In addition to social communication deficits, restricted repetitive behaviors (RRBs) are a key diagnostic feature of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Two theories regarding the etiology of RRBs in ASD have been proposed: the hyper-arousal theory, and the hypo-arousal theory. Both of these theories posit the autonomic nervous system (ANS) as being dysfunctional in ASD, resulting in the occurrence of RRBs. Many studies investigating ANS activity in ASD have focused solely on its relation to social functioning. The few that have addressed RRBs have had inconclusive findings. Not only do the current theories and studies simplify ANS activity to a measure of baseline arousal levels through vague measures such as heart rate (HR) and skin conductance response (SCR), but the literature has also framed the theories as mutually exclusive. This study used respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) patterns in children with and without an ASD diagnosis as an indicator of ANS functioning to analyze its relationship to the manifestation of RRBs. Baseline RSA and RSA reactivity were found to predict RRB severity and exploratory analyses revealed that these measures were associated with specific subgroups of RRBs. These results are discussed in regards to the current behavioral literature on RRBs and the benefits of finding biomarkers for these behaviors. / Master of Science

Prior research has shown that both emotion recognition and expression in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) differs from that of typically developing children, and that these differences may contribute to observed social impairment. This study extends prior research in this area with an integrated examination of both expression and recognition of emotion, and evaluation of spontaneous generation of emotional expression in response to another person's emotion, a behavior that is characteristically deficient in ASD. The aim of this study was to assess eye gaze patterns during scripted and spontaneous emotion expression tasks, and to assess quality of emotional expression in relation to gaze patterns. Youth with ASD fixated less to the eye region of stimuli showing surprise (F(1,19.88) = 4.76, p = .04 for spontaneous task; F(1,19.88) = 3.93, p = .06 for the recognition task), and they expressed emotion less clearly than did the typically developing sample (F(1, 35) = 6.38, p = .02) in the spontaneous task, but there was not a significant group difference in the scripted task across the emotions. Results do not, however, suggest altered eye gaze as a candidate mechanism for decreased ability to express an emotion. Findings from this research inform our understanding of the social difficulties associated with emotion recognition and expression deficits. / Master of Science

Emerging adults who have Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) often encounter difficulties within the university setting. Despite an increase in the number of students with ASD enrolled in postsecondary educational institutions, there are few reports on the social, academic, and/or other needs of college students with ASD. The purpose of this study was to assess the perspectives of parents of emerging adults with ASD and ADHD, in order to inform efforts to address the poor postsecondary outcomes of students with ASD. Survey data were collected from parents who had a son or daughter in one of three educational placement groups (parents of high school students, parents of postsecondary students, and parents of individuals aged 18-25 not enrolled in education) among two disorders; ASD and ADHD. Participants were recruited nationally to participate in an online survey. Parents of emerging adults with ASD identified social interactions and daily living as primary difficulties for their son or daughter with ASD. Significant differences emerged with respect to difficulties among emerging adults with ADHD, who identified difficulties related to executive functioning and attention. Social interaction training was an identified needed service by parents of emerging adults with ASD. Additionally, independent living training was a common core service requested by parents of individuals with ASD and parents of individuals with ADHD. Results suggest that the postsecondary profile of parent-reported difficulties and needed services remains distinct for the diagnostic groups ASD and ADHD. These difficulties should be considered within the context of intervention for postsecondary students with ASD and ADHD. / Master of Science

Previous research on emotion identification in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) has demonstrated inconsistent results. While some studies have cited a deficit in emotion identification for individuals with ASD compared to controls, others have failed to find a difference. Many studies have used static photographs that do not capture subtle details of dynamic, real-life facial expressions that characterize authentic social interactions, and therefore have not been able to provide complete information regarding emotion identification. The current study aimed to build upon prior research by using dynamic, talking videos where the speaker expresses emotions of happiness, sadness, fear, anger, and excitement, both with and without a voice track. Participants included 10 children with ASD between the ages of four and 12, and 10 gender- and mental age-matched children with typical development between six and 12. Overall, both ASD and typically developing groups performed similarly in their accuracy, though the group with typical development benefited more from the addition of voice. Eye tracking analyses considered the eye region and mouth as areas of interest (AOIs). Eye tracking data from accurately identified trials resulted in significant main effects for group (longer and more fixations for participants with typical development) and condition (longer and more fixations on voiced emotions), and a significant condition by AOI interaction, where participants fixated longer and more on the eye region in the voiced condition compared to the silent condition, but fixated on the mouth approximately the same in both conditions. Treatment implications and directions for future research are discussed. / Master of Science

Anxiety is an area of documented challenge for people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Despite this, some studies state that those with ASD and language deficits have lower reported anxiety than those without language deficits. This effect may be due to the complicated task of appropriately evaluating anxiety in those with compromised language. Using biomarkers of anxiety, such as reduced Heart Rate Variability (HRV) and increased Heart Rate (HR), may improve anxiety assessment but more research is necessary. Specifically, it would be helpful to understand if the relationship between HRV/HR and anxiety is moderated by language abilities in children with ASD, and whether HRV/HR can discriminate between anxiety and other emotions, like anger, in children with ASD. This study examined the relationship between baseline HRV/HR, language ability, and different emotional states (i.e., anxiety and anger) in a sample of 23 children with ASD. It was hypothesized that receptive language would moderate the relationship between decreased HRV/increased HR and increased anxiety but not the relationship between decreased HRV/increased HR and increased anger. Multiple regression analyses indicated that HRV and HR were not significant predictors of anxiety or anger, and language was not a significant moderator. Future studies may wish to take new approaches to determining the role of language in the relationship between HRV/HR and anxiety. / Master of Science / Anxiety is an area of documented challenge for people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Despite this, some studies state that those with ASD and language deficits have lower reported anxiety than those without language deficits. This effect may be due to the complicated task of appropriately evaluating anxiety in those with compromised language. Using biomarkers of anxiety, such as reduced Heart Rate Variability (HRV) and increased Heart Rate (HR), may improve anxiety assessment but more research is necessary. Specifically, it would be helpful to understand if the relationship between HRV/HR and anxiety is moderated by language abilities in children with ASD, and whether HRV/HR can discriminate between anxiety and other emotions, like anger, in children with ASD. This study examined the relationship between baseline HRV/HR, language ability, and different emotional states (i.e., anxiety and anger) in a sample of 23 children with ASD. It was hypothesized that receptive language would moderate the relationship between decreased HRV/increased HR and increased anxiety but not the relationship between decreased HRV/increased HR and increased anger. Multiple regression analyses indicated that HRV and HR were not significant predictors of anxiety or anger, and language was not a significant moderator. Future studies may wish to take new approaches to determining the role of language in the relationship between HRV/HR and anxiety.

Previous research showed that children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) tend to experience high levels of anxiety and anger. Some of the deficits that children with ASD experience are due their difficulty expressing and understanding their own and others' emotions. Thus, the purpose of this pilot study was to assess the feasibility and efficacy of an intervention to teach young children with high functioning autism (HFASD) to recognize their emotions and use emotion regulation strategies to self-soothe. We implemented a group therapy that emphasized children's understanding and knowledge of emotions and coping strategies related to anger and anxiety. Eleven 5-7 year-old children were randomly assigned to either an experimental or delayed-treatment control group. The Emotion Regulation Checklist, Behavior Monitoring Sheet, What Makes My Child Angry/Anxious Questionnaires, and anger- and anxiety-related emotions vignettes were used to measure children's emotion regulation abilities. Finally, maternal confidence of their own and their child's ability to regulate their emotions were measured by the Self-Confidence Rating Scale. Children in the experimental group demonstrated more knowledge of emotion regulation strategies, had fewer negative emotional responses, and showed lower frequency and intensity ratings of anger and anxiety related episodes after treatment. All mothers reported higher levels of confidence in their own and their child's ability to deal with anger and anxiety related emotions after treatment. These findings suggest that teaching young children with HFASD about emotion regulation strategies to manage anger and anxiety emotional states may increase their knowledge about emotion regulation strategies, and improve their emotion regulation abilities. Training mothers about emotion regulation strategies may increase maternal confidence in their own and their child's ability to deal with emotions related to anger and anxiety. Limitations and implications of this study will be discussed. / Master of Science

Emerging research suggests that many adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) experience impairing Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) or social anxiety symptoms (e.g., Joshi et al., 2013; Kleinhans et al., 2010), yet there is little guidance or agreement about how to best assess social anxiety in this population. Direct examination of overt eye gaze patterns may help determine if the attentional biases often reported in people with SAD also operate in those with ASD and co-occurring social anxiety. This study sought to assess the influence of social anxiety on gaze patterns in adults with ASD. An exploratory aim was to better understand the phenomenology of SAD within ASD. Three groups of participants were included: adults with ASD (n = 25), adults with SAD (n = 25), and adults without ASD or SAD (n = 25). As hypothesized, a large subset (n = 11; 44%) of the participants with ASD met diagnostic criteria for SAD. Contrary to study hypotheses related to gaze patterns, however, there was no evidence for gaze vigilance followed by avoidance for socially threatening stimuli in either the ASD or SAD groups, and there was no relationship between fear of negative evaluation and gaze duration toward socially threatening stimuli within the ASD group. Possible reasons for these null findings are considered. Clinical implications and suggestions for future research are also discussed. / Ph. D.

Although clinically significant symptoms of anxiety or depression are present in nearly one in two people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), little is known about how these symptoms may relate to social motivation, a key construct in the etiology of ASD. The aim of the current study was to examine patterns of anxiety, depression, ASD symptomatology, and social motivation in youth with ASD. Using a large public dataset of well-characterized youth with ASD (N = 195), we examined varying patterns of these symptoms via latent profile analysis (LPA). Three distinct classes emerged: one with moderate ASD severity and low levels of comorbid psychopathology, a second with more severe ASD symptoms and similarly low anxiety and depression, and a third with significantly elevated anxiety and depression. Neither sex nor age differed significantly among these classes, and indices of social interest early in development did not predict class membership. Implications of these symptom patterns for assessment and treatment of comorbidity in ASD are discussed. / Doctor of Philosophy / A large proportion of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience symptoms of anxiety and depression. Anxiety and depression might be related to social motivation, which is a key concept associated with the development of ASD. The current study examined variation in anxiety, depression, social motivation, and ASD symptom severity in a large sample of youth with ASD. Individuals in the sample were classified in groups by a statistical model. Models produced three separate groups: one group with moderate symptoms of ASD and relatively low levels of anxiety and depression, a second with more severe ASD symptoms and similarly low anxiety and depression, and a final group with moderate ASD symptoms and high anxiety and depression. Social motivation was strongest in the first and second groups, and low social motivation was strongly associated with anxiety and depression symptoms. Age and sex did not predict group membership, nor did items measuring social motivation early in development. Implications of these symptom patterns for the assessment and treatment of anxiety and depression in ASD are discussed.

Prior studies have identified diminished attending to faces, and in particular the eye region, in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), which may contribute to the impairments they experience with emotion recognition and expression. The current study evaluated the acceptability, feasibility, and preliminary effectiveness of an attention modification intervention designed to attenuate deficits in facial emotion recognition and expression in children with ASD. During the 10-session experimental treatment, children watched videos of people expressing different emotions with the facial features highlighted to guide children's attention. Eight children with ASD completed the treatment, of nine who began. On average, the children and their parents rated the treatment to be acceptable and helpful. Although treatment efficacy, in terms of improved facial emotion recognition (FER), was not apparent on task-based measures, children and their parents reported slight improvements and most parents indicated decreased socioemotional problems following treatment. Results of this preliminary trial suggest that further clinical research on visual attention retraining for ASD, within an experimental therapeutic program, may be promising. / PHD / Previous studies have shown that individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) show lower looking at faces, especially the eyes, which may lead to the difficulties they show with ability to recognize other’s emotions and express their own emotions. This study looked at a new treatment designed to decrease the difficulties in emotion recognition and expression in children with ASD. The study looked at whether the treatment is possible, acceptable to children and their parents, and successful in decreasing the difficulty with emotion recognition. During the 10-session treatment, children watched videos of people making different expressions. The faces of the actors in the videos were highlighted to show the children the important area to look at. Eight children with ASD completed the treatment, of nine who started the treatment. On average, the children and their parents said that the treatment is acceptable and helpful. While the treatment was not successful in improving ability to recognize emotions on other’s faces on several tasks, children and their parents reported slight improvements. In addition, most parents reported less problems with social skills and emotion recognition and expression after the treatment. These results suggest that more clinical research may be needed to evaluate usefulness of such attention retraining for children with ASD.

Learning to drive represents a rite of passage for many adolescents and young adults, which increases their access to vocational, education, and social opportunities (Almberg et al., 2015; Cox et al., 2012; Lindsay, 2016). When examining licensure rates for individuals with developmental disabilities and/or Autism Spectrum Disorder, research demonstrates lower licensure rates and more difficulties obtaining licensure (Almberg et al., 2015; Cox et al., 2012). Most research focusses on teaching on the road or simulation based driving skills to increase licensure rates, however little research addresses the barriers these individuals face obtaining their drivers permit (Huang et al., 2012; Pandolfe, 2015; Smigiel, 2020; Vindin et al., 2021); . The current research study sought to fill in gaps in the literature by investigating the effects of a traditional academic intervention, Incremental Rehearsal’s, effects on increasing participants knowledge of the drivers manual used for the driver’s permit exam. Results demonstrated positive increases in correct responding for one participant, however inconsistent results for the other two participants. Varying results may be partially due to differing participant characteristics, which could be important for future research considerations.