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Growing up with a parent on the autism spectrum can be difficult, and children and teens may struggle to understand why their parent is different from others. It can be equally difficult for parents with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to explain their unique set of strengths and challenges to their child in a sensitive and positive manner, and any adult faced with this situation will be in need of a helping hand. This supportive workbook has been designed with precisely this purpose in mind. In child-friendly language, the author describes the common characteristics of ASD, and encourages c

Abstract Background There is a major gap between the US and most European countries regarding the implementation of early intensive behavioural intervention (EIBI) for children with autism. The present paper reports on the current status of EIBI in Switzerland and on the effectiveness of EIBI under clinical conditions in a Swiss pilot project. Methods The paper combines a narrative report of the care system for children with autism in Switzerland and an initial evaluation of EIBI as implemented in the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Zurich. Results The current situation of the implementation of EIBI for children with autism in Switzerland is characterized by marked deficits in its acceptance. Major reasons include insufficient governmental approval and lacking legal and financial support. In addition, ignorance among health care providers and educational professionals has contributed to this situation precluding that children with autism receive the most beneficial assistance. The authors have initiated and been working in an intervention centre offering EIBI for a decade and report on their experience with the implementation of EIBI. Based on their clinical practice, they document that EIBI also works efficiently under ordinary mental health service conditions. Conclusions EIBI needs to be implemented more intensively in Switzerland. Although the effects of EIBI as implemented in Zurich are promising, the results are not as pronounced as under controlled research conditions.

Responding to Public Act 93-0395 of the Illinois State Legislature, The Autism Program (TAP) was established in May of 2002 via an amendment to The Hope School Agreement with the Department of Human Services (DHS). The new program was located at three Regional Centers, including Northern Illinois (Partnership between the University of Chicago and Ada S. McKinley Community Services), Central Illinois (Partnership between The Hope School and SIU-School of Medicine), and Southern Illinois (Partnership between Family Counseling Center and SIU-C Rehabilitation Institute). The Autism Program's intent was to provide a system development initiative to document service gaps and systemic problems identified by parents and professionals at each Regional Center. More specifically, the program was designed to 1) develop and demonstrate best practices standards; 2) provide training for educators and medical professionals; 3) give support to parents and other caregivers; 4) work with universities and agencies to identify unmet needs and resources; 5) encourage and support research. ; "January 2006" ; Cover title. ; Includes bibliographical references. ; Responding to Public Act 93-0395 of the Illinois State Legislature, The Autism Program (TAP) was established in May of 2002 via an amendment to The Hope School Agreement with the Department of Human Services (DHS). The new program was located at three Regional Centers, including Northern Illinois (Partnership between the University of Chicago and Ada S. McKinley Community Services), Central Illinois (Partnership between The Hope School and SIU-School of Medicine), and Southern Illinois (Partnership between Family Counseling Center and SIU-C Rehabilitation Institute). The Autism Program's intent was to provide a system development initiative to document service gaps and systemic problems identified by parents and professionals at each Regional Center. More specifically, the program was designed to 1) develop and demonstrate best practices standards; 2) provide training for educators and medical professionals; 3) give support to parents and other caregivers; 4) work with universities and agencies to identify unmet needs and resources; 5) encourage and support research. ; Mode of access: Internet.

Background  This study investigated associations between the presence of a child with autism or Asperger's disorder in the family, family functioning and grandmother experiences with the goal of better understanding grandparent involvement in the lives of grandchildren on the autism spectrum and their families.Methods  Mothers and grandmothers of children who were either typically developing or on the autism spectrum completed parallel forms of a grandparent involvement measure. Mothers reported on the functioning of the immediate family. Data were analysed via multilevel modelling with mother–grandmother dyads as the unit of observation.Results  Autism spectrum disorders in children were associated with more flexible family functioning, lower levels of family satisfaction, greater grandmother difficulties and more grandmother information needs.Conclusions  Participation of grandparents in diagnostic and treatment meetings and increased communication among family members may facilitate grandparent support and involvement in families with a child on the autism spectrum.

Although children across the world experience autism spectrum disorder (ASD), most research on ASD has been conducted using Western cultural perspectives and has focused primarily on mothers, leaving significant gaps in the literature. This study aimed to address these gaps by exploring the experiences of fathers raising children with ASD in a Bedouin community. To this end, a sample of 19 fathers of children (aged 6–15 years) with ASD living in recognized and unrecognized Bedouin settlements in the Negev participated in ethnographic, semi-structured interviews designed to investigate their experiences with raising a child with ASD in their community. Two major themes emerged: the challenges that Bedouin fathers of children with ASD face, and the influence of socio-demographic and cultural characteristics on their experience. Findings reflect the complex experiences of fathers raising children with ASD in the Bedouin community, stemming from their socio-cultural context and the limited knowledge and support services that are available in the community for these children. This article concludes with recommendations on how to enhance professional sensitivity and provide more culturally tailored services for parents of children with ASD.

Background  The present study examined the positive experiences of parents raising school‐aged children with autism within the context of parenting stress.Materials and Methods  Participants included 23 mother/father pairs raising children with autism (ages 5 to 11 years, M = 7.39). Parents completed measures of parenting stress and positive experiences of raising their children.Results  Consistent with previous research in a pre‐school aged population of children with autism, mothers reported significantly more positive experiences than did fathers. Mothers' and fathers' reports of their positive experiences were negatively related to their reports of parenting stress. Fathers', but not mothers', positive experiences were negatively related to their partners' reports of parenting stress.Conclusion  Findings are discussed within a positive psychology framework suggesting that a focus on positive experiences may buffer against negative well‐being.

AbstractTheory of mind (ToM) development, assessed via 'litmus' false belief tests, is severely delayed in autism, but the standard testing procedure may underestimate these children's genuine understanding. To explore this, we developed a novel test involving competition to win a reward as the motive for tracking other players' beliefs (the 'Dot‐Midge task'). Ninety‐six children, including 23 with autism (mean age: 10.36 years), 50 typically developing 4‐year‐olds (mean age: 4.40) and 23 typically developing 3‐year‐olds (mean age: 3.59) took a standard 'Sally‐Ann' false belief test, the Dot‐Midge task (which was closely matched to the Sally‐Ann task procedure) and a norm‐referenced verbal ability test. Results revealed that, of the children with autism, 74% passed the Dot‐Midge task, yet only 13% passed the standard Sally‐Ann procedure. A similar pattern of performance was observed in the older, but not the younger, typically developing control groups. This finding demonstrates that many children with autism who fail motivationally barren standard false belief tests can spontaneously use ToM to track their social partners' beliefs in the context of a competitive game.

Background  Accounting for the effects of knowledge of and experience with autism, the relationships of cognitive attribution (perceived controllability), emotions (anger and sympathy), as well as helping and punitive behavioural intentions towards children with autism were examined. Based on the attribution model, mediating effects of anger and sympathy on cognitive attributions and behavioural intentions were tested.Materials and Methods  123 frontline staff in educational settings completed a modified version of the Attribution Questionnaire after reading a hypothetical vignette and completing a quiz on autism.Results  Knowledge and experience were only significantly related to punitive behavioural intention towards children with autism. Anger and sympathy mediated the effect between perceived controllability on both helping and punitive behavioural intentions.Conclusions  The intentional responses towards children with autism were strongly related to their emotional reactions. Thus, in addition to educating frontline staff about autism, training them on emotion regulation is equally important in autism stigma reduction.

AbstractSemantically rich learning contexts facilitate semantic, phonological, and articulatory aspects of word learning in children with typical development (TD). However, because children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) show differences at each of these processing levels, it is unclear whether they will benefit from semantic cues in the same manner as their typical peers. The goal of this study was to track how the inclusion of rich, sparse, or no semantic cues influences semantic, phonological, and articulatory aspects of word learning in children with ASD and TD over time. Twenty‐four school‐aged children (12 in each group), matched on expressive vocabulary, participated in an extended word learning paradigm. Performance on five measures of learning (referent identification, confrontation naming, defining, phonetic accuracy, and speech motor stability) were tracked across three sessions approximately one week apart to assess the influence of semantic richness on extended learning. Results indicate that children with ASD benefit from semantically rich learning contexts similarly to their peers with TD; however, one key difference between the two groups emerged – the children with ASD showed heightened shifts in speech motor stability. These findings offer insights into common learning mechanisms in children with ASD and TD, as well as pointing to a potentially distinct speech motor learning trajectory in children with ASD, providing a window into the emergence of stereotypic vocalizations in these children.

This phenomenological study investigated the relationships between 7 fathers and their sons with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Seven major themes emerged: Shared Activities, Developmental Sensitivity, Emotional Understanding, Fighting the Label, Fatherhood Expectations, Parent Responsibility, and Fatherhood Isolation. Fathers were sensitive to their sons' emotional needs and developmental milestones. Clinicians can help fathers to develop appropriate relationships with their children that involve shared activities. Clinicians can also assist fathers in coping with isolation and expectations regarding fatherhood, developing desired fatherhood roles, and finding appropriate shared activities with their children.