Autism最新文献

Lay abstract: What is already known about the topic?Autistic individuals are frequently exposed to stigmatizing attitudes and discrimination. Negative stereotypes about autism, such as dangerousness or inability to work, are very frequent in our societies. Through exposure to these stigmatizing ideas, autistic people can internalize these ideas and begin to believe them to be true about themselves. This is self-stigma. Past research conducted with non-autistic individuals indicate that self-stigma can lead people to feel ashamed of who they are and deteriorate their mental health.What this paper adds?In this paper, we found that self-stigma in autistic people increases depressive symptoms through feelings of shame. We then showed that relating to self with compassion - that is, to be friendly towards oneself (kindness), be aware of one's feelings and thoughts (mindful awareness) and realize that everyone feels pain and makes mistakes (common humanity) - helps reducing the negatives consequences of self-stigma on mental health. We also demonstrated that camouflaging does not modify the impact of self-stigma on mental health.Implications for practice, research or policy?Because self-compassion can protect from the negative effects of self-stigma, future research should explore how to adapt existing compassion-focused interventions and evaluate their feasibility and efficacy to reduce self-stigma and shame in autistic people.

Lay abstract: Autistic play is generally described from a deficit perspective where the players themselves have been overlooked. It is important to consult with autistic children themselves about their understanding of play. We asked autistic children about their views on play using many different creative ways that were chosen by the children themselves. We analysed findings using reflexive thematic analysis. Autistic children in this research described play as involving feelings and emotions of pleasure and joy, autonomy and agency, playing by themselves and with others and engagement with materials and activities as meaningful. It is very important that we ask the players themselves what they think about play rather than relying on deficit framed, non-autistic definitions of autistic play. In this article, we will discuss how these findings will help develop future research, theory and practice in respecting children's right to authentic play experiences.

Lay abstract: This study compared adaptive behavior skills between children with autism spectrum disorder and social communication disorder using the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale-III. The researchers analyzed data from 232 children with autism spectrum disorder and 90 with social communication disorder. Key findings showed that children with social communication disorder demonstrated significantly better adaptive functioning across all areas compared to those with autism spectrum disorder. The largest differences were seen in communication and social skills. However, both groups still showed impairments compared to typical development, especially in expressive language. The study also found that younger children with lower overall adaptive behavior scores were more likely to be diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. In addition, there was a higher proportion of males in the social communication disorder group than the autism spectrum disorder group. These results highlight important differences between autism spectrum disorder and social communication disorder, supporting their classification as distinct disorders. The findings emphasize the need for comprehensive adaptive behavior assessment during diagnosis and tailored interventions for each condition. Early identification and targeted support may be particularly crucial for children with autism spectrum disorder.

Lay abstract: There is a high demand for quality early intervention services for autistic children and their families. A key part of effective early intervention is teaching caregivers how to support their child's development through caregiver-mediated interventions. However, in publicly funded programs, these strategies are often not followed correctly. Some studies suggest that family characteristics may influence how well clinicians apply these coaching methods. In this study, we explored the connection between family factors, like household income and language spoken at home, and the way clinicians coached families. We found that clinicians used coaching strategies less consistently with both lower- and higher-income families compared to middle-income ones. In addition, families that spoke only English at home received less consistent coaching than those who spoke other languages. These findings highlight the complex relationship between family background and how early intervention services are delivered, suggesting a need for further research.

Lay abstract: Not much is known about how fathers experience conflict with their partners (either verbal or physical) while raising an autistic child. This study focused on understanding these experiences over 10 years, following children from the age of 4 to 14 years. The study had two main goals: (1) to track how fathers experience conflict with their partners over this time and identify different patterns to these experiences; and (2) to find psychosocial factors in early childhood that might impact these patterns. The study included 281 fathers of autistic children and 7046 fathers of non-autistic children who took part in 'Growing Up in Australia: Longitudinal Study of Australian Children'. Using a statistical method to group fathers based on the partner conflict they reported over the 10 years, results showed that there were three groups: (1) 'low and stable', (2) 'moderate and stable' and (3) 'persistently elevated' experiences of partner conflict. Additional analysis showed that fathers' confidence in their parenting, perceived support from their partners and concerns about their child's language skills were associated with ongoing moderate levels of partner conflict. On the other hand, fathers who were older, had lower perceived support from their partners, partners experiencing psychological distress and higher parent-reported child social functioning were more likely to experience consistently high levels of conflict over time. In our study, we described different levels of conflict with their partners reported by fathers of autistic children. We also identified some of the factors that were associated with different levels of conflict. These might be used to inform interventions to reduce parental conflict in the future.

Lay abstract: There is little research exploring the menstrual product preferences of autistic youth, especially those who recently started their period. Study authors surveyed caregivers' choice of menstrual products for their autistic children. They provided popular menstrual materials to autistic youth to try, then asked them which product(s) they preferred, did not try, and why they did not try it. Caregivers selected sensory impact as the most important feature they consider when choosing a menstrual product for their child, and youth participants preferred to use period underwear. Therefore, autistic youth may benefit from purchasing and using period underwear, and caregivers, clinicians, and companies should consider the impact of menstrual product features, like sensory sensitivities, on young autistic menstruators and how best to support them.

Lay abstract: Atypical vocal imitation has been identified in English-speaking autistic individuals, whereas the characteristics of vocal imitation in tone-language-speaking autistic individuals remain unexplored. By comparing speech and song imitation, the present study reveals a unique pattern of atypical vocal imitation across speech and music domains among Mandarin-speaking autistic individuals. The findings suggest that tone language experience does not compensate for difficulties in vocal imitation in autistic individuals and extends our understanding of vocal imitation in autism across different languages.

Lay abstract: Health-related quality of life reflects a person's perspective on their well-being in physical, mental, social, work-related, and other aspects of health or life. Autistic adults typically report difficulties in many or all of these domains and, thus, often experience their health-related quality of life being reduced. Nonetheless, they do not obtain the professional support they need and report barriers to accessing or receiving appropriate healthcare. We know little about the impact of barriers to healthcare on health-related quality of life in autistic adults. In the present study, 311 autistic adults without intellectual disability in Germany completed an online survey on their current health-related quality of life and the number of barriers to healthcare they experience. In addition, they were asked about their personal and clinical background as well as about the amount of healthcare and support they recently received. We investigated how this information and, particularly, barriers to healthcare explained variations in individual levels of health-related quality of life. We found that barriers to healthcare, compared to most other variables, were a strong predictor of health-related quality of life: The more barriers autistic adults reported, the lower their experienced psychological and physical well-being. To our knowledge, this is the first paper to examine the relationship between barriers to healthcare and health-related quality of life in autism. Our results suggest that healthcare providers need to become aware of the barriers individuals with autism have in seeking and getting healthcare. Improved access to services might contribute to better health-related quality of life in autistic adults.

Lay abstract: Autistic mothers may experience unique challenges when accessing maternity care. A better understanding of the experience of autistic mothers and maternity care professionals would help to create opportunities to support better maternity care. In this study, we interviewed autistic mothers and professional midwives, living and working across the United Kingdom and Ireland. In the interviews, the autistic mothers recalled challenges they faced in the hospital settings, difficulties in communicating their needs, and distress when being physically examined. The midwives we interviewed brought their personal experiences of autism (some were autistic themselves, while others had autistic family members) and made efforts to accommodate autistic mothers where possible. This included paying attention to potential sensory issues, trying to establish a relationship with the mothers and communicating what was going on without medical jargon. However, the midwives were limited in their ability to fully attend to the needs of autistic mothers due to time and resource restraints. Both the midwives and autistic mothers felt that midwife-led births were more attentive to the needs of mothers. Based on our findings, we recommend further training and awareness on autism in midwifery and suggest that changes relating to sensory and communication challenges would benefit both autistic and non-autistic. Our study provides important insight into this experience of maternity care from two perspectives and emphasises the need for greater inclusivity in maternity care services.

Lay abstract: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and functional neurological disorders (FND) are relatively common conditions, and there has been recent interest in the overlap between them. Both conditions share core features of alexithymia, impaired interoception and deficits in attentional focus. To date, relatively little is known about the comorbidity rates between ASD and FND. This is the first meta-analysis and qualitative synthesis on the subject. We found that around 10% of children presenting with functional seizures have a comorbid ASD diagnosis. People with ASD are more likely than the neurotypical population to have functional somatic disorders, and there is also evidence that ASD rates are higher for other FNDs such as functional motor disorders. Since FND comes with risks of unnecessary medical procedures and investigations, it is important to recognize the potential for people with ASD to have an FND comorbidity.