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Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are characterized by difficulties with social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication, and the development and maintenance of interpersonal relationships. As a result, individuals with ASD are at an increased risk of bullying victimization, compared to typically developing peers. This paper reviews the literature that has emerged over the past decade regarding prevalence of bullying involvement in the ASD population, as well as associated psychosocial factors. Directions for future research are suggested, including areas of research that are currently unexplored or underdeveloped. Methodological issues such as defining and measuring bullying, as well as informant validity and reliability, are considered. Implications for intervention are discussed.

Recent overviews of autism research have yielded a number of suggestions, including: additional research with very young, and with lower functioning samples, and renewed emphasis on appropriate comparison/control groups. We reviewed the abstracts from a major autism conference (IMFAR) from 2004 to 2006 to examine these trends. We found an increase in the proportion of studies with preschool or infant participants. However, there was a decrease in studies using lower functioning samples, and an increase in studies using Mixed samples. The use of control groups generally decreased, and the use of cognitively impaired comparison groups remains low. We also found the use of the more generic term, ASD, versus DSM categories as sample descriptors increasing at IMFAR. The potential impact of these trends on limiting the generalizability of results is discussed. (Contains 8 tables.)

Children with autism may have difficulties in audiovisual speech perception, which has been linked to speech perception and language development. However, little has been done to examine children with Asperger syndrome as a group on tasks assessing audiovisual speech perception, despite this group's often greater language skills. Samples of children with autism, Asperger syndrome, and Down syndrome, as well as a typically developing sample, were presented with an auditory-only condition, a speech-reading condition, and an audiovisual condition designed to elicit the Mc Gurk effect. Children with autism demonstrated unimodal performance at the same level as the other groups, yet showed a lower rate of the Mc Gurk effect compared with the Asperger, Down and typical samples. These results suggest that children with autism may have unique intermodal speech perception difficulties linked to their representations of speech sounds. Autism Res 2014, 7: 50-59. © 2013 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Realize Community Potential (RCP) Program was developed to directly support parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) through: greater access to information, direct contact between parents and Autism Ontario chapters, improved access to experts in local communities, and increased community-based learning opportunities for children with ASD. Several tools were developed to track chapter activities and to evaluate the capacity of the program to meet stated objectives. There was a substantial increase in the number of chapter events offered since the inception of the RCP program. Event topics of most interest to families included: behaviour, followed by social skills development, and communication. The average number of calls to RCP chapters per month has greatly increased since the program started. The majority of families contacted the chapter via email, reflecting a change in the dynamics of how families are communicating with professionals. The most common reasons for contacting chapters were: knowledge of Autism Ontario activities and resources, school-related issues, and community services. This research is important in identifying the effective components of the RCP program to guide future program development and allocation of funding resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children with autism may have difficulties in audiovisual speech perception, which has been linked to speech perception and language development. However, little has been done to examine children with Asperger syndrome as a group on tasks assessing audiovisual speech perception, despite this group's often greater language skills. Samples of children with autism, Asperger syndrome, and Down syndrome, as well as a typically developing sample, were presented with an auditory-only condition, a speech-reading condition, and an audiovisual condition designed to elicit the McGurk effect. Children with autism demonstrated unimodal performance at the same level as the other groups, yet showed a lower rate of the McGurk effect compared with the Asperger, Down and typical samples. These results suggest that children with autism may have unique intermodal speech perception difficulties linked to their representations of speech sounds., (© 2013 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)