Background. Parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) report higher levels of stress and experience more marital strain and divorce than parents of typically developing children and parents of children with other disabilities. However, no studies have yet examined the relationship between parental attributions or beliefs and observed parenting behaviors for parents of children with ASD, a particularly challenging parenting context. Promising experimental and intervention studies suggest that parents’ perception of controllability can be modified, with consequential changes in parents’ actual parenting behaviors (Bugental & Happaney, 2002; Slep & O'Leary, 1998). The present dissertation seeks to extend the study of the relationship between parental cognitions and behaviors by understanding the role of cognitions for mothers in a community sample at high risk for elevated parenting stress, and by evaluating how the relationship between cognitions and parenting behaviors may vary based on the child’s level of functioning. Parenting behaviors were observed across different types of tasks intended to mimic naturalistic dyadic situations in order to identify the degree to which parenting behaviors may vary as a function of context. By identifying whether parental cognitions influence more or less competent parenting strategies, results will guide tailoring of interventions for the needs of this highly stressed population. Methods. Forty-two mother-child dyads, with children ages 2 years and 6 months to 5 years and 6 months, were included in this study. Children were students at a specialized preschool utilizing an Applied Behavior Analysis approach to education, and all participating children had a diagnosis of ASD, verified by either the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, Second Edition (Lord et al., 2012), a gold-standard measure of ASD, or the Childhood Autism Rating Scale, Second Edition (Schopler, Van Bourgondien, Wellman, & Love, 2010) as part of their study participation. Mother-child dyads participated in several interaction tasks, including a 5-minute teaching task, 5-minutes of free play, and a 2-minute cleanup task, which were videotaped for later coding using the Psychological Multifactor Care Scale — ASD Adapted Preschool Version (Brassard, Donnelly, Hart, & Johnson, 2016). Mothers also completed questionnaires assessing parental stress, cognitions, child behavior problems, and demographic characteristics. Two cognitions were evaluated: attributions of control were measured using an adapted version of the Parent Attribution Test (Bugental, 2011; Woolfson, Taylor, & Mooney, 2011), which has previously been related to harsh parenting behaviors, particularly with maltreating families; and self-efficacy was measured using the Parenting Sense of Competence – Efficacy subscale (Gibaud-Wallston & Wandersman, 1978), a widely used measure of parental self-efficacy with a positive relationship to quality of parenting. Parental stress was assessed by the Parenting Stress Index – Fourth Edition, Short Form (Abidin, 2012). Participating children’s classroom teachers completed the Communication domain of the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales –Fourth Edition (Sparrow, Cicchetti, & Saulnier, 2016) as an assessment of children’s level of language functioning, and mothers rated their perceptions of their child’s behavioral functioning using the Child Behavior Checklist (Achenbach & Rescorla, 2000). Results. Multiple regression analysis found significant direct effects of attributions of control for both positive and harsh observed parenting behaviors, and significant interactions between attributions of control, parental self-efficacy, and child language functioning for observed harsh parenting behaviors. Observed harsh parenting behaviors were also predicted by the interacting relationship between parenting stress, self-efficacy, and parent perception of child behavior problems. There was no significant difference in the relationship between parental attributions and observed parenting behaviors between each of the three task types, though harsh parenting behaviors were more frequently observed during free play, relative to teaching and cleanup tasks. Regression models controlled for parental race, parent perception of child behavior problems, and the number of adults in the home – a proxy for caregiving support. Though mothers engaged in infrequent and mild levels of harsh parenting behaviors, those who did reported higher levels of stress, lower self-efficacy, and higher attributions of control, particularly during free play. Conclusions. Parental attributions of control have been found to be a powerful and modifiable variable for maltreating samples, where mothers who believe child control is more important than adult control in impacting the outcome of a failed interaction are more likely to engage in harsh parenting. In this sample, a relationship was found in the opposite direction, in that mothers who perceived adult control as more important displayed more harsh parenting behaviors. The difference is likely related to the significantly distinctive context for parenting a child with ASD, given the unique relational and behavioral characteristics associated with the disorder. Whereas self-efficacy did not directly relate to observed parenting behaviors, it interacted with other family factors to predict parenting behaviors. Directions for future research and clinical implications are discussed.

Purpose: The field of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) intervention research is in need of treatment response measures that are sensitive to change and flexible enough to be used across studies. The Brief Observation of Social Communication Change (BOSCC) was developed to address this need. The purpose of this work is to examine the initial reliability and validity of the BOSCC in two samples of children with ASD. Method: In a sample of 56 children participating in ongoing early intervention, the primary objectives of Study 1 were to 1) determine items for inclusion in the BOSCC coding scheme, 2) explore the relationships among items using factor analysis, 3) assess inter-rater and test-retest reliability, and 4) explore change over time. Using a sample of school-age, minimally-verbal children, the primary objectives of Study 2 were to extend the results of Study 1 to a new sample to 1) assess BOSCC changes over time, 2) compare changes in BOSCC to clinician determinations of improvement, 3) examine the relationship between change in BOSCC scores with changes in baseline cognitive skills, adaptive functioning, and ASD severity, and 4) compare changes in BOSCC scores in children who did and did not change on other standard measures. Results: Study 1 revealed that the BOSCC has high to excellent inter-rater and test-retest reliability and shows convergent validity with measures of language and communication skills. The BOSCC Core total demonstrated statistically significant amounts of change over time while the ADOS Calibrated Severity Score over the same period did not. Results of Study 2 confirmed excellent inter-rater reliability but the BOSCC did not change significantly over time. Most children were identified by clinicians as improving in response to treatment. However, only 15% of children changed significantly on the BOSCC over 16 weeks of intervention. Limitations: Both studies had small samples of predominantly male, Caucasian children. When interpreting the results of these studies, it is important to consider the differences between samples, including the shorter time of treatment and more cognitively and language impaired children in Study 2. Conclusions: These studies are a first step in the development of a novel outcome measure for social-communication behaviors with applications to clinical trials and longitudinal studies. Future work should continue to explore the benefits and limitations of the BOSCC in larger independent samples.

Challenging behaviors are considered predictors of poor outcomes and children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are at increased risk for such behaviors. There is limited research on how the functions of such behaviors and intervention strategies aimed at reducing them may differ by context. Using a researcher-designed survey, this study examined parents’ and teachers’ descriptions of the function of, and strategies for, challenging behaviors among children with and without ASD. A total of 488 respondents completed the survey, including 251 (51.5%) teachers and 237 (48.5%) parents. The participants were recruited in person and via social networking using snowballing and word-of-mouth. The study findings revealed that while both parents and teachers frequently identified avoidance/escape and attention-seeking as functions of challenging behaviors for children with and without ASD, there were some differences in their reports. Most notably, for children with ASD, 28% of parents reported children’s use of challenging behaviors to get attention at home whereas 2% reported this function at school, while 72% of the teachers indicated children’s use of challenging behaviors to seek attention at school and only 10% reported this function at home. The two most common intervention strategies identified by both teachers and parents were reinforcing positive effortful behavior and providing positive attention such as praise and acknowledgement. These finding are critical as they show the differences in the opinions towards the use of challenging behaviors in the home and school settings as reported by parents and teachers and inform future intervention efforts aimed at addressing challenging behaviors in varying contexts.

Conclusion. The present study revealed specific memory deficits profile of ASD children associated with ineffective use of organization strategies. Together with their deviated EEG coherence pattern, it has implicated that the memory deficits associated with ASD was possibly subserved by dysfunctional cooperation in frontal and frontal-posterior cortical regions. The potential benefits of explicit cueing and subtle effect of implicit cue on memory performance and neural functional cooperation in ASD were discussed. / Method. Twenty-three children with high-functioning ASD and 39 normal children (NC) aged 5 to 14 years were recruited. In experiment 1, their memory was assessed with the Hong Kong List Learning Test (HKLLT), a memory test of disorganized (DIS) and semantically organized (ORG) words. In experiment 2, their memory of abstract geometric figure (Rey-O) and nameable object (Object Recognition Test, ORT) was tested. The objects in the ORT were presented in DIS or ORG manner. While semantic cue was given explicitly in the HKLLT, it was delivered implicitly in the ORT. In experiment 3, EEG theta coherences connecting anterior, temporal and posterior brain regions were recorded before and during the ORT. / Objective. Some studies found that autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) associated memory deficits were related to frontal lobe dysfunctions, e.g., ineffective organization strategy for memory. Yet, the memory profile of ASD remains inconclusive. The present study aims to examine the memory profile of ASD children based on the information processing model and its association with their organization strategies adopted, and to explore the effect of 'voiced' (with explicit instruction) and 'unvoiced' (without instruction) experimenter-provided organization cueing on memory retrieval. The neuro-physiological basis underlying their memory process was also explored using electroencephalographic (EEG) coherence. / Results. ASD children showed frontal-lobe-related memory problems, with encoding and retrieval deficits, and vulnerability to interference. Their memory deficits were associated with ineffective use of organization strategies. Hyper-coherence at inter-hemispheric anterior-posterior connections and lesser reduction in intra-left anterior coherence correlated with their poorer recognition. Explicit cueing has enhanced semantic clustering and delayed recall of words. Yet, the effect of 'unvoiced' cueing was subtle, with a trend of improving severer memory impairment and suppressing excessive coherence. / Sze, Lai Man. / Adviser: Agnes Sui Yin Chan. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 71-01, Section: B, page: 0674. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 79-85). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest Information and Learning Company, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in English and Chinese.

Very little is known about the ability of low-functioning children with autism (LFA) to engage in collaborative activities. Children with autism have deficits in other-awareness, joint attention and imitation, skills considered fundamental in social cognition and associated with the ability to collaborate. Research has focused on identifying the impairments of LFA children's social interactional abilities in controlled experimental contexts with adult partners. However, there is a paucity of research investigating if LFA children can participate in collaborative activity with peers, and if so what form the collaborative behaviour takes. Children with autism are highly motivated to interact with technology and technology is evolving fast offering opportunities to apply it to research. Therefore, we used innovative technology and a novel software architecture called Separate Control of Shared Space (SCoSS) on three types of shareable computer technology to aid our investigation of other-awareness and collaboration in LFA children. Paper 1, describes two studies using a dual-control laptop to present picture-sorting tasks to children paired with an adult and peer. SCoSS was more effective at facilitating other-awareness in TD and LFA children than a standard interface. Crucially, LFA children showed no active other-awareness without the supportive interface. Paper 2 presented two different picture-sorting problems for pairs of LFA children to solve. This yielded a model of collaborative problem-solving based on a sequence of three prerequisite capacities. Paper 3 successfully applied the SCoSS framework to picture-sequencing tasks delivered via tablet technology. As in paper 1, pairs of LFA children were only actively aware of a peer using linked dual-tablets, analogous to SCoSS. In summary, the thesis presents evidence that the other-awareness of LFA children can be facilitated by technology to support collaborative problem-solving, providing a more complete profile of their abilities and offers evidence that LFA are sensitive to the type of collaborative partner.

Orientador: Silvia Regina Ricco Lucato Sigolo / Banca: Maria Júlia Canazza Dall'Acqua / Banca: Vera Lucia Messias Fialho Capellini / Resumo: O movimento da inclusão escolar traz muitas dúvidas, principalmente em relação à escolarização e apresenta ainda muitos desafios. No caso de crianças com Transtorno do Espectro Autista (TEA), estes parecem ser maiores diante de suas características específicas (dificuldades de socialização e de comunicação) e de estereótipos predeterminados por concepções equivocadas dos profissionais e familiares que se relacionam com elas. O objetivo deste estudo foi descrever o processo educacional de crianças de quatro anos de idade com TEA nos contextos de desenvolvimento e aprendizagem na Educação Infantil e no Atendimento Educacional Especializado (AEE) da escola comum, bem como na família, buscando entender como se estabelecem as inter-relações entre os diferentes contextos. A fundamentação teórica respaldou-se na Perspectiva Bioecológica do Desenvolvimento Humano proposta por Urie Bronfenbrenner. Participaram da pesquisa três profissionais da Secretaria Municipal de Educação (SME), uma diretora de escola, duas professoras regentes, uma professora itinerante e duas crianças e dois pais, totalizando onze participantes. O estudo se caracteriza como uma pesquisa qualitativa, de natureza descritiva. Foram realizados dois procedimentos de coleta de dados: entrevista com base em roteiros semiestruturados e observação das crianças com TEA com registro em diário de campo. Os principais resultados mostraram que a SME vem atualizando suas propostas para a Educação Infantil e Inclusiva do Município em prol do desenvolvimento e aprendizagem de todas as crianças matriculadas. Ainda, que o conhecimento e as concepções da equipe escolar e dos pais sobre as características de crianças com TEA apoiam-se no entendimento do senso comum. Por fim, sobre o processo de escolarização e de inclusão das crianças com TEA, no contexto da escola comum, tem-se que as professoras o desenvolvem de... / Abstract: The movement of school inclusion brings many questions, especially in relation to education and still presents many challenges. In the case of children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD), these seem to be higher on their specific characteristics (difficulties in socialization and communication) and predetermined stereotypes by misconceptions of work and family that relate to them. The objective of this study was to describe the educational process of children from four years old with ASD in development contexts and learning in Early Childhood Education and Care Specialized Education (CSE) of the common school as well as in the family, trying to understand how to establish the interrelationships between different contexts. The theoretical framework was endorsed on Bioecological Perspective Human Development proposed by Urie Bronfenbrenner. The participants were three professionals of the Municipal Secretary Education (MSE), a school principal, two teachers regents, an itinerant teacher and two children and two parents, a total of eleven participants. The study is characterized as a qualitative research of descriptive nature. Two data collection procedures were performed: interview based on semi-structured scripts and observation of children with ASD with daily field. The main results showed that the MSE has updated its proposals for Early Childhood and Inclusive Education of the Municipality for the development and learning of all children enrolled. Still, the knowledge and conceptions of school staff and parents about the characteristics of children with ASD rely on the understanding Special Education student audience of common sense. Finally, on the process of education and inclusion of children with ASD, in the context of the common school, it has to be the teachers to develop in order to insert them into society, given that the inclusion should be initiated in the first stage of basic education / Mestre

The general purpose of the current study was to evaluate the effects of minimally intrusive prompting procedures and preferred stimuli on protodeclarative joint attention initiations in children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Two boys and one girl diagnosed with ASD participated. The experimenter provided attention and social interaction following protodeclarative initiations throughout all phases of the study. During intervention, a model prompt was delivered every 30 s if the participant failed to initiate a bid for joint attention. Results for the first participant show that a model prompt was sufficient to increase the rate of protodeclarative initiations across stimulus sets. Generalization was seen across sets, but not across environments. Subsequently, the model prompt was sufficient to increase the rate of protodeclarative initiations across sets in a second setting (classroom). Results for the second participant are inconclusive. Data collected during the initial baseline condition show that she engaged in an incompatible verbal response across sets. When pictorial stimuli depicting highinterest items and activities were introduced, the rate of protodeclarative initiations increased over time. We then returned to original baseline condition and saw an initial decrease, followed by a steady increase in the rate of protodeclarative initiations. The third participant withdrew prematurely due to medical reasons. The findings of the current study show that minimally intrusive prompts and natural consequences may be sufficient to establish protodeclarative initiations in children. However, this finding may be limited to only those children for whom social interactions already function as reinforcers.

This study compared the relative reinforcing efficacy of high-preferred and low-preferred stimuli, as determined by two types of preference assessments, on acquisition rates in three children diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The study also evaluated the indirect effects of preference on students’ stereotypy and problem behavior during instructional periods. Participants were presented with a task and provided high or low-preferred stimuli contingent upon correct responding. Results showed that acquisition occurred more rapidly in the highly preferred condition for some participants. Higher rates of problem behavior occurred in the low preferred condition for all participants. These results highlight the importance of utilizing preference assessment procedures to identify and deliver high-preferred items in skill acquisition procedures for individuals with ASD.

Conclusion: The results suggest that ASD children have deficits in attentional and inhibitory control. Frontal dysfunction and weak ACC engagement in ASD were supported as the underlying neuronal inefficiency. / Methods: 20 children with high-functioning ASD [Mean Age (SD): 10.75 years old (2.07 years); Mean IQ (SD): 101.4 (16.8)] and age- and IQ-matched normal children (NC) [Mean Age (SD): 9.80 years old (1.88 years); Mean IQ (SD): 110.7(17.8)] were investigated electrophysiologically during performance of a visual Go/NoGo task. An electrophysiological source localization method was employed to further analyze the data. Several different neurospsychological tests were also performed to provide behavioral measures on attention and inhibition. / Objectives: To investigate neurophysiologic abnormalities in frontal and anterior cingulate cortex underlying attentional and inhibitory control in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). / Results: ASD children showed a significantly task-related lower frontal theta activity. This effect was associated with a significantly reduced activation of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). Both groups also differ significantly regarding the behavioral aspects of attention and inhibition. / Leung, Shuk Yin Connie. / "November 2009." / Adviser: Chan Sue-Yin Agnes. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 72-01, Section: B, page: . / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2010. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 65-85). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest Information and Learning Company, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts also in Chinese.

This study was a nonexperimental correlational study that took a strengths-based approach and utilized family systems theories to examine parenting stress, as measured by the Parenting Stress Index-Short Form, and posttraumatic growth (PTG), as measured by the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory, and the relationship between the two constructs. The study was conducted with a national sample of 136 maternal caregivers of transition-age youth on the autism spectrum (ASD), ages 14 to 22 years, recruited through social media, flyers, and referrals. Participants were primarily biological mothers (83.9%), White (87.5%), and resided in the South (68.4%); the mean age of the adolescent with ASD was 17.16 years. Descriptive statistical findings showed that caregivers had normal levels of parenting stress and high levels of PTG. Results from one-sample t tests showed that the sample parenting stress mean score (M = 51) was similar to the population mean score of 50 while the sample PTG mean score (M = 56) was significantly higher than the population PTG mean score of 52.5. The third research question examined if parenting stress was significantly associated with PTG, controlling for pertinent covariates. Hierarchical multiple linear regression findings indicated that, after controlling for the place of residence, parenting stress was significantly associated with PTG: as parenting stress increased, PTG decreased. Parenting stress explained 7% of the variance in PTG, a small effect size. Findings from this study denote the positive aspects of parenting an adolescent with ASD. Results can inform the development of parent interventions aimed at reducing parenting stress and enhancing PTG.