Children with ASD are characterized by impairments in socialization and communication, as well as by the presence of repetitive behaviours and limited interests. Their impairment often influences their participation in everyday ac-tivities and by extension their social engagement in playful activities with their peers is affected. Researches set play as the leading activity for a child’s development, because it is identified as the means that can deliver various mental tools and teaching strategies to preschoolers. Purpose of this systematic literature review is to identify play interven-tions that describe the procedures aiming in promoting the social engagement of preschoolers with autism. This review will also examine the people that implemented these interventions, in order to provide information and guid-ance for all professionals and educators that may need them. Search in the three databases, ERIC, CINAHL and PsychINFO was performed. Seven articles were found to meet all criteria and were divided based on the similarities on the design and the procedures that were followed. The results of the study led to three play interventions that used the ASAP and JASPER intervention programs in order to examine the social communication of children with autism leading to their social engagement. The remaining findings resulted in four different kind of interventions that use play as the context for either increasing social engagement or promoting engagement of students with ASD with their peers. These interventions include auditory, dance and video modelling interventions. The Zone of Proximal Development was used as the theoretical framework to support the ideas mentioned, since it points out the role of play in the child’s development. However, this study highlights the need for further investigation regarding the pro-motion of social engagement of preschoolers with ASD. The level of the social engagement of children with ASD are rarely investigated in the natural context of schools during their everyday peer-to-peer play interactions.

Bakgrund: Autismspektrumtillstånd är en komplex neuroutvecklingsstörning och är ett samlingsnamn för tillstånd som innebär en begränsning i barnens utveckling gällande en ömsesidig kommunikation, intressen och socialt samspel. Familjer till barn med autismspektrumtillstånd kan uppleva oro och stress när de behöver söka vård. Syfte: Syftet med litteraturstudien var att beskriva hur familjer med barn som har autismspektrumtillstånd upplever vården. Metod: En allmän litteraturstudie baserad på 13 vetenskapliga artiklar. Resultat: Tre teman framkom: Upplevelser av vårdpersonalens bemötande, Upplevelser av kommunikationen med vårdpersonal och Upplevelser av vårdpersonalens kunskap. Resultatet visade att vårdpersonalen inte individanpassade bemötandet utifrån barnets unika behov utan vårdpersonalen borde använda föräldrarna som experter. När kommunikationen med vårdpersonalen upplevdes försämrad fick föräldrarna på egen hand hantera sina egna och barnets känslor. En tydlig kommunikation var en förutsättning för att föräldrarna skulle uppleva stöd i mötet med vården. Konklusion: Familjen behöver få en individanpassad vård, detta tillgodosågs inte då familjerna upplever att vårdpersonalen hade en bristande kunskap och förståelse. Till följd av en bristande kunskap var kommunikation och stöd två viktiga faktorer som inte kunde tillgodoses. / Background: Autism spectrum disorder is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder and it is also a collective name for conditions that involves a restriction of the persons development of mutual communication skills and their interest in social interactions. Families of children with autism spectrum disorder can often experience anxiety and stress concerning when they need to seek care Purpose: The purpose of the literature study was to describe how families with children who have autism spectrum disorder experience the interactions with healthcare. Method: A general literature study based on 13 scientific articles. Results: Three themes emerged: The experiences of healthcare professionals treatment, The experiences of communication with health care professionals and The experiences of healthcare staff´s knowledge. The results showed that the care professionals did not personalized the treatment based on the child´s unique needs, instead the health care professionals needed to recognize the parents as experts. When communication skills did not work, the parents had to manage their own and the child´s feelings. Clear communication was a prerequisite for parents to experience support in the meeting with the care. Conclusion: The family needed to receive personalized care, this was not taken into account as the families felt that the health care professionals had a lack of knowledge and understanding. As a result of a lack of knowledge, communication and support were two important factors that could not be met.

Receptive and expressive language difficulties are some of the core challenges facing children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Emerging research suggests that for children with ASD receptive language is more impaired than expressive language. Specifically, abstract concepts like prepositions, are challenging for them. Aided augmented input has been shown to be an effective means of facilitating understanding in some children with ASD, however the amount of aided augmented input required to ensure effective understanding has not been determined. The aim of this study was to measure and compare the participants’ ability to follow instructions containing prepositions, under two conditions of aided augmented input. A with-in subject research design, involving 17 participants with ASD, was used to measure the accuracy of responses to instructions containing prepositions. Each participant was presented with 12 instructions. Half of the instructions were provided with 25% aided augmented input (prepositions only) referred to as Condition A, and the other half were presented with 75% aided augmented input (subject, preposition and location) referred to as Condition B. Their responses to the instructions were recorded and analyzed. Results suggest that there was no statistical difference between the two conditions of aided augmented input. Eight participants responded better under Condition A and five participants responded better under Condition B. Four participants responded equally under both conditions. The findings suggest that some participants may benefit from more aided augmented input and some from less aided augmented input. There is need for additional studies to determine the conditions of aided augmented input needed for the effective understanding of instructions containing prepositions and factors affecting the outcome. / Mini Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2019. / Centre for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (CAAC) / MA / Unrestricted

This mini-dissertation aims to explore the daily realities faced by caregivers of children with autism spectrum disorder and the implications thereof on the use of a cell phone application that can assist in easing the tension between the need for support and the lack of resources to secure that support whenever necessary. Bronfenbrenner’s bio-ecological systems theory, in addition to the assets-based approach, forms the basis on which the study is conceptualised. Using a qualitative approach, a case study research design was used to select the participant by means of purposive sampling. The research participant used the application that was selected for a period of ten days, after which a semi-structured interview was conducted as the primary mode of data collection. The data were then analysed, using inductive thematic analysis, after which themes and subthemes were derived. The findings of the study indicated that the research participant faces a meaningful lack of financial support and social support, and that the cell phone application was seen as a useful tool for supporting her child in spite of this. The study contributed to expanding the current research body on this topic. A major limitation was the sample size of the study being too small for the results to be generalised. Recommendations include that cell phone applications be designed with users’ cultural and language preferences in mind and that more studies of this nature be done. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2019. / Educational Psychology / MEd / Unrestricted

INTRODUCTION: The process of sensorimotor gating is a neurological phenomenon referring to the brain’s ability to process and filter out stimuli in order to prevent an overflow of information. This phenomenon can be operationally measured by prepulse inhibition, which is the attenuation of a stimulus-induced startle response by introducing a milder preceding stimulus. Studies have shown that impairment of prepulse inhibition (PPI) has been correlated with diseases such as schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorder. Many brain areas, including the superior colliculus (SC), inferior colliculus (IC), mediodorsal thalamus (MD), basolateral amygdala (BLA), anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), and ventral hippocampus (VHPC), have been implicated in playing important roles in prepulse inhibition. While many studies have implicated GABA-A receptors in playing a role in PPI regulation, little work has been done on GABA-B receptors. An established rat model with induced prepulse inhibition impairment was used in this study. PPI impairment was induced via injection of the glutamate receptor antagonist dizocilpine. A subgroup of rats was also treated with the antihistamine pyrilamine to reverse the effects of dizocilpine. OBJECTIVES: The aims of this study are to: 1. Expand the understanding of prepulse inhibition in the context of neurological and developmental diseases such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and schizophrenia; 2. Identify potential significant differences within GABA-B receptor densities in the rat SC, IC, MD, BLA, ACC, or VHPC between treatment groups with and without dizocilpine and groups with and without pyrilamine. METHODS: Histological brain slides harvested from 36 Sprague-Dawley rats were provided by Dr. Edward Levin from Duke University’s Neurobehavioral Research Lab for this study. The brain slides were incubated in a radioligand solution specific for GABA-B receptors and exposed to autoradiograph film for approximately 12 weeks. The films were developed in a dark room and scanned electronically. GABA-B receptor densities were measured from the images and the data was analyzed using ANOVA and independent T tests. RESULTS: ANOVA testing revealed significant differences between treatment groups in the MD and VHPC. However, only the MD was found to have significant GABA-B receptor differences when comparing the dizocilpine and pyrilamine treatment groups to the control group. The VHPC was found to have significant differences in GABA-B receptor densities when directly comparing the dizocilpine group to the pyrilamine treatment group, rather than to the control group. There were no significant differences in GABA-B receptor densities as a result of either dizocilpine or pyrilamine treatment in the SC, IC, BLA, ACC, or VHPC. CONCLUSION: Changes in GABA-B receptor levels appear to play a role in both the impairment and rescue of PPI in the rat MD. It does not appear to play a role in the SC, IC, BLA, ACC, or VHPC for either the impairment or rescue of PPI function.

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty Of Education in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Masters in Educational Psychology in the Department of Educational Psychology & Special Needs Education at the University Of Zululand, 2018 / The study sought to explore and examine experiences of parents with regard to the education of their autistic children in special schools. Previous studies in this area looked at the inclusion of autistic children and focused on educators’ attitudes or perceptions. Thus this study intended to get parents’ perspectives, their ideas and views about the education of their children with autism spectrum disorder in special schools. To find out if they are satisfied, and explore what seem to be the concerns and challenges, the study adopted a qualitative case study design. Data were generated from nine mothers who had children attending special schools. They were purposively sampled from three special schools for children with intellectual impairment. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with mothers regarding their views and concerns about the education of their autistic children. A thematic content analysis was used to extract common themes from the collected data. Major findings were that most parents were happy and satisfied with the education of their children, though some lacked understanding and thorough knowledge about autism and special education. Parents raised concerns about lack of therapists in special schools when their ASD children need the intervention of speech and language therapists and occupational therapists. It was also found that parents struggle to access preprimary education for their children. It is recommended that special schools create forums where parents have a platform to voice their opinions and concerns. In conclusion, the study was able to give insight into parents’ experiences, views and concerns with regard to the education of autistic children. Knowing parents’ concerns and opinions may help improve the provision of education for autistic children. With the recent release of the Draft on National Strategy for Autism (September, 2017), perhaps parents’ hope for improvement in provision of education for autistic children might be realized

Children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are challenged with communicative skills, which can negatively influence their emotional development. As children with ASD in the local school were not demonstrating functional communication skills as measured by the Assessment of Social Skills for Children with Autism (ASSCM), music therapy was introduced as remediation. The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which music therapy increased the ASSCM scores. This single subject design study was guided by Bronfenbrenner's ecological theory, which holds that individuals are impacted by various environmental systems around them. The research question addressed the extent to which 9 weeks of music therapy increased ASSCM scores of 6 children with ASD that participated in weekly music therapy. The deidentified secondary data showed initial ASSCM scores were 32 on a scale from 30 to 90. The scores of the 6 students that attended the weekly music therapy increased by 36 points. The Percentage of Data Points Exceeding the Median (PEM) effect size used in single subject studies to determine potential statistically significant performance improvement over time was 100%, meaning that all students exceeded the median pretest score. A professional development program was designed to assist the school district's special education teachers in the use of music therapy. Positive social change implications may include the ability for children with ASD to communicate with their peers and hence, integrating them into the classroom and school environment. After all, school is not only about learning academic subjects but an opportunity to interact and function in a social setting, increasing the social and emotional well-being of children.

Mothers who have children with a previous Asperger's syndrome diagnosis had to go through a process to maintain or obtain services for their child when the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Health Disorders (DSM-5) removed the diagnosis. Prior to and since the release of the DSM-5 in 2013, there has been an expression of concern in the literature about how this diagnostic change would affect services for children with a previous Asperger's syndrome diagnosis. Current research has not sufficiently explored the experiences mothers have had with this process. The purpose of this hermeneutical phenomenological study was to explore the experiences of mothers since this diagnostic change. Data were collected and saturation was reached at 6 participants using semistructured interviews. Interpretive phenomenological analysis was used to interpret the experiences of these mothers which produced 3 main themes related to the process of obtaining a new diagnosis, insurance-funded services, and educationally-funded services. The results included both subthemes and superordinate themes that highlighted the need for more stakeholder education, difficulty navigating systems, the need for advocacy, concerns about new diagnoses and loss of services, and the public's perception and the stigma associated with the Asperger's syndrome diagnosis both before and after this diagnostic change. Study results may assist with improving counselors and other stakeholder's knowledge about the importance of the mothers' experiences when there is a diagnostic change of this nature. Also, counselor educators can instill the importance of diagnostic accuracy and supporting all stakeholders when teaching new counselors.

A lack of knowledge about individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can create stereotypes, which serve as barriers to interaction. Television is a component in the development of social attitudes in teenagers. Using social learning theory as a framework, the purpose of this quantitative 2-group, posttest only, experimental design was to determine whether observational learning could be effective in generating positive teen attitudes toward peers with ASD. Senior high school students (N = 130) completed the Attitude Toward Disabled Persons (ATDP) Survey to determine whether observing a video clip can positively affect the attitudes of teens about their peers with ASD. A t test for independent sample groups was used to compare mean scores on the ATDP. According to study findings, 18-year-old students who watched a video clip of a panel of teens with ASD had more positive attitude scores (M = 74.91, SD = 8.4) than did the 18-year-old students who watched an innocuous video clip (M = 48.57, SD = 9.1), t (128) = 17.14, p < .0001. This finding was in alignment with the research on the impact of media on teen attitudes. The media representation of persons with disabilities may facilitate social change by helping to reduce negative stereotypes and to promote positive attitudes about person with specific disabilities. Positive attitudes toward teens with ASD can lead to positive social interactions between teens with and without ASD. In addition, this research may produce social change by fostering social experiences and opportunities for teens with ASD to learn social behaviors and social language by modeling their typical peers.

Objectives: This study compares wearing time for four months after receiving a new spectacle correction in subjects within Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) population to typically developing (TD) children and adolescents age 9 to 17 years old. Methods: Children and adolescents who were ASD or TD were enrolled from subjects recruited from another pilot study focused on eye examination testing for children and adolescents with ASD. A psychologist determined group status/ eligibility using American Psychiatric Association Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition-Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR) criteria after review of previous evaluations and parent report of symptomology on the Social Communication Questionnaire. Parents provided the subject's age, level of parent education, gender, race, ethnicity and urbanization level. Parents completed a telephone survey at 1, 2, 4, 8, 12, and 16 weeks after the child received their spectacles. The survey asked questions about wearing time, willingness to wear spectacles and amount of prompting required. Data was analyzed to determine if there were differences between the ASD and TD group. Results: 22 subjects were enrolled who met review criteria for ASD or TD group and needed refractive correction. No significant difference was found between ASD and TD wearing time (p > 0.05). Age, gender, ethnicity, level of parent education, urbanization level and grade in school did not demonstrate differences in adaptation between the TD and ASD groups. Conclusions: Parental reports of wearing time and resistant behavior demonstrate that children and adolescents with ASD adapt to spectacle wear for significant refractive error similarly to typical children and adolescents.