• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.213-219
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• 2017

Objectives: Early intensive interventions are very important for children with autism spectrum disorder. We examined the actual conditions of hospital-based early intensive interventions for autism spectrum disorder in Seoul, in order to help develop and implement an evidence-based early intensive intervention model for use in Korea. Methods: Nine hospital-based institutes running an early intensive intervention program for children with autism spectrum disorder responded to a questionnaire in September 2014. They provided a brief introduction to their program, explained its theoretical bases, and reported the number of children, their age, intervention time, duration and so on. Results: In the majority of the institutions, the intervention was provided for over 20 hours every week, and the theoretical bases included various applied behavioral analysis (ABA) methods and other therapies (language and occupational therapy). The therapist-child ratio ranged from 1:1 to 5:3. Various types of therapists were involved, including behavioral analysts, special education teachers and (or) language pathologists. There was only one clinic where the behavioral analyst was the main therapist. Usually, the intervention was terminated just before the child entered elementary school. The main merit of the hospital-based intervention in our survey was the effectiveness of the multi-disciplinary intervention plan and its other merits were the accuracy of the diagnosis, its ability to be combined with medicine, and so on. Conclusion: The current hospital-based early intensive intervention programs provide interventions for over 20 hours per week and employ multidisciplinary approaches. However, there are very few institutes for children with autism and very few intervention specialists and specialist education courses in the country. We need more educational programs for intervention therapists and have to try to develop policies which encourage the implementation of an evidence-based early intensive intervention program nationwide.

• 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.25 no.4
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• pp.187-195
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• 2014

Objectives : The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between restricted, repetitive behaviors and interests (RRBI) and autistic symptoms in Korean high functioning autism spectrum disorder (ASD) children and to examine the structure of RRBI. Methods : Participants included 147 high functioning ASD subjects and 181 unaffected siblings. ASD subjects were divided into two groups based on the presence of RRBI. The domain scores of the Korean version of Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (K-ADI-R), Korean version of Asperger Syndrome Diagnostic Scale and total scores of Korean translated version of Social Responsiveness Scale, Korean version of Social Communication Scale were used for comparison of ASD symptoms between the groups. Eleven items from the RRBI domain of the K-ADI-R were used in principal axis factor analysis (PAF). Results : A statistically lower nonverbal IQ score was observed for ASD with RRBI than for ASD without RRBIs, and more social deficit, communication deficit, and behavioral and emotional problems were observed for ASD with RRBI compared to ASD without RRBI. Using PAF, two distinct factors were identified. 'Resistance to trivial changes in environment', 'Difficulty with minor changes in personal routine & environment', and 'Compulsion/ritual' were included as one factor. Conclusion : Analysis of the data suggests that the presence of RRBI in high functioning ASD is associated with a more severe presentation of autistic disorder. In addition, there appears to be heterogeneity within RRBI in autism except insistence on sameness.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.178-184
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• 2018

Objectives: The objective of this study was to investigate the concordance of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV and DSM-5) diagnostic criteria for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 170 subjects (age range: 3-23, 140 boys) with developmental delay or social deficit from January 2011 to July 2016 at the Department of Psychiatry of Asan Medical Center. The Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R), the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS), and intelligence tests were performed for each subject. Diagnosis was reviewed and confirmed for each subject with DSM-IV Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) and DSM-5 ASD criteria, respectively. Results: Fifty-eight of 145 subjects (34.1%) who were previously diagnosed as having PDD in DSM-IV did not meet DSM-5 ASD criteria. Among them, 28 (48.3%) had Asperger's disorder based on DSM-IV. Most algorithm scores on ADOS and all algorithm scores on ADI-R were highest in subjects who met both DSM-IV PDD criteria and DSM-5 ASD criteria (the Convergent group), followed by subjects with a DSM-IV PDD diagnosis who did not have a DSM-5 ASD diagnosis (the Divergent group), and subjects who did not meet either DSM-IV PDD or DSM-5 ASD criteria (the non-PDD group). Intelligence quotient was lower in the Convergent group than in the Divergent group. Conclusion: The results of our study suggest that ASD prevalence estimates could be lower under DSM-5 than DSM-IV diagnostic criteria. Further prospective study on the impact of new DSM-5 ASD diagnoses in Koreans with ASD is needed.

• Journal of Institute of Convergence Technology
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.1-5
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• 2011

It is known that as many as 15-20 in 10,000 children are diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorder. A framework of the treatment system for children with autism using affective computing technologies was proposed by Chung and Yoon. In this paper, a prototype for the framework is proposed. It consists of emotion stimulating module, multi-modal bio-signal sensing module, treatment module using virtual reality, and emotion recognition module. Primitive experiments on emotion recognition show the usefulness of the proposed system.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.97-104
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• 2020

Deep learning (DL) is a kind of machine learning technique that uses artificial intelligence to identify the characteristics of given data and efficiently analyze large amounts of information to perform tasks such as classification and prediction. In the field of neuroimaging of neurodevelopmental disorders, various biomarkers for diagnosis, classification, prognosis prediction, and treatment response prediction have been examined; however, they have not been efficiently combined to produce meaningful results. DL can be applied to overcome these limitations and produce clinically helpful results. Here, we review studies that combine neurodevelopmental disorder neuroimaging and DL techniques to explore the strengths, limitations, and future directions of this research area.

• International Journal of Advanced Culture Technology
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.80-86
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• 2018

The intervention of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is limited research focus on the effect of occupational-based intervention. This study sought to determine the effect of occupational-based intervention of chopstick skills for children with ASD. This study included a total of 3 children with ASD.Using single-subject study design, a changing criterion design and ABC design were implemented. The participants' behavior was observed and recorded throughout each session. In this study, the results were analyzed through visual graphs. The amount of food that was moved using the chopsticks was gradually increased. The results show that all participants significantly improved in their ability to use chopsticks in each intervention session. In addition, Assessment of Motor and Process Skills (AMPS) improved the generalization. According to the AMPS, both the overall motor and process skills increased from baseline an average of 0.7 logit. The results of this study showed occupational-based intervention on chopsticks skill to be effective in acquisition and generalization of chopstick skill in children with ASD.

• Journal of Digital Contents Society
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.35-46
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• 2017

The purpose of the study was to review the recent literature on applying augmented reality based educational contents for students with autism spectrum disorders and to identify research trends and implications. The search procedures through the Web-database system were implemented to find the proper research and a total of 12 studies were included in this review. The results indicated that most of subjects were elementary school-age children, also single subject design was mostly implemented. Mobile devices were used mostly for augmented reality, and most of data collection methods was behavioral observation. Results founded several contents types: objects manipulation, manipulation for self-modeling, on-site problem solving program, and location-based learning guide. Additionally, the results indicated that the educational effectiveness was the improvements of social behaviors, play and imitation behaviors, and emotion recognition. Furthermore, considerations to develop and apply augmented reality based educational contents for students with autism spectrum disorders were suggested.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.133-142
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• 2020

Purpose : The purpose of this study was to investigate the differences in social quotient and sensory processing function between completed-toileting and incomplete-toileting children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We aims to provide a basis for the training of children with autism spectrum disorders. Methods : The subjects of this research were children with ASD, aged from 4 to 7, receiving sensory integration therapy at the H-Child Development Research Center in Busan, South Korea. After recruiting 30 parents who had children with ASD, we interviewed them and we divided their children into completed-toileting group and incomplete-toileting group based on the past researches. We assessed them using the Social Maturity Scale and Sensory Profile. Spearman correlation was used to analyze between the sensory processing score and social quotient. Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare the Sensory Profile scores of the two groups. Results : The social quotient was correlated with the sensory processing score in the most of component as for auditory processing, vestibular processing, touch processing, multisensory processing, orosensory processing, except for visual processing. The groups of completed-toileting and incomplete-toileting group showed statistically significant intergroup difference in sensory seeking, emotional reactive, oral-sensory sensitivity, and inattention/distractibility in the sensory factor region. No statistically significant difference from intergroup was observed in any modulation areas, nor in behavioral & emotional response domains. Conclusion : A significant intergroup difference was observed in the most of sensory processing areas, except for modulation areas and behavioral & emotional response domains. The result revealed that toileting is significantly correlated with sensory processing. Therefore, this study suggests that the sensory processing function should be considered in the toilet training of children with ASD.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.64 no.7
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• pp.341-346
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• 2021

Background: The results differ among published studies regarding exposure to meconium and the risk of developing autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Purpose: The present study pooled all of the epidemiologic studies retrieved from broader databases on the association between meconium exposure and risk of developing ASD in children. Methods: The Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar databases were searched without language restrictions for articles published between their inception to February 20, 2020, using relevant keywords. The pooled odds ratios (ORs) and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated as random-effect estimates of the associations among studies. A subgroup analysis was conducted to explore any potential sources of heterogeneity among studies. Results: The pooled estimate of OR reported a weakly significant association between meconium exposure and ASD development in children (OR, 1.13; 95% CI, 1.03-1.24). There was low heterogeneity among the articles reporting risk for ASD among children (I²=19.3%; P=0.259). The results of subgroup analysis based on meconium exposure showed a significant association between a meconium-stained neonate and ASD development (OR, 1.18; 95% CI, 1.11-1.24). Couclusion: Meconium exposure was weakly associated with an increased risk of ASD. However, more evidence based on large prospective cohort studies is required to provide conclusive evidence about whether meconium exposure is associated with an increased risk of ASD development.