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The relationship of motor proficiency with emotional/behavioural disturbance, autistic symptoms and communication disturbance was investigated in children diagnosed with autism and Asperger's disorder (AD). The Movement Assessment Battery for Children was used as a measure of motor impairment, and the Developmental Behavioural Checklist was used as a measure of emotional/behavioural disturbance in the following groups: AD (n = 22), high functioning autism (HFA) (n = 23), LFA (n = 8) and typically developing children (n = 20). The HFA group had more difficulty with motor items, such as ball skills and balance, than did the AD group. There were significant positive correlations between impairments in motor proficiency (in particular ball skills and balance) and emotional/behavioural disturbance, autistic symptoms and communication disturbance. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that there are qualitative and quantitative differences in the motor profile between autism and AD. In addition, the association between motor proficiency impairment and emotional/behavioural disturbance in autism and AD emphasizes the importance for screening of co-occurring emotional/behavioural symptoms in individuals with motor difficulties. These findings have implications for the potential use of adjunct motor measures in the diagnosis and definition of autism spectrum disorders. (Contains 2 tables and 1 figure.)

The relationship of motor proficiency with emotional/behavioural disturbance, autistic symptoms and communication disturbance was investigated in children diagnosed with autism and Asperger’s disorder (AD). The Movement Assessment Battery for Children was used as a measure of motor impairment, and the Developmental Behavioural Checklist was used as a measure of emotional/behavioural disturbance in the following groups: AD (n = 22), high functioning autism (HFA) (n = 23), LFA (n = 8) and typically developing children (n = 20). The HFA group had more difficulty with motor items, such as ball skills and balance, than did the AD group. There were significant positive correlations between impairments in motor proficiency (in particular ball skills and balance) and emotional/behavioural disturbance, autistic symptoms and communication disturbance. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that there are qualitative and quantitative differences in the motor profile between autism and AD. In addition, the association between motor proficiency impairment and emotional/behavioural disturbance in autism and AD emphasizes the importance for screening of co-occurring emotional/behavioural symptoms in individuals with motor difficulties. These findings have implications for the potential use of adjunct motor measures in the diagnosis and definition of autism spectrum disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: Behavioural sleep problems are common in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD); however, evidence for the efficacy of behavioural sleep interventions is limited. This study examined the efficacy of a brief behavioural sleep intervention in autistic children. It was hypothesised that the intervention would reduce overall child sleep problems (primary outcome), in addition to improvements in children's social, emotional, cognitive, academic functioning, and quality of life, and parent/caregivers' stress, quality of life, and mental health (secondary outcomes)., Methods: A randomised controlled trial was conducted with participants randomised via a computer-generated sequence to the sleeping sound intervention (n = 123) or treatment as usual (n = 122) group. Participants comprised 245 children with an ASD diagnosis. Inclusion criteria were as follows: confirmation of DSM IV or DSM-5 diagnosis of ASD, participants aged between 5 and 13 years and parent/caregiver report of moderate-severe sleep problems. Exclusion criteria were as follows: parent/caregiver intellectual disability or lacking sufficient English to complete questionnaires; and child participant with co-occurring medical conditions known to impact sleep. The intervention group received the sleeping sound intervention (2 × 50-min face-to-face sessions plus follow-up phone call) by a trained clinician., Results: Change in children's sleep problems was measured by the Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ) at 3 months post randomisation. Parents/caregivers of children in the intervention group reported a reduction in child sleep problems at 3 months post randomisation (effect size: E.S -0.7). There were also small effects in a number of child (internalising symptoms, emotional behavioural disturbance and quality of life) and parent/caregiver (mental health, parenting stress and quality of life) outcomes; however, these did not remain significant when controlling for multiple comparisons., Conclusions: The sleeping sound ASD intervention is an efficacious and practical way to reduce sleep problems for autistic children. This brief behavioural intervention has the potential to be embedded easily into the Australian healthcare system., (© 2022 The Authors. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.)

Background: Children with disabilities often engage in less than the recommended amount of daily physical activity (PA). Classroom-based PA breaks are a favourable method of promoting PA for children. However, evaluations of these programs in specialist schools are scarce, with even less research into their feasibility and acceptability. This may hinder effective implementation and program scalability. This pilot study investigated the feasibility and acceptability of implementing a classroom-based PA break program in Australian specialist school classrooms, using the Australian Joy of Moving (AJoM) program., Methods: Forty primary/junior classes and their teachers across five specialist schools implemented the AJoM program for eight weeks as the intervention group within a pilot cluster randomised controlled trial. A mixed-methods design investigated classroom teachers' (N = 22; 6 males, 16 females) perspectives of the feasibility and acceptability of the program after implementation through semi-structured telephone interviews (n = 7 teachers), qualitative survey responses (n = 18 teachers) and quantitative survey items (n = 19 teachers). Qualitative data were analysed using predominantly deductive thematic analysis. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics., Results: Classroom-based PA breaks may be feasible for getting children with disabilities more active at school. However, considerable variation exists in teachers' perception of the AJoM experience. While several teachers indicate that the program content could be pertinent for their class, common divergences in perceptions of feasibility and acceptability appear to relate to the age and developmental level or needs of the students in the class., Conclusions: This study provides preliminary evidence for the feasibility and acceptability of implementing classroom-based PA breaks in specialist schools. However, results demonstrate the importance of (1) allowing a high level of flexibility in the design and implementation of programs to meet the varying needs of class groups and (2) providing a large variety of resources to cater to the heterogeneity of the children., Trial Registration: This trial was prospectively registered with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ( ACTRN12619000193178 ) on 11 February 2019., (© 2022. The Author(s).)