Background: The skill to attribute mental states to the self and others, or Theory of Mind (ToM), is a problem seen universally amongst children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and may also affect the ability to make inferences about characters while reading narrative text. Aim: The aim of this study was to teach four male participants with ASD an explicit cognitive strategy to answer inferential questions and provide feedback regarding their answers to improve their reading comprehension and ToM. Method: A single case study ABC design was used to assess the effect of the intervention. The participants read five short narrative passages each session for 20 sessions, and answered one factual and one inferential question following each passage. Specific feedback was used to respond to the answers of each question in the intervention phase. Pre- and post-intervention levels of reading comprehension and ToM were measured. Results: All four participants improved their reading comprehension in a pre and post-intervention test and three of the four participants improved their ToM understanding, although their ability to answer inferential questions involving ToM did not improve greatly. Limitations: Limitations of the study include not asking enough inferential questions involving ToM each session. During post-hoc analysis of the results it became clear that the participants could have benefited from more practice of using the strategy. Individual reading ability should have been assessed before the intervention began to determine the appropriate reading level at the beginning of the intervention. Conclusions: The explicit cognitive strategy had limited effect on participant’s ability to answer inferential questions involving ToM; however the participants improved their scores on pre and post-intervention tests of reading comprehension and ToM. These results suggest that making inferences in text may involve ToM and that the problems seen in the reading comprehension profiles of children with ASD may be attributed to their limited ToM skills.

Recorded by Eugene Barsky, Physiotherapy Outreach Librarian, UBC / This is a Systematic Review Presentation titled - "TEffects of Exercise Interventions on Stereotypic Behaviors of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder", created by Master of Physical Therapy Graduating Students, University of British Columbia - 2006, Presented on September 14-15, 2006 , Vancouver, BC, Canada

Rationale: Previous studies have reported low employment rates for adults with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The challenges to finding and maintaining work have been attributed to their social, communication, behavioural and sensory processing difficulties. Numerous studies report that children with ASD experience abnormal responses to sensory stimuli, whereas estimates for adults remain unclear. Furthermore, little is known about how sensory processing patterns affect employment. Objectives: The purposes of this study were a) to describe the self-reported sensory processing patterns in high-ability adults with ASD and compare them to adults without ASD; and b) to explore the role that sensory processing patterns play in the workplace for high-ability adults with ASD. Methods: A sequential mixed methods approach was used. In Phase I, 20 participants with and 20 without ASD completed the Adolescent/Adult Sensory Profile (AASP) and employment details. In Phase II, 10 of the 20 participants with ASD described their work experiences during phone interviews. Participants with ASD were recruited from autism societies in Ontario and Québec. Results: Significant differences were found in all four subscales of the AASP between the high-ability adults with ASD and those without ASD. The adults with ASD obtained significantly higher scores on the Low Registration, Sensation Avoiding and Sensory Sensitivity subscales than the comparison group, and significantly lower scores on Sensation Seeking. Approximately half of the adults with ASD were employed, but few were experiencing sustained employment. Participants described using avoidant, replacement and preventative coping strategies to overcome overwhelming sensations at work. Enhanced sensory processing had the potential to improve work performance. Participants chose alternative work environments based on their sensory preferences and challenges. Disclosing their ASD diagnosis proved to be a delicate process, resulting in differential consequences on accommodations and workplace relationships. Conclusions: High-ability adults with ASD displayed different sensory processing patterns compared to individuals without ASD. Most of these adults showed an awareness of their sensory needs. Sensory processing patterns impacted on work choice, performance and satisfaction. Accommodations that modified the physical environment and occupational tasks promoted an optimal work fit for individuals with sensory issues. Self-employment offered a means of self-accommodation. / Thesis (Master, Rehabilitation Science) -- Queen's University, 2009-08-28 14:26:16.084

ABSTRACT Based on my experience and research, I believe more educational resources are needed for teaching students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). I have combined interviews of participants --two certified and currently practicing art teachers working in the public school setting, two adaptive art specialists, and two art therapists-- with relevant information from my Review of Literature to compile an initial set of practices and adaptive techniques specifically for art teachers to use in constructing a successful learning environment in the art classroom for students with ASD. According to my review of literature, three factors necessary for creating a successful learning environment for students with ASD are preparation, collaboration, and instruction. To examine these factors, I focused my interviews on these topics. Results were aligned with the initial research as those interviewed described a need for more complete and applicable training, more opportunities for collaboration, and information about possible strategies to use with students with ASD in the art classroom. INDEX WORDS: Art Education, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Art Therapy, Adaptive Art

Studies show that some pupils with ASD (autism spectrum disorder) can have difficulties in understanding written texts. The present study seeks to examine whether pupils with ASD differ in their reading comprehension of a factual text and a literary text. Another aim of the study is to obtain a picture of the reading habits of high school pupils with ASD, what reading strategies they use, and how they work with texts in Swedish lessons in school. The study uses texts from PISA surveys from 2009 and 2000. The factual text Varmluftsballongen (The Hot-air Balloon) was taken from the try-out for the 2009 survey and the literary text Gåvan (The Gift) was taken from the 2000 PISA survey. To gain some idea of the pupils’ reading comprehension of the texts, the present study used the tasks accompanying the texts, with certain changes in the questions about the text on the hot-air balloon. The pupils also had to complete a questionnaire about their reading habits, how they go about understanding the texts better, and how they work with texts in Swedish lessons. The pupils were interviewed to yield a little more information about how they comprehended the two different types of text. The study was conducted at two high schools geared to pupils with ASD, including a total of twelve pupils. Four of these pupils were also interviewed. The result of the reading comprehension tests show that the majority of the pupils found it easier to answer the questions about the factual text. The pupils who read a lot and are interested in reading achieved better results in both text assignments. There was a clear association between the pupils who have difficulties concentrating and finishing a book and their results on the reading comprehension tasks, which can be explained by their functional impairment. The result of the pupils’ questionnaire showed that they use different strategies when reading factual texts and literary texts. There were also differences in how the pupils work with different texts in school, both individually and together with other pupils, depending on which type of text it is. The help that pupils receive from their teachers can be limited by the pupils’ functional impairment, but according to the study this help is significant for the pupils’ reading comprehension, especially of literary texts.

Little is known about the factors involved in parents’ with a child with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) decisions to visit a community outing with their family. The purpose of this research is to describe the factors that families consider when making a decision to visit a museum of science with their child with ASD. Data were analyzed based on data from a previous study in which observations and interviews were completed in order to describe the experiences of nine children and their families visiting a science museum. The findings indicated that families considered their child and his/her age and abilities, the community environment, and the features of the activities in the community space as a family when deciding whether their child was ready to visit the museum. Additionally, parents appeared to consider their available strategies for use while in the community when making readiness decisions. The information learned in this study may aid families who are trying to appraise whether their child is ready for a family community outing. Additionally, findings from this research may benefit museums interested in creating inclusive experiences for families with a child with ASD. Recommendations are provided for future research in the area of readiness for community outings for families with a child with ASD.

The aim of this study was to describe the humor use by an 11-year-old adolescent with ASD. Through an iterative coding process to identify a successful, unsuccessful, and neutral rating of instances of humor, we describe how does an adolescent with ASD uses humor and the functions humor serves in his interactions with a friend. We describe the personal and environmental factors that support the successful use of humor. The adolescent used two main types of humor (self-initiated and environmentally-initiated), consisting of two forms (verbal and physical). We describe 12 main behavioral indicators to identify the instances of humor. Humor appeared to sever as a means of engaging his friend and he appeared to be most successful in using humor with his friend when in a familiar environment and engaging in a familiar activity. The implications for future research are discussed.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a pervasive lifelong developmental delay with a prevalence of 1 in 68 children. This growing epidemic occurs for unspecified causes and researchers continue to explore evidence-based treatments available. Parent–child interaction therapy (PCIT) is a parent training program, initially developed for implementation with typically-developing children. PCIT has shown effectiveness in increasing child compliance, minimizing disruptive problem, improving parent-child relationship satisfaction, and communication. The present study investigated the efficacy of PCIT as an evidence-based practice (EBP) for children with ASD by implementing a non-concurrent multiple baseline design across three participants. Results indicated socially significant increases in child compliance, decreases in aberrant behavior, rapid acquisition and maintenance of acquired parenting skills, as well as improved parent-child relationship satisfaction. This study aimed to replicate previous research measuring the effectiveness of PCIT with children with ASD.

Many children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) suffer from anxiety, depression, and other disorders. These disorders make it difficult to leave healthy and productive lives and can be experienced across school and social life. The mechanisms underlying anxiety and other disorders can be explained through language and cognition and this is the rational underlying Relational Frame Theory (RFT). RFT suggests that human language and cognition are a direct cause of many human psychological problems as we are able to evaluate words. The cognitive fusion, experiential avoidance, and suppression described by RFT have been expanded to include treatment methods within Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). ACT is a psychotherapeutic approach that attempts to undermine emotional avoidance explained through RFT and promotes positive behavior change. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the efficacy of ACT in increasing value-directed behavior in three adults with ASD. The results of this study revealed that brief ACT experiential exercises were effective in increasing value-directed behavior in all participants. Keywords: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD), relational frame theory (RFT), Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)

Prisoners have high rates of physical and mental morbidity and of re-offending. There have been concerns that autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) may be overrepresented and under-diagnosed in this population. The aims of this study were to examine the effectiveness of an instrument which was developed to screen for ASDs in prisons and to establish whether male Scottish prisoners differ from community controls with respect to facial emotion recognition, as measured by behavioural testing, and differ on a neural basis while performing complex social judgements, as measured using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). A total of 2458 prisoners (approximately 40% of the convicted prison population) were examined using the screening tool, of whom a further 127 were interviewed in depth and were assessed for facial emotion recognition ability. FMRI was used to examine haemodynamic changes in a small sample of liberated prisoners (9) during a social judgement (approachability) versus control (gender judgments) task. The screening tool had poor sensitivity (28.6%) and specificity (75.6%) and was not effective or useful in screening for ASDs in this population. Significant deficits in negative facial emotion recognition were found in the prisoner group in comparison with age- and sex-matched community controls. Region of interest analysis of fMRI data in the bilateral amygdala revealed significantly greater activation in the left amygdala in ex-prisoners versus controls during the social judgement task. The identification of these abnormalities in facial emotion recognition and social judgement are in keeping with current literature on antisocial populations. They may offer the opportunity for development of interventions aimed at reducing re-offending in the future.