Academic Achievement of Children With Neurofibromatosis Type 1.

Background And Objectives: Learning difficulties are frequently reported in children with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1), yet little is known about the extent and predictors of their academic functions across ages. We aimed to examine the developmental patterns of academic achievement in these children from childhood to adolescence and how these patterns differ across demographic and NF1-related disease factors.

Methods: This cross-sectional study integrated data of 1512 children with NF1 (mean age, 11.

Making Deception Fun: Teaching Autistic Individuals How to Play Friendly Tricks.

Perspective taking is a critical repertoire for navigating social relationships and consists of a variety of complex verbal skills, including socially adaptive forms of deception. Detecting and being able to use socially adaptive deception likely has many practical uses, including defending oneself against bullying, telling white lies to avoid hurting others' feelings, keeping secrets and bluffing during games, and playing friendly tricks on others. Previous research has documented that some Autistic children have challenges identifying deception and playfully deceiving others (Reinecke et al.

Correction: Making Deception Fun: Teaching Autistic Individuals How to Play Friendly Tricks.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1007/s40617-024-00935-z.].

Conference proceedings: Inaugural meeting of the consortium for autism, genetic neurodevelopmental disorders, and digestive diseases.

Objectives: Individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs), including autism spectrum disorder (ASD), often experience a higher prevalence of gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms but have complex medical and behavioral comorbidities that make diagnosis and treatment difficult. A multi-stakeholder conference was convened to (a) determine patient and family experiences related to GI symptoms in NDDs, (b) review the clinicians' and researchers' perspectives, and (c) determine actionable steps for future research.

Methods: The Consortium for Autism, Neurodevelopmental Disorders and Digestive Diseases (CANDID; www.

Seeking Validation and Creating Meaningful Interactions: Perceptions of a Parent-Mediated Infant Intervention.

Infancy, a formative period for development, has been identified as an advantageous time to provide family-centered support for children with delays. Families should be included as stakeholders during development of such interventions to ensure social value. We describe a preliminary randomized controlled trial evaluating Infant Achievements (IA), an 8-week (16-session) parent-mediated intervention for parents of infants 8-12 months old with social communication delays.

Objective measurement of movement variability using wearable sensors predicts ASD outcomes in infants at high likelihood for ASD and ADHD.

Early motor delays and differences are common among children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Yet, little work has shown whether there are early atypical motor signs that differentiate these groups. Quantitative measures of movement variability hold promise for improving the identification of subtle and specific differences in motor function among infants and toddlers at high likelihood for ASD and ADHD.

Science over Cynicism: The Race to Preserve Best-Practice Applied Behavior Analysis through Expanded Awareness, Advocacy, and Enforcement of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act.

Unlabelled: Widespread insurance funding of applied behavior analysis (ABA) as a medically necessary mental health benefit in the treatment of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has placed behavior analysts in the role of health-care providers, and the race is on to see whether best-practice ABA will be defined by the insurance industry or behavior analysts. Behavior analysts who work with insurance and/or Medicaid have increasingly encountered payor guidelines that interfere with their efforts to implement treatment plans that reflect generally accepted standards of care. When these arbitrary limits are integrated into ABA practices, payors-not science-are shaping how ABA is implemented.

Diagnostic certainty during in-person and telehealth autism evaluations.

Background: Many diagnostic evaluations abruptly shifted to telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic; however, little is known about the impact on diagnosis patterns for children evaluated for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The purpose of this clinical research study was to examine (1) the frequency of diagnoses evaluated beyond ASD; (2) the frequency of diagnoses made, including ASD; and (3) clinician diagnostic certainty for all diagnoses evaluated for children who received an evaluation due to primary concerns about ASD via telehealth during the pandemic compared to those evaluated in person before the pandemic at an ASD specialty clinic.

Methods: The sample included 2192 children, 1-17 years ( = 6.

Mental Health Crises in Autistic Children: A Framework for Prevention and Intervention in Primary Care.

Children with autism are at high risk for experiencing a mental health crisis, which occurs when psychiatric and behavioral symptoms become a danger and caregivers do not have the resources to safely manage the event. Our current mental health systems of care are not fully prepared to manage crisis in autistic individuals, due to the shortage of available mental health providers and programs that are tailored for autistic children. However, new strategies to address crisis are gradually emerging.

A pilot, single-arm feasibility study of an integrated cognitive-behavioral treatment for anxiety in young autistic children.

Objective: Anxiety is prevalent in young autistic children under 7 years of age. Yet there is a paucity of empirically based interventions for this age group. DINO Strategies for Anxiety and Uncertainty Reduction (DINOSAUR) is an innovative cognitive behavioral intervention that seeks to optimize treatment response in young autistic children by targeting anxiety and the contributing mechanisms of intolerance of uncertainty and parental accommodation using a telehealth delivery model.

Self-Report Measurement of Well-Being in Autistic Adults: Psychometric Properties of the PERMA Profiler.

Background: Studies of positive psychology and emotional well-being have broadened our understanding of mental health. However, mental health research involving autistic adults has been largely deficit-focused. Few studies have examined well-being using established positive psychological frameworks.

Preventing Insurance Denials of Applied Behavior Analysis Treatment Based on Misuse of Medically Unlikely Edits (MUEs).

The importance of obtaining full insurance coverage of all medically necessary applied behavior analysis (ABA) services without artificial limits on scope, intensity, duration, or beneficiaries of treatment is at the core of autism health care advocacy. Although some limitations, such as dollar limits, treatment hour caps, or restrictions on location of services or symptoms treated are obvious, others are more nuanced. One such area meriting increased attention is insurers' use of Medically Unlikely Edits (MUEs) in ways that can improperly limit care, reduce access, and undermine quality.

Perceptual alterations in the relationship between sensory reactivity, intolerance of uncertainty, and anxiety in autistic children with and without ADHD.

Sensory differences and anxiety disorders are highly prevalent in autistic individuals with and without ADHD. Studies have shown that sensory differences and anxiety are associated and that intolerance of uncertainty (IU) plays an important role in this relationship. However, it is unclear as to how different levels of the sensory processing pathway (i.

Alcohol Use Patterns Among Underage Autistic and Non-Autistic Youth.

Purpose: We explored factors predicting repeated or hazardous alcohol use among autistic and non-autistic U.S. youth ages 16 to 20 years.

Speech-Language Pathologists' Perceptions of Language and Literacy Instruction for Pre-K Children With Developmental Language Disorder.

Purpose: Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) have multiple roles and responsibilities related to language and literacy instruction in schools. The purpose of this exploratory, qualitative study was to analyze school-based SLPs' perceptions related to effective language and early literacy instruction for pre-K children with developmental language disorder (DLD). The goal of this study was to inform development of a new language and early literacy professional development program for inclusive pre-K teachers.

Teaching Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder Desire-Based Emotion Prediction and Cause.

This study aimed to expand current research in one area of perspective taking related to teaching children with autism spectrum disorder to predict others' emotions. The current study evaluated a behavioral teaching procedure on predicting and inferring the cause of emotions based on another's desires. The procedure included a training package including multiple-exemplar training, rules, modeling, prompting, and reinforcement across scenarios in which children with autism were asked to predict how others may feel given a met or unmet desire or nondesire.

Neural correlates and predictors of speech and language development in infants at elevated likelihood for autism: a systematic review.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is an increasingly prevalent and heterogeneous neurodevelopmental condition, characterized by social communicative differences, and a combination of repetitive behaviors, focused interests, and sensory sensitivities. Early speech and language delays are characteristic of young autistic children and are one of the first concerns reported by parents; often before their child's second birthday. Elucidating the neural mechanisms underlying these delays has the potential to improve early detection and intervention efforts.

Caregiver perspectives on the continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children with intellectual/developmental disabilities.

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted caregivers, especially those raising a child with an intellectual/developmental disability (IDD). While research has shown substantial disruption to the family, school, and occupational lives of the IDD community, little is known about the long-term impacts of COVID-19. To address this question, 249 caregivers were surveyed via an online questionnaire, between April and August of 2022 (more than 2 years into the pandemic) about potential impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on their child's access to health- and school-based therapeutic services, caregiver mental health, and family life.

Association Between Neighborhood Deprivation and Child Cognition in Clinically Referred Youth.

Objective: When socioeconomic status is measured at the individual and/or family level, it has long been associated with cognition in children. However, the association between neighborhood deprivation, an index of community-level socioeconomic status, and child cognition is not fully understood. The goal of this study was to investigate (1) the relationship between neighborhood deprivation and child cognitive functioning and (2) whether child age moderates the relationship between cognitive functioning and neighborhood deprivation.

Gastrointestinal Dysfunction in Genetically Defined Neurodevelopmental Disorders.

Gastrointestinal symptoms are common in most forms of neurodevelopment disorders (NDDs) such as in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The current patient-reported outcome measures with validated questionnaires used in the general population of children without NDDS cannot be used in the autistic individuals. We explore here the multifactorial pathophysiology of ASD and the role of genetics and the environment in this disease spectrum and focus instead on possible diagnostics that could provide future objective insight into the connection of the gut-brain-microbiome in this disease entity.

Evaluation of telemental health services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities: protocol for a randomized non-inferiority trial.

Background: Roughly 40% of those with intellectual/developmental disabilities (IDD) have mental health needs, twice the national average. Unfortunately, outpatient mental health services are often inaccessible, increasing reliance on hospital-based services. While telemental health services hold potential to address this gap, little is known about the effectiveness of telemental health for the diversity of persons with IDD, especially as it relates to crisis prevention and intervention services.