Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) programs adapted to children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) effectively reduce anxiety when run in university clinics. Forty-nine children aged 8-14 years participated in a waitlist controlled study in a general child psychiatric hospital setting. Post-treatment 30% of the children were free of their…

Evidence suggests increased rates of suicidality in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), but the research has rarely used comparison samples and the role of emotion dysregulation has not been considered. We compared the prevalence of parent-reported suicidality ideation and considered the role of emotion dysregulation in 330 psychiatric inpatient youth…

Telehealth has been shown to be both acceptable and effective in many areas of healthcare, yet it was not widely adopted prior to the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic. Additionally, previous evaluations of telehealth for autism spectrum condition (ASC) and intellectual and developmental disability (IDD) populations are limited in both number and…

While youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are psychiatrically hospitalized at high rates, general psychiatric settings are not designed to meet their unique needs. Previous evaluations of an ASD-Care Pathway (ASD-CP) on a general psychiatric unit revealed sustained reductions in crisis interventions (intramuscular medication use,…

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are frequently hospitalized within general psychiatric settings, which are not usually designed to meet their needs. An initial evaluation of a care pathway developed for youth with ASD receiving services in a general psychiatric inpatient unit (ASD-CP) showed promise in improving outcomes while using…

Psychiatric hospitalization of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is common, but there is little comparative information available on different psychiatric hospital treatment models. Children with ASD ages 4-20 were enrolled upon admission to either a specialized (N = 53) or a general child psychiatric unit (N = 27). Caregivers completed…

Youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are psychiatrically hospitalized at high rates. Though specialized psychiatric units are effective, few specialized units exist. The ASD Care Pathway (ASD-CP) was developed as a scalable approach to improving care in general psychiatric units through staff training and a package of autism-specific…

Data from the Autism Inpatient Collection was used to examine the relationship between problem behaviors and verbal ability, which have generally, though not universally, been highly associated. In a comparison of 169 minimally-verbal and 177 fluently-verbal 4 to 20-year-old psychiatric inpatients with ASD, the severity of self-injurious behavior,…

We examined the relationship between sleep duration and awakenings to Aberrant Behavior Checklist-Community (ABC-C) and Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS-2) scores in hospitalized youth with ASD and behavioral disturbance. Participants included 106 patients with a stay of at least 10 nights. Sleep in the hospital was recorded by staff…

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is associated with significant healthcare expenditures and a greater utilization of psychiatric health services. High utilization may not be evenly distributed across individuals with ASD. The objective of this study was to identify individual and family characteristics that increase the risk of psychiatric…

The objective was to examine the frequency, correlates, and overlap of school disciplinary actions, psychiatric hospitalizations, and police contact among children and adolescents with autism. Survey results from 2525 caregivers of individuals with autism in elementary through high school were examined. Logistic regression was used to examine…

Children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are at risk for emotional dysregulation and behavior problems that can escalate to levels requiring psychiatric hospitalization. Evaluating the etiology of such behaviors can be challenging for health care providers, as individuals with ASD can have difficulty self-reporting concerns.…

Psychiatric hospitalization of children with autism spectrum disorder and/or intellectual disability is common, however, the effectiveness of this intervention is largely unknown. Thirty-eight clinically-referred children 8-19 years old admitted to a specialized inpatient psychiatry unit were assessed by a consistent caregiver on the Aberrant…

The purpose of this study was to assess the validity of the diagnosis of childhood autism in the Danish Psychiatric Central Register (DPCR) by reviewing medical records from 499 of 504 total children with childhood autism born 1990-1999. Based on review of abstracted behaviors recorded in case records from child psychiatric hospitals, case status…

Follow-up of 10 schizophrenic children admitted to a child psychiatric unit revealed that outcome was related to such factors as age of onset, and clinical subtype. Deterioration following the active phase of the illness occurred in only four cases, indicating that the outcome may be more favorable than generally assumed. (Author)