Parents of autistic children have historically reported hardships related to raising their children. However, the access to resources related to the childrearing of an autistic child is not equitable, therefore resulting in exacerbated difficulties for parents in low-resource settings. In these situations, peer support may be a protective factor…

Physical exercise is widely reported beneficial to executive functions in children with autism spectrum disorder. However, its impact on self-regulation in the population remains unknown. This study is to test whether two types of physical exercise (cognitively engaging vs non-cognitively engaging) benefited self-regulation and whether the social,…

While the number of autistic students attending college has increased, research in this area has only recently gained momentum. Research on faculty interactions and relationships with autistic students is particularly limited. In this qualitative study, I conducted semi-structured interviews with 15 faculty to explore how they interacted with and…

Sensory differences are nearly universal in autism, but their genetic origins are poorly understood. Here, we tested how individuals with an autism-linked genotype, 16p.11.2 deletion ("16p"), attend to visual information in immersive, real-world photospheres. We monitored participants' (N = 44) gaze while they actively explored 360°…

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and intellectual disability (ID) are heterogenous and prevalent conditions which may occur in isolation or as a co-morbidity. Psychiatric co-morbidity is common with limited treatment options. Preliminary research into electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) for these conditions has been encouraging. Thus, further research…

Increased stress among parents of youth with ASD has been well-documented. However, research on aspects of the parent-child relationship and subsequent links to parenting stress is limited. We assessed parents (N = 511) of youth with ASD to examine relations between parenting stress and parent-child quality time (amount of quality time, shared…

The hospital setting may be especially difficult for pediatric patients on the autism spectrum and their families compared to those not on the spectrum. Child life specialists are healthcare professionals specifically trained to support parents and their children and help prepare them for hospital procedures. Because of this specialized skill set,…

Autistic traits are found throughout the general population, but their link to creative attributes has received little attention in childhood populations. In adults, autistic traits are linked to both creative benefits and disadvantages, moderated by the autistic trait and the creative domain under investigation. The current study investigates the…

Behavioral correlates to happiness (i.e., indices of happiness) have been used as means of measuring happiness in individuals with developmental disabilities. However, research has not yet evaluated the possibility that indices of happiness/unhappiness (IHUs) may signal the presence of a setting event that could affect other behaviors. The purpose…

This study examined professionals' perspectives regarding the impact of using Social Stories with the creative arts for individuals on the autism spectrum. These perspectives were investigated using a theoretical framework which integrates Bandura's social learning theory and Gardner's multiple intelligences theory. A mixed-methods sequential…

Multiple technological aids have been proposed to support the social interactions of people with autism. The literature is extensive, but in many of the works there is a lack of clear processes focused on improving social skills. In this paper, we analyse a selection of 57 technological supports from the last 10 years, whose main characteristic is…

Purpose: This research aimed to evaluate evidence of Pathways parent-mediated early autism intervention as a culturally and linguistically sensitive intervention (CLSI) for Hispanic families with autistic children. Methods: We used Bernal et al.'s ecologically valid (EV) framework to evaluate current practice and Hispanic parents' perceptions of…

To date, discussion regarding autism in education has been primarily concerned with autistic students, and research usually relates to pedagogical practices that can be implemented by neurotypical teachers to support them. Seldom does the conversation around autism in the classroom consider autistic teachers, which automatically negates lived…

The education of autistic children presents significant challenges, compelling various educational stakeholders to seek solutions that can enhance teaching and learning experiences for these individuals. Among the most promising strategies are gameful approaches, including gamification, card games, and simulators. Despite recent efforts,…

Statistical learning (SL), the ability to detect and extract regularities from inputs, is considered a domain-general building block for typical language development. We compared 55 verbal children with autism (ASD, 6-12 years) and 50 typically-developing children in four SL tasks. The ASD group exhibited reduced learning in the linguistic SL…