Abstract Teenagegirls with Asperger syndrome – copingstrategies The aim of the study has been to describe how teenagegirls with Asperger syndrome (an inside-out perspective) experience their possibilities to social interaction in the society. The specific questions for this study are: • How do the participants apply copingstrategies? • Experiencies of getting the diagnose Asperger. • Experiencies from living with the dissorder Asperger. • The Participants life situation In this study I use a qualitative attempt where I interview five teenagegirls. Then the interviews were analysed with a phenomenological attempt with the intention to create at picture of the girls’ world. The result of the interviews presents from the interviwguides area and interpret towards the background of earlier research that present in this study. The result shows that the girls use copingstrategies, some got conscious of the fact that they do during the interview. The study shows that the girls exposed to a large mentally pressure and suffered before they got the dianoses. When they got adapted studies and a place in a small class/special educationgroup the life become easier thanks to the pedagogical personal who could help the girls to understand them selfs, accept their personality and start training to see the world and imitate it. The situation for the girls today is full of light if they get the help taht is right for them. Key words: Asperger syndrome, autism, impaired function, remedial pedagogics

Forskning på resultat av pedagogiska insatser för skolbarn med diagnos inom autismspektrum (ASD) insatt i ett multifaktoriellt helhetssammanhang är inte vanligt förekommande. Det över gripande syftet är att ge en översikt över pedagogisk forskning som innefattar redovisning av resultat av pedagogiska insatser för skolbarn med diagnos inom autismspektrum och att koppla denna forskning till systemteori och ICF (International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health, WHO, (www.socialstyrelsen.se, ICF- CY, (www.who). Forskningsfrågorna är vilka pedagogiska strategier är relaterade till vilket utfall för personer med diagnos inom autismspektrum (ASD) i åldrarna 6-20 år, i vilken utsträckning forskningen om elever inom autismspektrum är grundad på ett generellt systemteoretiskt tänkande och/eller ICF och hur man forskningsmässigt bygger upp evidens och vilka är delaktiga i denna process. Studien är en systematisk forskningsöversikt i vilken 875 abstracts granskats. 36 studier har inkluderats. Skäl till exkludering har varit att studierna saknat beskrivning av pedagogiska insatser, resultatredovisning och/eller utfallsmått. Studier med otydliga diagnoskriterier, endast en deltagare med ASD och studier publicerade före 1999 har exkluderats. Resultaten visar att det saknas forskning om de långsiktiga effekterna av pedagogiska insatser i skolåldern för den aktuella elevgruppen. Forskarna inom området har i allmänhet inte arbetat utifrån en systemteoretisk grundtanke även om det förekommer sådana inslag. Delaktighetsbegreppet och ICF har inte varit utgångspunkt för någon av de inkluderade studierna men någon form av delaktighetsaspekter för individen eller familjen fanns i några studier. Det var vanligast att rapportera resultat på aktivitetsnivå men i några studier rapporterades ökad delaktighet. Forskningsprojekt med ett empowerment perspektiv saknades. Huvudslutsatserna är att det behövs mer preciserade sätt att ställa forskningsfrågorna, kanske i form av komponentstudier, fler långsiktiga helhetsprojekt och ett utvidgat evidensbegrepp. En tankemodell som ICF är särskilt motiverad runt ASD eftersom det krävs stora pedagogiska insatser för att lära dem användbara kunskaper och färdigheter i ett livssammanhang.

No description available.

Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) affect 1 in every 88 U.S. children. ASDs have been described as neurological and developmental disorders impacting visual, motor, and visual-motor integration (VMI) abilities that affect academic achievement (CDC, 2010). Forty-five participants (22 ASD and 23 Typically Developing [TD]) 8 to 14 years old completed the Bender-Gestalt Test, Second Edition (BG II), Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration, 5th Edition (VMI-V), NEPSY Second Edition (NEPSY-II), Test of Visual Perceptual Skills-3 (TVPS-3), Navon Task, Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement, Second Edition, Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test, Second Edition, Behavior Assessment Scale for Children, Second Edition, and Autism Spectrum Screening Questionnaire. Three hypotheses examined whether students with ASDs were more likely than TD peers to have: (1) a visual processing bias; (2) fine motor difficulties; and (3) VMI difficulties. Additional hypotheses analyzed the relationship between (4) local processing bias and fine motor difficulties on VMI ability and (5) local processing bias, fine motor difficulties, and VMI difficulties on academic achievement. A series oft-tests indicated the TVPS-3 (p=.72), Navon Task (p= .78), BG-II (p = .39), and VMI-V (p = .14) were not significantly different between groups. Students with ASDs demonstrated increased difficulty compared to TD students on the NEPSY-II (p = .01) and slower completion time on the Navon Task (p = .01). Regression analyses for VMI indicated the best predictors for the BG-II (p < .001) were the TVPS-3 and Navon Completion Time; the best predictor for the VMI-V (p< .001) was the TVPS-3. Regression analyses indicated that VMI-V predicted all domains of academic achievement. In addition to VMI-V, fine motor skills related to writing achievement, and BG-II related to math achievement. Based on the results, the speed of processing plays an important role on VMI skills and academic achievement, more so than the local processing bias. Although this study may have been impacted by homogeneity in the participants, it investigates a relationship between visual processing biases, fine motor difficulties, visual-motor integration and academic achievement that has received little attention in the literature. Findings can inform the development of more effective interventions for academic functioning for students with ASDs.

Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka andra lärares uppfattningar om den undervisning de bedriver i arbetet med elever som har autism och utvecklingsstörning i grundsärskola.Undersökningen är baserad på halvstrukturerade intervjuer med lärarna där intervjusvaren är tematiserade utifrån studiens frågeställningar. Resultatet visar att lärarna upplever att deras uppdrag, att undervisa elever som har autism och utvecklingsstörning, är komplext.  Lärarna relaterar till läroplanen när de resonerar kring uppdraget men samtidigt lyfter de fram olika aspekter av kunskap som ska vara i fokus i undervisningen. Samtliga lärare lyfter betydelsen av att arbeta för elevernas delaktighet och självständighet, dock inom givna ramar. Lärarna belyser olika aspekter i undervisningen, bland annat kring miljöanpassningar där de lyfter fram struktur och rutiner som en anpassning. Kring kommunikation synliggör lärarna utmaningar i att tolka elevernas kommunikation och val av kommunikationsstöd. Dilemman som lärarna lyfter fram är att det finns en risk att de assisterar elever i situationer som de kan klara själva och att tolka elevernas kunskaper i olika kontexter. Vad gäller att skapa förutsättningar för eleverna att samspela med andra, i och utanför klassrumsmiljö, menar lärarna att det är viktigt att vara lyhörd för elevernas olika uttryck till samspel och att arbeta med samspel i olika vardagssituationer. Personalens roll framhävs också som den vanligaste samspelspartnern. Lärarna har olika inställningar till möjligheten för eleven med autism att gå i klasser med elever som inte har autism. Många lärare anser att det är en rättighet för eleverna och att det är viktigt att olika kompetenser blandas. Andra lärare är kritiska och menar att det inte alltid är möjligt och att den specifika kompetensen finns i klasser för elever med autism. Studien visar att lärares arbete, med elever som har autism och utvecklingsstörning, är komplext och att det finns många dilemman och utmaningar. Det är en ständig utmaning att erbjuda eleverna undervisning som är anpassad till elevers behov och samtidigt erbjuda flexibilitet och skapa möjligheter till att få eleverna aktiva och självständiga.

Autism is a severe childhood neuropsychiatric condition characterized by impairments in socialization and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behaviours. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex and largely unknown disease with a strong genetic basis, multiple genes involved and environmental factors determining its phenotype. Interestingly, the DLX1/DLX2 and DLX5/DLX6 bigene clusters are located in autism susceptibility loci and Dlx genes are involved in GABAergic interneurons differentiation and migration to the cortex during forebrain development. Dlx gene expression is controlled by different cis-regulatory elements. Of these, 4 are active in the forebrain, URE2, I12b, I56ii and I56i. In order to determine the role of the DLX genes in ASD, variants were found in gene exons and in cis-regulatory elements in autistic individuals. A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), a change of an adenine for a guanine, was identified in I56i enhancer. Finding a SNP in I56i was very surprising considering that it is located in a Dlx binding motif highly conserved among >40 species. We showed, using in vitro approaches, that the presence of this SNP affects the affinity of Dlx for their binding site and reduces the transcriptional activation of the enhancer. The SNP also affects activity of the I56i enhancer in transgenic mice. In order to determine the real impact of the SNP in vivo, mutant mice harboring the SNP in their I56i enhancer were produced. That involved the insertion of the I56i enhancer with the SNP, using homologous recombination in mouse embryonic stem cells to replace the wild type version of the enhancer. With these mutant mice, we demonstrated that, in vivo, this SNP reduces Dlx5 and Dlx6 expression in the forebrain. Furthermore, this decrease in Dlx5/Dlx6 expression could affect the differentiation and/or migration of specific populations of inhibitory interneurons in the forebrain. No distinct iv behavioural phenotypes were observed between wild type mice and those carrying the SNP, during social interaction and anxiety tests. Therefore, these results suggest that even a subtle change in a regulatory element can have an impact in the development of the forebrain and may even contribute to disorders such as autism.

No description available.

Research suggests that brain growth follows an abnormal trajectory in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). A better understanding of when and how patterns of brain development diverge from that seen in typically developing children could yield insight into the etiology of the disorder, and resulting symptomatology. To investigate this hypothesis, three studies examined the relation between structural and functional brain measures and age in a group of children with an ASD, aged 6 to 14 years. Age by group interactions were found in all three studies, providing further evidence that brain development may follow an atypical trajectory in ASD. Study 1: Differences in the relation between structural indices and age were found in grey matter volume, surface area and thickness, as well as in cortical thickness of specific regions in the left inferior frontal gyrus (BA 44) and left precuneus. These measures of grey matter structure generally decreased with age in the ASD children, compared to little or no change with age in the typically developing children. Study 2: Differences in the relation between age and measures of longitudinal, radial and mean diffusivity were found in frontal, long distant, interhemispheric and posterior white matter tracts; diffusivity decreased with age in the typically developing group, but showed little or no change in the ASD group. Study 3: Differences in the relation between BOLD activation on a set-shifting task and age were found in brain regions important for cognitive flexibility, such as areas of prefrontal, right insula and parietal cortex. These effects were mainly due to decreasing activation with age for the ASD group, but increasing or no age-related change in the TD group. The findings of these three studies provide converging evidence in support of an hypothesis of dysregulated brain development in this population, which could have significant, compounding effects on the development of neural connectivity, and contribute to atypical cognitive development in children with ASD.

Impaired social interaction is one of the hallmarks of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Emotional faces are arguably the most critical visual emotional stimuli and the ability to perceive, recognize, and interpret emotions is central to social interaction and communication as well as healthy development. There is however, a paucity of studies devoted to neural and cognitive mechanisms underlying emotional face processing in adolescents with ASD. Through an implicit emotional face processing task completed in the MEG, we examined spatiotemporal differences in neural activation during angry and happy emotional face processing. Results suggest atypical frontal involvement in ASD adolescents during angry and happy face processing. In particular, orbitofrontal activation in participants with ASD was found to be delayed but greater in amplitude, relative to controls.

Inclusion of children with autism in public education has become a pressing issue. As more and more children are diagnosed, schools are increasingly unable to provide individualized educational services and one to one aides for each of these children. In this master's thesis, the author describes the ways in which discourses around public education and the ideal neoliberal worker have in turn shaped discourses around students and workers with autism. Reimagining inclusion of students with autism pushes us to reimagine "autism" and "school" itself. Through discussions of the paradoxes of autistic speech and self determination, and the relationship between discourses of autism and discourses of education, the author suggests a new way to imagine autism, inclusion, and education.