The purpose of this study was to determine if a summer camp utilizing academic and behavioral remediation programming could increase the academic achievement of children with autism spectrum disorders. Academic achievement was measured using the Wide Range Achievement Test-Fourth Edition (WRAT4; Wilkinson & Robertson, 2006) and an Informal Reading Inventory (IRI; Burns & Roe, 2002) in a sample of 21 children ranging from 6 years, 0 months to 13 years, 1 month prior to and after attending a summer camp for children with autism around a Midwestern city. Repeated measures MANOVAs were used to analyze WRAT4 and IRI assessment results. MANOVA results indicated there were no significant changes on any of the tests of the WRAT4 over time after a Bonferroni correction. MANOVA results further indicated there was no interaction between gender and time. A nonparametric sign test also was conducted to examine changes in the WRAT4 tests. Results of the nonparametric sign test did not reveal significant changes in the WRAT4 tests; however, the Sentence Comprehension test did approach significance. Although participants did not make statistical gains on the WRAT4, they also did not demonstrate a decline in academic skills as measured by the WRAT4. Participants demonstrated less consistent results on the word lists of the IRI as well as the passage comprehension component of the IRI. The number of children who declined or improved on the IRI overtime appeared to be random. A qualitative analysis of four participants selected based on age and gender did not reveal any hypotheses for the differences in performance on the IRI over time. Suggestions for future research include replicating the study with a larger sample, children with multicultural backgrounds, and controlling for the cognitive abilities of the participants. / Department of Educational Psychology

The Fagan Test of Infant Intelligence (FTII; Fagan, 1987), the Early Social Communication Scale (ESCS; Seibert et al., 1982) and the Test of Orienting Preferences (TOP), an attention task designed for this study, were used to examine social versus nonsocial attention in children with autism and developmental disorders (n = 18). The Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS; Schopler, Reichler, & Renner, 1986) was used as a continuous diagnostic measure in order to correlate performance on the measures with the severity of autism. On the FTII, as autistic symptomatology increased, the percent of time a child oriented to novel stimuli in both immediate and delayed conditions also increased. On the ESCS, as autistic symptomatology increased, joint attention behaviors decreased. Comparing the ESCS and the FTII indicated that as joint attention behaviors decreased, selective attention to novelty increased. With respect to the new attention measure, children with typical development oriented more than 85% of the time to all stimuli, whereas children with more features of autism oriented less frequently to social and auditory stimuli, and were slower to orient to auditory stimuli. The findings represent preliminary behavioral evidence for a social attention deficit in children with autism. The implications for these findings are discussed.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Virginia Commonwealth University, 2007. / Prepared for: School of Education. Bibliography: leaves 155-184. Available online via the Internet.

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 154-191) Also available in print.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of North Texas, May, 2008. / Title from title page display. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (B.Sc)--University of Hong Kong, 2005. / "A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Bachelor of Science (Speech and Hearing Sciences), The University of Hong Kong, June 30, 2005." Also available in print.

Thesis (Specialist in School Psychology)--Eastern Illinois University, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 35-36).

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Washington, 2004. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 172-181).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 217-233).

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1993. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 122-131).