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Although the concept of quality of life has increasingly been used in the field of intellectual disabilities over the past three decades, the factors contributing to quality of life of persons with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have received relatively little attention. In this study, disability and support characteristics associated with variations in the level of quality of life among adults with ASD are identified, using self-report measures. Fifty-eight high-functioning adults with ASD participated in the study. The results of a multiple linear regression analysis reveal that support characteristics are related to quality of life in adults with ASD, whereas disability characteristics are not. The R[squared] effect size (0.620) is large and significant. The results reinforce the significance of an available supportive social network, the importance of a substantial needs assessment and effective professional support. (Contains 3 tables.)

The study explored whether children with high functioning autism (HFA), Asperger syndrome (AS), and pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS) can be differentiated on the Children's Communication Checklist (CCC). The study also investigated whether empirically derived autistic subgroups can be identified with a cluster analytic method based on the Autism Diagnostic Interview--Revised. Fifty-seven children with HFA, 47 with AS, 31 with PDD-NOS, and a normal control group of 47 children between 6 and 13 years participated. Children with HFA, AS, and PDD-NOS showed pragmatic communication deficits in comparison to the controls. Little difference was found between the three subtypes with respect to their CCC profile. A three-cluster solution explained the data best. The HFA cluster showed most autism characteristics, followed by the combined HFA + AS cluster, and then the PDD-NOS cluster. The findings support the autism spectrum concept based on severity of symptom impairment rather than distinct categories. (Contains 4 tables.)

Satisfaction with the detection process of autism and its determinants was investigated using data from the Autism Spectrum Disorder in the European Union (2015–2018) network. A total of 1342 family members, including 1278 parents, completed an online survey collecting information about their experience and satisfaction with the early detection of autism in their child. Overall, the level of satisfaction varied considerably from one respondent to another. Difficulty in finding information about detection services, lack of professional guidance and support in response to first concerns, finding a diagnostic service on one's own, and a delay of more than 4 months between the confirmation of concerns and the first appointment with a specialist were all experiences individually associated with greater odds of being less satisfied. Using a dominance analysis approach, we further identified professional guidance and support in response to first concerns as the most important predictor of the level of satisfaction. These findings highlight the aspects of the process that need to be improved to enhance the experience of the detection process and are therefore relevant to guide health administrations toward actions to be implemented to this effect. Professional guidance and support in response to first concerns appears to be an important predictor of the level of satisfaction with the detection process of autism in young children. In this study, we analyzed the views of 1342 family members, including 1278 parents, who completed an online survey form collecting information about their experience and satisfaction with the early detection of autism in their child. Specifically, we were interested in how specific experiences with the detection process relate to the satisfaction with it and whether we could identify important predictors of satisfaction. The detection process is an emotionally charged period for parents, often described as painful, chaotic, and lengthy. A better understanding of their experiences is important to take appropriate action to improve the detection process. In our sample, the level of satisfaction with the detection process varied greatly from one respondent to another. Among the different experiences we considered, whether or not respondents received professional guidance and support in response to first concerns explained most of this variation. We also found that difficulty finding information about detection services, lack of professional guidance and support in response to first concerns, having to find a diagnostic service on one's own, and longer delays between confirmation of concerns and first appointment with a specialist were experiences associated with a greater likelihood of being unsatisfied. The findings of this study highlight the importance of the parent–professional relationship in the detection process and have important practical implications for health administrations to improve the detection process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since imitation and joint attention are both important abilities for young children and since children with autism spectrum disorder show a range of problems in these domains, imitation and joint attention are important targets for intervention. In this study, we examined the possibility of promoting imitation and joint attention by means of a training programme specifically designed for low-intensity, non-residential treatment. Two matched groups of 18 children each participated in the study. The experimental group, receiving the training programme, improved significantly more on joint attention than the group receiving only treatment as usual. Only the experimental group obtained a significantly higher imitation score during the post-test compared to the pre-test. This study shows that it is possible to promote joint attention with a low-intensity treatment programme. The results concerning imitation are more modest. Future replications should involve measures of stability and generalization. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this study the social behaviour of young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their mothers is compared within two different dyads: a dyad consisting of a mother and her own child and a dyad consisting of a mother and an unfamiliar child. Mothers did not change the frequency of their social initiatives and responsiveness with an unfamiliar child, but they became less directive than with their own child. Children with ASD did not show significantly better social behaviour with their own mother than with an unfamiliar mother. The results suggest that the social behaviour of a child with autism is not significantly enhanced by the familiarity of the social partner, but rather by the partner’s autism-adapted interaction style. Clinical implications of these findings have been discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This case-control study explores the underlying mechanisms of imitation problems in boys with autism by manipulating imitation task variables and by correlating imitation performance with competence on general motor tests (Movement Assessment Battery for Children and Peabody Developmental Motor Scales). Fifty-five boys participated in this study: eight low-functioning with autism (LFA), 13 with mental retardation (MR), 17 high-functioning with autism (HFA) and 17 typically developing (TD). LFA performed significantly worse than MR on the motor test and on all imitation tasks. HFA performed significantly worse than TD on the motor test, but not on imitation tasks, with the exception of non-meaningful gestures. This study supports the notion that mainly perceptual-motor impairment, and not a cognitive weakness of symbolic representation, causes imitation problems in autism. In addition, in boys with autism, general motor as well as imitation abilities were impaired. We suggest that imitation ability has to be assessed in conjunction with motor competence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study examined spontaneous symbolic play, declarative joint attention, social referencing and imitation of symbolic play in 3- to 6-year-old children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD; n = 20) during interaction with their mothers. Compared to a control group (n = 20) matched on age and IQ, the children with ASD initiated less joint attention with their mothers when confronted with a pleasant event and they showed a tendency to play less symbolically and more non-functionally. Contrary to expectations, children with ASD showed no social referencing or imitation deficits. Interestingly, two clusters of intercorrelating behaviours were found in the ASD group: one suggesting symbolic or metarepresentational abilities, the other comprising interpersonal behaviours. The findings support the hypothesis that early social communicative abilities may follow a different developmental pathway in ASD, and stress the importance of a con- textual factor, namely the presence of the mother. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the mind-reading abilities of 19 adults with Asperger syndrome and 19 typically developing adults. Two static mind-reading tests and a more naturalistic empathic accuracy task were used. In the empathic accuracy task, participants attempted to infer the thoughts and feelings of target persons, while viewing a videotape of the target persons in a naturally occurring conversation with another person. The results are consistent with earlier findings. The empathic accuracy task indicated significant between-group differences, whereas no such differences were found on the static mind-reading tasks. The most innovative finding of the present study is that the inference ability of adults with pervasive developmental disorder (PDD) and controls depends on the focus of the target's thoughts and feelings, and that the empathic accuracy of adults with Asperger syndrome and control adults might be different in terms of quantity and quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]