Naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions are an empirically supported intervention approach for young autistic children. Despite the prevalence of disruptive behaviors among autistic children, most manualized caregiver-mediated naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions include limited formal guidance on when and how to manage…

Autistic people experience more co-occurring health conditions and, on average, die younger than non-autistic people. Despite growing awareness of health inequities, autistic people still report barriers to accessing healthcare. We aimed to explore the experiences of autistic people accessing healthcare, shining a light on the complex interplay of…

Magnetic resonance imaging is widely used for different diagnostic examinations involving autistic patients. The noisy, narrow, isolating magnetic resonance imaging environment and long scan times may not be suitable for autistic individuals, given their communication challenges, sensory sensitivities and often heightened anxiety. This systematic…

The UK government identified 'improving support within the criminal justice systems' as a priority for autistic people. There is a lack of quantitative research to enable policymakers to make evidence-based decisions on how to improve access to justice for autistic people. This study used a case-comparison design to compare the experiences of 145…

Many individuals with autism experience challenges using language in social contexts (i.e., pragmatic language). Characterizing and understanding pragmatic variability is important to inform intervention strategies and the etiology of communication challenges in autism; however, current manual coding-based methods are often time and labor…

On average, groups of autistic individuals are more likely than groups of non-autistic individuals to exhibit unconventional conversational behaviours. We examined autistic and non-autistic children's social impressions of unconventional responding, as well as actual conversational behaviours in the same participants. Across two studies, 36…

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…

There is a critical need for validated screening tools for autism spectrum disorder in very young children so families can access tailored intervention services as early as possible. Few screeners exist for children between the recommended screening ages of 18-24 months. This study examined the utility of a new autism-specific parent-report…

Difficulty with communication and social functioning are two outstanding core symptoms of autism spectrum disorder, and physical activity has long been suggested to improve autism spectrum disorder symptoms. In this meta-analysis of controlled trials, we examined the effects of physical activity interventions compared to controls on communication…

This study examined maintenance of treatment effects in a culturally tailored parent education program for Latinx families of children with autism spectrum disorder using a behavior maintenance framework. In a two-site randomized waitlist-control study, we compared differences in parent and child outcomes across three timepoints using linear mixed…

Early diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder is challenging due to its phenotypic and etiological heterogeneity, but critical for implementation of early interventions. We examined the age of autism spectrum disorder diagnosis in a sample of 554 children and adolescents enrolled in the ELENA cohort study in France with regard to the influences of…

Prenatal and perinatal factors may increase the risk of autism spectrum disorder. However, little is known about whether unaffected siblings of probands with autism spectrum disorder also share the phenomenon and whether the prenatal/perinatal factors are related to the clinical severity of autistic symptoms. We compared the frequency of prenatal…

The aim of this study was to generate a patient-centered conceptual model of the impact of living with autism spectrum disorder, which can be used to support the selection of outcome measures for clinical trials. Following an initial literature review to identify preliminary concepts and inform an interview guide, in-depth face-to-face interviews…

Little is known about factors impacting poor post-school outcomes for transition-age students with autism spectrum disorder. Guided by the Exploration, Preparation, Implementation, and Sustainment implementation science framework, we sought to better understand the interdependent impacts of policy, organizational, provider, and individual factors…

Our objective was to use a community-based participatory research approach to identify and compare barriers to healthcare experienced by autistic adults and adults with and without other disabilities. To do so, we developed a Long- and Short-Form instrument to assess barriers in clinical and research settings. Using the Barriers to Healthcare…