Utilizing a novel computerized task, we aimed to examine whether social anxiety symptoms would be related to individual differences in facial emotion recognition (FER) in a sample of autistic male adolescents and young adults without intellectual disability. Results indicated that social anxiety and IQ predicted poorer FER, irrespective of…

Autistic adults experience high rates of metal health difficulties and face significant barriers to accessing appropriate mental health care. Empirical research and recent professional guidelines emphasise the importance of modifying standard mental health interventions to best meet the needs of autistic adults. This systematic review explored…

Sensory Over-Responsivity (SOR) is an increasingly recognized challenge among children with neurodevelopmental concerns (NDC). To investigate, we characterized the incidence of auditory and tactile over-responsivity (AOR, TOR) among 82 children with NDC. We found that 70% of caregivers reported concern for their child's sensory reactions. Direct…

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore how reading teachers in southern urban schools described their use of prior knowledge and text clues in instructing high functioning ASD students in their use of inferencing to improve their reading comprehension. There were three research questions used in this study: RQ1: How do…

Behavioral skills training (BST) is a performance- and competency-based training package composed of instructions, modeling, rehearsal, and feedback. Previous reviews have demonstrated that BST is an effective training package to teach interventionists to implement behavior analytic interventions (Kirkpatrick et al. in "Journal of Behavioral…

Emerging research suggests that episodic memory challenges are commonly encountered by autistic individuals; however, the specific nature of these memory challenges remains elusive. Here, we address critical gaps in the literature by examining pattern separation memory, the ability to store distinct memories of similar stimuli, and its links to…

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neuropsychiatric condition that may be associated with negative health outcomes. This retrospective cohort study reveals the odds of hospitalization and mortality based on ASD for a population of insured patients with COVID-19. The odds of hospitalization and mortality for people with ASD were found to be…

This research examined the preference for identity-first language (IFL) versus person-first language (PFL) among 215 respondents (M[subscript age] = 30.24 years, SD = 9.92) from the Dutch autism community. We found that a stronger identification with the autism community and a later age of diagnosis predicted a stronger IFL preference and a weaker…

Few studies have reported outcomes from the delivery of naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions (NDBI) in group-based community care. Further, while the importance of inclusion for autistic individuals is well established, there is little research on the feasibility of community-based inclusion programs for preschool-aged autistic…

The double empathy problem proposes a lack of shared understanding between autistic and non-autistic people leads to interaction difficulties between them. Social self-efficacy (confidence in one's social abilities) makes an important contribution to social interactions. Research has shown that autistic people show a social identity (one's sense…

Autistic individuals often experience challenges in social communication and interaction, and there is growing evidence that specific interests can help them regulate these difficulties. However, it is unclear what specific properties of these interests make them suitable for this role. In this qualitative study, we conducted semi-structured…

Individuals who cope well with challenges may engage in social situations more successfully. We examined the association between coping behaviors, self-perceived competence, and social anxiety in everyday social situations. A total of 133 participants between the ages of 10 and 16 years (82 autistic, 51 neurotypical) carried a mobile device that…

The purpose of this article is to present a step-by-step process for using self-monitoring to support college students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to achieve a variety of goals. Self-monitoring can be used with no technology (e.g., pencil and paper, tangible object placement) or technology-based applications (e.g., interval timers, mobile…

Limited research has examined the active ingredients and mechanisms of change of naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions (NDBIs). The present study used an exploratory sequential mixed-methods design to develop a comprehensive Theory of Change of Project ImPACT, an empirically supported NDBI. We used qualitative data from interviews…

Toward the development of a new parent-rating for insomnia, this multi-site qualitative study explored sleep problems and related impacts in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their families. To ensure content validity of the measure, we conducted six focus groups with caregivers (N = 25) of 24 children (age 3 to 18 years) with ASD.…