Autistic individuals are twice as likely to meet criteria for anxiety than neurotypical children; yet we lack understanding of early presentations of anxiety in young autistic children, especially those with cognitive impairment. This study is the first to utilize an autism-specific anxiety diagnostic interview with 28 preschool cognitively…

Multiple contemporary theories emphasize the quantity and quality of child vocalizations for promoting spoken language acquisition. Yet, empirical evidence for facilitating vocal development is strikingly lacking including for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who have difficulty developing language. We evaluate use of contingent…

Best practice for the assessment of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) symptom severity relies on clinician ratings of the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, 2nd Edition (ADOS-2), but the association of these ratings with objective measures of children's social gaze and smiling is unknown. Sixty-six preschool-age children (49 boys, M =…

Atypical habituation to repetitive information has been commonly reported in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) but it is not yet clear whether similar abnormalities are present in Neurofibromatosis Type 1 (NF1). We employed a cross-syndrome design using a novel eye tracking paradigm to measure habituation in preschoolers with NF1, children with…

This study examined the early pragmatic language skills in typically developing (TD) preschool-age children, children with language impairment (LI) and children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Two hundred and sixty-two TD children, 73 children with LI, and 16 children with ASD were compared on early pragmatics through direct assessment (DA).…

The Theory of Mind Inventory-2 (ToMI-2) is a promising measure for assessing theory of mind (ToM) and social-related functions. However, limited evidence on its factorial validity hampers score interpretation. To examine the factorial validity, confirmatory factor analysis for two currently-available structures was performed in 420 typically…

A multiple probe across participants with an embedded withdrawal single case research design was used to examine the effectiveness of a progressive time delay (PTD) procedure to teach preschoolers with disabilities to imitate their peers during a sculpting play activity. Data indicated the presence of a functional relation between the use of PTD…

Research evaluating predictors of mathematics ability in preschoolers with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is scarce and inconclusive. The present study first compared the mathematics ability and cognitive abilities of preschoolers with ASD and age-matched typically developing (TD) peers. Then, we examined the relative contributions of cognitive…

Network modeling of the social, communication and restrictive/repetitive behaviors (RRBs) included in the definition of Autism Spectrum Disorder was performed. The Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R) assessed behaviors in 139 pre-school cases at two cross-sections that averaged 34.8 months apart. Cross-sectional networks were based on the…

Children with autism often display differences in functional and symbolic play and may experience barriers to social inclusion with peers in preschool settings. Therefore, interventions supporting social play between children with autism and their peers that can be feasibly implemented by teachers in inclusive settings are needed. A…

Despite the popularity of social skills groups, there remains a need for empirical investigation of treatment effects, especially when targeting pivotal aspects of social functioning such as initiations to peers. The goal of the present study was to conduct a randomized controlled trial of a 12-week social intervention (SUCCESS), which combined an…

Packing involves not swallowing solids or liquids in the mouth. It is a significant mealtime behaviour to treat. Research has shown effectiveness of redistribution, but only two studies in highly specialised hospital settings in the United States have evaluated the use of a chaser. We extended this literature by conducting treatment in the home…

Prevalence of hearing loss in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is uncertain, as it is more challenging to assess hearing function in children with developmental difficulties (DD). We aimed to determine the prevalence and profiles of hearing loss in preschool children with ASD in a Southeast-Asian population who passed newborn hearing…

Multimodal imaging studies targeting preschoolers and low-functioning autism spectrum disorder (ASD) patients are scarce. We applied machine learning classifiers to parameters from T1-weighted MRI and DTI data of 58 children with ASD (age 3-6 years) and 48 typically developing controls (TDC). Classification performance reached an accuracy,…

While there is wide consensus regarding the importance of early intervention, health is rarely considered within priorities. Twenty-five children on the autism spectrum (M[subscript age] = 4.67, SD = 0.82) participated in a 12-week physical activity intervention. Primary objective was to examine impact of a physical activity intervention on…