published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Work

In this study, a promising new intervention implemented for adults with aphasia due to stroke, Multimodal Communication Treatment, was modified for its use with one child with autism spectrum disorder to identify if the child could learn and communicate new words through learning multiple modalities. Data was collected on the child’s communicative output as well to assess the frequency and types of his communication attempts. The child presented with challenging behaviors throughout the intervention period, and its potential impact on the execution of the intervention was studied. The study found that Multimodal Communication Treatment was not an effective intervention approach for this child. The majority of his output was not communicative in nature and challenging behaviors impacted the effectiveness of implementing the approach. Further research is needed to identify whether Multimodal Communication Treatment could be an effective intervention for children with more communicative intent and increased attention. / text

A broad review of assessment and intervention research relevant to Theory of Mind (Baron-Cohen, 1985) and Autism Spectrum Disorders from birth to age twelve was conducted. Nine assessment articles were reviewed to examine the major differences between children with autism spectrum disorders and children who are typically developing, particularly in the area of social perception. Assessment tasks aimed to discover a child's thoughts relevant to another's thoughts, beliefs, and emotions. It was discovered that children with autism spectrum disorders performed less well on Theory of Mind tasks, and tended to provide responses that were more egocentric and idiosyncratic in nature. A review of the intervention research revealed improvement in Theory of Mind domains is possible when teaching strategies explicitly target goals relevant to perspective taking. Generalization of skills to natural environments was a lacking area across all twelve articles, indicating a need for more intensive practice in natural environments. Interestingly, when social skills were taught in the absence of Theory of Mind training, no collateral effects were observed to Theory of Mind domain. / text

<p>Syfte</p><p>Övergripande syfte i studien är att undersöka vad som är möjligt att tillämpa av systemteori i interventionsstudier för barn i behov av särskilt stöd samt vilka teoretiska och praktiska implikationer det kan få för interventioner för dessa barn.</p><p> </p><p>Metod</p><p>En ideal systemteoretisk intervention konstruerades, med hjälp av generell systemteori och dynamisk systemteori för att användas som ett verktyg för analys. Därefter vidtog en systematisk litteraturstudie baserat på ett hermeneutiskt och systemteoretiskt angreppssätt.</p><p> </p><p>Resultat</p><p>Resultat av litteraturundersökningen blev att endast tre artiklar inkluderades. Dessa artiklar analyserades i jämförelse med den ideala systemteoretiska interventionen. Analysen visar att systemteori fortfarande används på ett övergripande sätt och att man i interventionerna inte använder systemteori under hela interventionsprocessen.</p><p>Aspekter som saknades i interventionerna är ekologisk validitet, reaktivitet och systemkarakteristika. Lite förenklat innebär detta att man inte beaktar de processer som pågår i relationen mellan det specifika barnet och en specifik kontext. Andra aspekter som saknades i interventionerna var stabiliserande central attraktor (SCA), självstabiliserande och destabiliserande processer. I interventionerna beaktades således inte vad som var systemets stabiliserande kärna, det vill säga vad som upprätthåller systemet i balans och inte vilka processer som stabiliserar och destabiliserar systemet.</p><p> </p><p>Studiens betydelse</p><p>Sammantaget implicerar den här undersökningen att systemteoretiska interventioner för barn i behov av särskilt stöd behöver utvecklas teoretiskt såväl som praktiskt. Framtida forskning bör på ett teoretiskt plan använda sig av systemteori och dess termer för att kunna följa alla faser i en interventionsprocess. På ett praktiskt plan bör man försöka genomföra systemteoretiska interventioner för olika barn i behov av särskilt stöd i vilka man kontinuerligt uppmärksammar attraktorer för att på så sätt kunna hjälpa så många barn och ungdomar som möjligt i de system de vistas i.</p><p> </p>

The Trans-community Approaches to Childhood Obesity Prevention and Treatment Study (Activa Y Sana) was a two-year (August 2006 to May 2008) intervention in one hundred and forty-one 3rd and 4th grade children and their parents from four schools in the Sunnyside School District in Tucson, Arizona. Activa was designed to expand upon schools as an intervention venue, and was the first to test the feasibility and impact of a multi-level, or "trans-community" approach (involving children, their parents or caregivers, schools, and community agencies) on the prevention of childhood weight gain in an at-risk Mexican-American population.Families were assigned to one of three interventions, depending upon which school the child attended: Level 1, state-mandated nutrition- and physical activity-based health curricula; Level 2, Level 1 curricula plus an after-school program; or Level 3, Level 1 + Level 2 activities, plus a family intervention.Primary endpoints of this study were changes in child BMI z-score, % fat, abdominal circumference, activity levels and food intake, psychosocial characteristics and correlates of these measures.The three manuscripts contained herein represent the main findings of this pilot study. Identifying potential mediators and describing their influence on childhood overweight is essential to development of successful interventions. In Study #1, the findings for the examination of correlates of child BMI z-score and % fat are reported. Activa Y Sana was designed to test whether combining different levels of intervention would have a greater impact on child weight. In Study #2, the results of this trans-community intervention on child weight status is discussed. The majority of evidence-based obesity prevention programs in use today were not designed with minorities in mind, and the continued scarcity of research in Latino populations has hindered the development of culturally-competent interventions that might reduce overweight prevalence. The challenges encountered while implementing Activa Y Sana, a population-specific intervention, are described in Study #3.The results from this research may be used to help inform the design of future intervention programs with the goal of reducing the burden of obesity in Mexican-American children, currently the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. population.

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