Individuals with autism appear to be at substantially heightened risk for death from injury.

This article summarizes clinical results using a neurofeedback approach that has been developed over the last several years and is seeing increasing clinical use. All participants used a form of live Z-score training (LZT) that produces sound and video feedback, based on a computation using a normative database to produce multiple targets. The client receives simple feedback that reflects a complex set of relationships between amplitude and connectivity metrics. Changes in the EEG are readily seen that conform to the reinforcement parameters being used in relation to the live Z-scores. In addition, over multiple sessions, QEEG data are seen to change significantly, generally on a path toward overall remediation. In this series of case studies LZT is seen to effectively address EEG abnormalities in a structured fashion and to facilitate normalization of the EEG. In individual cases, specific changes are observed, related to the initial conditions, and the brain's ability to respond with appropriate changes. Overall, LZT is found to be a relatively efficient form of neurofeedback that can be demonstrated to be effective in a variety of clinical scenarios.

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BackgroundThe reported prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has increased markedly in the past two decades. Recent research indicates that children with ASD are at a substantially increased risk of injury mortality, particularly from unintentional drowning. The purpose of this study was to explore the circumstances of fatal unintentional drowning incidents involving children with ASD under 15 years of age.FindingsDuring January 2000 through May 2017, US newspapers reported a total of 23 fatal drowning incidents involving 18 boys and 5 girls with ASD. Age of victims ranged from 3 to 14 years (mean = 7.7 ± 2.9 years). These drowning incidents most commonly occurred in ponds (52.2%), followed by rivers (13.0%), and lakes (13.0%). For 11 incidents with location data available, the distance between victim residence and the water body where drowning occurred averaged 290.7 m (± 231.5 m). About three-quarters (73.3%) of the drowning incidents occurred in the afternoon hours from 12:00 to 18:59. Wandering was the most commonly reported activity that led to drowning, accounting for 73.9% of the incidents.ConclusionsFatal drowning in children with ASD typically occur in water bodies near the victims’ homes in the afternoon hours precipitated by wandering. Multifaceted intervention programs are urgently needed to reduce the excess risk of drowning in children with ASD.

Background To better understand and prevent suicide and homicide, the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention launched the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) in six states in 2002. As of 2018, the NVDRS has been expanded to include all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. The purpose of this review was to assess the research utility of the NVDRS based on studies indexed in major bibliographical databases. Methods We performed a scoping review of published studies that were based on data from the NVDRS, identified by searching six electronic databases: PubMed, EMBASE, Google Scholar, OVID, Scopus, and Web of Science. We examined the time trend of annual NVDRS-based research output, generated a word cloud using the keywords listed in the publications, and mapped the knowledge domains covered by NVDRS-based studies. Results Our review included a total of 150 studies published between 2005 and 2018. There was a marked increase in the annual number of NVDRS-based publications, with 120 (80.0%) of the 150 studies published between 2011 and 2018. Overall, 104 (69.3%) studies focused on suicide and 39 (26.0%) on homicide. Of the included studies, 100 (66.7%) were descriptive epidemiology, 31 (20.7%) were risk factor analyses, 9 (6.0%) were evaluations, 7 (4.7%) were trend analyses, and 4 (2.7%) were data quality assessments. Knowledge domain mapping identified two major clusters of studies, one on suicide and the other on homicide. The cluster on suicide was commonly linked to “circumstance,” “alcohol” and “substance abuse” and the cluster on homicide was commonly linked to “firearm,” “injury,” and “gang.” The two clusters were interlinked to overlapping networks of keywords, such as “firearm” and “mental health problem.” Conclusions Research utility of the NVDRS has increased considerably in recent years. Studies based on data from the NVDRS are clustered in two knowledge domains – suicide and homicide. The vast potential of the NVDRS for violence research and prevention remains to be fully exploited.