How attention to faces and objects changes over time in toddlers with autism spectrum disorders: Preliminary evidence from an eye tracking study

Further understanding of the longitudinal changes in visual pattern of toddlers with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) is needed. We examined twelve 19 to 33-month-old toddlers at their first diagnosis (mean age: 25.1 months) and after six months (mean age: 31.7 months) during two initiating joint attention (IJA) tasks using eye tracking. Results were compared with the performance of age-matched typically developing (TD) toddlers evaluated at a single time-point. Autistic toddlers showed longitudinal changes in the visual sensory processing of the IJA tasks, approaching TD performance with an improvement in the ability to disengage and to explore the global space. Findings suggest the use of eye tracking technology as an objective, non-intrusive, adjunctive tool to measure outcomes in toddlers with ASD

High-Risk Siblings without Autism: Insights from a Clinical and Eye-Tracking Study

Joint attention (JA)—the human ability to coordinate our attention with that of other people—is impaired in the early stage of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). However, little is known about the JA skills in the younger siblings of children with ASD who do not develop ASD at 36 months of age [high-risk (HR)-noASD]. In order to advance our understanding of this topic, a prospective multicenter observational study was conducted with three groups of toddlers (age range: 18–33 months): 17 with ASD, 19 with HR-noASD and 16 with typical development (TD). All subjects underwent a comprehensive clinical assessment and an eye-tracking experiment with pre-recorded stimuli in which the visual patterns during two tasks eliciting initiating joint attention (IJA) were measured. Specifically, fixations, transitions and alternating gaze were analyzed. Clinical evaluation revealed that HR-noASD subjects had lower non-verbal cognitive skills than TD children, while similar levels of restricted and repetitive behaviors and better social communication skills were detected in comparison with ASD children. Eye-tracking paradigms indicated that HR-noASD toddlers had visual patterns resembling TD in terms of target-object-to-face gaze alternations, while their looking behaviors were similar to ASD toddlers regarding not-target-object-to-face gaze alternations. This study indicated that high-risk, unaffected siblings displayed a shared profile of IJA-eye-tracking measures with both ASD patients and TD controls, providing new insights into the characterization of social attention in this group of toddlers

How Attention to Faces and Objects Changes Over Time in Toddlers with Autism Spectrum Disorders: Preliminary Evidence from An Eye Tracking Study

Further understanding of the longitudinal changes in visual pattern of toddlers with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) is needed. We examined twelve 19 to 33-month-old toddlers at their first diagnosis (mean age: 25.1 months) and after six months (mean age: 31.7 months) during two initiating joint attention (IJA) tasks using eye tracking. Results were compared with the performance of age-matched typically developing (TD) toddlers evaluated at a single time-point. Autistic toddlers showed longitudinal changes in the visual sensory processing of the IJA tasks, approaching TD performance with an improvement in the ability to disengage and to explore the global space. Findings suggest the use of eye tracking technology as an objective, non-intrusive, adjunctive tool to measure outcomes in toddlers with ASD

A Comparison between Children with ADHD and Children with Epilepsy in Self-Esteem and Parental Stress Level

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is frequently associated with negative psychological outcomes. This study explores the relationship between self-esteem, ADHD symptoms and parental stress. It compares children with ADHD, children with epilepsy (E) and typical developmental controls (TD). Participants included 65 children (aged 9-12 yrs) and their parents. The assessment was conducted by Multidimensional Self-Concept Scale (MSCS), Parent Stress Index (PSI) and Conners' Parent Rating Scales–Revised. Significant differences were found in Social, Competence and Academic areas of self-esteem between children with ADHD, with E and TD. Moreover, parents of children with ADHD showed a higher overall stress than both other groups. In conclusion, it seems important to evaluate the psychological aspects of ADHD condition, both in children and in parents, in order to suggest an individual multimodal treatment

MULTIDIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS OF SELF-ESTEEM IN A GROUP OF CHILDREN WITH ADHD

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is characterised by low levels of internal-izing symptoms and self-efficacy which causes low self-esteem, while externalizing be-haviours appear to be related to high levels of stress in the parents. The purpose of this research is to analyze the impact of ADHD on self-esteem and paren-tal stress. A multidimensional assessment of self-esteem was performed using the MSCS (Multidimensional Self-Concept Scale) in a group of 12 male patients with ADHD (age range 9-11 years). Parental stress was investigated using the Parenting Stress Index (PSI). These results were compared with a group of 12 healthy children (age 9-11 years), with both parametric statistics and correlation statistics. The comparison between ADHD children and control subjects, performed by a calculation to rank with the Mann-Whitney, showed a high significance in two dimensional compo-nents of self-esteem: social relationships (Z -2.028 p 0.045) and academic success (Z -2.166 p 0.028). The total self-esteem score differed significantly between the two groups (Z -2.227 p 0.024). Parental stress increaseed with the level of the child‟s oppositional symptoms (p 0.790) but it did not correlate with the other scores (cognitive problems / inattention p 0.381); hyperactivity p 0.414; ADHD index p 0.324). The present study shows that self-esteem is impaired among children with ADHD

The PRIMA-PIETRA Project: A Web-Based Platform for Early Autism Risk Assessment

It is well recognized that the best outcomes in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are achieved through early diagnosis and early intervention. ASD symptoms may occur as early as 12-18 months and different instruments have been developed for early autism risk assessment under the age of 2 years. The Modified Checklist for Autism in Children (M-CHAT) is a developmental surveillance-screening instrument administered during 18- to 36-month well-child visits that was demonstrated to improve early identification of autism. Novel technologies can substantially contribute to improve early diagnosis in ASD, providing early screening risk assessment platforms, unobtrusive measurements of behaviors and physiological responses, as well as brain structure and connectivity, or other measurable stimulus-event experimental paradigms. The Prima Pietra Project based at the Pervasive Healthcare Center of the Institute of Clinical Physiology of the National Research Council of Italy (Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, C.N.R.) and the AOU Polyclinic "G. Martino" in Messina developed and provided an early autism risk assessment web-based platform for pediatricians and physicians available on the internet

FARP‐1 deletion is associated with lack of response to autism treatment by early start denver model in a multiplex family

Abstract Background Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) display impressive clinical heterogeneity, also involving treatment response. Genetic variants can contribute to explain this large interindividual phenotypic variability. Methods Array‐CGH (a‐CGH) and whole genome sequencing (WGS) were performed on a multiplex family with two small children diagnosed with ASD at 17 and 18 months of age. Both brothers received the same naturalistic intervention for one year according to the Early Start Denver Model (ESDM), applied by the same therapists, yielding dramatically different treatment outcomes. Results The older sibling came out of the autism spectrum, while the younger sibling displayed very little, in any, improvement. This boy was subsequently treated applying a structured Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention paired with Augmentative Alternative Communication, which yielded a partial response within another year. The ESDM nonresponsive child carries a novel maternally inherited 65 Kb deletion at chr. 13q32.2 spanning FARP1. Farp1 is a synaptic scaffolding protein, which plays a significant role in neural plasticity. Conclusion These results represent a paradigmatic example of the heuristic potential of genetic markers in predicting treatment response and possibly in supporting the targeted prescription of specific early intervention approaches