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Children
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Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Diagnosis and Treatment
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Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Diagnosis and Treatment

A special issue of Children (ISSN 2227-9067). This special issue belongs to the section "Pediatric Mental Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 October 2025 | Viewed by 4388

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Margarita Stankova

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Health Care and Social Work, New Bulgarian University, 1618 Sofia, Bulgaria
Interests: developmental disorders; mental health; children; behavioral and emotional disorders in childhood

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Autism Spectrum Disorder’s diagnosis and treatment present enormous challenges to the scientific community and practitioners. This Special Issue invites the scientific community to enrich the understanding of symptoms in terms of biomarkers that specify subtypes in Autism Spectrum Disorders, including methods of their diagnosis, as well as new interventions and therapies to help children with autism and their families. Special emphasis is placed on collecting scientific data to support existing and new evidence-based practices (EBP) in autism therapy and new technologies in supporting learning, daily activities, the development of social skills and communication competence, cognitive functions, and emotional intelligence.

Dr. Margarita Stankova
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Children is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • autism spectrum disorders
  • diagnosis
  • treatment
  • biomarkers
  • evidence-based practices (EBP)

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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20 pages, 664 KiB  
Article
Differences and Relationships Between Sensory Profile and Repetitive Behavior in Autism
by María-Dolores Cárcel-López and Mercedes Ferrando-Prieto
Children 2025, 12(4), 504; https://doi.org/10.3390/children12040504 - 14 Apr 2025
Viewed by 592
Abstract
Repetitive behaviors are actions that are performed consistently and repeatedly, often without an obvious functional purpose. These types of behaviors are common and diverse in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and can influence daily life, making social integration difficult for individuals who [...] Read more.
Repetitive behaviors are actions that are performed consistently and repeatedly, often without an obvious functional purpose. These types of behaviors are common and diverse in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and can influence daily life, making social integration difficult for individuals who experience them and thus becoming a source of distress. Research show that, in most individuals with ASD, sensory processing tends to be affected. It has been suggested that, in children with ASD, sensory processing disorders can cause them to experience their environment in an exaggerated or diminished way, and this affects their behavior. Repetitive behaviors may emerge as a way to regulate the level of stimulation and achieve a state of sensory balance. Objectives: The aim of this investigation is to study differences and relationships between the sensory profile and repetitive behavior in autism. Methods: A total of 48 students, aged 4 to 26 years (M = 14.39; SD = 7.24), participated. The Bodfish Repetitive Behavior Scale and Sensory Profile 2 by Dunn were used as instruments of measure. Results: Results show that the student groups differ only in some variables, with Level 3 students being the most affected. In this sense, Level 3 students present with higher self-injury, greater tactile and movement processing difficulties, and higher registration (passive response and a high threshold of perception). Hyper-reactivity shows a weak prediction power over insistence of sameness, while hypo-reactivity showed none. Conclusions: Correlations between repetitive behavior and sensory processing were weak and of low magnitude, which contradicts the previous literature. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Diagnosis and Treatment)
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Review

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24 pages, 1516 KiB  
Review
Nutritional Factors and Therapeutic Interventions in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Narrative Review
by Carlos A. Nogueira-de-Almeida, Liubiana A. de Araújo, Fábio da V. Ued, Andrea A. Contini, Maria E. Nogueira-de-Almeida, Edson Z. Martinez, Ivan S. Ferraz, Luiz A. Del Ciampo, Carla C. J. Nogueira-de-Almeida and Mauro Fisberg
Children 2025, 12(2), 202; https://doi.org/10.3390/children12020202 - 8 Feb 2025
Viewed by 3396
Abstract
Objective: To explore recent findings on how nutritional, gastrointestinal, social, and epigenetic factors interact in autism spectrum disorder, highlighting their implications for clinical management and intervention strategies that could improve development and quality of life of affected children. Sources: Studies published from [...] Read more.
Objective: To explore recent findings on how nutritional, gastrointestinal, social, and epigenetic factors interact in autism spectrum disorder, highlighting their implications for clinical management and intervention strategies that could improve development and quality of life of affected children. Sources: Studies published from 2000 to 2024 in the PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Scielo, Lilacs, and Google Scholar databases were collected. The process for the review adhered to the Search, Appraisal, Synthesis, and Analysis framework. Summary of the findings: Children with autism spectrum disorder have restrictive eating habits and often exhibit food selectivity with either hyper- or hypo-sensory characteristics. This review provides an overview of the literature on diagnosis and intervention strategies for selectivity in autism spectrum disorder, including the involvement of family members in meals, sharing a healthy diet and positive relationship with food, and the importance of exploring visual, olfactory, and tactile experiences of food and introducing new foods through play activities to expand the food repertoire. Modifications in the microbiota and gastrointestinal disorders may also be present in autism spectrum disorder and are presented due to their frequent nutritional repercussions. The medium and long-term implications of food preferences and behavior issues for nutritional status are also discussed, given the tendency for children with autism spectrum disorder to consume low-quality and energy-dense foods, leading to nutritional problems. Conclusions: Children with autism spectrum disorder have feeding difficulties, especially selectivity, gastrointestinal problems, changes in the microbiota and can evolve with micronutrient deficiencies, malnutrition and obesity. This review describes the evidence for possible targets for interventions aiming to improve nutritional health for children with autism spectrum disorder. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Diagnosis and Treatment)
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