'High functioning autism' is a term often used for individuals with autism spectrum disorder without an intellectual disability. Over time, this term has become synonymous with expectations of greater functional skills and better long-term outcomes, despite contradictory clinical observations. This study investigated the relationship between…

The education of children with disabilities in the regular educational environment has long been an expectation of legislation in many countries. Yet some children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are educated outside regular classes. Despite the obvious importance that educational placement holds for any child, there is limited research on how…

As an increasing number of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) matriculate on college campuses, all stakeholders should be prepared to meet their needs. Despite a body of literature describing adaptive behavior deficits of individuals with ASD, there is a paucity of research examining these skills among those who are college-ready. The…

In adults with autism spectrum disorder, co-occurring psychiatric conditions are prevalent, and depression is one of the most common co-occurring disorders. This study examined the relationship between depression and cognitive ability, autism symptom severity, and self-reported social impairments in autism spectrum disorder. A total of 33 adults…

Longitudinal studies have generally reported poor outcomes in adulthood for the majority of individuals (c.50-60%) with autism. Several factors putatively predict outcome (e.g. IQ), but findings remain mixed. This paper presents an updated meta-analysis of autism outcome studies and extends previous findings with additional analyses (including…

Sleep disturbances are likely to be associated with emotional and behavioural problems in typically and atypically developing children. The study was aimed to evaluate sleep disturbances in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their associations with emotional/behavioural problems. The study comprised eighteen 5-year-old boys with…

Self-report measures offer a unique source of information in the assessment and intervention of individuals with autism spectrum disorder. However, it is not known if children with autism spectrum disorder can answer self-report questionnaires accurately and consistently. As a step to address this issue, we examined validity indexes of the…

Autistic students often experience peer relationship difficulties. As peer acceptance and rejection may be malleable over time, we examined predictors of change in peer acceptance and peer rejection among early elementary-age autistic students. We followed 166 autistic children (mean age: 6.1 years [range: 4-8], 82.5% boys, grades preK-2nd)…

The association between intolerance of uncertainty and anxiety has proved robust in neurotypical populations and has led to effective interventions targeting intolerance of uncertainty. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to investigate this association in autistic people, given the high prevalence of anxiety in this population…

Previously, a total of 121 children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) performed an adaptive working memory (WM)-training, an adaptive flexibility-training, or a non-adaptive control (mock)-training. Despite overall improvement, there were minor differences between the adaptive and mock-training conditions. Moreover, dropout was relatively…

Comprehensive interventions for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often incorporate augmentative and alternative communication (AAC); however, variability in outcomes exists even among children who access similar intervention. This study investigated predictors of expressive language change for 48 children with ASD aged 31 to 67 months…

Few studies have examined growth and predictors of receptive vocabulary in children with autism spectrum disorder. Here we aimed to compare receptive vocabulary from 4 to 8 years and identify predictors of receptive vocabulary, at 8 years, in children with and without autism spectrum disorder. Participants were drawn from a nationally…

Difficulties regulating emotion have been linked to comorbid psychopathology in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), but little empirical work has examined predictors of dysregulation in this population. Forty-six families of children with ASD participated in a laboratory visit that included direct measurement of children's IQ, ASD…

Community stakeholders, researchers, and providers are increasingly focused on individual, family, and systemic factors that contribute to positive outcomes for adults on the autism spectrum. Parent expectations for their youth's future are associated with adult outcomes (e.g., employment, school success, independence), yet the mechanism for this…

Parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are at risk for high stress levels. Multiple child factors have been identified as predictors of stress in parents of children with ASD, but factors associated with stress in parents of children with ASD and comorbid intellectual disability (ASD-ID) are not well understood. This study…