The estimated prevalence of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is 1% worldwide. Autistic individuals typically have a high level of sensitivity to the various environmental stimuli (smell, noise, light). These stimuli have a positive or negative influence on the person-environment interaction, and an excess of stimuli may create inappropriate or unanticipated behavioral responses (such as a crisis) effecting their well-being. The Model of Competence, which provides an explanation of the interaction between the individual and the environment, was selected as the conceptual framework to direct this study. The purpose of this study is to investigate the opinions and experiences of mothers regarding the influence of the characteristics of the home environment on autistic individuals. A qualitative interpretative description design was utilized for this study\'s framework. Participants in the study were mothers who have autistic children. The study with focus groups was continued until data saturation was reached. There was a thematic investigation carried out. The findings show that the factors that have an effect on autistic individuals can be categorized into several subsets like sensory, routines, and physical environment. Despite the fact that the home setting is often a secure and consistent environment, these aspects were identified as crucial. Consequently, one should give some thought to the consequences that this could have in other settings where it would be harder to exercise control. The identification of these factors and the impact they have enables a better understanding of the interaction between an autistic individual and their environment and serves to guide professionals in their interventions.

Symmetry studies in autism are inconclusive possibly due to different types of stimuli used which depend on either local or global cues. Therefore, this study compared symmetry detection between 20 autistic and 18 non-autistic adults matched on age, IQ, gender and handedness, using contour integration tasks containing open and closed contours that rely more on local or global processing respectively. Results showed that the autistic group performed equally well with both stimuli and outperformed the non-autistic group only for the open contours, possibly due to a different strategy used in detecting symmetry. However, there were no group differences for the closed contour. Results explain discrepant findings in previous symmetry studies suggesting that symmetry tasks that favour a local strategy may be advantageous for autistic individuals. Implications of the findings towards understanding visual sensory issues in this group are discussed.

Sleep problems are common in autistic children and negatively impact daytime functioning. A method for predicting sleep problems could help with treatment and prevention of such problems. This study aimed to determine predictors of sleep problems among young autistic children. Study participants consisted of autistic children aged 2-5 years who did not have sleep problems at a first visit (Autism Treatment Network Registry) and had sleep data available at a subsequent visit (Registry Call-Back Assessment study). Sleep problems for five study cohorts of children were defined by different methods, including parent questionnaires and parent- or clinician-report of sleep problems. We found that self-injurious behavior, sensory issues, dental problems, and lower primary caregiver education level were significant risk factors of future sleep problems. These predictors may help clinicians provide prevention or earlier treatment for children who are at risk of developing sleep problems.

UNASSIGNED: Autistic adults engage in lower levels of physical activity (PA) than their nonautistic peers, and over 60% do not meet national guidelines for PA. In addition, autistic adults face myriad barriers to PA participation that can make accessing activities challenging. To support the inclusion of autistic adults in PA, this study sought to explore first-hand recommendations for PA participation from autistic adults\' perspective.
UNASSIGNED: We interviewed 23 autistic adults aged 18 to 75 years about their PA experiences across their lifespan, including querying the participants\' recommendations for supporting autistic adults in PA. A qualitative descriptive design with a constructivist lens guided the thematic analysis.
UNASSIGNED: The analysis resulted in two overarching themes: (1) It\'s helpful to have someone there to support; and (2) It\'s that sensory thing, it always is. Each theme includes participant-provided recommendations to guide professionals in the field of PA.
UNASSIGNED: The autistic adult voice, long absent from conversations about PA, is a valuable and needed addition to understand how to improve PA experiences for this population. Recommendations from this study include (1) listening to the perspectives and insight of autistic adults, (2) consideration of sensory stimulus when planning for PA participation, and (3) encouraging and providing social supports for PA participation.
UNASSIGNED: Why was this study done?: Autistic adults have many health concerns such as anxiety, depression, and obesity. Physical activity can improve these health concerns. Yet, professionals lack knowledge about how to provide optimal physical activity experiences for autistic individuals. Very little research has engaged autistic adults to directly ask their recommendations about their own physical activity needs.What was the purpose of this study?: This study wanted recommendations from autistic adults on how to make physical activity more accessible and enjoyable. By doing this, the authors hope to increase the voices of autistic adults in physical activity research.What did the researchers do?: The researchers asked 23 autistic adults for their recommendations on how to improve physical activity experiences.What were the results of the study?: Participants\' responses were grouped into two categories: (1) It\'s helpful to have someone there to support and (2) It\'s that sensory thing, it always is. The first theme highlights the social supports that many autistic adults feel they need to be successful. Supports include individuals within the close social circles of the autistic adults, such as parents, friends, and other close people. They can also include professionals, such as teachers or exercise trainers. The second theme highlights the need to address the sensory sensitivities of the individual before activity can take place; if an environment or activity is not \"sensory friendly\" or is not accommodating, then autistic adults are less likely to engage.What do these findings add to what was already known?: Autistic adults face many barriers to physical activity participation. These findings offer first-hand accounts by autistic adults about how to improve their physical activity experiences. These results also offer ideas on how to increase physical activity engagement for autistic individuals. Other research has focused on improving physical activity in those who are autistic, but this research is rarely from the perspective of the autistic individual. This study is one of a very small number of studies that has done this and is the first to ask autistic adults to give recommendations for physical activity participation.What are potential weaknesses in the study?: This study only interviewed autistic adults who prefer to communicate verbally, and so the study sample is not representative of all autistic adults. Many participants in the sample were from the United States, and autistic adults in other countries may have different opinions about physical activity participation. Finally, the researchers may have recruited individuals with an interest in physical activity-autistic adults who are not interested or dislike physical activity may have different recommendations.How will these findings help autistic adults now or in the future?: This study will help professionals provide more appropriate physical activity experiences to autistic adults. Also, this research could help practitioners and researcher make physical activity spaces more welcoming and enjoyable for autistic adults.

This systematic review aims to offer an updated understanding of the relationship between gastrointestinal symptoms (GIS) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in children and adolescents. The databases PsycINFO, Medline, Cinahl, and ERIC were searched using keywords, and relevant literature was hand-searched. Papers (n = 3319) were systematically screened and deemed eligible if they were empirical studies published in English since 2014 and measured the GIS of individuals with ASD who were under 18 years old. Thirty studies were included in the final review. The study findings were synthesized under eight themes, including the prevalence and nature of GIS and their relationship with developmental regression, language and communication, ASD severity, challenging behavior, comorbid psychopathology, sleep problems, and sensory issues. The review found that GIS were common and that there was contradictory evidence concerning their relationship with co-occurring conditions. It also identified evidence of some causal relationships that support the existence of the gut-immune-brain pathways. Future research needs to use large prospective designs and objective and standardized GIS measurements to provide a nuanced understanding of GIS in the context of ASD.

Aim: Comorbid psychopathology refers to having a diagnosis of two or more co-occurring psychological disorders. The current study investigated the differences between children and adolescents with no-mild, moderate and severe comorbid psychopathology in children and adolescents with ASD.Method: Parents of 133 children completed the Autism Spectrum Disorder-Comorbid for Children, Behavior Problems Inventory-Short Form, Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory, Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales, Social Communication Questionnaire, Short Sensory Profile, and Behavioral/Educational Interventions and Complementary/Alternative Medicine (CAM) Interventions of the Autism Treatment Network Registry Parent Baseline Assessment.Results: A significant difference was found between severity of comorbid psychopathology and all types of challenging behavior and all sensory issues except movement. A small effect size was also found between comorbid psychopathology and quality of life.Conclusion: The findings from this study show significant difficulties associated with those with comorbid psychopathology in ASD in challenging behavior, sensory issues and quality of life.

OBJECTIVE: Children and adolescents diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often demonstrate difficulties with feeding. The goal of the current study was to investigate co-occurring issues that often accompany feeding problems in 120 children and adolescents with ASD. Method: This study investigated the relationship between feeding problems and gastrointestinal symptoms, challenging behavior and sensory issues, quality of life, adaptive functioning and use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). Results: High rates of feeding problems, gastrointestinal symptoms, challenging behavior and sensory issues were endorsed by caregivers. Considerable differences were observed in the levels of gastrointestinal symptoms, challenging behavior, sensory issues, quality of life and CAM practices.Conclusion: The results of this study extend the present literature by highlighting comorbid conditions related to feeding problems and how feeding problems impact quality of life and adaptive behavior.

Frequency of feeding problems, gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms, challenging behavior, sensory problems and comorbid psychopathology were assessed using the following questionnaires: Screening Tool for Feeding Problems for Children, GI Symptoms Inventory, Behavior Problems Inventory Short Form, Short Sensory Profile, and Autism Spectrum Disorder-Comorbidity Child (ASD-CC) in 136 children and adolescents with ASD. Eighty-four percent had food selectivity, followed by food refusal (78.7%), rapid eating (76.5%), chewing problems (60.3%), food stealing (49.3%) and vomiting (19.1%). Higher rates of GI symptoms, challenging behavior, and sensory issues were found in those who presented with rapid eating, food refusal and food stealing than those without these problems. Comorbid psychopathology predicted rapid eating, food selectivity and food refusal.

In this study, we examined the frequency of sensory-related issues as reported by parents in a large sample of school-age adolescents and adults with autism/autism spectrum disorder (ASD) [1] as compared to a group of individuals receiving similar clinical evaluations for developmental/behavioral difficulties but whose final diagnoses were not on the autism spectrum. In no comparison were the features examined predictive of autism or autism spectrum in comparison to the non-ASD sample. Only failure to respond to noises had sensitivity above .75 in the comparison of the broader autism spectrum group, but specificity was poor. While sensory issues are relatively common in autism/ASD, they are also frequent in other disorders. These results question the rationale for including sensory items as a diagnostic criterion for autism.