All Publications

  • The Developmental Assessment of Social Communication Ability (DASCA): initial creation and psychometric description. Molecular autism Kaat, A. J., Thurm, A., Farmer, C., Zheng, S., Ghods, S., Georgiades, S., Kanne, S., Narayanan, S., Bishop, S. L. 2025; 16 (1): 52

    Abstract

    The dearth of tools to quantify and track growth in social communication ability has been a barrier to understanding and monitoring treatment outcomes for neurodevelopmental disorders. We undertook a multi-staged, multisite study to create the Developmental Assessment of Social Communication Ability (DASCA), a new measure explicitly developed as a clinical outcome assessment for monitoring change-both over the course of development and in response to treatment.The DASCA is a caregiver-report instrument created using a mixed-methods approach. Qualitative components of this approach included focus groups and cognitive debriefing interviews. Quantitative components included dimensionality analysis, differential item functioning, and item response theory modeling. The item bank was iteratively refined to assess social communication skills that are typically acquired by early- to middle- childhood.The final DASCA item bank contains 184 items. Expressive language was a major factor in determining the appropriateness of some items for certain groups of children. Negligible differential item functioning, primarily by age, was observed for some items. However, impact analyses determined that this differential item functioning did not meaningfully impact overall scores.Given that sample size limitations prevented us from using separate samples for exploratory and confirmatory phases of modeling, it will be important to gather additional validity evidence in independent samples, especially as the current data were collected during the COVID-19 pandemic.The DASCA holds promise as an outcome measure for assessing changes in social communication ability. Ongoing development efforts include creating a computer adaptive test administration to allow for serial assessments using different item sets to yield a consistent score that is sensitive to change.

    View details for DOI 10.1186/s13229-025-00683-z

    View details for PubMedID 41102748

    View details for PubMedCentralID PMC12529783

  • Self-reported Everyday Sources of Happiness and Unhappiness in Autistic Adults. Journal of autism and developmental disorders Parenteau, C. I., Lampinen, L. A., Ghods, S. S., Taylor, J. L., Adams, R. E., Bishop, S. L., Zheng, S. 2024; 54 (4): 1538-1548

    Abstract

    Daily mood can be influenced by a range of experiences. Identifying everyday life experiences that make autistic adults happy and unhappy holds potential to foster positive mood and tackle mental health problems amongst this group.A total of 293 autistic adults between the ages of 18 to 35 years old (mean age of 26.51 years old (SD = 4.62); 43.3% female gender, 4.8% nonbinary) provided open-text responses regarding everyday sources of happiness and unhappiness. Using an iterative process of inductive coding, 14 happy themes and 22 unhappy themes of mood-changing life experiences were identified based on self-report qualitative data.Common themes across the happy and unhappy domain involved social partners, social interactions, and engagement in recreational and employment activities, with additional distinct themes specific to happy or unhappy mood. Top themes identified in the happy domain emphasizes encouraging quality relationships and positive interactions with others and cultivating supportive work/societal environments to build a sense of achievement and value. Meanwhile, emotional tolls accompanied negative relationships and interactions, underscoring the necessity to provide autistic adults with conflict resolution and coping skills to increase feelings of happiness.Overall, the wide range of sources of happy and unhappy everyday experiences highlights the importance of considering personal preferences in engagement with others and activities in treatment.

    View details for DOI 10.1007/s10803-023-05892-0

    View details for PubMedID 36689096

    View details for PubMedCentralID PMC9869319

  • Neurodevelopmental Profiles of 4-Year-Olds in the Navajo Birth Cohort Study JAACAP OPEN Rennie, B. J., Bishop, S., Leventhal, B. L., Zheng, S., Geib, E. F., Kim, Y., Burnette, C., Salzman, E., Nozadi, S. S., Kim, H., Ence, W., Park, M., Ghods, S., Welch, M. L., MacKenzie, D., Lewis, J. 2023; 1 (3): 184-195

    View details for DOI 10.1016/j.jaacop.2023.06.003

    View details for Web of Science ID 001535046700004

  • Self-reported Everyday Sources of Happiness and Unhappiness in Autistic Adults (Mar, 10.1007/s10803-023-05892-0 ,2023) JOURNAL OF AUTISM AND DEVELOPMENTAL DISORDERS Parenteau, C. I., Lampinen, L. L., Ghods, S. S., Taylor, J. L., Adams, R. E., Bishop, S. L., Zheng, S. 2023; 53 (6): 2549-2552

    View details for DOI 10.1007/s10803-023-05947-2

    View details for Web of Science ID 000956450100001

  • Identifying phenotypic and physiological subgroups of preschoolers with autism spectrum disorder. Psychological medicine Bazelmans, T., Jones, E. J., Ghods, S., Corrigan, S., Toth, K., Charman, T., Webb, S. J. 2023; 53 (4): 1592-1602

    Abstract

    To understand the emergence of symptoms in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), we need to identify the mechanisms that underpin the development of core social skills. Mounting evidence indicates that young children with later ASD attend less to other people, which could compromise learning opportunities with cascading effects. Passive looking behaviour does not tell us about engagement with visual information, but measures of physiological arousal can provide information on the depth of engagement. In the current study, we use heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV) to measure engagement with social dynamic stimuli in ASD.Sixty-seven preschoolers with ASD and 65 typical developing preschoolers between 2 and 4 years of age participated in a study where HR was measured during viewing of social and non-social videos. Using latent profile analyses, more homogeneous subgroups of children were created based on phenotype and physiology.Preschool-aged children with ASD, regardless of their non-verbal, verbal and social competencies, do not differ in overall HR or HRV compared to TD children. However, the ASD group showed a larger increase in HR (more disengagement) than the TD group to later-presented social stimuli. Phenotypic and physiological profiles showed this was primarily the case for children with below average verbal and non-verbal skills, but not necessarily those with more ASD symptoms.Children with ASD, especially a subgroup showing moderate cognitive delays, show an increase in HR to social stimuli over time; this may reflect difficulties re-engaging with social information when attention is waning.

    View details for DOI 10.1017/S0033291721003172

    View details for PubMedID 37010226

    View details for PubMedCentralID PMC10009381

  • Behavioral responses to fevers and other medical events in children with and without ASD. Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research Byrne, K., Zheng, S., Bishop, S., Boucher, J., Ghods, S., Kim, S. H., Lord, C. 2022; 15 (11): 2056-2063

    Abstract

    Anecdotal reports and a small number of research studies suggest possible behavioral improvements in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) during a fever. However, previous studies rely largely on retrospective reports of this phenomenon. Establishing a robust association between fever and reduction of ASD-related symptoms would promote opportunities for the development of innovative therapeutic interventions for children with ASD. In the current study, prospective data were collected from 141 children with ASD and 103 typically developing (TD) controls using parent responses to an 11-item behavioral survey. Behaviors when no illness was present, during a fever, the week after a fever, and during non-febrile illnesses for TD and ASD children were compared. Profiles of cases in which caregivers reported consistent behavioral improvements during fever are described. Data indicated worsening social, emotional/behavioral, and somatic symptoms during a fever regardless of diagnosis, with children with ASD demonstrating greater worsening of behaviors during a fever than TD children. Only three out of 141 children with ASD demonstrated consistent behavioral improvements during a fever; these children had a range of cognitive and adaptive skills. Children with ASD had stronger negative responses to fever than TD children. These findings contradict previous literature suggesting behavioral improvements for children with ASD. While improvements may occur for some children, it does not appear to be a common phenomenon. Additional research is needed to elucidate the nature of behavioral improvements in the subset of children with ASD who may respond positively to fever.

    View details for DOI 10.1002/aur.2810

    View details for PubMedID 36164255

  • Sex differences in scores on standardized measures of autism symptoms: a multisite integrative data analysis. Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines Kaat, A. J., Shui, A. M., Ghods, S. S., Farmer, C. A., Esler, A. N., Thurm, A., Georgiades, S., Kanne, S. M., Lord, C., Kim, Y. S., Bishop, S. L. 2021; 62 (1): 97-106

    Abstract

    Concerns have been raised that scores on standard measures of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) symptoms may differ as a function of sex. However, these findings are hindered by small female samples studied thus far. The current study evaluated if, after accounting for age, IQ, and language level, sex affects ASD severity estimates from diagnostic measures among children with ASD.Data were obtained from eight sources comprising 27 sites. Linear mixed-effects models, including a random effect for site, were fit for 10 outcomes (Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule [ADOS] domain-level calibrated severity scores, Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised [ADI-R] raw scores by age-based algorithm, and raw scores from the two indices on the Social Responsiveness Scale [SRS]). Sex was added to the models after controlling for age, NVIQ, and an indicator for language level.Sex significantly improved model fit for half of the outcomes, but least square mean differences were generally negligible (effect sizes [ES] < 0.20), increasing to small to moderate in adolescence (ES < 0.40). Boys received more severe RRB scores than girls on both the ADOS and ADI-R (age 4 + algorithm), and girls received more severe scores than boys on both SRS indices, which emerged in adolescence.This study combined several available databases to create the largest sample of girls with ASD diagnoses. We found minimal differences due to sex beyond other known influences on ASD severity indicators. This may suggest that, among children who ultimately receive a clinical ASD diagnosis, severity estimates do not systematically differ to such an extent that sex-specific scoring procedures would be necessary. However, given the limitations inherent in clinically ascertained samples, future research must address questions about systematic sex differences among children or adults who do not receive clinical diagnoses of ASD. Moreover, while the current study helps resolve questions about widely used diagnostic instruments, we could not address sex differences in phenotypic aspects outside of these scores.

    View details for DOI 10.1111/jcpp.13242

    View details for PubMedID 32314393

    View details for PubMedCentralID PMC8115212

  • Heart rate mean and variability as a biomarker for phenotypic variation in preschoolers with autism spectrum disorder. Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research Bazelmans, T., Jones, E. J., Ghods, S., Corrigan, S., Toth, K., Charman, T., Webb, S. J. 2019; 12 (1): 39-52

    Abstract

    Interest in autonomic arousal in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is increasing; however, reliability of these measures in ASD is unknown, and previously reported associations with social and cognitive abilities are inconsistent. This study assesses heart rate (HR) and HR variability (HRV) in preschoolers with ASD or typical development (TD) while they passively watched naturalistic videos. Measurement reliability, group differences, and the relationship with social and cognitive abilities were evaluated. Seventy one ASD and 66 TD children (2-4 years) provided cardiac data from two sessions. Test-retest intraclass correlations of HR and HRV over a 3-week period were moderate to good in both groups. Groups did not differ in mean level of HR or HRV. Intra-individual variability of HR between video segments within a session was higher in the ASD group, but intraclass correlations of this metric were low. Higher HR related to better language skills in TD children, but not after accounting for age and nonverbal ability. Higher HRV related to better expressive and receptive language in ASD children after controlling for age and nonverbal ability. HR/HRV were not related to social or executive functioning skills and did not explain any additional variance in abilities at a 12-month follow-up visit. In summary, variation in language abilities is associated with HR in the TD group and HRV in the ASD group. While preliminary, these results are promising for consideration of autonomic control as a biomarker for individual differences in ASD and may help us understand the mechanisms that contribute to communication skills. Autism Research 2019, 12: 39-52. © 2018 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. LAY SUMMARY: Cardiac activity, such as heart rate and heart rate variability, is linked to a wide range of psychological functions. This study shows that there is an association between heart rate and heart rate variability and language skills in young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). These results may help us understand what underlies individual differences in developmental abilities in young children with ASD.

    View details for DOI 10.1002/aur.1982

    View details for PubMedID 30114343

    View details for PubMedCentralID PMC8382280