Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder marked by socio-emotional deficits, and difficulties with pretend play skills. Play skills are related to processes of adaptive functioning and emotion understanding. The present pilot study implemented an in-person pretend play intervention to school-aged children (ages 6 to 9 years,…

Technological advances have facilitated robots to perform a variety of human-like functions which have steered the interest of educators, researchers, and practitioners to discover the potential advantage of using robots as an intervention for individuals with autism spectrum disorder. Through meta-analysis, this study provides research-based…

To promote health care transition services (HCTS) among youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), it is important to understand their access to HCTS and the association with functioning. We conducted weighted descriptive statistics and regressions. Findings suggested that HCTS were inconsistently provided to youth with ASD. Access to two or more…

In this study, the researchers explored the usage of a virtual reality (VR)-based social skills learning environment for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Using OpenSimulator, the researchers constructed a desktop VR-based learning environment that supports social-oriented role-play, gaming, and design by children with ASD. Seven 10-14…

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that is characterized by deficits in social communication, interaction, and stereotypical behaviours. Children with ASD have not enough opportunities to participate in physical activity (PA), which lead to increase fitness and health problem. The aim of this study was to compare two…

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are often associated with intellectual disability (ID). ASD-specific group concepts usually focus on people on a high functioning level. The Autism-Competence-Group (AutCom) combines a psycho-educative approach with music and dance/movement interventions in adults with ASD and ID. AutCom includes 16 structured…

The use of socially assistive robotics (SARs) is a promising method for improving the social skills of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Studies conducted in this field in recent years show that the use of robots as collaborators may have positive effects on the development of social skills in children with ASD, especially in those…

Purpose: The rollout of individualised disability funding in Australia resulted in an increased demand for services for people with a disability, particularly support for the high percentage of Australians with autism spectrum disorder. Continuing professional development is one way to grow and maintain a skilled workforce; however, face-to-face…

There is a growing interest in understanding how individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience empathy to explore their social-emotional and communication impairments. Although there has been considerable research into autism and cognitive empathy, research into emotional empathy is scarce, and there is less on the impact of teaching…

Although parent-assisted social skills interventions may reduce early social challenges in preschool-aged children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), limited research has explored whether intervention gains maintain several years after treatment. This study examined the durability of PEERS® for Preschoolers, a parent-mediated social skills…

This mixed-method study explored the treatment integrity of virtual reality (VR)-based social skill training for children with high-functioning autism (HFA). In this study, we designed a VR-based social skills training environment using Opensimulator. Data were collected through screen recordings and behavioral observations of HFA children's…

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…

Despite widespread clinical use of group-based social skills training (SST) for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), there remains a lack of follow-up data, generalisation effects, common definition of social skills, and teacher report data. This study evaluated the effectiveness of an 8-week SST intervention with a play component…

This study examined whether adaptive behaviour, emotional and behavioural challenges, and social skills, respectively, moderated the effect of a movement skill intervention on movement skills among preschool aged children with autism spectrum disorder. Twenty-seven participants with autism spectrum disorder (N = 13 experimental) between 3 and 5…

Student retention in kindergarten is a common practice, so that students will obtain the necessary school preparation for elementary school. However, this practice is also used for students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), without sufficient research data on the impacts of retention on this group of students. The current study examines the…