Autism最新文献

Lay abstract: Recent research has revealed informative patterns about health, mental health, self-help skills, autism symptoms, and social skills during the transition to adulthood for autistic individuals. This study expands on these findings by examining how positive affect (e.g. excited) changes from age 15 to 30 years using a group of individuals first referred for autism at an early age. We also examined the agreement between caregiver-report and self-report on positive affect. We found different patterns of stability and change in positive affect across the transition to adulthood that related to differences in autism severity, cognitive abilities, self-help skills, as well as social and work participation in adulthood. The agreement between caregiver-report and self-report was strong in adolescence but became much weaker after the individuals were 23 years. These results have implications for how we measure happiness, positive emotions, or other internal experiences of autistic individuals.

Lay abstract: Play is often included in autism diagnostic assessments. These assessments tend to focus on negatives and how people who are not autistic interpret observable behaviours. It is important to take a neurodiversity-affirmative assessment approach. This involves focusing on what autistic people say and looking at strengths and needs. We wanted to find out how autistic adults experience diagnostic assessments that include play. We asked autistic and non-autistic people to help us design our study and interview questions. We then interviewed 22 autistic adults to find out what they think about the use of play in assessments. We used a qualitative method called interpretative phenomenological analysis to analyse the data. Autistic adults told us about the different ways play was included in their diagnostic assessments. For example, some completed a diagnostic tool called the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule. Autistic adults also talked about the importance of considering how autistic people are different to each other. For example, we found that play may not be useful for assessing women or girls who mask. This suggests that professionals should adopt a personalised approach to diagnostic assessments that use play catering to each person's needs. Our findings also suggested that professionals should assess strengths and differences as well as needs.

Lay abstract: What is already known about the topic? Autistic people are reported to offend at lower or comparable rates to non-autistic people. However, autism is overrepresented within male prisons due to a number of suggested reasons including an increased chance of being caught and a lack of autistic sensitive interventions which lead to longer stays in prison. To the authors' knowledge, no papers currently exist focussing on autistic females in prison. What does this paper add? To the authors' knowledge, this is the first piece of research to solely include autistic females in prison settings. This research provides an estimate of how many autistic people are in female prisons. All 12 female prisons in England were contacted. Data provided indicate a prison-reported female autism rate of 4.78%. This prison-reported female autism rate is 13.7 times higher than the prevalence of autistic females in the general population. Implications for practice research or policy? Autism is overrepresented in female prisons; however, to the authors' knowledge no current research exists on this group to understand their needs or experience. Autistic females often have differing requirements to males and the lack of research highlights the need for future research to investigate areas such as factors which increase the risk of offending, offences typically committed and the female autistic experience of the Criminal Justice System.

Lay abstract: Parenting can be challenging for any parent, particularly for those parenting autistic children. Research has shown that being kind, accepting, and mindful toward oneself during suffering, a concept known as self-compassion, can help enhance mental health. However, it is not fully understood how self-compassion benefits parenting experiences for parents of autistic children. Therefore, we conducted a study involving 178 parents of autistic children and 178 of autistic children to explore the associations between self-compassion, mental health, and parenting experiences. We found that parents of autistic children reported less self-compassion compared to parents of non-autistic children. For both groups of parents, self-compassion was linked to lower levels of ill-being and parenting stress, as well as higher levels of well-being and parenting competence. In parents of non-autistic children, both ill-being and well-being played a mediating role in the relationship between self-compassion and parenting experiences. However, in parents of autistic children, only well-being was found to mediate this relationship. These findings emphasize the importance of self-compassion and well-being in improving parenting experiences for parents of autistic children.

Lay abstract: Black/African American people in the United States who have a diagnosis of autism often experience service-related disparities, including not having the same access to high-quality autism and related care (e.g. behavioral interventions), and are less likely to have sustained treatment engagement across their lifespan. While interventions to support autistic people are typically designed to be universal, there is concern that these interventions not being tailored to the Black/African American population could reduce the overall impact due to a lack of responsiveness to the needs of the Black children or families who receive the intervention. The current systematic review summarized research on interventions developed for the Black autism community, including Black children with autism and their caregivers. After a comprehensive, systematic search, eight peer-reviewed publications were identified that met the study's inclusion criteria. The majority of the interventions were tailored to Black caregivers of children with autism. Autism researchers demonstrate different strategies for engaging Black caregivers in culturally responsive ways; however, more research into these interventions is needed in order to assess their effectiveness. In addition, there are still limited interventions adapted to be culturally responsive to Black/African American autistic people. The Cultural Adaptation Checklist framework is a novel approach with promise to become the standard for adapting interventions to meet the needs of culturally diverse groups. Cultural responsiveness is an important facet in the development of interventions that produce optimal outcomes for the range of diversity in the United States and is an important step to achieving equitable autism research practices.

Lay abstract: Caregiver coaching is an evidence-based practice for young autistic children, but it is not widely used in community-based early intervention services. Previous research has explored why caregiver coaching is not widespread in early intervention, but only from the perspective of early intervention providers. Caregivers, providers, and administrators are all involved in the decision of whether to use caregiver coaching in early intervention. Therefore, it is important to include all perspectives in research regarding this practice. In this study we interviewed 20 caregivers of autistic children, 36 early intervention providers, and 6 administrators from early intervention agencies and asked questions about their perspectives regarding the use of caregiver coaching in early intervention. We did this to figure out what factors help and hinder the use of caregiver coaching in this setting and to see how caregivers, providers, and administrators agreed or disagreed on these factors. All participants agreed that caregivers' attitudes and expectations can influence whether caregiver coaching is used. In addition, all participants agreed that when caregivers and providers collaborate and have a strong working relationship, it can facilitate the use of caregiver coaching in early intervention. Other factors, such as caregiver stress and provider flexibility were also discussed. Based on these findings, we suggest strategies that can be used to possibly increase the use of caregiver coaching in early intervention for autistic children and their families.

Lay abstract: Working memory is an important skill for school success, and it involves holding information in our memory while using it to solve complex problems. However, autistic children often have difficulties with working memory tasks. Also, kindergarteners on the autism spectrum tend to be less school-ready compared with their peers. In addition, children from disadvantaged backgrounds tend to struggle more with working memory and school readiness skills. All preschool-age children on the autism spectrum in the United States are entitled to pre-kindergarten (pre-K) education. However, it is unclear whether attending pre-K helps with children's working memory development in the long run. This study tested whether attending pre-K benefits children's working memory development in the long run. It also tested whether pre-K is especially helpful for autistic children's working memory development. It was found that children who attended pre-K outperformed their peers who did not attend pre-K during the first 2 years of elementary school. However, after first grade, such benefits diminished. Importantly, autistic children who attended pre-K did not demonstrate advanced working memory immediately in kindergarten, but they started to outperform their autistic peers who did not attend pre-K during first grade to third grade. This finding highlights the importance of pre-K education for autistic children in particular. It is also important for educators and parents to understand autistic children's unique learning paths that may be different from non-autistic children. This article discusses specific ways for educators to take full advantage of the long-lasting benefits of pre-K education in autistic children's working memory development.

Lay abstract: We wanted to explore the positive, or rewarding, experiences of caregivers who were caring for older adolescents or young autistic adults. We surveyed 174 caregivers, asking questions about how they dealt with stressors, the support they had from people in their lives, and the different behaviors of the autistic youth they care for. Using an existing measure, as well as an open-ended question, we asked caregivers about the most rewarding aspects of caring for their youth. When examining survey responses, we found that caregivers who reported receiving more help and support from their autistic youth also reported more positive aspects related to caregiving. In response to our study's open-ended question, caregivers talked about the reward of seeing their youth grow and progress (e.g. learning new skills, reaching new milestones), described positive aspects of the relationship with their youth (e.g. sharing a special bond), and reflected on their own learning and personal growth as caregivers and people. Our findings highlight the positive, or rewarding, aspects of caregiving for autistic adolescents and young adults. This work will inform future work studying positive aspects of caring for autistic individuals and how this may impact caregivers' psychological well-being.

Lay abstract: Oral care-related challenges are well documented in the autistic community; dental care remains one of the most prevalent unmet health needs among autistic individuals. This review examined interventions designed to improve oral health in autistic individuals from children and adult populations. Through a systematic process, 36 studies were identified. These studies focused on improving home-based oral care skills and routines and reducing fear, anxiety, and/or negative behaviors in the dental clinic. Studies incorporated different types of techniques for facilitating oral care practice, including preparatory interventions to support home-based hygiene activities or improve an approaching dental encounter (n = 29), most often using visual aids, and/or strategies to manage behavioral difficulties exhibited in the dental office (n = 17). Some studies used both approaches (n = 10), combining visual aids prior to a visit with behavior management. Using an evidence-based rubric, we reviewed the methodological quality of the studies and found that most were only "adequate" (n = 8) or "weak" (n = 23) in reporting their evidence. This review has two key findings: (1) there is support for preparatory home-based visual interventions to improve toothbrushing and/or ready patients for dental visits; and (2) distraction or sensory-reducing interventions may also improve experiences in the dental clinic. Only one study purposefully recruited autistic adults, and no studies included intervention elements tailored to race/ethnicity, culture, and/or socioeconomic status. This review highlights the need for more studies investigating the impact of oral care-related interventions for autistic individuals of all ages and identifies a gap in interventions for autistic adults and those from minoritized populations.