Compare developmental profiles and core ASD symptom manifestation between male and female toddlers with DSM-5 ASD. Retrospective record review of 500 toddlers (79% male) at time of ASD diagnosis. There were no differences in developmental functioning between males and females. When adjusting for multiple comparisons, sex differences were only…

Participation in Organised Extracurricular Social Activities (OESA) can provide positive outcomes for children. This study investigated whether children aged 4 to 12 years diagnosed with autism differ in their OESA participation and experience compared to neurotypical peers. Parents of autistic children (n = 35) and those of neurotypical peers (n…

Logistic regression was used to examine the use of Autism Spectrum diagnostic categories from pre-COVID-19 in-person evaluations and COVID-19 telehealth evaluations at a specialist community mental health clinic. The diagnostic classification for children 0-5 (DC: 0-5) affords a wider range of diagnoses that allowed for inferences of clinician…

A relatively large number of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) exhibit disruptive behavioral problems. While accumulating data have shown behavioral parent training programs to be efficacious in reducing disruptive behaviors for this population, there is a dearth of literature examining the impact of such programs across the range of…

This study extended the research on correlates of adaptive functioning of high-functioning children with autism spectrum disorder (HFASD) using the Behavior Assessment System for Children-Second Edition (BASC-2). Specifically, this study investigated the relationships between adaptive behavior and age, IQ, and ASD symptomology, in a…

Given the emphasis on early screening for ASD, it is crucial to examine the concordance between parent report and clinician observation of autism-related behaviors. Similar items were compared from the First Year Inventory (Baranek et al. "First-Year Inventory (FYI) 2.0." University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 2003), a parent…

To assess prevalence and severity of emotional dysregulation (ED) in psychiatrically referred youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). ASD youth (N = 123) were compared to youth with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and controls. The majority of psychiatrically referred youth with ASD had positive Child Behavior Checklist-ED…

Children with autism use hand taking and hand leading gestures to interact with others. This is traditionally considered to be an example of atypical behaviour illustrating the lack of intersubjective understanding in autism. However the assumption that these gestures are atypical is based upon scarce empirical evidence. In this paper I present…

Studying anxiety in neurogenetic syndromes may inform the intersection of biological and developmental risks, facilitating effective and targeted interventions. We longitudinally examined stranger fear in infants and toddlers with fragile X syndrome (FXS; n = 46) and typical controls (n = 33), as well as associations between observed stranger fear…

This study compared parent and teacher ratings of ASD-related symptoms of 120 high-functioning children, ages 6-12 years with ASD (HFASD) using the Developmental Social Disorders (DSD) scale of the BASC-2. DSD ratings (parent and teacher) were significantly higher than normative estimates. The cross-informant comparison was significantly higher…

Atypical responses to sensory stimuli are a new criterion in DSM-5 for the diagnosis of an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) but are also reported in other developmental disorders. Using the Short Sensory profile (SSP) and Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised we compared atypical sensory behaviour (hyper- or hypo-reactivity to sensory input or unusual…

Purpose of this quasi-experimental trial was to investigate the effect of Pivotal response treatment (PRT) versus treatment as usual (TAU) on autism symptoms. Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), aged 3-8 years, received either PRT (n = 11) or TAU (n = 13). Primary outcome measure was the total score on the Autism Diagnostic Observation…

Despite consistent and substantive research documenting a large male to female ratio in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), only a modest body of research exists examining sex differences in characteristics. This study examined sex differences in developmental functioning and early social communication in children with ASD as compared to children with…

Symptoms of autism are frequent in males with fragile X syndrome (FXS), but it is not clear whether symptom profiles differ from those of nonsyndromic ASD. Using individual item scores from the Autism Diagnostic Inventory-Revised, we examined which current symptoms of autism differed in boys with FXS relative to same-aged boys diagnosed with…

Parents of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) consistently report executive functioning (EF) deficits. This study investigates the factor structure of the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) as reported by parents of children with ASD and typically developing children (TDC). BRIEFs for 411 children with ASD and 467…