Many children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have challenges in reading comprehension, especially when implicit information in narrative texts is involved. Three interrelated factors influencing reading comprehension have been proposed to explain these challenges: Theory of Mind -- ToM; executive functions -- EF; and central coherence -- CC.…

During the COVID-19 pandemic, questions abounded about how best to support children during the 'new normal' where homes, often instead of schools, were identified as the usual sites of learning. Educational research has explored the impact of COVID-19 on schools, education and learning, and childhood studies research has shown the impact on…

Adaptive behavior is paramount for independent living and is varyingly impaired in different neurodevelopmental disorders. This study aimed to investigate differences in adaptive behavior between children with autism spectrum disorder and social communication disorder, two conditions characterized by deficits in social communication. Data from 232…

Children exposed to family violence (i.e. child abuse and neglect and intimate partner violence) are often emotionally insecure in their relationship with their parents, and develop psychosocial problems. Emotional insecurity increases the likelihood of psychosocial problems, and may affect adjustment in other contexts (e.g., school). Among…

Friendship quality is closely associated with mental health of children and adolescents, making its assessment crucially important for monitoring healthy development. While the Network Relationship Inventory-Social Provisions Version (NRI-SPV) is a well-established instrument to assess quality of interpersonal relationships, its psychometric…

Background: Home-visiting programs are an often-used intervention for supporting the well-being of families with young children, and there is long-standing interest among researchers in ensuring the effectiveness of this practice. Especially, retention and attrition play important roles in achieving desired outcomes of the intervention. Objective:…

Background: Black families of children with autism spectrum disorder have less access to high quality, culturally responsive care for their children. Method: We assessed satisfaction and service utilization among fifty (29%) Black caregivers and 124 (71%) White caregivers of children with autism spectrum disorder. We also examined whether race…

Purpose: Social anhedonia is a transdiagnostic trait that reflects reduced pleasure from social interaction. It has historically been associated with autism, however, very few studies have directly examined behavioral symptoms of social anhedonia in autistic youth. We investigated rates of social anhedonia in autistic compared to non-autistic…

Despite the importance of centering autistic perspectives in educational decision-making for autistic children, few studies have directly assessed autistic perspectives on the social acceptability of early childhood practices. We conducted an online survey to recruit perspectives of autistic adults on a current, comprehensive range of educational…

Recent literature emphasises the role of exploration, designerly play, creative thinking, and handling of materials in the beginning years of learning. This paper reports findings from a study involving 24 children (aged 4 to 10 years), where the researchers engaged with four-story contexts (tasks) that had embedded problem scenarios. In response…

This study investigated the implementation of culturally responsive teaching (CRT) and the provision of professional growth training for preschool teachers serving at-risk children or children from culturally disadvantaged backgrounds in Taiwan. Related strategies and challenges were analyzed, and teachers' application of CRT practices in the…

In the digital age, it's crucial to equip children with twenty-first-century skills, including programming and other competencies such as creativity, analytical thinking, and collaboration. This study introduces an integrated STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) curriculum focused on computer science for educators. It explores…

Over the last two decades, early childhood education (ECE) has come to the top of the political agenda in New Zealand and internationally. The interest of governments and policy-makers in ECE has been driven by the thinking that an 'investment' in ECE is a key for a country's future social and economic development (OECD 2007, "Policy Brief:…

Literature underlines the social stigma frequently connected to children with SLD associated with vulnerability to social exclusion and lower socio-emotional competencies. Consequently, they may internalise this biased perspective, affecting their sense of self and behaviour in social contexts. The present study aims to explore socio-emotional…

The current study used a multiple baseline across behaviors design to evaluate a rapid coaching intervention for teaching two caregivers to implement naturalistic language interventions (NLIs) with their child with autism. Coaches were preservice behavior analysts completing a personnel preparation program in applied behavior analysis who…