Background: Atypical speech prosody has been commonly found among autistic children. Yet it remains unknown whether prosody impairment originates from poor pitch ability in general or whether it is the result of the difficulty in understanding and using prosody for communicative purposes. Aims: To investigate whether native Mandarin…

Background: Evidence-based practice (EBP) use is varied in autism spectrum disorder community-based organizations (ASD-CBOs) in the United States. Aim: The ACT SMART Implementation Toolkit--a multi-faceted implementation strategy guiding teams through implementation phases--was pilot tested to assess its preliminary effectiveness in increasing EBP…

This article investigates how picture books published in 2019 represent Autism to children, with special attention as to whether those representations overtly include terminology around autism or covertly present autistic characters. Although both overt and covert representations occur in children's literature, covert representation may or may not…

The purpose of this study was to assess whether variations in visual stimulus presentation during tact training would affect efficacy, efficiency, and the emergence of listener responses. Participants included two preschool-aged children diagnosed with autism. We implemented two teaching conditions using an adapted alternating treatment design…

The purpose of this study was to examine factors affecting physical activity (PA) and sedentary pursuits of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) throughout the week, during weekdays, and on weekend days. Sixty-eight children with ASD aged 6-17 years participated in this study. An ActiGraph accelerometer and activity log were used to assess…

Barriers to access and delivery of effective healthcare for autistic individuals have received attention in the social science literature. Less understood is why and how these barriers exist. The purpose of this qualitative review was to explore and interpret salient findings and characteristics of qualitative research that has examined the…

Social skills are critical to workplace success and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by challenges with these skills contributing to a disproportionate unemployment rate. The aim of this study was to characterize interventions that focus on work-related social skills for individuals with ASD. A scoping review was conducted to map…

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience social communication difficulties which can be compounded by increased social demands and expectations of the school environment. Play offers a unique context for social communication development in educational settings. This systematic review aimed to synthesize play-based interventions for…

Limited research has explored the experiences of caregivers and their children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in medical settings. A qualitative meta-synthesis of studies published between 2000 and 2020 was conducted to understand and summarize the challenges faced by caregivers, their positive experiences, and suggestions for improving…

This review synthesized the results of 15 studies (with 12 studies having strong or adequate methodological rigor) that examined the social outcomes of shared social activity-based interventions, like interest-based games, music, and theatre, involving children on the autism spectrum and typical development together. Thirteen studies yielded…

Autistic individuals report barriers to accessing and receiving healthcare, and experience increased morbidity and mortality. This systematic review synthesizes 31 research studies evaluating interventions implemented to improve the healthcare experiences and/or access of autistic persons. Interventions were most commonly patient-focused (58.1%),…

Although the benefits of regular physical activity are clearly expressed, children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are less physically active than their typically developing peers. Recent empirical studies have revealed that the level of physical activity of children with ASD has further decreased during the novel coronavirus (COVID-19)…

Parents of autistic children report barriers to engaging in physical activity, which may be exacerbated during subsequent pregnancies. We aimed to describe physical activity of parents caring for an autistic child, before and during a subsequent pregnancy, and to explore whether physical activity was associated with the autistic child's Social…

Autism spectrum condition (ASC) is characterized by atypical attention to eyes and faces, but the onset and impact of these atypicalities remain unclear. This prospective longitudinal study examined face perception in infants who develop ASC (N = 22, female = 5, 100% White) compared with typically developing infants (N = 131, female = 65, 55.6%…

Autistic people experience a higher prevalence of self-harming behaviours than do the general population. Self-harm remains a stigmatised topic, and until recently, self-harming behaviours in autism were considered to be limited to self-injurious behaviours experienced by intellectually impaired autistic children and not to be experienced by…