Advancing knowledge of human development, developmental disabilities, and neurodegenerative diseases.
Children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, or ASD, often have significant delays with expanding their vocabularies and other language skills compared to typically developing children. Yet, “we know very little about [language] processing in [children with ASD] or the mechanisms underlying it,” says Susan Ellis Weismer, a professor of communication sciences and disorders at UW–Madison …
Title: Brief Report: Fast mapping predicts differences in concurrent and later language abilities in children with ASD. Legend: Receptive and expressive language at age 3½ and age 5½ by fast mapping profile group. PLS-4 = Preschool Language Scale, 4th Edition. Error bars represent one standard error. Left panel: At age 3½, poor learners had significantly lower receptive …
Title: Sensory Subtypes and Associated Outcomes in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders Legend: Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale 2nd Edition- adaptive behavior composite score, domains, and maladaptive score by sensory subtype (Mild Subtype, Sensitive-Distressed Subtype, Attenuated-Preoccupied Subtype, and Extreme-Mixed Subtype). Parenting Stress Index 3rd Edition, Short Form- total score, parental distress, difficult child, and parent/child dysfunctional …
Title: Investigating the Microstructural Correlation of White Matter in Autism Spectrum Disorder Legend: Graphical visualization (‘connectogram’) of brain white matter networks of the examined typically developing (TD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) groups. Individual white matter tracts were broadly grouped by region (outside labels), while the individual tract is indicated by the inside of the …
The Waisman Center is one of only six institutions across to country to be awarded a SEED grant by the Centers for Disease Control. SEED is one of the largest studies in the United States to help identify factors that may put children at risk for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and other developmental disabilities. Research …
Luke Holzem sped from door to door, his orange t-shirt transforming him into a bright blur of 6-year-old energy. His grey-green eyes sparkled and he looked expectantly at his mother, Shannon. The question was clear: which of the numbered doors did he have to vanquish to get to his appointment at the Communication Aids & …
Title: Longitudinal development of grip strength in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Legend: The group with ASD demonstrated atypical motor development, characterized by similar grip strength during childhood but increasingly weaker grip strength from adolescence into adulthood. Grip strength was associated with adaptive daily living skills both concurrently and 8 years into the future, suggesting that …
An increase in the number of children diagnosed with autism, and a state mandate for insurance coverage of autism treatment, has led to an expansion of autism treatment services in the Madison area. UW–Madison’s Waisman Center, which has long had a clinic that can diagnose children with autism, started offering behavioral treatment for the condition …
A new mouse model, developed by researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, is the first to show that when more of a specific biological molecule moves between different parts of nerve cells in the mouse brain, it can lead to behaviors that resembles some aspects of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in humans.
April 22, 2016 Niamh Rahman, Waisman Communications Sometimes a theater performance is better with headphones and fidgets. This may sound strange, but for individuals with certain disabilities, headphones and other add-ons, like fidgets, can make an event more enjoyable, instead of detracting from the experience. Using headphones can help tone down loud, potentially overwhelming noises, …
