COREAT: Developing a Mobile Application to Assess the Severity of Repetitive Behavior in Autism

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by difficulties in communication and repetitive behaviors. The early detection of ASD is a clinical priority in education centres and medical services. COREAT is a computer adaptation of the Repetitive Behavior Scale-Revised (RBS-R) which has been designed to facilitate the diagnosis of individuals with ASD and intellectual disability. This article describes the development, an initial evaluation of the feasibility and the preliminary outcomes of COREAT. The development of COREAT consists of two phases. Phase 1: Performing a prior analysis of the psychometric properties of the RBS-R scale. Phase 2: Developing the mobile application (pilot tests, testing real cases n = 11, and final feedback). Descriptive data of the pilot study shows that 91.31% of participants indicate that COREAT is very accessible and intuitive. COREAT proves to be a useful diagnostic resource for professionals and families. Cross-cultural differences must be analysed

Effectiveness of a computerized intervention in a child with ADHD

El Trastorno por Déficit de Atención e Hiperactividad (TDAH) es uno de los problemas del comportamiento más prevalente en niños. En este estudio se evalúa una intervención dirigida a mejorar la inatención y la competencia lecto-escritora de un niño de 9 años con TDAH en presentación combinada. Para la evaluación se administró el test EMLE-TALE 2000, el EMAV y el test d2. Se aplicó el programa computerizado Fíjate y Concéntrate Más, que ha demostrado ser efectivo para mejorar la atención sostenida, la calidad atencional y la lectura y escritura en población infantil. Los resultados tras 20 sesiones semanales de intervención revelaron mejoras significativas en indicadores atencionales como la atención sostenida, la calidad atencional, la concentración y la efectividad, así como en los errores en tareas de dictado y copia y un aumento de la velocidad lectora. Los hallazgos obtenidos apoyan la necesidad de tratamientos integrales en el TDAH que se centren en aquellos ámbitos que el trastorno ha dañado en el niño.Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is one of the most prevalent behavioral problems in children. This study evaluates the effectiveness of an intervention to improve inattention and writing and reading competency in a 9-years-old child with ADHD using combined presentation. In the evaluation, EMLE-TALE 2000, EMAV and d2 tests were administered. The computerized program Fíjate y Concéntrate Más, which has shown its effectiveness for improving sustained attention, selective attention, writing and reading on children, was applied. Results after 20 weekly sessions of intervention revealed significant improvement in attentional indicators, such as sustained attention, selective attention, concentration and effectivity, as well, errors in dictation tasks and copy and increased reading speed. The findings support the need for comprehensive treatment for ADHD that focus on those areas damaged disorder in children

COREAT

El app Conducta Repetitiva Autismo Test (COREAT) se trata de un test que mide el nivel de severidad de la conducta repetitiva tanto en personas con Trastorno del Espectro Autista (TEA) como en personas con Discapacidad Intelectual (DI). COREAT es la adaptación española del Repetitive Behavior Scale – Revised (RBS-R) un instrumento que ha mostrado excelentes propiedades psicométricas en estudios internacionales y en población española para el diagnóstico diferencial del TEA. Con esta aplicación podrá obtener el nivel de severidad de los síntomas: estereotipados, autolesivos, compulsivos, ritualísticos y restrictivos. La información proporcionada tras realizar el test será de gran utilidad tanto para el profesional (obtención de percentiles para redacción de informes), como para los familiares que pueden visualizar la gravedad de los síntomas en unas gráficas sencillas

Educación superior cooperativa en el área de Asesoramiento e Intervención en los Centros Educativos

La enseñanza universitaria está sufriendo grandes transformaciones como consecuencia de la incorporación de la Universidad al marco europeo. Para el conjunto de profesores que imparten docencia en dichos niveles, estos grandes cambios nos suponen un reto importante a la hora de abordar nuestra enseñanza. El ámbito europeo de enseñanza superior fomenta el desarrollo de una educación basada en el aprendizaje de habilidades, capacidades, actitudes y valores en los alumnos desde metodologías no tradicionales como la interacción cooperativa. Como consecuencia de todo lo expuesto anteriormente, se hace imprescindible una formación de los alumnos universitarios que los capacite para adaptarse y funcionar de acuerdo a la situación actual de la Educación Universitaria para que, a su vez, tengan la oportunidad de realizar actividades y manifestar actitudes en el aula que despierten su curiosidad por aprender, que les permita fomentar unas relaciones sociales adecuadas, el respeto a las diferencias, la tolerancia, la igualdad, y, en definitiva, promover en el marco universitario las destrezas o habilidades que les faciliten actuar en el presente y el futuro de una manera colaborativa. El objetivo de nuestro estudio, de esta forma, es facilitar en los alumnos de la asignatura de Asesoramiento e Intervención en los Centros Educativos la enseñanza de estas habilidades a través de un estilo docente cooperativo para que aumenten, además, sus resultados académicos

Repetitive behaviors among people with autism spectrum disorder: Relationship with family history and pharmacological treatment

El Trastorno del Espectro Autista (en adelante TEA) se caracteriza por la presencia de déficits persistentes en la comunicación e interacción social y de patrones repetitivos y restringidos en las conductas. La presencia de conductas repetitivas determina en parte el ajuste o adaptación de la persona con TEA. Dos variables que frecuentemente se relacionan también con la severidad del trastorno son la presencia de antecedentes familiares psiquiátricos y la prescripción de tratamientos psicofarmacológicos, comúnmente dirigidos a los problemas de agresividad. Sin embargo, se ha estudiado muy poco la relación entre las conductas repetitivas y estas dos variables. En consecuencia, el presente artículo pretende analizar la relación entre los diferentes tipos de conductas repetitivas de las personas con TEA con la presencia de antecedentes psiquiátricos familiares y de tratamiento farmacológico. Método: En el estudio participaron 233 personas con TEA de entre 3 y 63 años. Resultados: Los resultados indican que el grupo de personas con TEA que tiene antecedentes psiquiátricos directos y el grupo de personas con TEA que reciben tratamiento farmacológico presentan puntuaciones significativamente más elevadas en comportamientos autolesivos. Además, las personas con TEA que tienen antecedentes familiares de enfermedad mental presentan puntuaciones significativamente superiores en autolesiones, rituales y comportamiento de similitud. Aunque estos resultados deben ser tomados con cautela debido a las limitaciones del estudio, subrayan la utilidad de considerar la evaluación pormenorizada de los diferentes tipos de conductas repetitivas a la hora de abordar el tratamiento de personas con TEA.Autism Spectrum Disorder (hereinafter ASD) is characterized by the presence of persistent deficits in social communication and interaction and of restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior. The new DSM-5 pays special attention to the level of severity. Therefore, there is a need for the use of diagnostic assessment tools that measure the severity of symptoms. The presence of repetitive behaviors in part determines the person with ASD’s adaptation. Two variables that often also are related to disorder severity are the presence of a psychiatric familiar history and the prescription of psychopharmacological treatments commonly directed at the aggressiveness problems. However, has been little studied the relationship between these two variables and repetitive behaviors. As a result, this article aims to analyse the relationship between the different types of repetitive behaviors of persons with ASD in the presence of family psychiatric history and pharmacological treatment. Method: The study included 233 subjects with ASD between 3 and 63 years. Results: The results indicate that the group of people with ASD who have a family psychiatric history and the group of people with ASD who is receiving pharmacological treatment have significantly higher scores on stereotyped behaviors and self-injury. Although these results should be taken with caution due to the limitations of the study, they underline the usefulness of considering the detailed evaluation of the different types of repetitive behaviors in dealing with treatment of people with ASD

The Role of Gut Microbiota in Gastrointestinal Symptoms of Children with ASD

Background and objectives: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impaired communication, social interaction disorder, and repetitive behavior. Dysbiotic gut microbiota (GM) could be a contributing factor to the appearance of ASD, as gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms are comorbidities frequently reported in ASD. As there is a lack of reviews about the role played by GM in the GI symptoms of ASD, this work aimed to carry out a systematic review of current studies comparing the GM of children with ASD and GI symptoms with those of healthy controls in the last six years. Materials and Methods: The systematic review was performed following the PRISMA guidelines. The databases chosen were Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, and PsycINFO, and the keywords were (gut* OR intestine* OR bowel* OR gastrointestinal*) AND (microbiota* OR microflora* OR bacteria* OR microbiome* OR flora* OR bacterial* OR bacteria* OR microorganism* OR feces* OR stool*) AND (autistic* OR autism* OR ASD*). Results: A total of 16 articles were included. Ten articles performed correlations analysis between GI symptoms and ASD. Among those 10 articles, 7 found differences between the GI symptoms present in children with ASD and healthy controls. The most common GI symptom was constipation. Among the seven articles that found differences, three performed correlations analysis between GI symptoms and gut microbe abundance. Candida, Prevotella, Streptococcus, and Veillonella showed higher and lower abundance, respectively, in children with ASD and GI symptoms in more than one article. Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, Actinomyces, Dorea, Lactobacillus, Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, and Bacteroidetes/Firmicutes ratios showed abundance discrepancies. Conclusions: It is still too early to draw a conclusion about the gut microbes involved in GI symptoms of ASD. Future research should consider the relationship between ASD behavior, GM, and GI symptoms in a multidisciplinary way and homogenize sample characteristics

Integral intervention in a child with epilepsy and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms

A lo largo de estos años la investigación científica ha estudiado la aparición de síntomas típicos del Trastorno de Déficit de Atención con Hiperactividad en niños con epilepsia y su nivel de prevalencia. Los métodos tradiciones de intervención en los síntomas del Trastorno de Déficit de Atención con Hiperactividad han sido la farmacología y la terapia psicológica en el niño y los padres. En el presente estudio se evalúan los procesos cognitivos tras un año de rehabilitación neuropsicológica y terapia cognitivo-conductual familiar de un niño con epilepsia y posibles síntomas de Trastorno de Déficit de Atención con Hiperactividad. Los resultados muestran una mejoría de los procesos cognitivos como la atención, la memoria verbal y no verbal a corto y largo plazo, y la función ejecutiva. También una leve mejoría de la percepción de los padres sobre los síntomas de hiperactividad e impulsividad. Este estudio obtiene resultados esperanzadores para realizar la intervención integral en niños que tienen epilepsia y síntomas de Trastorno de Déficit de Atención con Hiperactividad. Futuros estudios deben incluir una muestra mayor de sujetos con deterioro cognitivo y lesiones cerebrales similares.For several years, studies have investigated the appearance and prevalence of symptoms typical of Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder in children with epilepsy. Traditional intervention methods to treat Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder symptoms include pharmacology and psychological therapy in children and parents. The present study assessed cognitive processes in a child with epilepsy and Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder symptoms after one year of neuropsychological rehabilitation and cognitive-behavioural family therapy. The results show an improvement in cognitive processes such as attention, short-term and long-term verbal and non-verbal memory, and executive function. There was also a slight improvement among parents in their perception of hyperactivity and impulsivity symptoms. This study suggests that comprehensive intervention is a promising approach in children with epilepsy and Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder symptoms. Future studies should include a larger sample of patients with cognitive impairment and similar brain lesions

Relationships Between Emotion Regulation, Social Communication and Repetitive Behaviors in Autism Spectrum Disorder

The relationship between emotion regulation, social interaction and different types of restricted and repetitive behaviors is poorly understood. In the present study, structural equation modeling based on information about 239 individuals with autism was used to examine whether emotion regulation and social communication were associated with self-injury and stereotyped behaviors. Results showed that poor emotion regulation had a unique association with self-injury while difficulties with social communication was uniquely associated with stereotyped behaviors. Emotion regulation and social communication were strongly associated and self-injury and stereotyped behaviors moderately associated. This implies that these types of behaviors are often expressions of broader negative emotional states in autism. Treatments that help improve coping and social communication strategies may benefit individuals with autism.Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature

An approach to gut microbiota profile in children with autism spectrum disorder

In recent years, there has been an increase in studies on the implications of gut microbiota (GM) on the behaviour of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) due to a dysbiosis in GM that can trigger onset, development or progression of ASD through the microbiota–gut–brain axis. The aim of this study is to carry out a systematic review of articles from the last 6 years that analyse GM in children with ASD compared to GM in control groups. Children with ASD showed a higher abundance of Roseburia and Candida genera, and lower abundance of Dialister, Bilophila, Veillonella, Streptococcus, Coprococcus and Prevotella genera. Those differences can be attributed to factors such as different nationalities, nature of control groups, place where the sample was taken, gastrointestinal (GI) problems or bacterial detection methods. It is still too early to define a specific GM profile of children with ASD, and future studies should focus on homogenizing the characteristics of samples and control groups. Furthermore, new multicentre studies should also focus on the impact of GM on GI physiology, neurophysiology and behaviour of children with ASD, and on performing psychometric analyses of the correlation between the severity of ASD behavioural symptoms and GM profiles