Autism Research Articles (Summaries and Reviews)

Autism Treatment Based on Research

One of the distinctive characteristics about the RDI Program is that it has been, and will always be, based on the most recent, peer-reviewed research from the fields of autism, the brain and developmental psychology. We are continually refining the RDI Program based on new research and feedback from our successful families.

The latest Autism Research in a Searchable Database of Articles

Connections Center Autism Research Summaries include dozens of summaries of published articles which have appeared in professional journals. This collection includes dozens of studies done in the last five years, which even many professionals are not familiar with, unless they are constantly keeping up with the professional literature. We have so many studies reviewed, that this collection is in the form of a searchable database under more than 30 keywords, including "Social Referencing," "Joint Attention," "Executive Functioning," "Outcome," etc. Below are some examples of the types of studies included, with excerpts showing the Article Summary. Each of the articles also includes summary information about the Participants, Methods, Results, Conclusion and a Critical Review.

Research Article: Autism and a Deficit in Broadening the Spread of Visual Attention (2003)

Authors: Mann, T. & Walker, P.

Source: Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 44, 274-284.

Article Summary: Several studies have questioned whether Autistic people have a bias to pay attention to small parts rather than larger wholes. The current study uses a unique method and controls for many factors that have not been well addressed before. They found that instead of a bias for small parts over larger wholes, autistic people have difficulty broadening their attention span. In other words, after focusing on a small area, it is difficult for them to broaden their attention in order to focus on a larger entity. See the whole Summary of the Research Article to view the Particpants, Methods, Results, Conclusion and Critical Review.

Research Article: Autism during infancy: A retrospective video analysis of sensory-motor and social behaviors at 9-12 months of age. (1999)

Authors: Baranek, G

Source: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 29, 213-224.

Article Summary: Video tapes of children when they were 9-12 months of age were obtained of children who had autism, developmental disabilities, and who were typical. There were differences found between the 3 group in both social responses and sensory-motor behaviors. See the whole Summary of the Research Article to view the Particpants, Methods, Results, Conclusion and Critical Review.

Research Article: Early behavioral development in autistic children: The first 2 years of life through home movies. (2001)

Authors: Maestro, S., Muratori, F., Barbieri, F., Casella, C., Cattaneo, V., Cavallaro, M., Cesari, A., Milone, A., Rizzo, L., Viglione, V., Stern, D. & Palacio-Espasa, F.

Source: Psychopathology, 34, 147-152

Article Summary: Home movies spanning the first two years of life of 15 autistic and 15 typical children were compared and rated for several actions in 3 domains: social, symbolic, and intersubjectivity (understanding of other's state of mind). For the first 6 months of life, children with autism showed fewer signs of intersubjectivity and from 6 months to 24 months, they showed fewer signs of symbolic activity. See the whole Summary of the Research Article to view the Particpants, Methods, Results, Conclusion and Critical Review.

Research Article: Adult outcome for children with autism. (2004)

Authors: Howlin, P., Goode, S., Hutton, J. & Rutter, M.

Source: Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 45, 212-229.

Article Summary: 68 adults who were diagnosed with autism as children and who had an IQ above 50 were tracked down. Follow-up tests and interviews were administered. There were a wide variety of outcomes; however, most were doing poorly. Those with IQs below 70 tended to do worse than those with IQs above 70, however, past 70, higher IQs did not lead to a better outcome. See the whole Summary of the Research Article to view the Participants, Methods, Results, Conclusion and Critical Review.