We examined the role of social motivation and motor execution factors in object-directed imitation difficulties in autism spectrum disorder. A series of to-be-imitated actions was presented to 35 children with autism spectrum disorder and 20 typically developing children on an Apple® iPad® by a "socially responsive" or "aloof"…

Gaining a driver's license can be difficult for student drivers with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), yet little is known about their experiences of learning to drive. In this qualitative study, focus groups and individual interviews were employed to ascertain the perceptions of three participant groups, including people with ASD, parents of people…

Parental perceptions of the importance of friendship development in comparison to other outcome priorities are examined in this research. Parents of children with high functioning autism between the age of 5-10?years (N?=?74) were asked to rate and rank the importance of the following six outcome priorities: friendship, social skills, physical and…

The relationship of motor proficiency with emotional/behavioural disturbance, autistic symptoms and communication disturbance was investigated in children diagnosed with autism and Asperger's disorder (AD). The Movement Assessment Battery for Children was used as a measure of motor impairment, and the Developmental Behavioural Checklist was used…

Children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder often have restricted verbal communication. For children who do not use functional speech, augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices can be an important support. We evaluated the effectiveness of one AAC programme, the Language Acquisition through Motor Planning (LAMP) using a Vantage…

There is a relative paucity of evidence examining the effectiveness of early intervention for young children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, in particular those delivered through educationally-based programmes. This study aimed to evaluate the real world effectiveness of a community-based autism-specific early learning and intervention programme in…