Motor abnormalities are highly prevalent in children with autism spectrum disorder and are strongly predictive of adaptive functioning. Despite the documented sex bias in the prevalence of the disorder, the impact of sex differences on motor abnormalities has been overlooked. The goal of this study was to investigate differences in the motor…

To date, health related quality of life (QoL) has not been systematically evaluated in youth with fragile X syndrome (FXS), the most common single gene cause of autism and the most common inherited form of developmental disability. We describe QoL data gathered using the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) completed online by 364 parents…

A better understanding of the factors associated with depression and anxiety in people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) is needed to provide guidelines for service providers, clinicians, and researchers as well as to improve the diagnostic process. The current study used a longitudinal dataset to explore demographic, health,…

This study aimed to investigate factors associated with a delayed autism spectrum (ASD) diagnosis when compared to children with either no or early ASD diagnosis. Among 893 children assessed for ASD before age 8, 39% had no ASD at baseline, of which 21% received a later ASD diagnosis. Autism symptoms, diagnostic history of other developmental…

We directly assessed the broader aspects of sociability (social enjoyment, social motivation, social interaction skills and social discomfort) in individuals with Cornelia de Lange (CdLS), fragile X (FXS) and Rubinstein-Taybi syndromes (RTS), and their association with autism characteristics and chronological age in these groups. Individuals with…

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have higher rates of co-occurring diagnoses and use of psychotropic medication prescriptions than people with other developmental disabilities. Few studies have examined these trends in samples of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) with and without ASD. Using a random…

Background: Previous research suggests parents' level of satisfaction with their child's school experience is highly variable. The present author explored school satisfaction in a Canadian sample of parents of children with severe and often complex developmental disabilities. Method: Parents of 185 children completed questionnaires regarding their…

We examined language profiles of 2571 children, 30-68 months old, with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), other developmental disabilities (DD), and typical development from the general population (POP). Children were categorized as expressive dominant (ED), receptive dominant (RD), or nondominant (ND). Within each group, the ED profile was the least…

Age-related behavioural change in Cornelia de Lange syndrome is poorly understood. We report a 7 year follow-up study of adaptive behaviour, autism spectrum disorder symptomatology, language skills and behavioural characteristics in 30 individuals with Cornelia de Lange syndrome, compared with 18 individuals with Cri du Chat syndrome. The…

New Zealand has few estimates of the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder and no national registry. The use of administrative data sources is expanding and could be useful in autism spectrum disorder research. However, the extent to which autism spectrum disorder can be captured in these data sources is unknown. In this study, we utilised three…

Background: Parenting of children with Developmental Disabilities is considered to be a challenging task. This group of parents are at risk for lower levels of being satisfied with caregiving to their child compared to parents of typically developing children. Methods: Participants were recruited from different services in four provinces across…

This study describes antipsychotic use and metabolic monitoring rates among individuals with developmental disabilities enrolled in a subspecialty medical home (N = 826). Four hundred ninety-nine participants (60.4%) were taking antipsychotics, which was associated with male gender (p = 0.01), intellectual disability with and without autism…

This study describes medical conditions experienced by a population-based cohort of adults with autism spectrum disorder whose significant developmental concerns were apparent during childhood. As part of a 25-year outcome study of autism spectrum disorder in adulthood, medical histories were collected on 92 participants (N = 69 males) who were…

Point-of-view video modeling (POV), a variation of video-based modeling interventions, involves creating a video exemplar from a first-person perspective. The advantage is a significant reduction in extraneous stimuli, as well as increased efficiency in production. However, the lack of systematic analysis to evaluate differential impact on…

There is limited research demonstrating direct instruction (DI) as an effective language intervention for students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and developmental disabilities (DD). Existing research has shown that instruction using partial implementation of DI programs resulted in student learning (Ganz, 2007) and instruction using whole…