The goal of this preliminary investigation was to compare demographic and clinical characteristics in a sample of children with likely Social (Pragmatic) Communication Disorder (SCD) (N = 117) to those in children with possible (N = 118) and some (N = 126) SCD traits, other developmental delay (DD) (N = 91) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) (N =…

For children with autism or intellectual and developmental disabilities who also have complex communication needs, communication is a necessary skill set to increase independence and quality of life. Understanding the how, where, and communication style being taught is important for identifying deficits in the field as well as which interventions…

The students with nonverbal autism are challenged in communicating their needs which is fundamental in the everyday life of a person. Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) aids children with a speech impediment in expressing necessities. However, the Philippines might be one of the most numerous smartphone users in the world but it…

Background: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and social pragmatic communication disorder (SPCD) are two neurodevelopmental disorders with many similarities in affected individuals' impairments in social-communicative and pragmatic development. A central question pertaining to their differentiation concerns whether the distinction is truly…

Purpose: Social communication or pragmatic skills are continuously distributed in the general population. Impairment in these skills is associated with two clinical disorders, autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and social (pragmatic) communication disorder. Such impairment can impact a child's peer acceptance, school performance, and current and later…

The "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders'" (5th ed.) Social (Pragmatic) Communication Disorder is meant to capture the social elements of communication dysfunction in children who do not meet autism spectrum disorder criteria. It is unclear whether Social (Pragmatic) Communication Disorder captures these elements…

Anxiety is a common co-occurring condition in autism and impacts quality of life of autistic individuals and their families; autistic individuals who speak few or no words represent an under-researched group. This qualitative study aimed to understand more about parental recognition and management of anxiety in autistic individuals who speak few…

Despite the expansion of early intervention approaches for young children with ASD, investigators have struggled to identify measures capable of assessing social communication change in response to these interventions. Addressing recent calls for efficient, sensitive, and reliable social communication measures, the current paper outlines the…

This study disentangled the influences of language and social processing on communication in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) by examining whether gesture and speech production differs as a function of social context. The results indicate that, unlike other adolescents, adolescents with ASD did not increase their coherency and engagement in the…

Purpose: Early Achievements for Education Settings (EA-ES) is a teacher-implemented naturalistic developmental behavioral intervention for preschoolers with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) targeting core social communication impairments. The purpose of this pilot randomized controlled clinical trial (RCT) was to examine promise of efficacy of this…

Autism spectrum disorders are lifelong conditions that affect children's social and communication skills. Dual diagnoses pose additional challenges mainly because of the difficulties that come with making accurate decisions. It is intriguing to note that children with hearing impairments are more likely to have autism as opposed to members of the…

This article describes the operation of a Communication Coaching Program, which was designed to provide supports for students with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) attending the University of Rhode Island. To succeed in college programs, many students with ASDs need access to specialized programming and personnel who are able to foster their…

Very little is known about language and communication development in minimally verbal children with autism, especially those who remain minimally verbal past the age of five. This population is rarely reported on in research and although there is evidence that some children do learn to speak after the age of five, we lack information on the course…

Deferred imitation and early social communication skills were compared among speaking and nonspeaking children with autism and children developing typically. Overall, the children with autism showed a lower frequency on measures of deferred imitation and social communication compared with typically developing children. Deferred imitation was…

The present study examined levels of sense-making in relation to adaptive functioning and autism symptomatology in low-functioning children with autistic disorder. Thirty-six children with autistic disorder and intellectual disability were compared with 27 children with intellectual disability and 33 typically developing children with a comparable…