• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.150-160
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• 2018

Objectives: This study investigated the effect of social skills training (SST) on facial emotion recognition and discrimination in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Methods: Twenty-three children aged 7 to 10 years participated in our SST. They included 15 children diagnosed with ADHD and 8 with ASD. The participants' parents completed the Korean version of the Child Behavior Checklist (K-CBCL), the ADHD Rating Scale, and Conner's Scale at baseline and post-treatment. The participants completed the Korean Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-IV (K-WISC-IV) and the Advanced Test of Attention at baseline and the Penn Emotion Recognition and Discrimination Task at baseline and post-treatment. Results: No significant changes in facial emotion recognition and discrimination occurred in either group before and after SST. However, when controlling for the processing speed of K-WISC and the social subscale of K-CBCL, the ADHD group showed more improvement in total (p=0.049), female (p=0.039), sad (p=0.002), mild (p=0.015), female extreme (p=0.005), male mild (p=0.038), and Caucasian (p=0.004) facial expressions than did the ASD group. Conclusion: SST improved facial expression recognition for children with ADHD more effectively than it did for children with ASD, in whom additional training to help emotion recognition and discrimination is needed.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.112-117
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• 2021

Objectives: This study identified changes in social communication and interaction among children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) through Theraplay. Methods: This study included 20 children who were diagnosed with ASD by a child and adolescent psychiatrist and were recommended to undergo Theraplay in 2012-2017. The Marschak interaction method was used to identify and analyze the interactions between parents and their children. The Korean version of the Social Communication Questionnaire (K-SCQ) was used to evaluate symptoms of ASD. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to compare the differences before and after Theraplay. Results: Upon comparing the differences in total K-SCQ scores, there were statistically significant changes (z=-3.269, p=0.001) in children with ASD. Changes were also confirmed in each category, namely social interaction, communication, and limited and repetitive behavior patterns (p=0.011, p=0.025, p=0.039, respectively). Conclusion: This study found that Theraplay may cause significant changes in social communication in children with ASD. Further studies are needed to establish the effectiveness of Theraplay in children with ASD.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.8 no.7
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• pp.341-348
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• 2017

The aim of this study is to distinguish children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder (ASD) from the norm group by identifying their Intelligence with Korean Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fourth Edition (K-WISC-IV) profile analysis. The article were administered to 90 children with high-functioning ASD (6-16) years and has surveyed the average of the Full scale IQ, index scores, and subtest scores of K-WISC-IV. Also, this study has conducted a single-subject T-test in order to verify whether Full scale IQ, index scores, subtest scores are different from those of the norm group. The results show that children with high-functioning ASD achieved significantly lower scores on Processing Speed Index, compared to the norm group. Furthermore, their scores in Comprehension, Picture Concept, Picture completion, Coding, and Symbol Search were significantly lower than those of the norm group. It is likely that what have turned out to be the cognitive weaknesses of high-functioning ASD children by K-WISC-IV analysis, including slow process speed, low social judgement, and difficulty in visual stimuli in everyday life are interrelated to their unique characters.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.54 no.1
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• pp.22-28
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• 2011

Purpose: To investigate the clinical characteristics of late-onset epilepsy combined with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and the relationship between certain types of electroencephalography (EEG) abnormalities in ASD and associated neuropsychological problems. Methods: Thirty patients diagnosed with ASD in early childhood and later developed clinical seizures were reviewed retrospectively. First, the clinical characteristics, language and behavioral regression, and EEG findings of these late-onset epilepsy patients with ASD were investigated. The patients were then classified into 2 groups according to the severity of the EEG abnormalities in the background rhythm and paroxysmal discharges. In the severe group, EEG showed persistent asymmetry, slow and disorganized background rhythms, and continuous sharp and slow waves during slow sleep (CSWS). Results: Between the two groups, there was no statistically significant difference in mean age (P=0.259), age of epilepsy diagnosis (P=0.237), associated family history (P=0.074), and positive abnormal magnetic resonance image (MRI) findings (P=0.084). The severe EEG group tended to have more neuropsychological problems (P=0.074). The severe group statistically showed more electrographic seizures in EEG (P=0.000). Rett syndrome was correlated with more severe EEG abnormalities (P=0.002). Although formal cognitive function tests were not performed, the parents reported an improvement in neuropsychological function on the follow up checkup according to a parent's questionnaire. Conclusion: Although some ASD patients with late-onset epilepsy showed severe EEG abnormalities, including CSWS, they generally showed an improvement in EEG and clinical symptoms in the longterm follow up. In addition, severe EEG abnormalities tended to be related to the neuropsychological function.

• Clinical Psychopharmacology and Neuroscience
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.383-390
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• 2018

Objective: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental syndrome with an increasingly prevalent etiology, yet not fully understood. It has been thought that vitamin D, complex B vitamin levels and homocysteine are associated with environmental factors and are important in ASD. The aim of this study was to examine serum vitamin D, vitamin D receptor (VDR), homocysteine, vitamin B6, vitamin B12 and folate levels in ASD. Methods: In this study, serum vitamin D and VDR, homocysteine, vitamins B6, B12 and folate levels were determined in 60 patients with ASD (aged 3 to 12 years) and in 45 age-gender matched healthy controls. In addition, calcium, phosphorus and alkaline phosphatase, which are associated with vitamin D metabolism, were measured from serum in both groups. ASD severity was evaluted by the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS). Results: Serum vitamin D and VDR were substantially reduced in patients with ASD in comparision to control group. However, homocysteine level was significantly higher and vitamin B6, vitamin B12 and folate were also reduced in patients with ASD. Total CARS score showed a positive association with homocysteine and a negative correlation with vitamins D,B6, B12, folate and VDR. Conclusion: This comprehensive study, which examines many parameters has shown that low serum levels of vitamins D, B6, B12, folate and VDR as well as high homocysteine are important in the etiopathogenesis of ASD. However, further studies are required to define the precise mechanism(s) of these parameters and their contributions to the etiology and treatment of ASD.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.157-164
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• 2016

Objectives : The objective of this study was to investigate the characteristics of language profiles according to whether or not Korean children with autism spectrum disorder(ASD) also have ADHD, and to examine the relationship with executive function. Methods : Participants in the study were boys with ADHD aged 6 to 11 years who visited the clinic from January 2012 to December 2013. In this study, 25 boys with ASD were included, and completed scales included the Korean version of Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised(K-ADI-R), Korean version of Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule(K-ADOS), Korean ADHD Rating Scale(K-ARS), and Korean-Conners' Parent Rating Scale(K-CPRS). They also completed neuropsychological tests and assessed language profiles. Patients were categorized into two groups(with ADHD and without ADHD). T-test and Multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) was used for analysis. Results : Statistically, no difference was found in receptive and expressive language ability between the ASD groups with and without ADHD. However, a lower score in Test of Problem solving(TOPS) was observed for ASD with ADHD than for ASD without ADHD, with problem solving and finding cues showing significant differences. Conclusions : These findings suggest that language profiles in the ASD group without ADHD could be similar to those in the ASD group with ADHD, but comorbid ADHD could lead to more difficulty in linguistic ability for problem solving and could be related with executive function of the frontal lobe.

• Journal of rehabilitation welfare engineering & assistive technology
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.265-273
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• 2015

Children with autistic spectrum disorder(ASD) have a strength in visual process and systemizing, and they show interest toward things and machines. Therefore, robots have been suggested as a useful tool for the rehabilitation of the children with ASD. A robot can attract children's interest and attention, and it can provide simplified social stimulus. A robot can be applied repetitively, and programmed for the special needs of an individual child. In this study, we review literature related to the use of robots for the rehabilitation of children with ASD. For this purpose, related literature was searched with the keywords of autism and robot. We selected eleven domestic papers, and analyzed their contents to identify robots, stimulus of robots, experiment process and dependent variables.

• Journal of Music and Human Behavior
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.97-125
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• 2020

This case study examined the effects of synchronization-based group music therapy for improving peer interaction of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The participants were five children between the ages of 6 and 10 with ASD. A total of eight 30-minute music therapy sessions were conducted two times a week. During sessions, target behaviors (i.e., engagement in joint action, synchronized movements, eye contact, and initiation of social interaction) were observed and analyzed. Also, the PIPPS-P was completed by parents to identify behavioral changes in real-life environments from pretest to posttest. Following the intervention, all of the participants showed increases in synchronized movements with peers and attempts to initiate social interaction. In addition, parents rated their children's play behavior as being improved in their everyday living environment. These results support that synchronous movements between children with ASD, which were facilitated with rhythmic cueing, led to enhanced engagement in joint action. Considering that those movements are the basis for further social skills (e.g., play behavior), this study also indicates that synchronization-based group music therapy could be an effective therapeutic approach for improving the peer interaction of this population.

• Journal of Music and Human Behavior
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.27-53
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• 2022

The purpose of this case study was to construct a social context-based musical play program for children with high-functioning Autism Spectrum disorder (ASD) and to examine its applicability in improving the social skills of the children. The participants were a group of three children with high-functioning ASD with an average age of 9 years. The children participated as a group in 40-minute sessions that were implemented twice a week for 8 weeks. The children's social communication behaviors were observed during the sessions and analyzed in terms of sharing and exchanging their ideas and voluntarily interacting with peers and an adult (i.e., the researcher). The Social Skills Rating System (SSRS) was completed by the teachers of participants before and after the intervention. For all three participants, the occurrence of behaviors to exchange their ideas with peers and voluntarily interacting with an adult increased following the intervention. However, there were individual differences between the participants in terms of changes in each target behavior depending on their level of language and social skill development. These results suggest that social context-based musical play program may produce positive changes in voluntary communication with peers and play a significant role in expanding the scope of interventions that target the social communication of children with ASD.

• Therapeutic Science for Rehabilitation
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.9-25
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• 2024

Objective : Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) commonly suffer from feeding disorders. Major feeding problems include mealtime behavior problems, picky eating, and a lack of food variety can lead to nutritional problems, developmental and social limitations, and stress for the caregivers. A review of the latest literature was conducted to gain an in-depth understanding of assessment tools for feeding disorders in children with ASD. Method : This study analyzed assessments to identify feeding problems in ASD based on previous studies searched through keywords such as ASD, ASD feeding problem, and ASD feeding evaluation. Results : The ASD feeding disorder assessment was divided into direct and indirect assessments. Indirect assessment, in which caregivers measure a child's situation using questionnaires, is mainly used. The assessment of feeding disorders in children with ASD was divided into 1) mealtime behavior, 2) sensory processing, 3) food consumption, and 4) others. Conclusion : As the main feeding disorder characteristics of children with ASD are very diverse, a comprehensive evaluation is necessary but is still limited. Swallowing rehabilitation experts, such as occupational therapists, should apply comprehensive assessment tools based on a basic understanding of the feeding problems, behaviors, and sensations in ASD.