The present article is a systematic review of literature, examining the extent to which there is interest in old age of people with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) and the issues in this field that are analyzed. The focus was on psychosocial aspects of functioning. The conducted literature review, using databases, covered the years 2000-2019. As…

Animal-assisted interventions are increasingly used for children with ASD to promote inclusion and quality of life but are not accessible to many families. Companion animals may provide similar benefit but have not been well-investigated within this population. This scoping review presents the state of research regarding natural-based animal…

The purpose of this review was to identify the quantity, breadth, and methodological characteristics of literature examining parent perspectives of autism spectrum disorder diagnosis, synthesize key research findings, and highlight gaps in the current literature. A systematic search was conducted for the period January 1994-February 2020. One…

To facilitate the learning of writing of students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in a setting that is inclusive, it is instructive to examine writing difficulties from a strength-based perspective by looking at the meanings students give to writing activities. This qualitative study explored the meanings and motives for writing of two…

Twenty-three college students participated in two studies evaluating an application designed to measure stimulus overselectivity in pictures depicting facial affect. We analyzed whether this application worked as designed by evaluating whether it could provide a robust analysis of the types of errors users make (e.g., by matching by the top…

The purpose of this quantitative, correlational study was to investigate the relationship between parent and child temperament on language acquisition as well as the relationship between parent responsivity and parent-child temperament in autistic children. Participants were 25 parent-child dyads of autistic children between the ages 2 and 8 years…

This study expanded on the previous research on using a self-instructional manual for school staff to learn how to implement Discrete Trial Training (DTT). The purpose of this study was to teach public school staff how to implement DTT with fidelity, and to assess the useability and effectiveness, of an asynchronous online version of the DTT…

ASD manifests in children throughout the ability spectrum, though screening tools may not adequately identify high-ability youth who would benefit from a comprehensive identification evaluation; thus, the impetus for developing The High Functioning ASD Screener (HFAS). Information from content area expert interviews determined the 93-item pilot…

Background and aims: Although adjustment of the environment is recommended as a support strategy in evidence-based interventions for children with autism, the impact of doing so (and the how and why) is not well understood. One essential environmental factor to consider when providing supports for preschool-aged autistic children is the play…

Background & Aims: Social communication and language skills have been found to be important predictors of long-term outcomes in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, the development of coordinated social communication (i.e., gestures and sounds or words) remains relatively understudied in young children with ASD and…

Background and aims: Play-based interventions are used ubiquitously with children with social, communication, and language needs but the impact of these interventions on the mental health of this group of children is unknown. Despite their pre-existing challenges, the mental health of children with developmental language disorder (DLD) and autism…

Background and aims: Although social resources and self-esteem are well-known predictors of subjective well-being in the general population, the relations among these factors have not yet been investigated in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The present preliminary study sought to compare the levels of life satisfaction, self-esteem and perceived…

Most autism centers in Arabic countries rely on manual techniques in teaching children the basics of language, math, and social skills. Actually, these techniques may be limited in measuring the child's progress in a systematic way considering different fields. To overcome these limitations, we developed Autistic Innovative Assistant (AIA) which…

Autism spectrum disorder is a neurodevelopmental disorder in which genetic factors play key roles. Limited research has been conducted on genetic testing of children with autism spectrum disorder in low middle-income countries. This prospective cross-sectional study was conducted at the pediatric neurology clinics of three university hospitals in…

Assistive technologies have the potential to provide accessible support to people with varying needs and abilities, including older autistic adults. However, there is currently limited knowledge about how older autistic adults use technology in their daily lives, whether it is sufficient to meet their needs and whether they experience any barriers…