Children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may play with limited objects or toys, making it difficult for teachers to identify reinforcers to use in teaching new skills. The goal of this study was to alter children's preferences from highly preferred toys to toys that were originally less preferred using an observational pairing procedure. Child participants observed a preferred adult play...

Serotonin is a critical modulator of cortical function, and its metabolism is defective in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) brain. How serotonin metabolism regulates cortical physiology and contributes to the pathological and behavioral symptoms of ASD remains unknown. We show that normal serotonin levels are essential for the maintenance of neocortical excitation/inhibition balance, correct sens...

The current study investigated the prevalence and pattern of unusual sensory behaviors (USBs) in teens with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and infants (3-36 months) at risk for ASD. From two different sites (UCSD and UConn), caregivers of infants at high (n = 32) and low risk (n = 33) for ASD, and teenagers with (n = 12) and without ASD (n = 11), completed age-appropriate Sensory Profile questi...

People with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often exhibit superior performance in visual search compared to others. However, most studies demonstrating this advantage have employed simple, uncluttered images with fully visible targets. We compare the performance of high-functioning adults with ASD and matched controls on a naturalistic luggage screening task. Although the two groups were equally...

OBJECTIVE Research regarding sensory processing and adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is limited. This study aimed to compare sensory processing patterns of groups of higher education students with ADHD or ASD and to explore the implications of these disorders for their college life. METHOD The Adolescent/Adult Sensory Profile was ad...

Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have difficulty connecting with others because they often lack the communication, social interaction, and play skills necessary for developing relationships with their peers. This article highlights the characteristics of four peer intervention programs described in the literature that have been successful in facilitating the social connections betw...

This study investigated whether individuals with ASD (autistic spectrum disorders) are able to identify driving hazards, given their difficulties processing social information, Klin et al. (Archives of General Psychiatry 59: 809–816, 2002). Twenty-three adult males with ASD and 21 comparison participants viewed 10 video clips containing driving hazards. In half of the clips the source of the ha...

BACKGROUND Here we present an overview of the literature on autism in adult and juvenile delinquents. We analyzed both the prevalence of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in groups of delinquents and the prevalence of offending in people with ASD. There is a high prevalence of psychiatric disorders amongst people in custody, but there is disagreement about the prevalence of ASD in this population...