The autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnostic classifications, according to the DSM-5, include a severity rating. Several screening and/or diagnostic measures, such as the autism diagnostic and observation schedule (ADOS), Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) and social responsiveness scale (SRS) (teacher and parent versions), include an…

Impairments in cognitive flexibility have been used to characterize the neuropsychological presentation of persons with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Previous studies have yielded mixed results. Our objective was to systematically review the sensitivity of cognitive flexibility measures in ASD using quantitative methods employed by…

Children with Angelman syndrome (AS) exhibit significant social, communicative and cognitive difficulties. The aim of this case study was to describe the profile of communicative abilities of a child with AS, before and after the implementation of the Hanen program "More than Words" (MTW). Additionally, changes on the language directed…

Educational professionals need assessments that yield psychometrically sound scores to assess students' behavioral and emotional functioning in order to guide data-driven decision-making processes. Rating scales have been found to be effective and economical, and often multiple informant perspectives can be obtained. The agreement between multiple…

This study examined the influence of early joint attention and play in children with autism on child- and parent-reported friendship quality 5 years later. Initially, children participated in developmental, joint attention, and play measures. At follow-up (age 8-9), parents and children completed the Friendship Qualities Scale (Bukowski et al. in…

Hispanic-American youth have been identified as a high-risk group for developing behavioral and emotional difficulties. Currently, there exist few behavioral and emotional screening measures targeting young children, with even fewer accessible to the Spanish speaking populations in the U.S. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether…

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often have difficulty generalizing newly acquired communication skills to different contexts. In this study, a multiple baseline across settings (clinic, school, and home) design was used to determine whether an 8-year-old boy with ASD could learn to approach communication partners to request…

Professional ethics includes the principles set forth by professional associations and accepted as correct by discussions over time, and which has become the sine qua non of a profession today. Professional ethics are established to increase the quality of professional practices and ensure correct and honest conduct. Not having professional…

This study explored the effects of ABRACADABRA, a free computer-assisted literacy program, on the reading accuracy and comprehension skills of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). ABRACADABRA is a balanced literacy instruction program, targeting both code and meaning-based reading abilities. Twenty children with ASD, aged 5-11…

Prevalence of self-injurious behavior (SIB) is as high as 50% among children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Identification of risk factors for the development of SIB is critical to early intervention and prevention. However, there is little empirical research utilizing a prospective design to identify early risk factors for SIB. The purpose…

Cross-informant ratings of are considered gold standard for child behavioral assessment. To date, little work has examined informant ratings of adaptive functioning for youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In a large, diverse sample of youth with ASD, this study evaluated parent-teacher concordance of ratings of adaptive functioning and…

The importance of social skills in development is a well studied area of research, and deficits in these skills can have implications long into adulthood. Therefore, assessment tools must be able to aid clinicians in identifying areas of weaknesses to target in treatment. The purpose of the current paper was to investigate the factor structure of…

Little is known about outcomes of early intervention for children with autism spectrum disorder reared in bilingual homes. There are concerns that social communication deficits among children with autism spectrum disorder may reduce the developmental benefits of early intervention for children with autism spectrum disorder raised in bilingual…

The present study examines the psychometric properties of the Social and Emotional Health Survey (SEHS), which is a 32-item self-report behavior rating scale for assessing youths' social-emotional competencies, with a small sample (N = 77) of academically at-risk students attending a limited-residency charter school. This study is the first to…

Stability and change in early autism spectrum disorder risk were examined in a cohort of 99 preterm infants (?34 weeks of gestation) using the Autism Observation Scale for Infants at 8 and 12 months and the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule--Toddler Module at 18 months. A total of 21 infants were identified at risk by the Autism Observation…