Recent decades have been marked by a wave drug treatment research in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This work has resulted in improved ability to treat commonly occurring behavioral challenges associated with ASD including most prominently irritability marked by aggression, self-injurious behavior, and severe tantrums. While treatment of…

There are three branches of science of behavior analysis [i.e., experimental analysis of behavior, behavior analysis, and applied behavior analysis (ABA)]. ABA can be defined as a systematic approach to understanding behavior of social interest. For the past 40 plus years, researchers have evaluated ABA and ABA based procedures (e.g., behavioral…

The use of alternative interventions, such as gluten-free and casein-free (GFCF) diets, is frequent due to limited therapies for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Our aims were to determine the influence of a GFCF diet on behavior disorders in children and adolescents diagnosed with ASD and the potential association with urinary beta-casomorphin…

Depression-, anxiety-, OCD- and autism-related behaviors were assessed in 118 high-functioning individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and in 2016 controls. The ASD group had a higher rate of clinical depression and markedly higher "insomnia" and "restlessness" scores. Network analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis…

Parents of children with ASD who had attended an Australian emergency department (ED; n = 421) completed a questionnaire relating to their experiences in the ED, including (1) child's reason for presentation and existing comorbidities, (2) quality of care during the visit (3) child's behaviour during visit, e.g. sensory responses to the ED…

Olfactory dysfunction is recognized in neurodevelopmental disorders and may serve as an early indicator of global dysfunction. The present meta-analysis measures olfaction effect sizes in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Meta-analysis included 320 ADHD, 346…

Disruptive behavior disorders and social skills were assessed in 187 youth aged 13 years, with typical cognitive development (TD n = 98), intellectual disability (ID n = 37), autism spectrum disorder (ASD, IQ > = 85, n = 26), or Autism Spectrum Disorder with ID (ASD/ID; IQ < 85, n = 26). The primary question was whether youth with ASD and…

Children with neurogenetic syndromes (NGS) experience comorbid challenging behaviors and psychopathology. We examined challenging behaviors in 86 toddlers and preschoolers across three NGS [Angelman syndrome (AS), Prader--Willi syndrome (PWS), and Williams syndrome (WS)] and 43 low-risk controls (LRC), using the Child Behavior Checklist for Ages…

No study has analyzed the relative occurrence of a broad range of symptoms reported by mothers of children with autism, ADHD-Combined, and ADHD-Inattentive and typical controls. Mothers rated 1436 children with autism, 1056 with ADHD without autism, and 186 controls, 2-17 years, on 41 internalizing, externalizing, neurodevelopmental, and somatic…

Truncating variants of the "MAGEL2" gene, one of the protein-coding genes within the Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) critical region on chromosome 15q11, cause Schaaf-Yang syndrome (SYS)--a neurodevelopmental disorder that shares several clinical features with PWS. The current study sought to characterize the neurobehavioral phenotype of SYS…

The present study aimed to explore clinical trends in the period 2000-2010, along with discriminating clinical factors for autism spectrum disorder (ASD), in young children suspected of ASD. The following trends were observed: (1) a rise in referrals including an increase in referrals among language-abled children, (2) an increase in children…

Studies have shown that Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) screening and diagnostic instruments may be affected by the presence of emotional and behavior problems (EBPs). This study assessed the impact of EBPs on the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers, Revised with Follow-up (M-CHAT-R/F). Participants included 290 children, 18-48 months of age,…

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are reported to have greater levels of anger rumination than typically developing children. This study examined anger rumination in children with ASD in comparison to children with disruptive behavior disorder without ASD. We also tested if anger rumination is associated with aggression and the core ASD…

Sleep problems were studied in both typically developing (TD) children and those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) using the Sleep Disturbance Scale for Children. Factors associated with these problems were also studied in children with ASD. Seventy-three children with ASD and their age and sex matched TD controls in age group of 3-12 years were…

Here, we describe a case in which an original diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Asperger's syndrome was later adapted to social communication disorder, to meet the new guidelines. First, separate diagnostic labels of autism disorder, Asperger's disorder, and PDD-NOS have been replaced by one umbrella term…