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Thesis (M.Sc.)--Flinders University, School of Medicine, Dept. of Speech Pathology and Audiology. / Typescript bound. Includes bibliographical references: (leaves 237-249) Also available electronically.

<p> This dissertation, employing a social constructivist orientation, investigated the socialization behaviors employed by school age children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) in the context of meaning-based writing activities. A qualitative investigation, this study used ethnographic methods to describe and interpret the social behaviors of the individual participants throughout the writing events. Data in the form of audio and video recordings, participant observations, artifacts, and parent interviews for three participants with ASD were collected over the course of one academic semester during group social, literacy-based intervention. The manifestations of socialization evidenced during micro analysis of a primary data set were described in detail and triangulated via multiple secondary data sources. Findings demonstrate that all three participants oriented uniquely to socialization within the writing events.</p><p> Though the participants all evidenced unique manifestations of socialization, their behaviors could be conceptualized into broad patterns. Results of this study describe five patterns of the manifestations of socialization across all three participants; these included employment of social compensatory strategies, conceptualization of shared writing process as a social interaction, social monitoring behaviors, conceptualization of writing as something to be shared, and using writing as an opportunity to socialize/affiliate. Three additional patterns noted include participants being more successful with clinicians than peers, clinician mediation of peer-peer interactions, and breakdowns in coherence.</p><p> Clinical research implications drawn from the results include the importance of a strengths-based, contextualized approach to assessment and intervention and the value of the peer group, and the unique opportunities meaning-based writing intervention s can provide for addressing socialization. Research implications address the notion of social impairment as a distinct category of impairment as problematic.</p>

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The purpose of this study was to gather information related to reading abilities in typically aging older adults. A variety of strategies had been used in the past to assess reading in older adults. These strategies included the use of questionnaires, diary keeping, and interviewing. Several weaknesses in previous research were noted including lack of diversity in samples, volunteer bias, and social desirability confounds. More importantly, however, none of the previous research examined the scope of components that affect reading and reading-related skills in typically aging adults. The questions guiding this research addressed issues related to the reading and related skills of older adults, the strategies that older adults use to improve reading comprehension, and the types and frequency of reading materials older adults use. Data for this study were collected from 96 community dwelling adults between the ages of 65 and 79 years. The Word Identification and Word Attack subtests of the Woodcock Reading Mastery Test (Woodcock, 1998) were used as a measure of decoding ability. The vocabulary subtest of the Nelson-Denny Reading Test (Brown, Fishco, & Hanna, 1993) was used as a measure of reading vocabulary. Several nonstandardized tasks were included to examine reading comprehension, phonological awareness, and morphological awareness. Additionally, four survey instruments were used to assess awareness of reading strategies, print exposure, reading habits, and attitudes about reading. The adults in this study were, as a group, more highly educated than the general population in Kansas. This sample of adults demonstrated reading comprehension and vocabulary skills which were above average as compared to the normative samples on the standardized instruments. Pearson correlations indicated that reading comprehension was positively correlated with vocabulary, decoding, phonological awareness, and morphological awareness in this study. Both qualitative and quantitative data indicated that this group of adults used a wide variety of materials and strategies for reading. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Wichita State University, College of Education / College of Health Professions, Dept. of Communication Sciences and Disorders / "May 2005."