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The purpose of this study was to determine whether children with developmental disorders (DDs) in protective custody are more likely to experience specific placement types and stay in care longer than their typically developing peers. Furthermore, in the DD-only group, we examined whether the likelihood of each placement type differed by specific DD diagnosis.This observational retrospective study used child welfare administrative data linked to electronic health records in a large Ohio county. Participants were aged 5 to 20 years (N = 2787). DD diagnoses were determined using problem list and encounter diagnosis codes.Children with versus without DD were less likely to be in kinship placement (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.79; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.66-0.94) and more likely to be in congregate care (aOR, 1.26; 95% CI: 1.04-1.53) and nonrelative foster care (aOR, 1.20; 95% CI: 1.00-1.45). A likelihood of independent living placement did not differ for those with and without DD. Those with versus without DD had longer lengths of stay in protective custody ( p ≤ 0.001), but the number of placement changes did not differ after accounting for length of stay. The pattern of results differed somewhat by individual DD diagnosis.Compared with their typically developing peers, children with DD are less likely to be in kinship care and tend to have longer lengths of stay in protective custody. If replicated, these findings suggest the need to identify and address mechanisms to support children with DD across placement settings and to better understand factors prolonging their protective custody stay.

SUMMARYAttention deficit is one of the most prominent and disabling symptoms in Fragile X Syndrome (FXS). Hypersensitivity to sensory stimuli contributes to attention difficulties by overwhelming and/or distracting affected individuals, which disrupts activities of daily living at home and learning at school. We find that auditory or visual distractors selectively impair visual discrimination performance in both humans and mice with FXS, but not their typically developing controls. Vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) neurons were significantly modulated by incorrect responses in the post-stimulus period during early distractor trials in WT mice, consistent with their known role as ‘error’ signals. Strikingly, however, VIP cells fromFmr1-/-mice showed little modulation in error trials, and this correlated with their poor performance on the distractor task. Thus, VIP interneurons and their reduced modulatory influence on pyramidal cells, could be a potential therapeutic target for attentional difficulties in FXS.

Differential diagnosis of young children with suspected autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is challenging, and clinician uncertainty about a child's diagnosis may contribute to misdiagnosis and subsequent delays in access to early treatment. The current study was designed to replicate and expand a recent report in this Journal (McDonnell et al. in J Autism Dev Disord 49:1391-1401, https://doi.org/10.1080/15374416.2020.1823850 , 2019), in which only 60% of diagnoses were made with complete certainty by clinicians evaluating 478 toddlers and preschool children referred for possible ASD to specialized clinics. In this study, secondary analyses were performed on diagnostic, demographic and clinical data for 496 16-30-month-old children who were consecutive referrals to a 6-site clinical trial executed by specialized centers with experienced clinicians following best-practice procedures for the diagnosis of ASD. Overall, 70.2% of diagnoses were made with complete certainty. The most important factor associated with clinician uncertainty was mid-level autism-related symptomatology. Mid-level verbal age equivalents were also associated with clinician uncertainty, but measures of symptomatology were stronger predictors. None of the socio-demographic variables, including sex of the child, was significantly associated with clinician certainty. Close to one third of early diagnoses of ASD are made with a degree of uncertainty. The delineation of specific ranges on the ADOS-2 most likely to result in clinician uncertainty identified in this study may provide an opportunity to reduce random subjectivity in diagnostic decision-making via calibration of young-child diagnostic thresholds based on later-age longitudinal diagnostic outcome data, and via standardization of decision-making in regard to clinical scenarios frequently encountered by clinicians.

Telehealth has been shown to be both acceptable and effective in many areas of healthcare, yet it was not widely adopted prior to the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic. Additionally, previous evaluations of telehealth for autism spectrum condition (ASC) and intellectual and developmental disability (IDD) populations are limited in both number and scope. Here, we investigated satisfaction amongst Psychology and Psychiatry patient caregivers at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center (CCHMC) after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Results (640 responses) showed high rates of satisfaction across departments, appointment types, and diagnoses, with 92% indicating overall satisfaction with their appointment. There were, however, notable decreases in satisfaction among Group Therapy respondents, and those whose diagnosis was classified as Other.

The stop-signal paradigm has become ubiquitous in investigations of inhibitory control. Tasks inspired by the paradigm, referred to as stop-signal tasks, require participants to make responses on go trials and to inhibit those responses when presented with a stop-signal on stop trials. Currently, the most popular version of the stop-signal task is the ‘choice-reaction’ variant, where participants make choice responses, but must inhibit those responses when presented with a stop-signal. An alternative to the choice-reaction variant of the stop-signal task is the ‘anticipated response inhibition’ task. In anticipated response inhibition tasks, participants are required to make a planned response that coincides with a predictably timed event (such as lifting a finger from a computer key to stop a filling bar at a predefined target). Anticipated response inhibition tasks have some advantages over the more traditional choice-reaction stop-signal tasks and are becoming increasingly popular. However, currently, there are no openly available versions of the anticipated response inhibition task, limiting potential uptake. Here, we present an open-source, free, and ready-to-use version of the anticipated response inhibition task, which we refer to as the OSARI (the Open-Source Anticipated Response Inhibition) task.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder marked by impairments in social behavior and difficulties with repetitive and restrictive behaviors. In 2012, the prevalence of ASD in the United States was estimated to be one in 68 among children age 8 years. Although the etiology of ASD is poorly understood, many researchers have identified genetic, epigenetic, and environmental factors likely involved in the disorder. In approximately 10% of cases, a definitive association with a specific genetic defect can be identified. A diagnosis of ASD is best performed through an interdisciplinary assessment and is based on diagnostic criteria. The DSM-5 criteria on the clinical features of ASD fall into two core domains: impaired social communication and interaction and restricted, repetitive behaviors, interests, or activities. Today, although no definitive “cure” for ASD exists, state-of-the-art therapies and learning environments, along with medications, have resulted in reducing disease burden and quality of life for individuals affected by ASD. This review contains 3 figures, 2 tables, and 86 references. Key words: autism spectrum disorders, developmental disorders, language speech delay, social communication