Background  Although grandparents are recognized as an important source of support for families of children with intellectual and other disabilities, there has been very little research in this area. The aim of the present paper is to present a brief overview of the literature, and to present data from a preliminary study of relationships between parental stress and grandparent support and conflict. Methods  Sixty‐one parents of children with Down's syndrome (34 mothers and 27 fathers) completed questionnaires on grandparent support and conflict. Parents also completed the Friedrich Short Form of the Questionnaire on Resources and Stress (QRS) with scoring amended to include a depression sub‐scale. Results  The main findings were: (1) grandparent support and conflict were associated with mothers' but not fathers' ratings of stress on the QRS, and (2) both grandparent support and conflict made independent contributions to the prediction of mothers' stress on at least one dimension of the QRS. Conclusions  Practical implications of the results for interventions designed to encourage grandparent support for families are discussed. Issues for further research and methodological problems with the study are also identified.

This study aims to provide the initial validity of the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule-2 (ADOS-2) Toddler Module and Module 1-2 for South Korean toddlers and preschoolers. Based on 143 children, the ASD group (n = 68) showed significantly higher ADOS-2 item and algorithm total scores as well as social affect and repetitive and restricted behaviors domain scores compared with children with nonspectrum (NS; n = 42) disorders and typically developing (TD; n = 33) children. Using lower algorithm cutoffs, sensitivities were excellent for the ASD versus NS/TD comparisons, ranging from 94% to 100% across different Modules. Specificities varied more, ranging from 82% to 100%. Internal consistency was strong with high item-total correlations (r of 0.6-0.9) and Cronbach's Alphas (all above 0.7). Results demonstrated promising, initial evidence for the validity of the ADOS-2 for South Korean toddlers and preschoolers from 1 to 4 years of age. The ADOS-2 could be implemented, with minimal adaptations, in research and clinical settings in South Korea. This study is one of the first steps toward validating the ADOS-2 in other Eastern countries that are in great need for a valid instrument for the detection of ASD.Lay Summary: Results of this study demonstrated promising, initial evidence for the validity of a gold standard measure for the diagnosis of autism, the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule-2 (ADOS-2), for South Korean toddlers and preschoolers. The ADOS-2 could be implemented, with minimal adaptations, in research and clinical settings in South Korea. This study is one of the first steps toward validating the ADOS-2 in other Eastern countries that are in great need of a valid instrument for the detection of ASD.

Although electrophysiological (electroencephalography) measures of executive functions (e.g. error monitoring) have been used to predict academic achievement in typically developing children, work investigating a link between error monitoring and academic skills in children with autism spectrum disorder is limited. In this study, we employed traditional electrophysiological and advanced time–frequency methods, combined with principal component analyses, to extract neural activity related to error monitoring and tested their relations to academic achievement in cognitively able kindergarteners with autism spectrum disorder. In total, 35 cognitively able kindergarteners with autism spectrum disorder completed academic assessments and the child-friendly “Zoo Game” Go/No-go task at school entry. The Go/No-go task successfully elicited an error-related negativity and error positivity in children with autism spectrum disorder as young as 5 years at fronto-central and posterior electrode sites, respectively. We also observed increased response-related theta power during errors relative to correct trials at fronto-central sites. Both larger error positivity and theta power significantly predicted concurrent academic achievement after controlling for behavioral performance on the Zoo Game and intelligence quotient. These results suggest that the use of time–frequency electroencephalography analyses, combined with traditional event-related potential measures, may provide new opportunities to investigate neurobiological mechanisms of executive function and academic achievement in young children with autism spectrum disorder.

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