Communication and interaction in neurotypical environments can be challenging for autistic individuals, potentially disrupting the parent-child relationship. In Relationship Development Intervention (RDI) that facilitates improved interactions between autistic children and their parents, RDI Consultants play key roles in enabling parents to…

Purpose: Dyadic synchrony is positively associated with social competence. Although children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and children diagnosed with Down Syndrome (DS) both have trouble with dyadic synchrony, the origin of their difficulties is fundamentally different. In this mixed method study, we investigated differences in…

The effect associated with the presence of seizures in 2 to 5-year-old autistic children was investigated in the largest and the longest observational study to-date. Parents assessed the development of 8461 children quarterly for three years on five orthogonal subscales: combinatorial receptive language, expressive language, sociability, sensory…

This study evaluated whether a play-based, teacher-facilitated peer network intervention could improve basic social communication skills of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The study was conducted in a regular classroom, using the principles of peer mediation and an integrated playgroup model. A single-subject multiple baseline design…

The Social Competence Observation Scale (SCOS) is an objective observational measure developed to assess the social performance of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This paper describes development of the SCOS and results of initial testing of reliability and treatment sensitivity for a sample of 12 children, ages 4-6 years, with ASD.…

This study reports on two pilot studies developing a telemedicine parent-delivered social skills intervention (PDSSI) for school-aged children with ASD. Pilot study 1 involved initial development, training, and feasibility testing for six parent-child pairs using in-person training and fidelity monitoring. Findings from study 1 supported the…

In this study, we evaluated three lessons from a manualized social play skills intervention, Play20. Play20 is a focused intervention that is designed to improve early social skill development in children with autism spectrum disorder through naturalistic play. First, we evaluated the procedural fidelity of instructor implementation of Play20, and…

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the differential effects of video modeling (VM) and picture-based interventions (PI) for teaching children with ASD to recognize emotions in context. The study used an adapted alternating treatments design. One girl and three boys in China, 4.5-5 years old with autism spectrum disorder,…

Although evidence has suggested that social skills interventions yield social and symptom benefits for autistic children, significant variability in outcomes between studies has raised important questions regarding efficacy and moderators of intervention outcomes (i.e., which interventions yield positive effects and which autistic children are…

Impairments in empathic responding are related to decreased social interactions and fewer friendships for adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Teaching adolescents to respond empathetically during conversation may promote the development of healthy social relationships. The current study examined the effectiveness of an affective…

Humans need empathy to promote social interactions and to display prosocial behavior. Therefore, it is not surprising that low empathy skills are commonly seen as diagnostic features in several mental disorders. Empathy is an interesting topic in autism, since low empathy skills are responsible for the social difficulties that individuals with…

Deficits in social-communication skills are a core feature of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Deficits in social communication progress into adolescence and adulthood, making complex social interactions particularly difficult and preventing the development of meaningful friendships. Interventions aimed to improve conversational skills needed to…

This study tested the feasibility and initial efficacy of a cognitive-behavioral summer treatment (summerMAX[superscript yc]) for high-functioning young children, ages 4-6 years, with ASD (HFASD; without intellectual disability). The treatment was conducted 5 days per week, 6 h per day, over 5 weeks in the summer and included skills instruction…

This study assessed the potential short-term effects of COVID-19 stay-at-home restrictions on ratings of ASD and comorbid symptoms severity and adaptive functioning of 69 youth, ages 8-16 years with ASD without intellectual disability. Parent/caregiver ratings were being collected in fall and spring over approximately two years when the…

This pilot placebo-controlled trial (NCT00965068, 07/28/2009) explored effects of cholesterol supplementation on autism spectrum disorder (ASD) symptoms in children with abnormally low cholesterol. Fifteen children age 4-12 with ASD and cholesterol <5th percentile for age/sex were randomized to 225 mg cholesterol vs. matched placebo twice daily…