Although much of the current literature in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) has focused on illuminating their biological underpinnings or identifying effective treatment approaches, very little research has integrated these two areas of study and examined the neurobiological outcomes associated with various autism interventions. The proposed study will use functional connectivity magnetic resonance imaging (fcMRI) to measure changes in resting state connectivity associated with an intensive behavioral intervention for young children with ASD. Independent component analysis and t-tests will be used to determine if 20 children receiving a behavioral intervention experience greater changes in connectivity than 20 children (matched for sex and developmental age) in a control group receiving treatment as usual (TAU). / text

Therapist burnout is of primary concern for individuals who provide ABA therapy for those with autism or related disabilities. Prolonged high levels of work-related stress increase the risk of negative interactions and emotional exhaustion among workers. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) may alleviate this problem. ACT has been found to decrease levels of perceived work-related stress among direct care staff. The primary purpose of the study was to evaluate whether ACT would improve positive interactions among therapists for children with autism spectrum disorder. The results indicated that the percentage of positive interactions had improved an average of 23.1% and procedural fidelity improved an average of 7% across all three participants. This study extends that of previous research by supporting the efficacy of ACT in work environments. One implication of the current study is that it could benefit the psychological well-being of ABA therapists. Future studies should examine whether ACT-exercises influence the way therapists address challenging behavior as it pertains to the quality of services delivered.

A Terapia ABA é a forma de tratar indivíduos autistas que tem apresentado melhores resultados. O arranjo de ensino mais utilizado é a tentativa discreta, que tem sido ensinada a profissionais por meio do Behavioral Skills Training, um pacote de ensino presencial. O ensino computadorizado tem sido estudado como uma alternativa por ser mais econômico. O objetivo do presente estudo foi investigar o efeito de diferentes componentes de um tutorial computadorizado, ECoTed, sobre o desempenho dos participantes na realização de tentativas discretas de emparelhamento de identidade e imitação motora. Foram realizados três experimentos. No Experimento I, seis estudantes de Psicologia foram submetidos a um tutorial com quatro condições experimentais, ou tipos de ensino: ensino teórico, vídeo-modelação, observação de correção, identificação de erros. Após a Linha de Base, os participantes passaram por ensino teórico. Depois, foram divididos em três Grupos; cada Grupo passou pelas condições experimentais restantes em ordens diferentes. Se no teste realizado após cada condição o participante atingisse o critério de 100% de acertos, ia para o follow up; caso não cumprisse o critério após o tutorial, era ensinado presencialmente. Os dados foram coletados com o participante realizando tentativas discretas com um ator. Foi realizado um delineamento de linha de base múltipla em cada Grupo. A imitação motora não era ensinada; no entanto, antes de cada teste os participantes estudavam folhas-resumo que listavam os passos de realização dos dois tipos de tentativas discretas. Cinco participantes obtiveram mais de 90% de acertos após ensino teórico e 100% de acertos nos dois tipos de tentativa discreta após as outras condições. Os resultados foram mantidos no follow up. Na literatura, os participantes atingiam 90% de acertos após vídeo-modelação; no presente experimento alcançaram esses resultados apenas com ensino teórico. Para verificar se a escolaridade foi relevante nos resultados, o Experimento II foi realizado. Um participante não universitário e não formado passou pelas condições experimentais na mesma ordem do Grupo 1 do Experimento I. Seus resultados foram semelhantes aos dos participantes do primeiro experimento. O Experimento III foi realizado para investigar a efetividade das animações do ensino teórico. Dois participantes foram submetidos às seguintes condições: ensino teórico sem animações, ensino teórico e vídeo-modelação. Ambos os participantes obtiveram 80% de acertos em emparelhamento de identidade após o ensino sem animações, indicando que esta variável não foi relevante. Oito dos nove participantes dos três experimentos aprenderam a realizar os dois tipos de tentativas discretas após o ECoTed, sugerindo sua efetividade. Sendo que esses participantes obtiveram mais de 80% de acertos após ensino teórico, não foi possível avaliar a efetividade dos outros tipos de ensino. Os resultados após ensino teórico podem estar ligados a uma possível menor exigência ao comportamento dos participantes neste experimento em relação aos demais. A organização do ensino teórico, em que os conceitos eram definidos simultaneamente à demonstração de sua aplicação, pode ter produzido os resultados obtidos. Novos estudos podem investigar a efetividade do ECoTed com pais de crianças autistas e o desempenho dos participantes ao ensinarem diretamente crianças autistas / ABA Therapy is the treatment for autistic people that has been presenting the best results. The most commonly used teaching arrangement is the discrete trial, which has been taught to professionals through the Behavioral Skills Training, a teacher-dependent package. Computer-based teaching has been studied as an alternative because it is more affordable. The goal of the present study was to investigate the effect of different components of a computer-based tutorial, ECoTed, on the performance of participants in the implementation of discrete trials of identity matching and motor imitation. Three experiments were conducted. In Experiment I, six Psychology students were exposed to a tutorial with four experimental conditions, or kinds of teaching: theoretical teaching, video-modeling, observation of corrections and error identification. After the baseline, the participants went through theoretical teaching. Then, they were divided in three groups; each of them went through the remaining conditions in different orders. If the participant fulfilled the 100% correct responses criterion in any of the tests that took place after each condition, s/he was conducted to the follow up phase; if the criterion was not reached after the tutorial, the participant was directly taught by the experimenter. All the data were collected in a setting in which the participant implemented discrete trials with an actor. A multiple baseline design was used in each group. Motor imitation was not taught; however, before each test the participants were allowed to study a summary sheet, which listed all the steps for the implementation of both kinds of the discrete trials. Five participants had more than 90% correct responses after theoretical teaching and 100% correct responses after the other experimental conditions. Results were similar in the follow up. In other studies, participants reached 90% of correct responses after having been through video-modeling; in the present study, participants reached that result after theoretical teaching only. In order to verify if the education level was relevant, Experiment II was conducted. A non-university and non-graduate participant went through the same conditions as the participants from Group 1 of Experiment I. His results were similar to the performance of the participants of the first experiment. Experiment III was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of of theoretical teaching animations. Two participants were exposed to the following conditions: theoretical teaching without animation, theoretical teaching and video-modeling. Both participants had more than 80% correct responses in the identity matching task after theoretical teaching without animation; which suggests that such variable was not relevant. Eight of nine participants of the three experiments learned how to implement both kinds of discrete trials after the ECoTed, which suggests its effectiveness. Given that these participants had more than 80% correct responses after the theoretical teaching, it was not possible to evaluate the effectiveness of the other kinds of teaching. The results after theoretical teaching can be linked to a lower demand on the behavior of participants in comparison to other studies. Theoretical teaching organization, in which the concepts were defined while its application was shown, might have produced the results. New studies might investigate the effectiveness of ECoTed with parents of autistic children and the performance of participants when teaching autistic children

A Terapia ABA é a forma de tratar indivíduos autistas que tem apresentado melhores resultados. O arranjo de ensino mais utilizado é a tentativa discreta, que tem sido ensinada a profissionais por meio do Behavioral Skills Training, um pacote de ensino presencial. O ensino computadorizado tem sido estudado como uma alternativa por ser mais econômico. O objetivo do presente estudo foi investigar o efeito de diferentes componentes de um tutorial computadorizado, ECoTed, sobre o desempenho dos participantes na realização de tentativas discretas de emparelhamento de identidade e imitação motora. Foram realizados três experimentos. No Experimento I, seis estudantes de Psicologia foram submetidos a um tutorial com quatro condições experimentais, ou tipos de ensino: ensino teórico, vídeo-modelação, observação de correção, identificação de erros. Após a Linha de Base, os participantes passaram por ensino teórico. Depois, foram divididos em três Grupos; cada Grupo passou pelas condições experimentais restantes em ordens diferentes. Se no teste realizado após cada condição o participante atingisse o critério de 100% de acertos, ia para o follow up; caso não cumprisse o critério após o tutorial, era ensinado presencialmente. Os dados foram coletados com o participante realizando tentativas discretas com um ator. Foi realizado um delineamento de linha de base múltipla em cada Grupo. A imitação motora não era ensinada; no entanto, antes de cada teste os participantes estudavam folhas-resumo que listavam os passos de realização dos dois tipos de tentativas discretas. Cinco participantes obtiveram mais de 90% de acertos após ensino teórico e 100% de acertos nos dois tipos de tentativa discreta após as outras condições. Os resultados foram mantidos no follow up. Na literatura, os participantes atingiam 90% de acertos após vídeo-modelação; no presente experimento alcançaram esses resultados apenas com ensino teórico. Para verificar se a escolaridade foi relevante nos resultados, o Experimento II foi realizado. Um participante não universitário e não formado passou pelas condições experimentais na mesma ordem do Grupo 1 do Experimento I. Seus resultados foram semelhantes aos dos participantes do primeiro experimento. O Experimento III foi realizado para investigar a efetividade das animações do ensino teórico. Dois participantes foram submetidos às seguintes condições: ensino teórico sem animações, ensino teórico e vídeo-modelação. Ambos os participantes obtiveram 80% de acertos em emparelhamento de identidade após o ensino sem animações, indicando que esta variável não foi relevante. Oito dos nove participantes dos três experimentos aprenderam a realizar os dois tipos de tentativas discretas após o ECoTed, sugerindo sua efetividade. Sendo que esses participantes obtiveram mais de 80% de acertos após ensino teórico, não foi possível avaliar a efetividade dos outros tipos de ensino. Os resultados após ensino teórico podem estar ligados a uma possível menor exigência ao comportamento dos participantes neste experimento em relação aos demais. A organização do ensino teórico, em que os conceitos eram definidos simultaneamente à demonstração de sua aplicação, pode ter produzido os resultados obtidos. Novos estudos podem investigar a efetividade do ECoTed com pais de crianças autistas e o desempenho dos participantes ao ensinarem diretamente crianças autistas / ABA Therapy is the treatment for autistic people that has been presenting the best results. The most commonly used teaching arrangement is the discrete trial, which has been taught to professionals through the Behavioral Skills Training, a teacher-dependent package. Computer-based teaching has been studied as an alternative because it is more affordable. The goal of the present study was to investigate the effect of different components of a computer-based tutorial, ECoTed, on the performance of participants in the implementation of discrete trials of identity matching and motor imitation. Three experiments were conducted. In Experiment I, six Psychology students were exposed to a tutorial with four experimental conditions, or kinds of teaching: theoretical teaching, video-modeling, observation of corrections and error identification. After the baseline, the participants went through theoretical teaching. Then, they were divided in three groups; each of them went through the remaining conditions in different orders. If the participant fulfilled the 100% correct responses criterion in any of the tests that took place after each condition, s/he was conducted to the follow up phase; if the criterion was not reached after the tutorial, the participant was directly taught by the experimenter. All the data were collected in a setting in which the participant implemented discrete trials with an actor. A multiple baseline design was used in each group. Motor imitation was not taught; however, before each test the participants were allowed to study a summary sheet, which listed all the steps for the implementation of both kinds of the discrete trials. Five participants had more than 90% correct responses after theoretical teaching and 100% correct responses after the other experimental conditions. Results were similar in the follow up. In other studies, participants reached 90% of correct responses after having been through video-modeling; in the present study, participants reached that result after theoretical teaching only. In order to verify if the education level was relevant, Experiment II was conducted. A non-university and non-graduate participant went through the same conditions as the participants from Group 1 of Experiment I. His results were similar to the performance of the participants of the first experiment. Experiment III was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of of theoretical teaching animations. Two participants were exposed to the following conditions: theoretical teaching without animation, theoretical teaching and video-modeling. Both participants had more than 80% correct responses in the identity matching task after theoretical teaching without animation; which suggests that such variable was not relevant. Eight of nine participants of the three experiments learned how to implement both kinds of discrete trials after the ECoTed, which suggests its effectiveness. Given that these participants had more than 80% correct responses after the theoretical teaching, it was not possible to evaluate the effectiveness of the other kinds of teaching. The results after theoretical teaching can be linked to a lower demand on the behavior of participants in comparison to other studies. Theoretical teaching organization, in which the concepts were defined while its application was shown, might have produced the results. New studies might investigate the effectiveness of ECoTed with parents of autistic children and the performance of participants when teaching autistic children