Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often lack symbolic play skills. Attribution of pretend properties (APP) is a type of symbolic play in which a child tacts pretend properties of an object (e.g., smelling a toy flower and saying, "It smells like a rose!"). Three Chinese boys (5-6 years of age) with ASD served as participants.…

Background: This study examined whether a sensory adapted dental environment (SADE) diminished anxiety and agitation in adults with intellectual and developmental disability (IDD) when compared to a routine dental environment (RDE). Method: Agitated behaviours (frequency and duration) were video-taped and anxiety-related physiological measures…

Anxiety disorders and sensory over-responsivity (SOR) are common in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), and there is evidence for an association between these two conditions. Currently, it is unclear what causal mechanisms may exist between SOR and anxiety. We propose three possible theories to explain the association between anxiety…

"Automatic imitation" is a type of stimulus-response compatibility effect in which the topographical features of task-irrelevant action stimuli facilitate similar, and interfere with dissimilar, responses. This article reviews behavioral, neurophysiological, and neuroimaging research on automatic imitation, asking in what sense it is "automatic"…

This article presents information on instructional strategies and the effective use of personnel needed for educating students with dual sensory impairments in integrated learning environments. To counter the practice of educating students in separate environments according to their most apparent weaknesses and limitations, the authors contend…

Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have documented sensory processing difficulties across the lifespan; however there is limited empirical support for the sensory-based interventions that have become ubiquitous with the population. This study was conducted to address this need and examine the effect of sensory-based interventions on…