Autism Spectrum Disorder is the fastest growing developmental disability today. Autism is a syndrome with a diverse set of symptoms--rarely consistent across diagnosed individuals, and requiring a combination of therapies, educational approaches, and treatments. There is no known cure for autism. Instead treatment is left to educators and…

Understanding the process of recognising autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in children is important, both for achieving timely identification of children's difficulties and for ensuring positive experiences for families. Professionals working in primary care services are suitably positioned to identify children requiring referral for diagnostic…

Early identification of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) is facilitated by the use of standardized screening scales that assess the social emotional behaviors associated with ASD. Authors examined accuracy of Brief Infant-Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment (BITSEA) subscales in detecting Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (M-CHAT) risk…

Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) affect approximately 1 in 110 children in the United States. This report profiles fetal-brain reactive autoantibodies of a large cohort of mothers of children with autism and controls, yielding significant associations between the presence of IgG reactivity to fetal brain proteins at 37 and 73 kDa and a childhood…

The proposed revision for Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fifth Edition (DSM-5) represents a shift from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fourth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR). As the proposed DSM-5 criteria require a higher minimum number of symptoms to be…

Special education is the most highly litigated area within the field of education. Therefore, the purpose of the current article is to highlight cases (court decisions, Office of Civil Rights rulings, and State Educational Agency hearings) involving students with disabilities in 2015. Highlights from the case law point to the need for school…

The Office of Special Education Services (OSES) in the Houston Independent School District (HISD) supports students with disabilities in gaining college, career readiness, and independent living skills through active engagement in grade-level curriculum. The purpose of special education is to minimize the impact of the students' disability, while…

Timely and appropriate care for children with autism spectrum conditions is affected by the interaction between healthcare professionals and parents. Despite the importance of the parent-professional partnership, there is a dearth of cultural-specific data on parent-professional partnership in the Chinese context. We conducted 10 in-depth…

This paper reviews the literature on early child development among Koreans, with a focus on autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The literature review of 951 abstracts in English, 101 abstracts in Korean and 27 full articles published from 1994 to 2011 was performed to understand the presentation of and response to ASD in Korean culture. Based on…

Rehabilitation professionals working with students with disabilities and the families of those students face unique challenges in providing inclusive services to special education student populations. There needs to be a focus on adaptive teaching methods that provide quality experience for students with varying disabilities to promote student…

Saudi Arabia (Saudi) and the United States (U.S.) both have procedures in place for identifying and serving individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in the general classroom setting. To determine differences in teachers' attitude towards autism in Saudi and the U.S., data were gathered, compared, and contrasted from both general education…

Studies have shown an increased head circumference and the absence of the head tilt reflex as possible risk factors for autism spectrum disorder, allowing for early detection at 12 months in typically developing population of infants. Our aim was to develop a screening tool to identify infants prior to 12 months at risk for autism spectrum…

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends screening children for developmental delay and autism. Studies of current screening practice to date have been limited in scope and primarily focused on small, local samples. This study is designed to determine compliance with AAP screening recommendations: (1) developmental screening at 9, 18,…

Recent advances in clinical research have made it possible to diagnosis autism spectrum disorders (ASD) as early as the second year of life. The diagnostic process early in development is often complex, and thus, familiarity with the most recent findings in clinical assessment instruments, early symptoms, and developmental trajectories of young…

Limited research exists regarding the role of teachers in screening for Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). The current study examined the use of the "Social Communication Questionnaire" (SCQ) and "Social Responsiveness Scale" (SRS) as completed by parents and teachers about school-age children from the Simons Simplex Collection. Using the…