• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.172-177
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• 2018

Objectives: We examined the agreement between the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) and the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) in the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. Methods: The ADOS and CARS scores of 78 children were retrospectively collected from a chart review. A correlation analysis was performed to examine the concurrent validity between the two measures. Using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, we determined the optimal cut-off score of the CARS for identifying autism spectrum disorder. Results: The CARS score was significantly correlated with the ADOS score (r=0.808, p<0.001). Taking ADOS as the ideal standard, the optimal cut-off scores of CARS for identifying autism and autism spectrum were 30 and 24.5, respectively. Conclusion: We determined the optimal cut-off scores of CARS for screening and diagnosing autism spectrum disorder.

• Korean Journal of Childcare and Education
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.211-238
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• 2016

This study examines indicators and factors for identification of ASD(Autism Spectrum Disorder) characteristics of infants and toddlers and early screening of children with ASD by day care teachers. Focus group interviews were conducted with 11 teachers by a semi-structured questionnaire developed by the authors. The findings are: 1) key problems and indicators of behavioral characteristics of children with ASD included problems with social communication and interactions, restricted and unusual interests, outstanding ability in specific areas, insistence on sameness and ritualized patterns, problems with language development and communication, sensory abnormalities; 2) counseling with parents of children with ASD revealed a lack of recognition of parents, negative expressions of emotions and resistance, and difficulties in referral to and association with experts; 3) needs for ASD in the child care field included visiting by experts, provision of test scales, training of child care teachers and parents, and building cooperative systems; and 4) demands of development and execution of a Korean-style scale for early screening of children with ASD.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Sensory Integration
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.48-59
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• 2022

Objective : This study was intended to systematically consider the sensory integration intervention methods offered in Korea for children with autism spectrum disorder and to provide an evidence base for the application of sensory integration interventions. Methods : The subjects of this study were published studies in a national journal for the last 10 years from January 2011 to December 2020. The databases used for the search were RISS and DBpia. The search terms were 'autism', 'autism spectrum', 'sensory integration', and 'intervention'. A total of 10 studies were used in the analysis, which were analyzed at the qualitative and methodological quality of the research evidence and the results were presented according to the PICO (Patient, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome). Results : In the research analysis, the quality level of the evidence was highest at level IV, followed by level II. The methodological quality of the evidence was the most common for 'Good' research, followed 'Fair'. The study subjects were children with autism spectrum disorder and their parents, and the experimental design had the highest frequency of single-subject studies. Interventions have the highest number of studies confirming adaptive behavior and sensory modulation, and the evaluation tools used to measure interventions have the highest frequency of sensory profiles and Canadian occupational performance measures (COPM). All 10 studies used in the analysis showed positive improvements and statistically significant effects on various outcome values from sensory integration interventions. Conclusion : In the recent clinical environment, sensory integration interventions have been continuously conducted in children with autism spectrum disorder. In future research, it is necessary to conduct research on various sensory integration intervention methods and the high quality of the evidence for the application of sensory integration interventions.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Sensory Integration
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.65-78
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• 2023

Objective : In this study, we aimed to investigate the effectiveness of family-centered intervention conducted with caregivers of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in South Korea through a systematic literature review. Methods : Previous studies published from 2011 to 2021 were searched through RISS, KISS, and DBpia. The search terms applied included "autism spectrum" OR "general developmental disorder" OR "high-functioning autism" OR "Asperger's" AND "parent education" OR "family-centered intervention" OR "parent coaching" OR "parent training" OR "family participation." A total of 11 experimental studies were chosen based on the selection criteria. Results : According to the findings on the general characteristics of the study participants, intervention strategies, and effects of the intervention, it was observed that the majority of children with ASD who participated in the study were preschool-aged, and the majority of participating caregivers were mothers. The effects of family-centered interventions were evident in both children and parents. In children, the most significant effects were observed in interaction and communication skills. In parents, a reduction in parenting stress and an improvement in parenting efficacy were observed. The intervention strategies employed in the study varied, with sensory integration intervention, responsive communication, and interaction-centered intervention being the most commonly used, followed by developmental-centered intervention, positive behavior support (PBS), and parent-mediated intervention based on pivotal response treatment (PRT). Conclusion : The results of this study are significant in that they confirm that family-centered intervention is effective not only in improving the functioning of children with autism spectrum disorder, but also in reducing parenting stress and enhancing parenting efficacy, and provide evidence for clinical use.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.35-40
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• 2022

Objectives: Restricted and repetitive behaviors (RRBs) are a core symptom in the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The complexity of behavioral patterns has called for the creation of phenotypically homogeneous subgroups among individuals with ASD. The purpose of this study was 1) to investigate the different types of RRBs and 2) to explore whether subgroups created by RRBs would show unique levels of functioning in toddlers and young children with ASD. Methods: A total of 313 children with ASD, aged 12-42 months were included in the analysis. The Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised was used to obtain information on the different types of RRBs by grouping 15 items into six categories. The Vineland Adaptive Behaviors Scale, a parent-reported questionnaire, was used to measure adaptive functioning. A portion of the children were analyzed separately for verbal-related RRBs based on their expressive language level. Two-step cluster analysis using RRB groups as features was used to create subgroups. Analysis of covariance while covarying for age and language was performed to explore the clinical characteristics of each cluster group. Results: Sensory-related RRBs were the most prevalent, followed by circumscribed interests, interest in objects, resistance to change, and repetitive body movements. A subset of the children was analyzed separately to explore verbal-related RRBs. Four cluster groups were created based on reported RRBs, with multiple RRBs demonstrating significant delays in adaptive functioning. Conclusion: Heterogeneity of RRBs emerges at a young age. The different patterns of RRBs can be used as valuable information to determine developmental trajectories with better implications for treatment approaches.

• Child Health Nursing Research
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.331-338
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• 2015

Purpose: This study was done to identify differences in the life transition process of parents caring for children with autism according to parents' socio-demographic characteristics. Methods: Participants were 194 parents caring for children with autism. Data were collected from December 2013 to February 2014 through self-report questionnaires, and analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA with SPSS/WIN 20.0. Results: Mean scores for despairing or accepting phases were higher than those for denying or wandering phases in the life transition process. According to parents' gender, educational level, and job, there were some significant differences in the denying and wandering phases. Differences in denying phase by education (p=.033), job (p=.004) were significant. Respondents with higher educational level, and having a job showed a lower level of denying than other respondents. Wandering phase differed significantly by gender (p=.009) and job (p=.001). Mothers and those who did not have a job showed a higher level of wandering than fathers and those who had a job. However, there was no difference in the despairing or accepting phases. Conclusion: The life transition phase of parents with autistic children needs to be assessed to provide differentiated and intensive support program and help them move to the accepting phase.

• Psychiatry investigation
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• v.15 no.12
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• pp.1144-1153
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• 2018

Objective One of the areas of social cognition is Theory of Mind (ToM) is defined as the capacity to interpret, infer and explain mental states underlying the behavior of others. When social cognition studies on neurodevelopmental disorders are examined, it can be seen that this skill has not been studied sufficiently in children with Specific Learning Disorder (SLD). Methods In this study, social cognition skills in children diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), SLD or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) evaluated before puberty and compared with controls. To evaluate the ToM skills, the first and second-order false belief tasks, the Hinting Task, the Faux Pas Test and the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Task were used. Results We found that children with neurodevelopmental disorders as ADHD, ASD, and SLD had ToM deficits independent of intelligence and language development. There was a significant correlation between social cognition deficits and problems experienced in many areas such as social communication and interaction, attention, behavior, and learning. Conclusion Social cognition is an important area of impairment in SLD and there is a strong relationship between clinical symptoms and impaired functionality.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.207-215
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• 2016

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the differences in the facial emotion recognition and discrimination ability between children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Methods: Fifty-three children aged 7 to 11 years participated in this study. Among them, 43 were diagnosed with ADHD and 10 with ASD. The parents of the participants completed the Korean version of the Child Behavior Checklist, ADHD Rating Scale and Conner's scale. The participants completed the Korean Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-fourth edition and Advanced Test of Attention (ATA), Penn Emotion Recognition Task and Penn Emotion Discrimination Task. The group differences in the facial emotion recognition and discrimination ability were analyzed by using analysis of covariance for the purpose of controlling the visual omission error index of ATA. Results: The children with ADHD showed better recognition of happy and sad faces and less false positive neutral responses than those with ASD. Also, the children with ADHD recognized emotions better than those with ASD on female faces and in extreme facial expressions, but not on male faces or in mild facial expressions. We found no differences in the facial emotion discrimination between the children with ADHD and ASD. Conclusion: Our results suggest that children with ADHD recognize facial emotions better than children with ASD, but they still have deficits. Interventions which consider their different emotion recognition and discrimination abilities are needed.

• Journal of Korean Society of Neurocognitive Rehabilitation
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.1-7
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• 2018

The study has compared normally developed children and children who were diagnosed as autism spectrum in goal management training them to observe the effect. The research was conducted to four normally developed children and four children who were diagnosed as autism spectrum, and all subjects were provided with identical goal management training. The children and the caregivers have selected desired objectives activity, and all three activities were followed by goal management training. Intervention periods were conducted ten times in total, two times a week for five weeks, and eight subjects in the two groups were trained one on one by the researcher. The training time was 40 minutes for every session. The descriptive statistics and frequency analysis were used as the statistical method, and the Mann-Whitney test, the nonparametric statistical analysis, was conducted to compare the difference between the two groups. Goal management training for two groups did not show a statistically significant difference in terms of the performance status of Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (p>.05). In the summary of Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency (2nd) which evaluates the motor skill, there was a statistically significant difference between the autism spectrum disorder group and normal group (p<.05). Additionally, the two groups showed a statistically significant difference in eye-hand coordination sub-test among Developmental Test of Visual Perception (2nd) which evaluates the visual perception performance (p<.05). The research has confirmed the applicability of goal management training to children with autism spectrum compared to the normally developed children, and it has confirmed the effectiveness of the training.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.62 no.11
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• pp.405-409
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• 2019

A structured review study of drug interventions on sleep disorders in patients with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) has not been published to date. This systematic review aimed to investigate drug interventions for the treatment of sleep disorders in children with ASD. The Web of Science, PubMed, and Scopus databases were searched until March 2019. Study quality was assessed using the Delphi checklist. Due to the heterogeneity of the findings, a meta-analysis was not possible. Drug interventions for the treatment of sleep disorders in patients with ASD included melatonin, atomoxetine, and risperidone. Atomoxetine had no effect on sleep disorders in patients with ASD. A total of 10 studies were reviewed. Melatonin appears to be useful for the treatment of sleep problems in patients with ASD, but further studies are needed to determine the effects of other drugs.