Background: It is important to investigate receipt of vocational rehabilitation (VR) services, service patterns and outcomes for youth with autism, so that limited public resources can be used more efficiently. Method: This study used chi-squared automatic interaction detector, and multivariate logistic regression analysis to investigate…

Students who report high levels of intrinsic motivation (IM) perform better on academic tasks compared with students who report low levels of IM. However, there is a paucity of data on IM for several disability categories (e.g., intellectual disability). The focus of this study was to use a nationally representative sample of students with…

Mental health difficulties are highly prevalent in individuals on the autism spectrum. The current study examined how experiences and perceptions of autism acceptance could impact on the mental health of autistic adults. 111 adults on the autism spectrum completed an online survey examining their experiences of autism acceptance, along with…

We present a meta-analysis of studies that compare figurative language comprehension in individuals with autism spectrum disorder and in typically developing controls who were matched based on chronological age or/and language ability. A total of 41 studies and 45 independent effect sizes were included based on predetermined inclusion criteria.…

Little is known about the relation between cognitive processes and imagination and whether this relation differs between neurotypically developing children and children with autism. To address this issue, we administered a cognitive task battery and Karmiloff-Smith's drawing task, which requires children to draw imaginative people and houses. For…

Researchers and data analysts are sometimes faced with the problem of very small samples, where the number of variables approaches or exceeds the overall sample size; i.e. high dimensional data. In such cases, standard statistical models such as regression or analysis of variance cannot be used, either because the resulting parameter estimates…

This study examined the relationships between autism spectrum disorder (ASD) symptoms, care-related activities, and satisfaction with life (SWL) in 184 parents caring for a child with ASD in New Zealand. The relationships between coping styles and SWL were also examined. The parents' SWL scores indicated they were slightly dissatisfied with their…

Parents report that the process of getting an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis is arduous, lengthy, and fraught with difficulties. This analysis of the Pathways survey data set examined the experiences of parents who said, at the time of the survey, that their child currently had ASD compared with parents who said, at the time of the…

Purpose: This study examined the role of cognition on the navigational process of a speech-generating device (SGD) among individuals with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The objective was to investigate the role of various cognitive factors (i.e., cognitive flexibility, sustained attention, categorization, fluid reasoning, and…

Little is known about continuity, change and predictors of anxiety in ASD. This follow-up study investigated changes in caregiver-reported anxiety in 54 non-referred youth with ASD after 10-19 months. Earlier child predictors of later anxiety were also examined. Anxiety scores were generally stable. Time 1 ASD repetitive behavior symptoms, but not…

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…

As youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are more likely to experience anxiety than youth in the general population, investigation of associated factors is important for diagnosis and treatment. The present study extended prior research by examining factors associated with caregiver-reported anxiety in 2662 youth (mean age = 8.82 years) with…

Publicly funded mental health services are critical in caring for children with autism spectrum disorder. Accurate identification of psychiatric comorbidity is necessary for effective mental health treatment. Little is known about psychiatric diagnosis for this population in routine mental health care. This study (1) examined correspondence…

Learners with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often exhibit difficulty in the area of reading comprehension. Research connecting the learning needs of individuals with ASD, existing effective practices, teacher training, and teacher perceptions of their own ability to teach reading comprehension is scarce. Quantitative survey methodology and…

The aim of this study was to explore the influence of parental intolerance of Uncertainty (IU), sensory sensitivity (SS) and Broader Autism Phenotype (BAP), as well as the severity of their children's autism symptoms and co-morbid symptoms, on the mental health of Chinese parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). One hundred and…