psychological disorder that predominantly affects children, but also adults to a lesser extent. As a result, a considerable amount of research has been completed in recent years to better understand the nature of the disorder to best treat individuals experiencing symptoms of ADHD. Especially with the publication of the…

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that about 1 in 88 children has been identified with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). CDC's estimate comes from the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network, which monitors the number of 8-year-old children with ASDs living in diverse communities throughout the…

This article explores the many issues involved in establishing the diagnosis of intellectual disability in a so-called Atkins (death penalty exemption) hearing. Among the issues addressed are the need to go beyond IQ scores in establishing intellectual deficits, the need to go beyond rating scores in establishing adaptive behavior deficits, the…

The validity of the calibrated severity scores on the ADOS as reported by Gotham et al. (J Autism Dev Disord 39: 693-705, "2009"), was investigated in an independent sample of 1248 Dutch children with 1455 ADOS administrations (modules 1, 2 and 3). The greater comparability between ADOS administrations at different times, ages and in…

Prospective questionnaire data from a longitudinal population sample on children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), developmental delay, specific language impairment, or typical development (TD), were collected at ages eight, 12 and 24 months, via the Communication and Symbolic Behavior Scale Developmental Profile (CSBS)--Infant Toddler…

The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between being labelled either as having dyslexia or as having general special educational needs (SEN) and a child's self-esteem. Seventy-five children aged between 8 and 15 years categorised as having dyslexia (N = 26), as having general SEN (N = 26) or as having no learning difficulties (N…

Although early recognition of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is important, the age of children at diagnosis is variable. Forty-five participants diagnosed with ASD were divided into groups based on age at diagnosis and compared on age when parents first became concerned about various aspects of their development. Results demonstrated no…

Resolution with the diagnosis of one's child involves coming to terms with and accepting the diagnosis and its implications. Parental resolution with the diagnosis was examined among 61 mothers and 60 fathers of 61 children with autism spectrum disorders aged 2-17 years. We investigated resolution rates and subtypes, and associations between…

Background: The Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ), formerly the Autism Screening Questionnaire (ASQ), is based on a well-validated parent interview, the Autism Diagnostic Interview (ADI). It has shown promise as a screening measure for autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) in a research-referred older sample, though recent studies with younger…

Epidemiological studies indicate a worldwide increase in the prevalence of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) over the past decade. ASDs are no longer considered rare conditions. Although the reason(s) for this rise are uncertain, research indicates that specialised intervention at an early age is vital for optimising the outcomes of children with…

Recent prevalence rates for autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are now estimated at about 1 in 110 children in the U.S. Increases in public awareness and research funding in response to the growing numbers of children and adults with this disorder have led to numerous important scientific advances over the last several years. Nevertheless, because…