In “A Prospective Study of the Emergence of Early Behavioral Signs of Autism,” Professor Sally Oznoff and colleagues found that infants who develop Autism behave differently than their typically developing peers even as early as one year of age. Writing in the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, the researchers reported about a comparison of video tapes of children (n=50, half of whom had Autism) made at six-month intervals during infancy and early childhood.
Continue reading ‘Autism appears early’
Tag Archive for 'Research'
Janie Shelton and colleagues at the University of Califonia at Davis reported that women over 40 years of age who give birth have an increased risk of the child having Autism. By studying a large sample of births, the researchers were able to disentangle the relative contributions of maternal and paternal age to the likelihood of having a child with Autism.
This study conflicts with some previous research that pointed at paternal age as a factor in Autism (see the EBD Blog page by Leslie Feldman on Fathers’ Age as Contributor to Risk for Autism). The Shelton et al. analysis expressly examined the relative contributions and points at maternal age as an independent factor. Additional research will help to clarify the relationships.
Continue reading ‘Maternal age increases risk of Autistic offspring’
During the 40 weeks after receiving a brief course of ω-3 (“omega three”) polyunsaturated fatty acids, adolescents at risk for psychotic disorders were less likely to progress to psychotic status than similar peers who did not receive the supplement. In the study by G. Paul Amminger and colleagues, the youths in the treated group also had fewer positive, negative, and general symptoms of psychosis and improved overall functioning than those in the control group.
The youths in the treated group received a supplement of two fish-oil capsules twice a day for 12 weeks, and the controls received a placebo of coconut-oil capsules. The researchers then monitored their status and symptoms for the following 40 weeks.
Continue reading ‘Fish oil and adolescent psychosis’
In Pediatrics Dr. Timothy Buie and colleagues published a paper providing evidence-based recommendations for pediatricians who evaluate and treat gastrointestinal problems in patients with Autism. The authors, who represent many important scientific groups concerned with allergies, gastrointestinal disorders, nutrition, and similar problems, concluded that children with Autism and related disorders should be assessed and, as approriate, given medical care just as would individuals without Autism. The team encouraged pediatricians to develop and employ “evidence-based algorithms for the assessment of abdominal pain, constipation, chronic diarrhea, and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).”
Continue reading ‘Science, gastro-intestinal problems, diets, and Autism’
Writing in Molecular Psychiatry, L. Palmieri of the Laboratory of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Department of Pharmaco-Biology, University of Bari (Bari, IT) and colleagues reported the results of a small-n study of levels of metabolic transporters in the brain tissue of individuals with and without Autism. They compared the contents of samples from the brains of individuals with Autism and individual without Autism (matched on the bases of sex, age, and time after death that the samples were obtained). They found aspartate-glutamate carrier activity was increased by excessive calcium levels in brains of the Autistic individuals.
Continue reading ‘Excessive levels of calcium mark brains of individuals with Autism’
Thanks to a comment by reader DrFoo (AKA ‘Rollen’), I was alerted to an interesting study about variation in the rates of Autism in different ethnic populations. The news releases say that the incidence of Autism among Hispanics is lower than it is among non-Hispanic white peers.
These news releases refer to a study entitled “Explaining Low Rates of Autism Among Hispanic Schoolchildren in Texas” by Raymond Palmer and colleagues. Here’s the abstract:
In data from the Texas Educational Agency and the Health Resources and Services Administration, we found fewer autism diagnoses in school districts with higher percentages of Hispanic children. Our results are consistent with previous reports of autism rates 2 to 3 times as high among non-Hispanic Whites as among Hispanics. Socioeconomic factors failed to explain lower autism prevalence among Hispanic schoolchildren in Texas. These findings raise questions: Is autism underdiagnosed among Hispanics? Are there protective factors associated with Hispanic ethnicity?
I’ve not had time to examine the issue closely, but I have a few links:
- From US TV ABC: Texas Study Confirms Lower Autism Rate in Hispanics
- From Reuters: Texas study confirms lower autism rate in Hispanics
The full citation is close to what follows…
Palmer, R. F., Walker, T., Mandell, D., Bayles, B., Miller, C. S. (2009). Explaining low rates of autism among Hispanic schoolchildren in Texas. American Journal of Public Health, 100, pp-to-come. 10.2105/AJPH.2008.150565
A new study from the US Center for Disease Control (CDC) puts the prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) at 0.9% (one in every 110) of 8-year-old children. Writing in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Catherine Rice of the CDC’s National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities reported the results of her study 18 December.
In what is called a surveillance study, Ms. Rice examined educational and medical records of children age 8 in 2006, because that age appears to be a peak age for prevalence of ASD. Research teams from sites that participate in the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network monitor public health records. Ms. Rice’s report aggregated the data from 10 sites.
Continue reading ‘New prevalence study of ASD’
| Twelve key children’s services for community services boards |
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Right here in my home commonwealth of Virginia last week, Mira Signe, Vicki Hardy-Murrell, John Morgan, and Margaret Nimmo Crowe explained why it is important that government and private organizations attend to and address issues in children’s mental health. By explaining that Virginia has inadequate services and that one in every five children or youths experience mental health problems at some time during their lives, they made the point that that there is a tremendous need for public focus on these issues. This was the kick-off event for the Campaign for Children’s Mental Health.
The Campaign for Children’s Mental Health is a 3-year sustained effort to make mental health services more available and accessible to Virginia children in need. It will strongly endorse Governor-elect McDonnell’s call for system improvements; urge the General Assembly and state and local government to work collaboratively with the administration to address system deficiencies; and conduct a high-profile three-year advocacy and education drive to build public and political support for improved mental health services for children.
Only about one in 20 of Virginia’s children have access to the key services listed in the accompanying box. So, four out of five children who need these services do not have access to them.
No, Virginia, this is not an acceptable way to treat our children. Let’s do better.
- Down load the press release (source of the excerpt quoted here).
- Read coverage in these newspapers:
- Lynchburg News and Advance—Coalition pushes mental-health care for children
- Washington Examiner&mdash:Advocates start bid to expand children’s mental health services under bleak budget;
- Richmond Times Dispatch— Coalition advocate mental-health care for children
- Washington Post (blog)—New coalition has AG’s support for mental health reforms
- Visit (and support) the Web site of the Campaign for Children’s Mental Health.
- Download pdfs of “Survey of Community Services Board Child and Adolescent Services” and “Review of Community Services Board Child and Adolescent Services“; these are report by James W. Stewart, Inspector General for Virginia’s Mental Health, Mental Retardation & Substance Abuse Services (now called Behavioral Health and Development Services). The list of key services comes from these reports;
- Visit the < href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Campaign-for-Childrens-Mental-Health/183467424796?v=wall" target="_blank">Facebook page;
- Listen to a brief (3+ min) interview with Ms. Crowe from WMRA: Pushing for Children’s Mental Health Reform.
I’m going a little afield here, as this is not about children or youth. Still, I thought it might be interesting to a reader or two. Using images of the brains of adults with Autism and other adults without Autism, Michael Lombardo and colleagues examined activity in two parts of the individuals brains considered to be involved in thinking about oneself or about others. They found that the individuals with Autism showed differences from their not-Autistic matches in the area of the brain (cingulate cortex) that is active during social interactions and bonding.
All of the participants who had Autism diagnoses (N=29) were pretty high functioning. They were, on average, 26 years old, their average full-scale IQ was almost 116, and on the ADI-R social, communication, and repetitive scales their average (SD) ratings were 17.87 (4.73), 14.83 (3.58), and 5.78 (2.71) respectively.
Continue reading ‘Self- and other-referents in Autism’
Hill Walker and colleagues reported that the First Step to Success program benefitted young children at risk for developing emotional or behavioral disorders. In a longitudinal study of the three-year program conducted in Albuquerque (NM, US), the researchers found substantial reductions in disruptive behavior and improvements in social functioning.
In a press release, Professor Walker said, “Albuquerque was the first opportunity we had to mount a large-scale study of the program using a randomized control group, the gold standard for research. First Step has been implemented widely, but not [studied] in this way.”
Continue reading ‘First Step takes off’
File this one in “things that work.”
In a smallish-but-well-done study, Geraldine Dawson and colleagues reported in Pediatrics that the Early Start Denver Model (ESDM)—a variant of the behavioral methods that have often been found to be effective—produced salutary benefits for young children with Autism. The children who received the ESDM intervention had significantly greater gains in IQ than those in a community treatment control and their social behavior kept pace with the standards for their non-disabled peers while the social behavior of the community controls declined relative to the standards.
OBJECTIVE To conduct a randomized, controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy of the Early Start Denver Model (ESDM), a comprehensive developmental behavioral intervention, for improving outcomes of toddlers diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
Continue reading ‘ESDM benefits toddlers’
Michael Aman and co-authors (and there are at least 25 of them) reported that a combination of medication and parent training in behavior management was more effective than medication alone in reducing behavior problems. They assigned families randomly assigned to receive either risperidone as well as parent management training or risperidone alone. After 24 weeks, they assessed the children’s behavior with parent-report measures. The parents who learned to use behavior management strategies reported lower levels of non-compliant behavior and irritability.
Continue reading ‘Meds plus behavior management for Autism’
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