Academic literature on the topic 'Toddlers with autism'

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Georgia State University, 2009.<br>Title from file title page. Diana L. Robins, committee chair; Lauren B. Adamson, Roger Bakeman, Chris Henrich, committee members. Description based on contents viewed June 18, 2009. Includes bibliographical references (p. 115-126).

Play is a significant part of childhood. Typically developing children exhibit a wide range of interests within their play behavior, but children with autism do not. The purpose of this study was to design and implement an assessment tool that will capture the constellation of behaviors indicating play interests in young children. The Early Play Interests Assessment (EPIA) includes categories of play behavior and their components behaviors. Additionally, measures of child affect were built into the EPIA. All behaviors were observed under various environmental conditions. The results show that the EPIA was useful in observing toddlers' play behavior within behavioral categories and components and in assessing the interactions among these measures of play interests. The results are discussed in relation to the importance of creating observational systems to quantify play interests in typical and atypical children and for establishing a link between the information gathered in assessment and the planning and implementation of autism interventions.

Dissertação (Mestrado em Psicologia Social, do Trabalho e das Organizações)-Universidade de Brasília, Brasília, 2011.<br>Submitted by Jaqueline Ferreira de Souza (jaquefs.braz@gmail.com) on 2012-04-02T14:20:24Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2011_RodrigoMonteirodeCastroSouza.pdf: 934383 bytes, checksum: d8e49f472e7e7a3b4a15aab810a83ed0 (MD5)<br>Approved for entry into archive by Leila Fernandes (leilabiblio@yahoo.com.br) on 2012-04-03T15:09:54Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 2011_RodrigoMonteirodeCastroSouza.pdf: 934383 bytes, checksum: d8e49f472e7e7a3b4a15aab810a83ed0 (MD5)<br>Made available in DSpace on 2012-04-03T15:09:54Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2011_RodrigoMonteirodeCastroSouza.pdf: 934383 bytes, checksum: d8e49f472e7e7a3b4a15aab810a83ed0 (MD5)<br>O Transtorno Autista é um dos Transtornos Globais do Desenvolvimento especificados no DSM-IV-TR. Suas principais características são a ausência ou pouco desenvolvimento da interação social e comunicação; e comportamentos, interesses e habilidades restritos, repetitivos e estereotipados. Seus sintomas podem ser observados cedo na vida de uma criança e, caso não sejam identificados precocemente, podem prejudicar seu desenvolvimento. A atenção compartilhada, o contato de olhar e a capacidade de apontar para objetos para compartilhar interesse são relatados pela literatura nacional e internacional como indicadores precoces de Transtorno Autista. No Brasil há somente dois instrumentos de triagem traduzidos e ambos a espera de validação. O objetivo do presente estudo é buscar evidências de validade do instrumento de triagem M-CHAT para uma amostra brasileira. Esse instrumento de fácil apuração é composto por 23 itens com escala dicotômica do tipo sim/não e pode ser respondido por pais ou responsáveis de crianças entre 18 e 24 meses. Para que a pesquisa pudesse considerar amostras acima da faixa de idade de 18 a 24 meses, o instrumento, originalmente elaborado no tempo verbal do presente para a faixa de 18 a 24 meses, foi transformado para o tempo verbal do passado e aplicado com texto no presente em pais de crianças entre 18 e 24 meses de idade e no passado em pais de crianças acima de 24 meses. Ao final a amostra totalizou 303 respondentes. A análise dos Componentes Principais sugeriu um componente com 20 itens. Os itens com maiores cargas fatoriais referiram-se à atenção compartilhada. O componente apresentou consistência interna de 0,95. Calcularam-se a sensitividade, especificidade, valores preditivos positivo (VPP) e negativo (VPN) para os critérios de corte do instrumento original e para os seis itens com maiores cargas fatoriais. O escore de seis itens com maiores cargas fatoriais apresentou sensitividade de 0,94, especificidade de 0,91, VPP de 0,86 e VPN de 0,97. O M-CHAT demonstrou diferenciar crianças com suspeita de Transtorno Autista de crianças típicas. Sugere-se a replicação do estudo considerando parâmetros ideais de validação de instrumentos de triagem. Espera-se que a adaptação brasileira do M-CHAT tenha sido uma contribuição valiosa considerando a ausência de instrumentos de triagem com evidências de validade no Brasil. __________________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACT<br>Autistic Disorder is one of the Global Development Disorders specified in DSM-IV-TR. Main features of Autistic Disorder are the absence or poor development of social interaction and communication; and restricted, repetitive, and stereotyped behavior, interests, and skills. Symptoms can be observed early in the life of a child and, if not prematurely identified, this disorder can hamper his/her development. Joint attention, eye contact, and ability to point to objects to share interest are reported by national and international literature as early indicators of Autistic Disorder. In Brazil there are only two screening instruments, which were only translated, both waiting for validation. The aim of this study is to look for evidence of validity of the M-CHAT screening tool for Brazil. This easy handling instrument consists of 23 dichotomic items, such as yes/no, which can be answered by parents or tutors of children between 18 and 24 months old. In order to take into account samples above the age group of 18 to 24 months, the instrument, originally developed in present tense for the range of 18 to 24 months, was transformed to past tense; it was applied in the present tense to parents of children between 18 and 24 months of age and in past tense to parents of children over 24 months. Sample totalized 303 respondents. Principal Components analysis suggested one component with 20 items. Items with greater loadings referred to the joint attention. The component showed internal consistency of Cronbach of 0.95. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive values (PPV), and negative (NPV) were calculated to determine a criteria cut for the original instrument, as well as for the six items with greater factor loadings. The score of the six items with greater factor loadings showed sensitivity of 0.94, specificity of 0.91, PPV of 0.86, and NPV of 0.97. M-CHAT showed to differentiate children suspected of having Autistic Disorder from normal children. It is suggested to replicate the study in order to determine ideal validation parameters of screening instruments. It is expected that the Brazilian adaptation of M-CHAT would be a valuable contribution since there is a lack of screening tools with evidence of validity in Brazil.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Florida State University, 2009.<br>Advisor: Amy M. Wetherby, Florida State University, College of Communication and Information, School of Communication Science and Disorders.. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed on Mar. 10, 2010). Document formatted into pages; contains viii, 106 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are a group of disorders that affect social, communication, and behavioral development. Identification of clinically distinct subtypes of ASDs, especially in the developmental period when delays or deficits are first recognized (i.e., in the first few years of life), can lend clues to etiology and trajectory and enhance current knowledge on early manifestations of the disorders. Moreover, identification of clinically distinct subtypes of ASDs may inform early identification efforts. Past research suggests that social relations, verbal abilities, nonverbal abilities, and the presence of certain stereotyped interests and behaviors (SIB) may be important factors in delineating subtypes of ASDs in toddlers. Yet there is no published study that examines empirically derived subtypes in a sample of such young children. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine whether clinically distinct subtypes can be derived from a sample of toddlers who fail an autism screen and are subsequently diagnosed with developmental concerns, including an ASD. Results found that subtypes delineated by social-communicative maturity were found in both of the aforementioned samples of children. Furthermore, the ASD only sample was also distinguished by rate and intensity of certain types of SIB. Implications for autism theory, early identification, and early intervention are discussed.

People with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) have difficulty empathizing with others, contributing to deficits in social interaction and communication. The degree of difficulty empathizing may be related to the level of impairment associated with the ASD. Little is known about the early development of empathy prior to ASD diagnosis. A novel way of studying the early development of ASDs is to study the development of younger siblings of children with ASDs, who are at an increased genetic risk for these disorders, and compare them to children with typically developing older siblings. The current study examined how empathic responding and cooperation, a measure of prosocial functioning, at 24 and 30 months of age differed between children who later received a diagnosis of autism or pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified, and those who did not. Overall, children engaged in more empathic responding at 30 months than at 24 months. As expected, children later diagnosed with autism engaged in less empathic responding than children with no diagnosis. Additionally, lower empathic responding at 24 months predicted higher autism symptomatology at 30 months. In terms of cooperation, children tended to engage in less noncompliant behavior at 30 months than at 24 months. However, no age differences were found for compliant behavior. Contrary to expectations, there were no diagnostic group differences in cooperative behavior nor was there a relation between empathic responding and cooperation. This was one of the first studies to investigate empathic responding in young children prior to diagnosis with an ASD. Results show that empathy deficits are present from an early age, and may be an important predictor for later diagnosis. Implications for these findings and future directions are discussed.

Previous research has indicated that sleep is crucial for proper cognitive functioning (Hill et al., 2011). Currently, there is a lack of research that looks at the relationship between sleep and language development in the first years of human development. However, from the existing literature, there is evidence that sleep can help integrate new words into children’s vocabulary and facilitate phonemic expression (Henderson, 2012; Gaskell et al., 2014). However, most studies that have explored the intersection between sleep and language have only done so with typical children. Individuals with neurodevelopmental disabilities are more likely to have sleep disturbances (Wiggs & Stores, 1996), which are likely deleterious to their language development, among many other cognitive processes. In this study, we investigated the relationship between sleep and language development in toddlers with Down syndrome (DS) and autism spectrum disorders (ASD). We found that toddlers with DS had the most impacted sleep and the greatest language delays. We also found a preliminary correlation between sleep disturbances and language development, with increases in sleep disturbances relating to reduced language development. These findings, when expanded to a larger sample, could have important treatment implications for early language dysfunction. Overall, more research is needed to further elucidate the intricacies of the relationship between sleep and language development in toddlers with developmental disabilities.