Objectives: 1) to determine if children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) encounter difficulties accessing dental, 2) to identify barriers that diminish access to dental care for this population. Methods: This descriptive study is based on a web-survey conducted at the Geneva Centre for Autism in Toronto between November 2008 and March 2009. Forty-nine multiple choice questions including open-ended fields were developed. Parents of children with ASD (ages 5–18) completed the survey. Results: The majority of participants visited a dentist regularly (71%) and had private dental insurance (64%). Parents/caregivers were more likely to have difficulties finding a dentist as unmarried parents (OR=3.7, P=0.075) or when their level of education was high school/less (OR=10.4, P=0.043). Conclusions: The majority of children/adolescents with ASD had access to dental care. Difficulties accessing dental care were related to family structure, parents’ education and their perception of dentists’ knowledge of ASD.

Children with and without autism were evaluated on two change detection tasks that entailed responding to 2 side-by-side images that were displayed on a computer screen. In Experiment 1, a distracter object that remained unchanged was displayed next to a target object that changed in 1 of 3 ways, a global position change, a color change, or a local deletion change. The stimuli consisted of photographs and drawings that were presented at blank intervals of either 50 or 250 ms. In Experiment 2, color and deletion changes were compared in photographs of objects and people. Children with autism were expected to demonstrate enhanced change detection across both experiments, as well as better detection of local than global changes, and superior processing of changes to objects compared to people. Across tasks, both groups performed comparably in change detection ability. Children with autism did not demonstrate enhanced visual detection, and evidenced similar patterns of visual discrimination compared to typically developing children. They also exhibited similar processing of changes to objects and people. Age was positively associated with improvements in change detection among both groups of children.

Parents can effectively facilitate positive child behaviour change (Kaiser & Hancock, 2003). Their inclusion as interventionists is an essential component of autism intervention (NRC, 2001) and represents a natural step toward consistent early intervention. However, what constitutes effective delivery of parent programs and their effect outside research settings is limited. The present study explored patterns of change in parent-child communication in the childs natural language learning environment after participation in Hanens More Than Words program. Four patterns of change in the quality and quantity of parent-child talk and language were observed. Overall, parents increased talk immediately after intervention but failed to maintain the increase. Children demonstrated significant changes in gestures, receptive language and frequency of coordinated joint attention. / Special Education

Educational programs for children with autism rely on the use of extrinsic rewards to increase childrens motivation to participate. However, maintenance and transfer of intervention gains remains problematic. Research with typically developing children and adults has shown that extrinsic rewards can have differing effects on intrinsic motivation. That is, the ways in which rewards are administered (reward contingency, interpersonal context) can increase, decrease, or leave an individuals intrinsic motivation unaffected. The present research examined whether these characteristics would increase the intrinsic motivation of children with autism, and whether observed increases maintained and generalized to novel contexts. In two different studies, children with autism were given performance-based rewards for engaging in academic activities in both choice and no-choice conditions. Each correct response earned the children one token that was exchangeable for one minute of time with their preferred reward. In some conditions, children were offered opportunities to make choices during the activity, whereas in other conditions, choice making was not allowed. Results indicated that childrens intrinsic motivation for the academics was neither undermined nor enhanced following the receipt of the reward. Further, children showed a clear preference for the academic subject associated with enhanced choice. These results were discussed in terms of Skinners behavioral theory and cognitive evaluation theory. The limitations, as well as the practical implications, are also discussed. / Special Education

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) have deficits in communication and delays in language development, but there have been few studies of their vocabulary. This study compared longitudinal parent report data from the MCDI collected for 49 children with ASD over three years with data from the MCDI norms. It focused on three aspects of lexical development: (1) change in lexical composition as evident in percentage of predicates/nominals; (2) order of emergence for predicate types and (3) predictive value of lexical variables for later grammatical development. ASD Groups were matched to typically developing group norms on total MCDI scores for each comparison. Subsequent analysis indicated: (1) no differences in the percentages of predicates/nominals for the two groups at 3 time points; and, (2) virtually identical orders of emergence for different predicate types with the exception of three meaning type categories—quantitative predicates, cognitive/affective predicates and predicates involving causal acts to change experiential states. Cognitive/affective predicates were found to come in somewhat later in ASD groups while quantitative predicates and predicates involving changes in experiential states came in earlier in ASD groups. This study also found (3) that lexical variables, especially number of predicates, strongly predicted grammatical complexity one year later, a process common in typical language development. The study concludes that lexical development in ASD follows the normal course, albeit later and more slowly. It also suggests that communication deficits in this population are rooted in challenges with social acts rather than from an inability to match meanings to words.

Fluency is functionally defined by: skill retention after a period without practice; skill endurance over longer intervals than encountered during practice; skill stability in the face of distraction; a performance that can be effortlessly applied to new environments; and a skill that adduces easily with other skills to form new repertoires (RESAA). Precision Teachers have found that fluency can be promoted by building the frequency of an accurate response to high rates. Young children with autism often fail to achieve RESAA outcomes from accuracy-based discrete trial training and may benefit from frequency-building instruction. However, a lack of published empirical support has meant that many behavioural educators have resisted adopting these strategies. The purpose of the current study was to determine if frequency-building procedures will promote the fluent skill development of tasks encountered on many early intervention programs for 12 young children with autism. The data showed that imitation, line tracing, drawing, simple addition, and phoneme reading skills taught to young children with autism achieved RESAA outcomes and responded to frequency building procedures in ways that were consistent with non-autistic populations. Secondly, frequency-building imitation to a rate-based fluency aim produced far greater gains on measures of generalised, imitation than using discrete trial training to an accuracy-based mastery criterion alone. Thirdly, increases in the rate of performance under frequency-building conditions positively predicted increases in the quality and quantity of applications, adductions, and skill generalisation for most skills. Fourthly, more exemplars are preferable to few during frequency-building practice. Fifthly, gross motor imitation, a controlled-operant task by definition, was modified and practiced to rates high enough to achieve RESAA criteria. Finally, discrete trial training was as effective as frequency-building when matched for reinforcement and practice, however was less efficient and rated less enjoyable by 5 children without developmental disabilities. The findings were consistent with behavioural fluency predictions and support the inclusion of frequency building strategies to promote skill fluency for young children with autism.

Thesis (M.A.)--Ohio University, August, 2006. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Auburn University, 2007. / Abstract. Vita. Includes bibliographic references (ℓ. 112-122)

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2007. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 173-184). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 154-191) Also available in print.