Social communication in fragile X syndrome: pilot examination of the Brief Observation of Social Communication Change (BOSCC).

BACKGROUND: Social communication is a key area of difficulty in fragile X syndrome (FXS) and there are not yet adequate outcome measurement tools. Appropriate outcome measures for FXS have been identified as a key area of research interest in order to evaluate future therapeutic trials. The Brief Observation of Social Communication Change-Minimally Verbal (BOSCC-MV), an outcome measure with strong psychometrics developed for autism spectrum disorder, has promise as an outcome measure to assess social communication change with FXS participants. METHODS: We examined the BOSCC-MV via central coders in this multi-site-trial to assess its appropriateness for FXS. Eighteen minimally verbal males ages 3-12 years were enrolled and assessed on two consecutive days and 7 participants completed a third visit 6 months later. We examined test-retest reliability, inter-rater reliability, and both convergent and divergent validity with standard clinical measures including the Autism Diagnostic and Observation Schedule-2, Vineland 3, Social Responsiveness Scale, and the Aberrant Behavior Checklist. RESULTS: The BOSCC-MV in FXS demonstrated strong inter-rater and test-retest reliability, comparable to previous trials in idiopathic ASD. Strong convergent validity was found with Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule-2 and Vineland-3. Divergent validity was demonstrated between BOSCC-MV and unrelated measures. CONCLUSIONS: The BOSCC-MV shows promise as a FXS social communication outcome measure, warranting further large-scale evaluation.

Sensibilidad y especificidad de los criterios diagnósticos DSM-5 en el trastorno del espectro autista en una muestra de niños y adolescentes españoles / Sensitivity and specificity of DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for autism spectrum disorder in a child and adolescent sample

Introducción Existe controversia acerca de los criterios DSM-5 para el diagnóstico de los trastornos del espectro autista (TEA). En la literatura encontramos resultados discrepantes, siendo el objetivo del estudio determinar la sensibilidad y la especificidad de los criterios DSM-5 para TEA en niños y adolescentes españoles. También se determinará la estabilidad del diagnóstico al pasar del DSM-IV-TR al DSM-5 y las diferencias clínicas entre TEA y trastorno de la comunicación social (TCS). Material y métodos El estudio se llevó a cabo en 2017, revisando las historias clínicas de los pacientes evaluados en nuestro servicio. Los ítems de la entrevista diagnóstica para el autismo (Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised) se ajustaron al DSM-5 y se utilizaron para evaluar la sensibilidad y la especificidad de dicho manual. Resultados La sensibilidad del DSM-5 fue de 0,69-1,00, mayor para el género femenino, sin diferencias con respecto a la edad y menor para los pacientes con bajo funcionamiento. La especificidad fue de 0,64-0,73. Respecto a la estabilidad, el 83,3% de los casos de autismo diagnosticados con el DSM-IV-TR mantuvieron el diagnóstico siguiendo los criterios del DSM-5. En cuanto a las diferencias entre los pacientes diagnosticados de TEA y los diagnosticados de TCS, cabe mencionar que los primeros requirieron más tratamientos farmacológicos durante su evolución. Conclusiones Se necesitan más estudios centrados en el diagnóstico de TCS para determinar si la evolución es diferente a la de los pacientes diagnosticados de TEA. También será necesario confeccionar nuevas herramientas diagnósticas y terapéuticas para los pacientes con diagnóstico de TCS. (AU)

Background Controversy exists regarding the DSM-5 criteria for autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Given the mixed results that have been reported, our main aim was to determine DSM-5 sensitivity and specificity in a child and adolescent Spanish sample. As secondary goals, we assessed the diagnostic stability of DSM-IV-TR in DSM-5, and clinical differences between children diagnosed with an ASD or a social (pragmatic) communication disorder (SPCD). Methods This study was carried out in 2017, reviewing the medical records of patients evaluated in our service. Items from a parent report measure of ASD symptoms (Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised) were matched to DSM-5 criteria and used to assess the sensitivity and specificity of the DSM-5 criteria and current DSM-IV criteria when compared with clinical diagnoses. Results DSM-5 sensitivity ranged from 0.69 to 1.00, and was higher in females. By age, the DSM-5 and DSM-IV-TR criteria showed similar sensitivity. In the case of intellectual quotient, DSM-5 criteria sensitivity was lower for those in the “low-functioning” category. DSM-5 specificity ranged from 0.64 to 0.73, while DSM-5 specificity was similar for all phenotypic subgroups. With respect to stability, 83.3% of autism disorder cases retained a diagnosis of ASD using the DSM-5 criteria. With regard to differences between ASD and SPCD, we found that patients diagnosed with ASD received more pharmacological treatment than those diagnosed with SPCD. Conclusions Further research is required to confirm our results. Studies focusing on the SPCD phenotype will be necessary to determine outcome differences with ASD and the most effective diagnostic and therapeutic tools. (AU)

Evolução linguística e cognitiva de crianças com transtorno de linguagem após intervenção com o uso do método PECS / Linguistic and cognitive evolution of children with language disorder after intervention using the PECS method / Evolución lingüística y cognitiva de niños con trastorno del lenguaje después de una intervención utilizando el método PECS

Introdução: Crianças com graves comprometimentos na comunicação podem se beneficiar da Comunicação Suplementar e Aumentativa para possibilitar a interação social e consequentemente o desenvolvimento cognitivo e linguístico. Objetivo: Comparar o desempenho linguístico e cognitivo de crianças com transtornos de linguagem pré e pós terapia utilizando como modelo de intervenção a comunicação por troca de figuras PECS. Método: Estudo retrospectivo, transversal híbrido por análise de prontuário de seis crianças com diagnóstico de grave transtorno de linguagem e idades entre quatro e nove anos. Todos os participantes foram atendidos semanalmente, por um período de quatro meses para implementação do protocolo PECS. Para avaliação foram utilizados o Protocolo de Observação Comportamental e o subitem avaliação da linguagem receptiva do Teste de Avaliação do Desenvolvimento da Linguagem. Resultados: Em relação às habilidades dialógicas quatro crianças apresentaram melhor desempenho após o uso do PECS, sendo que uma já se encontrava no nível máximo avaliado neste item, antes da intervenção. Houve melhora nas funções comunicativas e nos meios de comunicação em quatro crianças. Observou-se desenvolvimento do simbolismo e na imitação gestual em duas crianças e na imitação sonora em quatro crianças. Conclusão: Observa-se que uso da Comunicação Suplementar e Aumentativa por troca de figuras PECS, mesmo por um curto período, auxiliou no desenvolvimento de habilidades comunicativas, na capacidade de imitação gestual/sonora e na compreensão verbal. Intercorrências podem influenciar diretamente a evolução comunicativa dos pacientes, por exemplo, aderência familiar ao tratamento ou prejuízo cognitivo severo.

Introduction: Children with severe communication impairments can benefit from the use of Supplementary and Augmentative Communication to enable social interaction and, consequently, cognitive and linguistic development. Objective: Compare the linguistic and cognitive performance of children with severe language disorders before and after therapy using the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) as an intervention model. Method: Retrospective, hybrid cross-sectional study by analysis of medical records. Six children with a diagnosis of language disorder and aged between four and nine years were included. All participants were treated weekly for a period of four months to implement the PECS. For assessment, the Behavioral Observation Protocol and the subitem evaluation of the receptive language of the Language Development Assessment Test. Results: Regarding dialogic skills, four children performed better after using PECS, and one was already at the maximum level assessed in this item before the intervention. There was an improvement in communicative functions and means of communication in four children. The development of symbolism and gestural imitation was observed in two children and sound imitation in four children. Conclusion: It is observed that the use of Augmentative And Alternative Communication for the exchange of PECS figures, even for a short period, helped in the development of communicative skills, in the ability to imitate gestures/sounds, and in verbal comprehension. Intercurrences can influence the communicative evolution of patients, for example, family adherence to treatment or severe cognitive impairment.

Introducción: Niños con graves deficiencias comunicativas puede beneficiarse del uso de la Comunicación Complementaria y Aumentada para permitir la interacción social, en consecuencia, el desarrollo cognitivo y lingüístico. Objetivo: Comparar el rendimiento lingüístico y cognitivo de los niños con trastornos del lenguaje antes y después de la terapia utilizando la comunicación de intercambio de imágenes PECS como modelo de intervención. Método: Estudio retrospectivo, híbrido de sección transversal l por análisis de registros médicos de seis niños con diagnóstico de trastorno del lenguaje y edades entre cuatro y nueve años. Todos fueron tratados semanalmente, durante un período de cuatro meses, para implementar el protocolo PECS. Para la evaluación se utilizó el Protocolo de Observación del Comportamiento y el sub-ítem evaluación de lenguaje receptivo del Test de Evaluación del Desarrollo del Lenguaje. Resultados: En cuanto a las habilidades dialógicas, cuatro niños obtuvieron mejores resultados después de utilizar el PECS y uno ya se encontraba en el nivel máximo evaluado en este ítem, antes de la intervención. Hubo una mejora en las funciones comunicativas y los medios de comunicación en cuatro niños. Se observó el desarrollo del simbolismo y la imitación gestual en dos niños y en la imitación sonora en cuatro niños. Conclusión: Se observa que el uso de la Comunicación Suplementaria y Aumentativa mediante el intercambio de figuras PECS, incluso por un período corto, ayudó en el desarrollo de las habilidades comunicativas, en la capacidad de imitar gestos / sonidos y en la comprensión verbal. Las intercurrencias pueden influir directamente en la evolución comunicativa de los pacientes, por ejemplo, la adherencia familiar al tratamiento o el deterioro cognitivo severo.

A Preliminary Epidemiologic Study of Social (Pragmatic) Communication Disorder Relative to Autism Spectrum Disorder and Developmental Disability Without Social Communication Deficits.

The goal of this preliminary investigation was to compare demographic and clinical characteristics in a sample of children with likely Social (Pragmatic) Communication Disorder (SCD) (N = 117) to those in children with possible (N = 118) and some (N = 126) SCD traits, other developmental delay (DD) (N = 91) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) (N = 642). We used data from the Study to Explore Early Development (SEED), a multi-site case-control study. Items reflecting SCD DSM-5 criteria were selected from an autism diagnostic measure, with SCD categories identified by creating quartiles. Our results suggest that SCD may fall along a continuum involving elevated deficits (in comparison to DD with no SCD) in social communication and restricted and repetitive behavior that do not reach the clinical threshold for ASD.

Functional play in young children with autism and Williams syndrome: A cross-syndrome comparison.

Functional play during early childhood paves the way to symbolic play and social communicative skills. However, functional play is surprisingly understudied in children with developmental disorders affecting social and communicative domains, such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Williams syndrome (WS). To address this issue and to evaluate both the quantity and quality of functional play in children with ASD and WS, we examined different play types using fine grained behavioral analysis with a group of age and IQ-matched developmentally delayed children with ASD (n = 14) and WS (n = 14) in comparison with 12 age-matched typically developing (TD) children. Significant differences were found in the quantity of functional play in the ASD and WS groups compared to TD children, with a limited breadth of object exploration found in children with ASD. While TD children engaged more frequently in functional versus nonfunctional play, this was not the case for children with ASD and WS, who showed the same amount of functional and nonfunctional play. Furthermore, functional play behavior was associated with intellectual and adaptive function in children with WS, but not ASD. These results point to the importance of intervention strategies that focus on functional play in improving developmental outcomes for children with ASD and WS.

Beyond the motor account of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: Verbal humour and its relationship with the cognitive and pragmatic profile.

BACKGROUND: Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) was traditionally described as a disease restricted to the motor system. However, recent findings suggested that it also affects cognition, especially executive functions, social cognition, language and pragmatics. A relevant issue in current research is thus the description of the cognitive phenotype of ALS and the identification of the most vulnerable aspects. AIMS: The focus was on a communicative phenomenon placed at the crossroads of pragmatic and other cognitive domains, namely humour, which till now has been poorly explored in ALS. The first aim was to investigate whether ALS is associated with impairments in understanding and appreciating jokes. The second aim was to explore the predictors of humour comprehension and appreciation in patients, to confirm the involvement of pragmatic skills and to explore the role of other cognitive and clinical aspects. METHODS & PROCEDURES: A total of 30 non-demented patients with ALS and 27 controls were assessed with a task of verbal humour comprehension and appreciation, including two types of jokes: phonological and mental. We also administered a battery of pragmatic and other language tasks, and cognitive and socio-cognitive tasks. Mixed-effects models were used to test differences in the humour task between the two groups. Multiple regressions determined the best predictors of humour comprehension and appreciation in patients. OUTCOMES & RESULTS: Patients obtained lower comprehension accuracy scores than controls in the humour task, independently of the type of joke. Conversely, patients and controls did not differ in joke appreciation and both rated mental jokes as funnier than the phonological ones. Patients' comprehension accuracy was predicted by pragmatic skills and ALS severity, whereas appreciation was predicted by several clinical variables and, to a smaller extent, by language skills. CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS: The findings suggest that humour is a very vulnerable aspect in ALS, and that impairment in humour comprehension might be part of the larger cognitive impairment, being linked to pragmatic impairment. Clinical variables were also important, especially in relation to humour appreciation. More generally, these data speak in favour of pragmatics as a relevant aspect to sketch the cognitive phenotype of ALS. On the practical level, these findings point to the need of supporting communication at large, not only motor-related aspects such as dysarthria but also social-pragmatic aspects such as understanding jokes, to increase well-being in ALS. What this paper adds What is already known on this subject The literature of the last decades has shown that ALS comes with impairment in several cognitive domains, affecting especially executive functions as well as language. There is also initial evidence that the pragmatics of communication and humour comprehension are impaired, although non-serious talk has been documented in conversational interaction among people with ALS. What this paper adds to existing knowledge This study offers compelling evidence of an impairment in the comprehension of jokes in ALS, whereas the appreciation of joke funniness seems to be spared. The study also highlights the interplay of cognitive factors (especially pragmatics) and clinical factors (related to disease severity) in predicting the patients' performance in the humour task. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work? The study's findings call for the need of increased awareness among scholars as well as practitioners and caregivers of the profile of humour comprehension and appreciation in ALS. On a practical level, we highlight the need of assessing humour comprehension and adapting the communicative style accordingly. Second, we recommend that intervention programmes targeting communication in ALS go beyond speech-related difficulties and include pragmatic aspects such as humour. Considering the important communicative and social function of humour, as well as its use as a coping strategy, humour interventions are key to improve the quality of life of individuals with ALS.

Psychiatric Assessment of Social Impairment Across the Lifespan.

Although autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is the prototypical psychiatric disorder of social impairment, several if not most psychiatric disorders are characterized by prominent impairments in social functioning. A challenge in clinically assessing and describing social impairment is that it has been variably defined and can be difficult to measure. In this article we consider the psychiatric differential diagnosis of social impairment within the DSM-5 framework. We describe the features of social impairment in 13 DSM-5 disorders from a developmental perspective and highlight diagnostic factors that differentiate among the disorders, including the main features of social impairment, verbal communication, nonverbal communication, course of social impairment, social cognition, and key features of accompanying neuropsychiatric symptoms. We conclude by describing an approach for assessing social impairment across the lifespan.

Improving the Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder in Fragile X Syndrome by Adapting the Social Communication Questionnaire and the Social Responsiveness Scale-2.

We carried out a psychometric assessment of the Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ) and the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS-2) in fragile X syndrome (FXS), relative to clinician DSM5-based diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in FXS. This was followed by instrument revisions that included: removal of non-discriminating and/or low face validity items for FXS; use of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves to determine optimal cut points for the original and revised measures; an exploratory factor analysis to outline subscales better representing ASD in FXS; and creation of a "triple criteria" diagnosis to better delineate ASD subgroups in FXS. These methods improved the sensitivity and/or specificity of the SCQ and SRS-2, but diagnostic accuracy of ASD remains problematic in FXS.

Lenguaje en la Enfermedad de Parkinson. Retos para la Logopedia / Language in Parkinson's disease. Challenges for speech therapy

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Pragmatic Language Performance of Children Adopted Internationally.

Purpose Pragmatic language is important for social communication across all settings. Children adopted internationally (CAI) may be at risk of poorer pragmatic language because of adverse early care, delayed adopted language development, and less ability to inhibit. The purpose of this study was to compare pragmatic language performance of CAI from Asian and Eastern European countries with a nonadopted group of children who were of the same age and from similar socioeconomic backgrounds as well as explore the relationship among emotion identification, false belief understanding, and inhibition variables with pragmatic language performance. Method Using a quasi-experimental design, 35 four-year-old CAI (20 Asian, 15 Eastern European) and 33 children who were not adopted were included in this study. The children's pragmatic language, general language, and social communication (emotion identification of facial expressions, false belief understanding, inhibition) were measured. Comparisons by region of origin and adoption experience were completed. We conducted split-half correlation analyses and entered significant correlation variables into simple and backward regression models. Results Pragmatic language performance differed by adoption experience. The adopted and nonadopted groups demonstrated different correlation patterns. Language performance explained most of the pragmatic language variance. Discussion Because CAI perform less well than their nonadopted peers on pragmatic communication measures and different variables are related to their pragmatic performance, speech-language pathologists may need to adapt assessment and intervention practices for this population.

Social (Pragmatic) Communication Disorder: Another name for the Broad Autism Phenotype?

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders' (5th ed.) Social (Pragmatic) Communication Disorder is meant to capture the social elements of communication dysfunction in children who do not meet autism spectrum disorder criteria. It is unclear whether Social (Pragmatic) Communication Disorder captures these elements without overlapping with Autism Spectrum Disorder or the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders' (5th ed.) Language Disorder. Standardized behavioral assessments administered during a family genetics study were used to evaluate the social communication impairment and the restricted interests and repetitive behaviors in persons with autism spectrum disorder, language impairment, or neither. Social communication impairment and restricted interests and repetitive behavior were significantly correlated in all family members regardless of affection status. Rates of social communication impairment and restricted interests and repetitive behavior were highest in individuals with autism spectrum disorder. One-third of family members with language impairment presented with at least mild/moderate levels of social communication impairment (36.6%) and restricted interests and repetitive behavior (43.3%). A subset of unaffected members also presented with mild/moderate levels of social communication impairment (parents = 10.1%, siblings 11.6%) and restricted interests and repetitive behavior (parents = 14.0%, siblings = 22.1%). The majority of child family members with mild/moderate levels of social communication impairment had similar restricted interest and repetitive behavior levels reflecting criteria representing the Broad Autism Phenotype. These data suggest that social pragmatic communication disorder does not capture the profiles of children who have both social communication impairment and restricted interests and repetitive behavior but are in need of clinical services.

Social communication following traumatic brain injury part I: State-of-the-art review of assessment tools.

PURPOSE: The primary aim of this paper was to identify and describe current social communication assessment tools for adults with traumatic brain injury. METHOD: We conducted a state-of-the-art review to identify and categorise the range of social communication assessment tools found in the assessment and treatment literature that revealed 42 measures that were coded according to characteristics related to assessment types, psychometrics, and implementation. RESULT: Of the 42 assessments, 64% evaluated social cognition and the remaining 36% evaluated communication. Coding of implementation categories revealed that only 18/42 (43%) measures were ecologically grounded and 23/42 (55%) were available to clinicians by purchase or in the public domain. Only three measures incorporated questions or an assessment of the examinee's priorities or concerns. CONCLUSION: A number of factors limit current social communication assessment. The lack of tools that objectively and reliably evaluate communication or social cognition in ecologically valid ways remains problematic. Of particular concern is the lack of prioritisation of the individual's communication values and needs. Recommendations include a call to focus research on the development of more contextual, standardised assessments, consider availability and feasibility when tools are being developed, and evaluate assessment processes as well as discrete tools.

Assessment of conversational pragmatics: A screening tool for pragmatic language impairment in a control population of children aged 6-12 years.

Pragmatics can be defined as the way in which language is used to communicate in a given social context. Although there is a lack of a standardized assessment, healthcare professionals find themselves confronted with pragmatic language skill impairments in children with neurodevelopmental disorders or brain injuries. The characterization of language use causes problems in social interactions, which has clinical implications in daily life. However, this is still underestimated because there is currently no quick, easy-to-use screening device to rank these deficits. We have developed a pragmatic deficits screening chart that has been tested on a control population of children aged 6-12 years. The chart comprises 26 items exploring seven areas of pragmatics (intentionality, governance of exchange, organization of information, adaptation strategies, conversational implicit language, nonverbal skills, and paralinguistic aspects). Parents select one of four possible answers to describe how frequently their child demonstrates each type of behavior ("never, rarely, sometimes, often"). We distributed 1666 charts; 760 were returned, of which 552 could be analyzed. Internal consistency as measured with Cronbach's alpha coefficient (0.88) was satisfactory. There was no influence of age on total score, nor of the department/type of schooling. The population distribution was non-Gaussian so the results are presented in percentiles. We propose a first-line screening tool that is quick and easy to complete by family, which facilitates referral to specialists for further investigations into the etiological implications of pragmatic language impairment.

Social communication following traumatic brain injury part 2: Identifying effective treatment ingredients.

PURPOSE: Social communication deficits are a severely debilitating aspect of traumatic brain injury (TBI), and there is strong clinical and research interest in how social communication interventions work for this population. Informed by a companion paper targeting assessment of social communication impairments post-TBI, this paper reviews relevant treatment theories and provides an inventory of social communication treatment components. METHOD: We completed a mapping review examining 17 articles from recent literature reviews and 4 updated articles from a literature search to identify treatment targets and ingredients using the Rehabilitation Treatment Specification System (RTSS). RESULT: Social communication interventions are primarily based on behavioural and cognitive treatment theories. Common social communication treatment targets include changing skilled behaviours and cognitive or affective representations. We offer a menu of therapeutic ingredients and treatment considerations which represent the current state of social communication interventions. CONCLUSION: By reviewing the social communication intervention literature through a theoretical lens, we identify which treatment targets are missing, which targets are being addressed, and which therapeutic ingredients (i.e. clinician activities) are recommended. A hypothetical case study is provided as a supplement to demonstrate how speech-language pathologists may integrate treatment theory, ingredients, and targets into clinical practice.

Assessing Pragmatic Skills Using Checklists with Children who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing: A Systematic Review.

This paper investigates the use of checklists to assess pragmatics in children and adolescents who are deaf and hard of hearing. A systematic literature review was undertaken to identify all of the published research articles between 1979 and 2018 on the topic of the assessment of pragmatics for this population of children and adolescents. The 67 papers identified in this review were analyzed and all papers that utilized a checklist to assess pragmatic skills were identified. Across the 18 different published papers on the use of pragmatic skills among children who are deaf and hard of hearing, nine checklists were identified. These nine checklists were then compared and contrasted on six key features including identification of a theoretical framework or model; the type of pragmatic skills measured; the age range of the child assessed; the information/outputs generated; the primary informant for the assessment; and reliability, validity, and normative data. The resulting analysis provides a comprehensive guide to aid clinicians, educators, and researchers in selecting an appropriate checklist to assess pragmatic skills for children and adolescents who are deaf and hard of hearing.

Measuring child social communication across contexts: Similarities and differences across play and snack routines.

Improving measurement of outcomes in randomized controlled trials of early interventions for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has been identified as a priority in the field. In addition, the importance of measurement across contexts has been indicated by researchers and community stakeholders alike [Lord et al., ; McConachie et al., ; Schreibman et al., ]. The Brief Observation of Social Communication Change (BOSCC; Grzadzinski et al., ), an observational rating scheme of brief play interactions, was developed to address a need for measures that are reliable, sensitive to change, and valid for use in research settings. The goal of this study was to examine the feasibility and utility of applying the BOSCC to a new context: a home snack routine. Results suggest that rating the BOSCC on home snack routines is feasible and psychometrically sound, and captures change in child social communication behaviors. However, the utility of the BOSCC for measuring restricted and repetitive behaviors (RRBs) is less clear. Nonetheless, differences in RRBs across play and snack lend support for the claim that measurement across contexts is essential. Application of the BOSCC across contexts may allow researchers to obtain a more accurate estimate of intervention response and help capture context-specific changes in social communication. It may also provide a method for researchers to evaluate the effect of context on child social communication more broadly. Autism Res 2019, 12: 636-644. © 2019 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. LAY SUMMARY: Improving measurement of outcomes in studies of early interventions for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has been identified as a priority in the field. The importance of measurement across contexts has also been indicated by researchers and community stakeholders. The goal of this study was to determine whether an existing observational rating scheme, the Brief Observation of Social Communication Change (BOSCC), could be applied to a new activity: a home snack routine. Results suggest that rating the BOSCC on home snack routines is feasible and promising for capturing change over time. In addition, some child behaviors differed across play and snack, lending further support for the claim that measurement across activities is essential.

Application of the Communication Complexity Scale in Peer and Adult Assessment Contexts for Preschoolers With Autism Spectrum Disorders.

Purpose The purpose of this study was to measure changes in communication of preschoolers with autism using the Communication Complexity Scale (CCS; Brady et al., 2012 ) and to examine the utility of the CCS in measuring pretreatment and posttreatment changes within peer and adult assessment contexts. Method The CCS was used to code preassessment and postassessment for 23 children with autism randomly assigned to a treatment that incorporated a peer-mediated approach and a speech-generating device and 22 assigned to a business-as-usual condition with untrained peers. Children were assessed in 2 structured 30-min contexts-1 with an adult examiner and 1 with a peer partner coached by an adult. Results Children in both groups showed significant changes in communication complexity CCS scores from pretreatment to posttreatment in the adult and peer contexts. At both occasions, CCS scores were higher with adult partners yet showed greater improvements over time with peer partners. Conclusions Results showed that the CCS was sensitive to change over time but did not discriminate changes in communication complexity associated with maturation versus treatment. It did show some differences based on interactions with peer versus adult partners. Outcomes provide preliminary support for using this scale to measure communication changes in different contexts. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.7408856.

Vagal Tone as a Putative Mechanism for Pragmatic Competence: An Investigation of Carriers of the FMR1 Premutation.

Pragmatic language skills exist across a continuum in typical and clinical populations, and are impaired in many neurodevelopmental disorders, most notably autism. The mechanisms underlying pragmatic impairment are poorly understood, although theory suggests dampened vagal tone plays a role. This study investigated the FMR1 premutation as a genetic model that may lend insight into the relationship between vagal function and pragmatic ability. Participants included 38 women with the FMR1 premutation and 23 controls. Vagal tone accounted for significant variance in pragmatics across both groups and statistically mediated the effect of FMR1 premutation status on pragmatic ability. Results support vagal tone as a biophysiological correlate of pragmatic ability, which informs potential mechanistic underpinnings and could have implications for targeted treatment.

Autism spectrum disorder symptoms from ages 2 to 19 years: Implications for diagnosing adolescents and young adults.

This study explored change in social-communicative symptoms in 140 individuals with childhood autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnoses. Trajectories of caregiver-reported social-communicative symptoms were examined for three groups (verbal, delayed speech, minimally verbal) from ages 2 to 19 years. Groups showed comparable levels of social-communicative impairment at 2 years and significant decreases in overall symptom levels across the 17-year period (P < .001). Across three subdomains, main effects of time and language (P < .001) reflected patterns of overall improvement, although children with more impaired language tended to have more caregiver-reported symptoms relative to verbal peers. A significant time-by-language interaction (P < .001) reflected that trajectories of socioemotional reciprocity symptoms differed according to patterns of language development. In contrast, improvements in the nonverbal communication domain were seen across language groups, whereas deficits in the development and maintenance of relationships improved for only verbal children. Verbal adults showed significant reductions in the prevalence of kseveral symptoms exhibited during childhood. Improvements suggest that symptoms indicative of ASD in young children may no longer be diagnostic markers in adolescents and adults. Relative stability of several items suggests that impaired facial expression may be a core ASD symptom that warrants more systematic study across the lifespan. Research investigating the manifestation of ASD in older individuals is needed to foster development of appropriate assessment tools and interventions. Differential relationships to developmental factors within the broader social-communication domain underscores a need to focus on more narrowly defined symptom constructs when exploring links between pathophysiology and observable phenotypes. Autism Research 2019, 12: 89-99. © 2018 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. LAY SUMMARY: In a sample of 140 participants with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) followed from 2 to 19 years old, this study found that overall social-communicative symptoms improve across childhood and adolescence. However, timing and amount of change varied for different symptom categories and participants with different language abilities. Findings suggest that some older adolescents and adults with ASD may not exhibit the same difficulties observed in young children with ASD. More research is needed to better understand the strengths and needs of young adults with ASD.

Association between maternal Autism Spectrum Quotient scores and the tendency to see pragmatic impairments as a problem.

The aim of the present study was to test the hypothesis that individuals with higher Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) scores would be more permissive of pragmatic impairments than those with lower AQ scores. We investigated the presence of a correlation between the AQ scores of mothers with children in grades 1 to 6 and their evaluation of assumed pragmatic impairments in children using the Maternal Evaluation of Pragmatic Impairments in Children (MEPC) measure. Mothers were asked to rate how they would feel if their child showed the communication behaviors listed in scales D (coherence), E (inappropriate initiation), F (stereotyped language), G (use of context), and H (nonverbal communication) of the Children's Communication Checklist-2, which measures pragmatic impairments. All responses were given on a five-point Likert scale. The results indicated that the higher the maternal AQ score, the less the mother tended to evaluate pragmatic impairments as a problem. We also examined whether the age and gender of assumed children influenced the correlation between AQ and MEPC scores, but found no significant correlation. The partial correlation coefficients were calculated for each subscale, none of which was significant. A negative correlation was found between AQ and MEPC scores as a whole.