The present study aimed to compare the effect of a land-based and a swimming-based exercise program on balance abilities in children with autism. Thirty children were voluntarily selected and randomly assigned to karate exercise, aquatic training and control groups. Participants practiced for 10 weeks, 2 sessions of 60 min per week. Before and…

This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a randomized controlled trial of a social skills intervention, the Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills (PEERS: Laugeson et al. in "J Autism Dev Disord" 39(4): 596-606, 2009), by coding digitally recorded social interactions between adolescent participants with…

Self-conscious emotions, such as shame, guilt and pride, facilitate our social interactions by motivating us to adhere to social norms and external standards. In this study, we examined proneness to shame, guilt, hubristic pride and authentic pride in adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder traits (ASD-T) and in neurotypical (NT) adults. Relations…

This study was aimed to investigate the effects of social versus non-social stimuli on postural responses in 21 boys with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) (mean age of 11.6 ± 1.5) compared with 30 typically developing (TD) boys (mean age of 11.7 ± 1.8). Postural control of children was examined while they were standing on a force plate and viewing…

Background: The purpose of the present research was to analyse the impact of an educational message incorporating descriptive, explanatory, and directive information on the attitudes of young adults toward a peer with high-functioning autism (HFA). Method: Engineering students (N = 104) completed the Multidimensional Attitudes Scale at 3 time…

Background: To date, research on spontaneous social interactions in mixed and non-mixed groups has not included exchanges with peer buddies. Object: In Study 1, socio-cognitive factors associated with the intention to volunteer to become a peer buddy for students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) were investigated. In Study 2, spontaneous social…

Pupils with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) received 6 months of intensive interaction or treatment as usual. They were assessed for behaviour problems at the start and end of the period, and changes were related to child and parent factors. Intensive interaction did not offer any greater advantages to child behaviour than treatment as usual.…

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and autism-like traits are associated with deficits in face memory ability, although it is not yet clear whether this deficit reflects a specific aspect of the ASD/autism-like phenotype. We addressed this issue using a neurotypical sample of adolescent twins (N[subscript complete pairs] = 782) drawn from the Twins…

For typically developing (TD) children, the home literacy environment (HLE) impacts reading competence, yet few studies have explored the HLE of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). We collected information about the HLE of children aged 7-13 with ASD and their TD peers via a parental questionnaire and examined whether there were any…

We first demonstrated analytic processing in ASD under conditions in which integral processing seems mandatory in TD observers, a pattern that is often taken to indicate a local default processing in ASD. However, this processing bias does not inevitably come at the price of impaired integration skills. Indeed, examining the same group of…

This study investigated school functioning among unaffected siblings of youths with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) and identified the correlates for school maladjustment. We recruited 66 youths with a clinical diagnosis of ASD, aged 8-19, their unaffected siblings and 132 typically developing controls (TD). We found that ASD youths had poorer…

Detecting where our partners direct their gaze is an important aspect of social interaction. An atypical gaze processing has been reported in autism. However, it remains controversial whether children and adults with autism spectrum disorder interpret indirect gaze direction with typical accuracy. This study investigated whether the detection of…

Many students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) struggle to appropriately interact and play with their peers at recess. In this pilot feasibility study, we tested the efficacy of practitioner-implemented, peer-mediated Pivotal Response Training (PRT) with 11 elementary and middle school students with ASD. Participants were randomly assigned to a…

Pragmatic functioning of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) children is rarely examined in socially-meaningful contexts. This study investigates the way oppositional episodes are handled in such contexts by 25 families, 10 with ASD and 15 with typically-developing children. Oppositions occur whenever someone protests, refuses or denies someone…

It has been suggested that the sensory symptoms which affect many people with autism spectrum conditions (ASC) may be related to alterations in multisensory processing. Typically, the likelihood of interactions between the senses increases when information is temporally and spatially coincident. We explored visual-tactile interactions in adults…