Debra L. Reisinger

Youth with mental health needs significant enough to warrant inpatient psychiatric hospitalization are on the rise. After inpatient hospitalization, youth transitioning back to their school of record need continued support to promote recovery. Little empirical work has been conducted to understand the educational experiences of youth hospitalized for mental health needs. Further, there is a need to document the services provided to youth upon discharge and return to their school of record. Thus, the purpose of this empirical study is to better understand the patient population (n = 264, mean age = 14.04 years old; 70.1% White, 73.2% female) of an acute behavioral health unit in a free-standing Midwestern children’s hospital and the educational services (e.g., consultation, direct instruction, support for reentry, and educational advocacy services) provided by the Hospital-Based School program prior to, during, and post-hospitalization to those students. Significant differences in educational services were identified based on some student demographic characteristics such that older students were more likely to have a 504 plan at admission, and individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders, psychosis, and other mental disorders were found to be most likely to have special education services prior to admission. Implications for practice related to improved care coordination upon reentry between hospitals and schools and the role of schools in the provision of behavioral and mental health services, limitations of the current study, and directions for future research are discussed.

Autistic youth experience several behavioral and emotional characteristics that can predispose them to emotion dysregulation (ED). Current literature examining ED in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is limited to parent- and self-reported measures, indicating a need for biological or physiological methods to better assess emotion regulation in ASD. Utilizing the autonomic nervous system, specifically heart rate variability (HRV), may be a promising method to objectively measure ED in ASD, given it is one of the body’s primary means of regulating physiological arousal. Our pilot study is one of the first to examine the feasibility, utility, and construct validity of HRV along with clinical measures within an intervention targeting ED-specific symptoms in ASD. Participants included 30 autistic youth ages 8–17 years who participated in the pilot study of Regulating Together, a group-based intervention targeting emotion regulation. We demonstrate HRV is feasible, demonstrates adequate test–retest reliability, and is complimentary to clinician- and parent-reported measures. Our preliminary findings also point to certain HRV profiles being indicative of long-term outcomes after receiving treatment. HRV may be a useful, objective tool in determining differential needs of long-term follow-up care for treatment maintenance at screening or baseline stages.

Continuity in Education is an open access, peer reviewed journal for the education of children and young people with medical and mental health needs. In line with a biopsychosocial model of health, education and psychological development, the journal reports on different contexts, which may include education in a hospital community or home setting, in urban or rural areas, within different educational systems or structures, across different countries, jurisdictions, and socio-cultural settings, and during different life phases of the individual. The journal aims to focus on the interactions between education and human development in the fields of well-being, resilience, future life choices and opportunities, social and emotional well-being, cognitive and metacognitive learning strategies, and mental health improvement. The journal is open to all contributions that deepen the concept of learning and education as protective factors in the life of young people facing adversities. The concept of continuity in education is also extended to education delivered in other contexts where children and families are living with some kind of disruptive event in their life. Sign up to the mailing list for news from the journal.

The present study examines provider and caregiver satisfaction with telehealth evaluation of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in young children during the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic. A telehealth model of ASD evaluation was implemented with 308 children ages 14 to 78 months between May 2020 to June 2021. Data were gathered from electronic health records, autism-specific telehealth diagnostic tools, and post-evaluation surveys. Overall, the majority of providers and caregivers were satisfied with telehealth ASD evaluation. Multiple variables were associated with ratings of satisfaction, differing by providers and caregivers. Findings have important implications for the feasibility and acceptability of telehealth ASD evaluations, in addition to key factors to consider in optimizing and sustaining telehealth evaluations beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.

Restricted repetitive behaviors (RRBs) are a core area of impairment in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), but also affect several other neurodevelopmental disorders including fragile X syndrome (FXS). Current literature has begun to describe the RRB profile in FXS up through adolescence; however, little is known about the subtypes of RRBs in adolescents and adults. Further, literature on the RRB profile of females with FXS is limited. The present study examines the RRB profile across subtypes and specific items in both males and females with FXS while assessing for differences based on age, ASD diagnosis and the impact of IQ. Participants included 154 individuals with FXS (ages 2 to 50 years old). Results revealed a peak in RRB severity in FXS between 7–12 years for the majority of RRB subscales with the exception of Sensory-Motor behaviors peaking between 2 and 12 years before declining. Distinct RRB profiles in males and females with FXS emerged in addition to significant overlap among the item and subscale levels of RRBs across gender. Further, an added diagnosis of ASD significantly increased rates of RRBs across all subscale levels, but not necessarily across all items. Lastly, IQ did not solely account for the presence of RRBs in FXS, with Sensory-Motor behaviors being driven by comorbid ASD in males with FXS, and Restricted Interest behaviors being driven by comorbid ASD regardless of gender. These findings build on the current understanding of RRBs in FXS based on gender and comorbid ASD and lay important groundwork for the development of targeted behavioral and pharmacological treatments.

Language delay and communication deficits are a core characteristic of the fragile X syndrome (FXS) phenotype. To date, the literature examining early language development in FXS is limited potentially due to barriers in language assessment in very young children. The present study is one of the first to examine early language development through vocal production and the language learning environment in infants and toddlers with FXS utilizing an automated vocal analysis system. Child vocalizations, conversational turns, and adult word counts in the home environment were collected and analyzed in a group of nine infants and toddlers with FXS and compared to a typically developing (TD) normative sample. Results suggest infants and toddlers with FXS are exhibiting deficits in their early language skills when compared to their chronological expectations. Despite this, when accounting for overall developmental level, their early language skills appear to be on track. Additionally, FXS caregivers utilize less vocalizations around infants and toddlers with FXS; however, additional research is needed to understand the true gap between FXS caregivers and TD caregivers. These findings provide preliminary information about the early language learning environment and support for the feasibility of utilizing an automated vocal analysis system within the FXS population that could ease data collection and further our understanding of the emergence of language development.