Disparities in Familiarity with Developmental Disabilities among Low-Income Parents

ABSTRACT

Objective

Parent knowledge about developmental disabilities (DDs) may facilitate access to DD care; however, parents may vary in their knowledge and familiarity with common DDs. This study aimed to assess racial/ethnic and language differences in low-income families’ familiarity, knowledge, and personal experience with DDs.

Methods

We conducted a child development survey among 539 low-income parents of young children attending visits at the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), in six Oregon counties in 2015. Survey items assessed parent familiarity with early signs of DDs, self-reported knowledge about DDs, and personal experience with a friend or family member with a DD. Bivariable and multivariable analyses assessed differences in outcomes among non-Latino white [white], Latino-English proficient [Latino-EP], Latino-limited English proficient [Latino-LEP], and non-Latino other race English proficient [other race] parents.

Results

Overall, parent participants correctly identified 64.7% of early signs of DDs. White parents correctly identified the earliest signs, even after adjustment for socio-demographic factors. Latino-LEP, Latino-EP and other race parents were less likely to have heard of prevalent DDs such as ADHD and autism, and were less likely to have a friend or family member with a DD compared to white parents.

Read more here at Science Direct.

Prevalence and Variation of Developmental Screening and Surveillance in Early Childhood

Question  What are the latest national estimates of standardized developmental screening and surveillance, as well as individual and state variation, that may identify opportunities for improvement?
Findings  In this cross-sectional analysis of the 2016 National Survey of Children’s Health, an estimated 30.4% of children 9 through 35 months of age received a parent-completed developmental screening and 37.1% received developmental surveillance from a health care professional in the past year. State-level differences far exceeded those by child and family characteristics, spanning 40 percentage points for screening (17.2% in Mississippi and 58.8% in Oregon) and surveillance (19.1% in Mississippi and 60.8% in Oregon).

Both screening and surveillance varied substantially across states by more than 40 percentage points (Figure 1 and Figure 2). The prevalence of screening ranged from 17.2% in Mississippi to 58.8% in Oregon, corresponding to a rate ratio of 3.4. Similarly, developmental surveillance ranged from 19.1% in Mississippi to 60.8% in Oregon, corresponding to a rate ratio of 3.2. States with significantly lower rates of developmental screening than the nation overall included Kentucky (17.5%), New York (17.5%), and Florida (20.4%), while states with rates significantly exceeding the national rate included Oregon (58.8%), Colorado (50.2%), Minnesota (50.1%), North Carolina (47.6%), Alaska (46.8%), Montana (46.3%), Massachusetts (46.3%), and Maryland (43.0%).

Read more here.

Archived Podcast - Aftermath

In summer 2016, a police shooting upended the life of Arnaldo Rios Soto, a 26-year old, non-speaking, autistic man. Aftermath tells Arnaldo's story — a hidden world of psych wards, physical abuse and chemical restraints — and asks the question: How did Arnaldo's life go so wrong? 

Listen here. 

Archived Webinar - Apps to Teach Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

The goal of this edWebinar is to share apps to support learning and engagement of students with autism spectrum disorder. Students with autism spectrum disorder learn best through visuals and with differentiated academic support to meet their individual needs.

In this edWebinar, Frances Amato, STEM Educator and Technology Liaison, reviews her favorite apps for ELA, math, behavior needs and schedules — all educational in nature. They can be utilized throughout the school day to support students’ handwriting, reading, spelling and more. The presentation goes through apps such as ClassDojo, School Schedule, Spellyfish, Simplex Spelling and others.

View the archived webinar here. 

Archived Webinars from the Autism Research Institute

Access the webinars here. 

Study offers clues about eye avoidance in ASD

This artilce also appeared in the 2017, volume 3 issue of ARI's Autism Research Review International newsletter.

New research indicates that individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) avoid eye contact not because they lack interest in interacting socially, but because making eye contact causes them to experience unpleasant arousal in the brain’s subcortical system.

Hadjikhani says, “The findings demonstrate that, contrary to what has been thought, the apparent lack of interpersonal interest among people with autism is not due to a lack of concern. Rather, our results show that this behavior is a way to decrease an unpleasant excessive arousal stemming from overactivation in a particular part of the brain.”

Based on the study’s findings, Hadjikhani says that forcing individuals with autism to focus on other people’s eyes may be misguided. Instead, she says, “An approach involving slow habituation to eye contact may help them overcome this overreaction and be able to handle eye contact in the long run, thereby avoiding the cascading effects that this eye-avoidance has on the development of the social brain.”

Read more here. 

Social behaviour and social cognition in high-functioning adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD): two sides of the same coin?

Abstract

Of the triad of symptoms found in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), that is, social impairments, communication difficulties and repetitive interests and behaviour, the social impairments are the most stable and common throughout the lifespan. They typically manifest themselves in abnormalities as reciprocal interactions and difficulties in the expression and recognition of emotions. Although peer interactions become especially important during adolescence, little is known about the mentalizing abilities of high-functioning adolescents with ASD. Here, we compared the mentalizing skills and emotion recognition abilities of 21 high-functioning adolescents with ASD and 21 matched controls. All adolescents had estimated above-average verbal intelligence levels. Spontaneous social abilities and task-related social abilities were measured using questionnaires, tasks and the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule. Results confirm social impairment in daily life situations in adolescents with ASD, but were not found on experimental tasks of social cognition. The use of more explicit cognitive or verbally mediating reasoning techniques and a lesser tendency of high-functioning adolescents with ASD to search for and use social information in natural environments are further discussed.

Read more here. 

Newsletter of the Association for Science in Autism Treatment Spring/Summer 2018

Read the full newsletter here. 

Potty Training a Child with Autism using ABA

Potty training an Autistic child can be daunting for parents and caregivers because of the unique challenges the child faces. For this reason, traditional approaches to toilet training may not always be effective. This is where applied behavioral analysis (ABA) comes into your potty training program.

The first step in implementing a discrete trial training potty training program is to collect some data. Start by checking your child’s diaper every 45 minutes to an hour just to see if he has eliminated. Record this data until you get an idea of how often your child is going. Once you’ve determined the child’s average potty interval, take that number and multiply it by .75 for your timer interval. For example, if your child eliminates every 40 minutes, you would set a timer every 30 minutes.

When the timer goes off, you should have some kind of communication to indicate that it’s time to go the bathroom. This could be saying “potty time,” or if the child is nonverbal, try using a sign for toilet. Whatever signal you decide to use, make sure it is consistent and that all caregivers use it routinely.

Read more here at pottygenius.com

Age of Majority Toolkit

NAA's Age of Majority guide is a free, downloadable toolkit for caregivers in need of information and resources to prepare and support their child through the transition from adolesence to adulthood. 

This item is provided by NAA at no charge. When you complete the order process, you will receive a link to download the booklet in PDF format. The link will expire in 72 hours.

See more here at the National Autism Association.