The master thesis copes with gender dysphoria (GD) in persons with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The quantitative research was chosen to study this topic. The main goal was to determine whether people with mild ASD have a higher prevalence of GD or higher rate of GD compared to the general neurotypical population (NT). The main methods used in this research were: Autism Quotient Questionnaire (AQ-10) and the Gender Identity/Gender Dysphoria Questionnaire in Adolescents and Adults (GIDYQ-AA), which made it possible to determine the degree of GD and the potential co-occurrence of a diagnosis of gender incongruence (GI; according to ICD-11). In the research there were 196 subjects with the age ranging from 16 to 74 years. The ASD group was compromised 90 persons and in the NT group there were 106 people. While in the NT group no one admitted transgender identity, in the ASD group 2.2 % of subjects informed about transgender identity and 14.4 % of the autistic group were not sure about it. Based on the GIDYQ-AA results, 4.4 % of people with ASD had a low score indicating a possible presence of a diagnosis of GD (GI). Furthermore, the research found that women with autism had significantly higher rate of GD than both women in the NT group and men with ASD. Overall, subjects with ASD achieved...

I denna uppsats undersöks användningen, användbarheten, samt för- och nackdelar medäventyrsrollspel som behandlingsform vid psykisk ohälsa och autismspektrumtillstånd.För att studera detta har vi genomfört en kvalitativ intervjustudie med verksammapraktiker. Resultatet visar att behandlingens struktur är liknande för olika klientgrupperäven om behandlingsfokuset kan skilja sig beroende på klientens problematik.Återkommande teman är användandet av fantasin som verktyg vid behandling,äventyrsrollspelet som ramverk, social träning samt möjligheten till personligutveckling vilket är positiva aspekter av behandlingen. Dock är behandlingen begränsadför individer med vissa typer av problematik och skulle därmed fungera bättre som enkompletterande terapi. Den har även högt ställda kompetenskrav på behandlare som villanvända metoden. I diskussionen använder vi symbolisk interaktionism som teoretisktramverk för att tolka resultatet. / This study explores the usage, applications, as well as the pros and cons of utilizingtabletop role-playing games as a method of therapy for individuals with mental illnessand autism spectrum disorder. Qualitative interviews were conducted with practitionerswho apply the method. The result shows that the method is structured similarly fordifferent client groups while treatment focus changes according to individual diagnoses.Some recurring themes were: fantasy as a tool for therapy, the tabletop role-playinggame framework, social training, and possibility for personal growth which are allpositive aspects of the treatment. However, the treatment has limitations when used onindividuals with certain types of mental health problems and would instead work betteras a complementary treatment. However, a high level of competence is required forpractitioners who wish to utilize the method. In the discussion we seek to answer ourexplored issues through a symbolic interactionist theoretical standpoint.

<p>Touch plays a key role in facilitating social communication and is often presented in conjunction with auditory stimuli such as speech. Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) frequently show atypical behavioral responsivity to both tactile and auditory stimuli, which is associated with increased ASD symptomatology. However, as discussed throughout Chapter 1, the neural mechanisms associated with responsivity to tactile and auditory stimuli in ASD are not fully understood. For example, some have argued that differences in responding to tactile and auditory stimuli may be attributed to sensory and perceptual factors, whereas others suggest that these differences could be related to atypicalities in allocation of attention to incoming stimuli. In Chapter 2, I address these competing hypotheses by examining early and late ERP components (indicative of perceptual and attentional processing respectively) in response to tactile and auditory stimuli. Next, despite the evidence suggesting that touch plays a role in modulating attention in typical development (TD), it is unclear whether touch cues affect the response of the phasic alerting network – a subcomponent of attention – in ASD and TD, and whether the alerting response may be atypical in children with ASD. In Chapter 3, I address this gap in the literature by examining whether tactile cues presented at different intervals before auditory targets facilitate reaction times differently in children with ASD and TD. Lastly, because prior research has shown associations between sensory and attentional processes and ASD symptomatology, in Chapters 2 and 3, I examine the associations of neural and behavioral indices of tactile and auditory processing with ASD symptomatology and language skills in children with ASD and TD. </p><p>In Chapter 2, I show that children in both the ASD and TD groups do not exhibit differences in both early and later neurological responses to tactile and auditory stimuli, suggesting that under certain experimentally-controlled conditions, behavioral differences to tactile and auditory stimuli may not be attributable to atypicalities in perceiving or attending to the incoming sensory input. However, neural responsivity to tactile and auditory stimuli is linked with sensory responsivity and social skills in all children. Specifically, reduced early contralateral activation to tactile stimuli is related to increased tactile symptoms, and reduced early amplitudes to auditory oddball stimuli are associated with impairments in reciprocal social communication in children with ASD as well as when examined across all children, and greater tendency of overall sensory hyper-reactivity. Additionally, in the TD group, greater later amplitudes to touch and auditory oddball stimuli are related to differences in reciprocal social communication and sensory reactivity respectively, indicating that patterns of allocation of attention may be related to ASD-like traits in typical development. Lastly, there is an association between greater sensitivity to changes to a stream of auditory stimuli and expressive language skills in all children. These results suggest that, although there are no group differences between neurological responses to tactile and auditory stimuli in ASD and TD, individual neural differences may be related to sensory and socio-communicative skills in all children. </p><p>In Chapter 3, I show that although children with ASD responded more slowly than children with TD, both groups displayed faster reaction times as a result of tactile cues before auditory targets, suggesting equivalent phasic alerting in response to tactile stimuli. Longer intervals between cues and targets benefitted children in both groups resulting in faster reaction times. Contrary to my hypotheses, touch-related behavioral facilitation was not associated with ASD symptomatology and language skills. </p>Taken together, the results of these studies suggest that, at least in certain contexts and with certain cues, children with ASD may show typical neurological processing in response to tactile and auditory stimuli, and that touch may facilitate the response of the alerting network similarly in ASD and TD. Therefore, everyday behavioral differences in response to tactile and auditory stimuli may be related to the specific nature of the stimuli as well as social contexts in which such stimuli are more likely to be encountered. Differences between processing rich and dynamic sensory stimuli experienced in the outside world vs experimentally-controlled sensory stimuli presented in the laboratory settings are discussed in Chapter 4. Additionally, I argue that individual responses expected in social vs non-social experimental settings may affect neural and behavioral responses in individuals with ASD. Finally, future research directions are discussed.

Good prognosis for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and their participation in everyday life situations depends on healthcare professionals’ ability to make diagnoses and provide interventions as early as possible. Thus, professionals at the primary healthcare level ought to have the knowledge and competence to identify the symptoms of ASD and make referrals where necessary. This study aims to describe healthcare professionals’ knowledge regarding ASD symptoms in children, and the factors that influence their level of knowledge.  A systematic literature review method as described by Jesson, Matheson &amp; Lacey was used to study the topic, and searches in CINAHL, PsycINFO and PubMed generated 10 relevant articles for the study. Their quality was assessed using the critical review form and content analysis was used to evaluate the findings. ‘healthcare knowledge’ by Kohn were used to explain them.  Findings showed that healthcare professionals have varied levels of knowledge regarding ASD symptoms depending on different factors like professionals’ age, years of work experience, previous encounter with children having ASD, among others. The concept, theory-practice gap and types of knowledge were used to explain the findings. Conclusion: Firstly, increase in ASD training among healthcare professionals is necessary and secondly, it needs to translate to practice for quality care towards children with ASD.

Social camouflaging is prevalent among patients with Autism spectrum disorder [ASD] and entails copying and/or masking behaviours, personality traits and adaptive functioning in order to adjust to environmental demands. The aim of this thesis was to explore clinicians’ experiences of working with adult patients with ASD who display social camouflaging. Research questions explored clinicians’ perceptions of frequency and nature of social camouflaging among males and females with ASD, as well as their competence and confidence in working with these patients. This was examined using a mixed-methods sequential explanatory design, consisting of a quantitative and a qualitative phase. Quantitative data was collected through a web-based questionnaire which was completed by clinicians [n=31] working in a specialised setting in Sweden. Four clinicians [n=4] also participated in qualitative semi-structured interviews. Paired samples t-tests indicated that females were observed to display social camouflaging more often. Clinicians’ competence and confidence did not differ to a significant degree between males and females when social camouflaging was displayed. Possible explanations for this were discussed through the main themes found in the qualitative thematic analysis. The themes consisted of clinicians’ understanding of social camouflaging, perceived obstacles when working with this group of patients and important prerequisites for clinicians in order to overcome these obstacles. The findings emphasized the need to broaden the view of ASD through future research, since it causes gaps of knowledge that clinicians seldom have the opportunities to fill. Furthermore, measures to enable support and resources for clinicians are needed to help this patient group. / Social kamouflering förekommer hos patienter med Autismspektrumtillstånd [AST] och kan yttra sig genom kopiering och/eller maskering av beteenden, personlighetsdrag och adaptiv funktion för att möjliggöra en anpassning i linje med omgivningens krav. Syftet med denna uppsats var att undersöka klinikers upplevelser av att möta vuxna patienter med AST som uppvisar social kamouflering. Frågeställningarna undersökte klinikers upplevelse av frekvens och natur av social kamouflering hos män och kvinnor med AST, samt deras kompetens och självsäkerhet i mötet med dessa patienter. Detta undersöktes genom en mixad metod med sekventiell förklarande design, innehållande en kvantitativ och en kvalitativ fas. Kvantitativa data samlades in genom ett webb-baserat formulär som fylldes i av kliniker [n=31] från specialiserade enheter i Sverige. Fyra av dessa kliniker [n=4] deltog även i kvalitativa semi-strukturerade intervjuer. Parade t-tester indikerade att kvinnor observerades uppvisa social kamouflering mer frekvent. Klinikers kompetens och självsäkerhet skilde sig inte till en betydande grad mellan män och kvinnor när social kamouflering uppvisades. Möjliga förklaringar till detta diskuterades utifrån de huvudteman som återfanns i den kvalitativa tematiska analysen. Teman inkluderade klinikers förståelse av social kamouflering, upplevda hinder i mötet med denna patientgrupp samt viktiga förutsättningar för att överkomma dessa hinder. Resultaten betonade vikten av att framtida forskning breddar bilden av AST, eftersom det tycks skapa kunskapsluckor som kliniker sällan ges möjlighet att fylla. Utöver detta framhölls behovet av åtgärder för att möjliggöra stöd och resurser för kliniker för att de skall kunna hjälpa denna patientgrupp.

The aim of this master's thesis is to describe the possibilities of interprofessional cooperation of an occupational therapist and a behavioral analyst in selected personal activities of daily living in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). With the help of activity analysis the view of both experts was demonstrated resulting in the description of their therapeutic intervention. The theoretical part describes the basic characteristics of ASD including selected personal activities of daily living with which children with ASD may have difficulties. The following chapters are about the basic principles of occupational therapy including the description of activity analysis, which is one of the important evaluation methods in occupational therapy. Furthermore the history and the basic characteristics of applied behavioral analysis (ABA) is described focusing on activity analysis used in the ABA program. The next chapter describes the common areas of both professions including shared elements and therapeutic approaches. The last chapter is devoted to the description of the interprofessional cooperation of an occupational therapy and a behavioral analyst. The practical part consists of 3 descriptive case studies in which an occupational therapist and a behavioral analyst performed a task analysis...

This study aims to contribute with increased knowledge about how teaching and learning environment can be designed to increase the conditions for children with autism to achieve the knowledge requirements for reading comprehension in Swedish grade 3, by examining how some elementary teachers describe that they adapt method and environment for students with autism. Theoretical framework consists of Rogoff's socio-cultural theory that all learning can be analyzed through three different lenses: the cultural, the interpersonal and the individual, which together provide a holistic view of learning. Additional key concepts are scaffolding, mediation, the proximal development zone and appropriation. The study is based on a qualitative approach and the basis for data collection is written questionnaires combined with a focus group. The focus group discussion was recorded and transcribed. Transcription and questionnaire responses were analyzed using a thematic analysis model. The results show that it is required that the teacher has knowledge of autism, and that there are organizational conditions, for students with autism to be able to receive support and adaptations that correspond to the student's needs. Adaptations regarding the learning environment that are highlighted in the results are screens in the classroom, ear protectors, image support, schedules on the bench and at the board, support for time perception, active work with energy regulation, and digital aids. Teaching methods for increased reading comprehension ability that are lifted are to stop when reading and discuss, to think aloud, use image support, create pre-understanding in the student, and to give the student reading comprehension tools. In addition to adaptations in the learning environment and teaching, a need for support in social contexts for students with autism is also raised, and the importance of all adjustments being made in a way that does not have stigmatizing effects. / Denna studie syftar till att bidra med ökad kunskap kring hur undervisning och lärandemiljö kan utformas för att öka förutsättningarna för barn med autism att uppnå kunskapskraven för läsförståelse i svenska årskurs 3, genom att undersöka hur några grundlärare beskriver att de anpassar metod och miljö för elever med autism. Teoretiskt ramverk utgörs av Rogoffs sociokulturella teori om att allt lärande går att analysera genom tre olika linser: den kulturella, den mellanmänskliga och den individuella, som tillsammans ger en helhetssyn på lärande. Ytterligare centrala begrepp är scaffolding, mediering, den proximala utvecklingszonen och appropriering. Studien bygger på kvalitativ ansats och som grund för datainsamling ligger skriftliga enkäter tillsammans med en fokusgrupp. Fokusgruppens diskussion spelades in och transkriberades. Transkribering och enkätsvar analyserades genom en tematisk analysmodell. Resultatet visar att det krävs att läraren har kunskap om autism och att det finns organisatoriska förutsättningar för att elever med autism ska kunna få stöttning och anpassningar som motsvarar elevens behov. Anpassningar gällande lärmiljön som lyfts i resultatet är skärmar i klassrummet, hörselkåpor, bildstöd, scheman på bänken och vid tavlan, stöd för tidsuppfattning, aktivt arbete med energireglering, samt digitala hjälpmedel. Undervisningsmetoder för ökad läsförståelseförmåga som lyfts är att stanna upp vid läsning och diskutera, att tänka högt, använda bildstöd, skapa förförståelse hos eleven, samt att ge eleven läsförståelseverktyg. Utöver anpassningar i lärmiljö och undervisning lyfts även ett stödbehov i sociala sammanhang för elever med autism, samt vikten av att alla anpassningar görs på ett sätt som inte får stigmatiserande effekter.

Bakgrund: Förekomsten av barn med autismspektrumtillstånd (AST) ökar i världen. AST är enneuropsykiatrisk funktionsnedsättning som kan visa sig genom sociala kommunikationssvårigheter och begränsade sociala färdigheter. Forskning visar att barn med AST och deras familjer upplever att vårdmiljön och kommunikationen inte anpassas till diagnosen och barnsjuksköterskor känner enosäkerhet kring hur de ska vårda dessa barn utifrån de svårigheter som diagnosen medför.Syfte: Syftet med studien var att beskriva barnsjuksköterskors erfarenheter av att vårda barn med ASTpå en barnklinik.Metod: En kvalitativ metod med induktiv ansats tillämpades. Datainsamling skedde genom trefokusgruppsintervjuer med totalt 12 deltagare och data bearbetades och analyserades med kvalitativinnehållsanalys på manifest nivå.Resultat: Tre generiska kategorier och sju subkategorier framkom ur resultatet. De generiska kategorierna bestod av betydelsen av att utföra personcentrerad omvårdnad, betydelsen avföräldrarnas roll i omvårdnaden och betydelsen av barnsjuksköterskans professionella kompetens. Barnsjuksköterskorna beskrev behov av ny kunskap och mer utbildning, vikten av att se föräldrarna som de främsta experterna, behovet av hjälpmedel samt miljöns utformning i vården av barn med AST.Slutsats: Denna studie visar att det finns en kunskapsbrist och ett behov av att barnsjuksköterskor fåren utökad kunskap kring barn med AST. Det finns en stor osäkerhet i hur vården ska utformas ochföräldrarna anses vara det bästa stödet i utformningen av vården. / Background: The prevalence of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is increasing worldwide. ASD is a neuropsychiatric disorder that can be characterized by difficulties in socialinteraction and limited social skills. Research shows that children with AST and their families feel thatthe health facility environmentand the communications are not adapted to the diagnosis and nurses feeluncertain about how to care for these children based on the difficulties that the diagnosis entails.Aim: The purpose was to describe paediatric nurses' experience of caring for children with ASD in apediatric clinic.Method: Qualitative content analysis with inductive approach was applied. Data was collected through three focus group interviews with twelve participants and data were processed and analyzed withqualitative content analysis at a manifest level.Results: Presented in three different generic categories and seven subcategories. The importance ofperforming person-centered care, the importance of parents in care and the importance of the pediatricnurses professional competence. The pediatric nurses described the need for new knowledge and moreeducation, the importance of seeing parents as an expert and help to design the environment in the careof children with ASD.Conclusion: This study shows that there is a lack of knowledge and a need for pediatric nurses to gainincreased knowledge about children with ASD. There is a great deal of uncertainty in how care is to bedesigned and parents are considered to be the best support in the design of care.

Although every society member should be offered an equal chance to participate in working life, individuals with high-functioning autism encounter many barriers. Here, assistive technologies using AI and robotics can provide new possibilities to create accessibility and inclusion. This thesis followed the methodology of user-centred design by performing an online survey with 48 autistic professionals to understand their current work experiences and attitudes towards AI- and robotics-based assistive technologies. Based on the survey findings, neurotypical participants from different educational backgrounds ideated in workshops novel technological solutions. The survey results indicate that autistic professionals are open to AI and robotics to overcome, among others, barriers of sensory overload resulting from sounds and many simultaneous social interactions. Thus, the ideas of headphones using personalisation to cancel specific noises and a device summarising conversation content from team meetings for the remotely located professional can be supportive. Finally, the research results can be a starting point for future design ambitions addressing autistic individuals in their work environments.

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