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Spectrum: Autism Research News

Tag: behavioral interventions

February 2011

Clinical research: Socially based intervention improves autism

by  /  4 February 2011

A new intervention that teaches toddlers skills in a real-world environment — a playgroup rather than a one-on-one interaction with a researcher, for instance — more than doubles their ability to imitate others, according to a January study in The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.

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January 2011

IQ scores not a good measure of function in autism

by  /  6 January 2011

Most studies define high-functioning children as those with an IQ above 70 or 80, but this is problematic for a number of reasons, say some scientists. The assumption underlying the use of high IQ as a synonym for high functioning is suspect because social and communicative abilities may have a far greater impact on an individual’s daily interactions.

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December 2010

Robots spark social play in children with autism

by  /  23 December 2010

Children with autism play eagerly with robots — and their social interactions with people improve as a result.

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Clinical research: Rewards foster creativity in children with autism

by  /  10 December 2010

Positive reinforcement can help children with autism break out of repetitive patterns of play. Results from a study broadly suggest that behavioral intervention can improve creativity in these children.

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November 2010

Video: Early intervention is effective for children with autism

by  /  17 November 2010

New research shows that behavioral intervention at a young age can improve language and social skills in some children with autism — and that parents may be the best therapists.

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Common themes link etiology, treatment in autism

by  /  15 November 2010

Three themes — heterogeneity, phenotype, and trajectory — are beginning to emerge in diverse lines of inquiry into autism, according to speakers at a satellite symposium of the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in San Diego.

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Negative feedback

by  /  3 November 2010

Can your brain be trained to make better brain waves? That’s the bizarre premise of ‘neurofeedback,’ a technique in which participants don a cap of electrodes and are rewarded — with soothing music, say, or points in a video game — for ‘desirable’ brain activity.

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October 2010

Nature vs. nurture

by  /  29 October 2010

Mice with social behavior deficits reminiscent of autism are friendlier when raised alongside a highly social mouse strain.

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New tests for fragile X promise routine screening

by  /  11 October 2010

A new wave of genetic tests for fragile X syndrome, the leading cause of inherited mental retardation and the most common genetic cause of autism, may make it possible to routinely screen pregnant women and newborns for the syndrome.

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September 2010

All included

by  /  1 September 2010

A decade ago, children with disabilities were almost always separated into their own rooms — or even buildings — with specialized teachers and lessons. But some research since then has shown that many of these children can learn well alongside healthy children, and vice versa.

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