O Transtorno do Espectro do Autismo (TEA) inclui um conjunto de sintomas, tais como dificuldade para sustentar contato visual direto e comprometimento da linguagem. Apesar da Terapia Assistida Por Animais (TAA) com cães ser considerada uma modalidade terapêutica eficaz para promover o desenvolvimento de pessoas com TEA, ainda não são se sabe quais características dos cães possibilitam alcançar sucesso na terapia. Esta análise quantitativa tem como objetivo verificar o impacto de abordagens laterais e frontais de cães e humanos nas expressões emocionais de alegria e rejeição de crianças com TEA. Através da análise de vídeos de TAA, foram mensuradas duração e frequência das abordagens laterais e frontais de cães e humanos dirigidas às crianças para comparar possíveis diferenças entre ambos e também para verificar se a abordagem escolhida afetava o tipo de expressão emocional exibida pela criança. Os participantes deste projeto foram 11 crianças, 8 do sexo masculino e 3 do sexo feminino, entre 5 e 11 anos. Seis crianças foram atendidas por uma psicóloga, uma condutora e um Border Collie. O segundo grupo era composto pela mesma psicóloga, uma condutora e uma Golden Retriever. Escalas de avaliação foram aplicadas para confirmar o diagnóstico de TEA. Os cães foram previamente avaliados e treinados por uma instituição que atua na área de TAA. Cinco minutos de 8 sessões foram analisadas: um bloco de seis sessões com o cão, uma sessão anterior e uma sessão posterior a este bloco. Para verificar possíveis diferenças temperamentais entre cães, o C-barq (Canine Behavioral Assesment & Research Questionnaire) foi aplicado para analisar o temperamento de ambos. Embora esta análise tenha demonstrado diferenças em relação às categorias busca de atenção e nível de energia dos cães, não foram verificadas diferenças estatísticas entre os cães, em relação às variáveis analisadas neste estudo. Na comparação entre cães e humanos, os cães foram mais efetivos para conseguir expressões de alegria independentemente do tipo de abordagem escolhida. Comparando-se o tempo de abordagem de cães e humanos até obterem expressão emocional das crianças, observou-se uma importante diferença estatística. Os resultados sugerem que os cães exibiram menor latência que humanos para todas expressões emocionais analisadas: alegria (2= 7,312, p=0,007), de rejeição (2= 11,277, p-0,001) e neutras (2=9,097, p=0,043). Além disso, os resultados sugerem que, no contexto da TAA, não há relação entre abordagem lateral ou frontal e expressões de alegria, rejeição ou neutras de crianças com TEA. As expressões de alegria foram mais frequentes diante das abordagens laterais dos cães do que das abordagens frontais, no entanto não foi verificada significância estatística. Em relação aos humanos também não foi verificada preferência por uma abordagem especifica. Assim, os resultados sugerem que a latência para a exibição de uma expressão emocional das crianças depende mais de quem aborda do que do posicionamento lateral ou frontal quando a abordagem é realizada / Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) includes a range of symptoms such as failure to maintain direct eye contact and impaired language. Although the Animal-Assisted Therapy (AAT) is considered a potential therapy to promote development in people with ASD, it´s still unknown which specific characteristics of dogs lead to a successful therapy. This quantitative analysis aims to measure the impact of lateral and frontal approaches from dogs and humans into joy and rejection emotional expressions displayed by children with ASD. Through video´s analysis, frequencies and durations of lateral and frontal approaches from humans and dogs to children were quantified in order to compare potential differences between both and analyze the effect of the chosen approach in emotional expression display. Participated in this project 11 children, 8 males and 3 females, from 5 to 11 years old. They were divided in two groups. A psychologist, a conductor and a border collie attended six of them. The second group was composed by 5 children attended by the same psychologist, a conductor and a golden retriever. Specifics evaluation scales were applied to confirm children´s diagnosis. An institution that works in the AAT area had previously evaluated and trained both dogs. Parents signed a free-consent term before the beginning of the study. Five minutes within 8 sessions were analyzed: 6 sessions with dog´s presence, the session before and the one subsequent this block of sessions. In order to analyze potential temperamental differences between dogs, C-barq (Canine Behavioral Assessment & Research Questionnaire) was applied to check the dogs temperament. The C-barq results showed differences related to the categories search of attention and energy level of the dogs. However, the test did not indicate statistical differences on the measurement of variables linked to this study. Dogs were better than humans to get joy expressions independently on the chosen approach. A significant statistical difference was observed in the comparison of how long dogs and humans spent in approaches until they got an emotional expression from children. The results suggest that dogs showed shorter latency than humans on all analyzed emotional expressions: joy (2= 7.312, p=0.007), rejection (2= 11.277, p-0.001) and neutral (2=9.097, p=0.043) expressions. Moreover, the results suggest no link between lateral or frontal approach and specific expression of emotions in children with ASD in the context of AAT. Expressions of joy were more frequent after lateral than frontal dog´s approach, however no statistically significant difference was found. No approach preference was found in humans. Thus, results suggest that latency to emotional behavior from children depends more on who approaches than on position lateral or frontal when the approach happens

Psykisk ohälsa, som ångest och depression, är vanligt inom autismspektrumtillstånd (AST). Syftet i studien var att undersöka effekten av stress, självkänsla och copingstrategier på den psykiska ohälsan. Stickprovet bestod av 123 vuxna personer med AST och en kontrollgrupp utan diagnoser (n= 115). Enligt oberoende t-test hade personer inom AST statistiskt signifikant högre grad av både ångest och depression. Båda grupperna hade förhöjda nivåer på ångest. AST-gruppen hade även förhöjd nivå på depression. Socialventilering var emellertid en skyddsfaktor för utveckling av depression i båda grupperna. AST-gruppen hade statistiskt signifikant lägre självkänsla och högre grad av upplevd stress än kontrollgruppen. AST-gruppen hade en sämre förmåga till problemlösande coping och positiv omtolkning. AST-gruppen hade även statistiskt signifikant högre grad av affektiv hantering och förnekande. / Mental health difficulties like anxiety and depression are highly prevalent among individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The aim of the study was to examine the effects of stress, self-esteem and coping strategies on mental health difficulties. The ASD group consisted of 123 individuals and 115 persons without diagnoses. According to the independet t-test, people within ASD had statistically significantly higher degrees of both anxiety and depression Both groups had elevated levels of anxiety. The ASD group had also elevated degrees of depression. Social venting was a preventive factor against developing depression in both groups. The ASD group had lower self-esteem and higher perceived stress compared to the control group. The ASD group had statistically significantly higher levels of affective coping and denial. The ASD group had also less degrees of problem solving and positive reinterpretation compared to the control group.

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The prevalence of autism in the United States is 1 in 68 children. African American children are less likely to receive advance testing to confirm the diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome (AS) compared to other ethnic groups. The purpose of this study was to determine if demographic factors (parental education level, family annual income, marital status of custodial parent(s), parent ethnicity, number of children in home, other children with disability, family location, mother age at time of birth, gender of child, birth status of child, adoption status and age, child order, and other disability) have any predictive relationship to AS diagnosis among African American children in the Washington Metropolitan area. A quantitative correlational study of a cross-sectional nature was conducted using a survey to collect data from parents of children age 3-16 (n= 187) who may or may not have a confirmed autism diagnosis. Bronfenbrenner's ecological theory provided an understanding of how environmental factors may be related to a diagnosis of AS. Chi-square analyses were conducted and statistically significant higher frequencies of diagnosis were found in parents with no other child with a disability, later born children, and parents who have been married. Logistic regressions analysis resulted in parental marital status being found to be a statistically significant predictor of a child having an official AS diagnosis. There is a critical need to train health care professionals working in underserved communities where minority groups may reside about AS. Results from this study may provide information to develop policies, community-based services, and programs that ensure that children can receive an accurate AS diagnosis regardless of factors such as race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status.

One in 59 children is identified as having an Autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) mandates that students with disabilities be educated in the general education setting with typical peers to the maximum extent possible. This practice of inclusion has led to increased social-isolation and peer rejection among students with ASD. Research suggests inclusion alone without implementing peer intervention training is ineffective in fostering positive interactions between students with ASD and their typical peers. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to contribute to the literature by evaluating a peer educational intervention designed to promote positive peer relations among students with ASD, as well as, examine the effects of a peer educational intervention on typical peers’ perceived level of self-efficacy in interacting with students with ASD.

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) think and understand social contexts primarily from a visual stand point. Feelings of being present in their social environment are a key component to their development (Strickland, Marcus, Mesibov, & Hogan, 1996). A virtual reality environment (VRE) can provide a therapeutic setting for children with ASD to learn social skills (Ehrlich & Munger, 2012). In the present research, a pilot study was used to assess the validity of a Second Life VRE developed by the researcher (Markopoulos, 2016b) by comparing the VRE to a real life film by The National Autistic Society (2016) in the United Kingdom. Feedback from the pilot study was used to make revisions to the VRE. The validated virtual reality therapy environment (VRTE) was used in the main research study. Twenty-eight Louisiana mental health practitioners’ perceptions of the VRTE were assessed using two random order conditions. Condition A required participation in the VRTE twice, first using a laptop computer only and then using the laptop with the new 2016 Oculus Rift head-mounted display (HMD, Oculus VR, LLC, 2016). Condition B required participation in the VRTE twice, first using a laptop with the new 2016 Oculus Rift HMD and then using a Laptop alone. Four out of eight subscales from the Temple Presence Inventory (TPI) (Lombard, Weinstein, & Ditton, 2011) were used to assess practitioners’ perceptions of presence in the VRTE. Results of a repeated-measures MANOVA showed that the order of the conditions were not significantly different. Additionally, participants’ TPI total and subscales scores were significantly higher when using the HMD than when using the Laptop, as well as their likelihood of using the HMD with children diagnosed with ASD than using the Laptop. All of the correlations for participants’ age and experience with technology were insignificant except for the subscale III, engagement was significant for participants’ age. Keywords: Autism spectrum disorder, therapy, virtual reality environment, head-mounted display, temple presence inventory, presence