Symptoms of anxiety are common in autistic children. In non-autistic children, anxiety can have considerable negative impact across various life domains. To date, there has been limited investigation of the impact of anxiety symptoms on the lives of autistic children and their families. In order to explore the impact of anxiety symptoms, the Child…

This study investigated how autism spectrum disorder (ASD) impacts children's ability to identify ownership from linguistic cues (proper nouns vs. possessive pronouns) and their awareness of ownership rights. In comparison to typically developing (TD) children matched on receptive language (M age equivalents: 53-56 months), children with ASD were…

A repeated measures single subject design was used to examine the effectiveness of a joint play approach embedded in professional practice, in supporting pretend play for autistic children. Seven autistic children, aged 5-8 years, with a placement within a specialist educational provision, and who demonstrated restricted play, participated in…

Children with sensory abnormalities (SAs) have a variety of social problems resulting in poorer social functioning than children with typical development (TD). We describe the relationship between SAs and social functioning in school-age children with SAs, children with TD and a clinical comparison sample of children with autism spectrum disorder…

Previous studies have reported dysbiosis in the gut microbiota (GM) of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), which may be a determining factor on child development through the microbiota-gut-brain axis. However, it is not clear if there is a specific group of dysbiotic bacteria in ASD. The aim of this study was to carry out a…

We investigated (1) if the perceptual integration performance is different in children with ASD in comparison with their typically developed (TD) counterparts; and (2) if activating--priming--the global processing strategy, could benefit the integration performance of children with ASD in the subsequent task. We observed that in comparison with…

Robust clinical evidence has not been available for melatonin, a drug commonly administered for treating sleep problems of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In a phase 3 randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial, we administered 1-mg melatonin (n = 65), 4-mg melatonin (n = 65), or placebo (n = 66) to 196 children with ASD once…

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have been shown to exhibit fewer instances of social referencing compared to their typically developing peers. The current study evaluated the effectiveness of multiple-exemplar training, prompting, and social reinforcement to teach social referencing. We used a single-blind randomized control trial…

This study investigated the oculomotor performance in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) during a face-to-face conversation. A head mounted eye tracker recorded the eye movements in 20 children with ASD and 23 children with typical development (TD). Group comparisons were conducted on the randomness and the quantity of eye movement. The…

Recent research indicates that children with autism are at increased risk of maltreatment. We examined news media reports on homicide incidents involving children with autism as victims in the United States between 2000 and 2019. Of the 52 victims studied, 47 (90.4%) were male. Age of victims ranged from 2 to 20 years (mean = 10.4 ± 5.3 years).…

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder characterised by deficits in social interactions and communication, with stereotypical and repetitive behaviours. Recent evidence suggests that maternal immune dysregulation may predispose offspring to ASD. Independent samples t-tests revealed downregulation of IL-17A concentrations in…

Subtle language and communication difficulties are persistent and pervasive for autistic individuals without intellectual disability. They are thought to impact negatively on functionality, social interrelations and emotional well-being, although this relationship is under-explored in the literature. The personal accounts of autistic children…

Recent research has developed and evaluated assessments of sociability in which time allocation near or away from an adult who initiates social interactions is used to characterize the participant as social, indifferent, or avoidant of social interaction. Though these qualitative outcomes have been useful, no studies have evaluated methods of…

Slower habituation to repeating stimuli characterises Autism, but it is not known whether this is driven by difficulties with information processing or an attentional bias towards sameness. We conducted eye-tracking and presented looming geometrical shapes, clocks with moving arms and smiling faces, as two separate streams of stimuli (one…

Introduction: Findings regarding the relationship between IQ and comorbidity in autism and ADHD are inconsistent. Methods: Mothers rated 1,436 children with autism and 1,056 with ADHD without autism (IQs 9-149, ages 2-17) on the Pediatric Behavior Scale. Results: Children with IQs < 70 (vs. [greater than or equal to] 70) had less oppositional…