http://aut.sagepub.com Autism RSS feed -- current issue July 2009 Autism 1362-3613 http://aut.sagepub.com:80/icons/banner/title.gif http://aut.sagepub.com http://aut.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/13/4/339?rss=1 2009-06-17 info:doi/10.1177/1362361309106691 The National Autistic Society 4 13 341 2009-07-01 339 Article http://aut.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/13/4/343?rss=1 There is considerable controversy as to whether there is an association between bowel disorders and autism. Using a bowel symptom questionnaire we compared 51 children with autism spectrum disorder with control groups of 35 children from special school and 112 from mainstream school. There was a significant difference in the reporting of certain bowel symptoms (constipation, diarrhoea, flatulence) and food faddiness between the autism group and the mainstream school control group. There was no significant difference between the autism group and children in the special schools except for faddiness, which is an autism specific symptom and not a bowel symptom. This study confirms previously reported findings of an increase in bowel symptoms in children with autism. It would appear, however, that this is not specifically associated with autism as bowel symptoms were reported in similar frequency to a comparison group of children with other developmental and neurological disorders.

]]> 2009-06-17 info:doi/10.1177/1362361309106418 The National Autistic Society 4 13 355 2009-07-01 343 Article http://aut.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/13/4/357?rss=1 This study evaluated the phenomenon of autistic regression using population-based data. The sample comprised 285 children who met the autism spectrum disorder (ASD) case definition within an ongoing surveillance program. Results indicated that children with a previously documented ASD diagnosis had higher rates of autistic regression than children who met the ASD surveillance definition but did not have a clearly documented ASD diagnosis in their records (17—26 percent of surveillance cases). Most children regressed around 24 months of age and boys were more likely to have documented regression than girls. Half of the children with regression had developmental concerns noted prior to the loss of skills. Moreover, children with autistic regression were more likely to show certain associated features, including cognitive impairment.These data indicate that some children with ASD experience a loss of skills in the first few years of life and may have a unique symptom profile.

]]> 2009-06-17 info:doi/10.1177/1362361309105662 The National Autistic Society 4 13 374 2009-07-01 357 Article http://aut.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/13/4/375?rss=1 Parents of children with developmental disabilities, particularly autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), are at risk for high levels of distress. The factors contributing to this are unclear. This study investigated how child characteristics influence maternal parenting stress and psychological distress. Participants consisted of mothers and developmental-age matched preschool-aged children with ASD (N = 51) and developmental delay without autism (DD) ( N = 22). Evidence for higher levels of parenting stress and psychological distress was found in mothers in the ASD group compared to the DD group. Children's problem behavior was associated with increased parenting stress and psychological distress in mothers in the ASD and DD groups. This relationship was stronger in the DD group. Daily living skills were not related to parenting stress or psychological distress. Results suggest clinical services aiming to support parents should include a focus on reducing problem behaviors in children with developmental disabilities.

]]> 2009-06-17 info:doi/10.1177/1362361309105658 The National Autistic Society 4 13 387 2009-07-01 375 Article http://aut.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/13/4/389?rss=1 Through behavioural analysis, this study investigated the social-motivational aspects of musical interaction between the child and the therapist in improvisational music therapy by measuring emotional, motivational and interpersonal responsiveness in children with autism during joint engagement episodes. The randomized controlled study (n = 10) employed a single subject comparison design in two different conditions, improvisational music therapy and toy play sessions, and DVD analysis of sessions. Improvisational music therapy produced markedly more and longer events of `joy', `emotional synchronicity' and `initiation of engagement' behaviours in the children than toy play sessions. In response to the therapist's interpersonal demands, `compliant (positive) responses' were observed more in music therapy than in toy play sessions, and `no responses' were twice as frequent in toy play sessions as in music therapy. The results of this exploratory study found significant evidence supporting the value of music therapy in promoting social, emotional and motivational development in children with autism.

]]> 2009-06-17 info:doi/10.1177/1362361309105660 The National Autistic Society 4 13 409 2009-07-01 389 Article http://aut.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/13/4/411?rss=1 Recent studies suggest motor skills are not entirely spared in individuals with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Previous reports demonstrated that young adults with ASD were able to land accurately on a target despite increased temporal and spatial variability during their movement. This study explored how a group of adolescents and young adults with an ASD used vision and proprioception to land successfully on one of two targets. Participants performed eye movements and/or manual reaching movements, either with or without vision. Although eye movements were executed in a similar timeframe, participants with ASD took longer to plan and execute manual reaching movements. They also exhibited significantly greater variability during eye and hand movements, but were able to land on the target regardless of the vision condition. In general, individuals with autism used vision and proprioception. However, they took considerably more time to perform movements that required greater visual-proprioceptive integration.

]]> 2009-06-17 info:doi/10.1177/1362361309105659 The National Autistic Society 4 13 433 2009-07-01 411 Article http://aut.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/13/4/435?rss=1 Mottron and colleagues found that individuals with autism were less affected by geometric impossibility than comparison participants on a copying task. The current experiment sought to determine whether a local perceptual style could account for this. Participants with and without autism copied possible and impossible geometric figures. Geometric impossibility had a larger effect on drawing time for comparison participants than for those with autism. However, participants with autism did not use more localized drawing strategies. Strength of impossibility effect was associated with a global strategy amongst comparison participants but this relationship was not found amongst participants with autism. The findings suggest that differences in high-level conceptual processing may account for group differences in effects of impossibility.

]]> 2009-06-17 info:doi/10.1177/1362361309105661 The National Autistic Society 4 13 452 2009-07-01 435 Article http://aut.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/13/4/453?rss=1 2009-06-17 info:doi/10.1177/1362361309105663 The National Autistic Society 4 13 456 2009-07-01 453 Article http://aut.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/13/4/457?rss=1 2009-06-17 info:doi/10.1177/13623613090130040602 The National Autistic Society 4 13 461 2009-07-01 457 Article