published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Educational Psychology / Master / Master of Social Sciences

No description available.

The purpose of the current investigation was to examine the effects of implementing a pictographic schedule within a currently structured swimming class consisting of individuals diagnosed with autism. Three boys (11 to 17 years) enrolled at a school for children with developmental disabilities served as participants. A time-series design was used to assess the effects of the pictographic activity schedules on the variables of time on-task, time off-task, and inappropriate response time in the activity setting, while rates of inappropriate behaviour were examined within the associated changeroom setting prior to and following the activity setting. The results indicated that activity schedules, when implemented in a physical activity setting, increase time on-task and decrease inappropriate response time in children with autism. In addition, when compared to periods of no schedule-use, activity schedules assisted in the reduction of rates of inappropriate behaviour within settings prior to and following activity sessions. Findings for the variable of time off-task yielded inconclusive results. The implications of these findings show the importance of visual activity schedules within all domains of education, including those involving physical activity.

The current study focused on whether an academic and behavioral remediation summer day camp increased the social skills of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). The camp implemented applied behavior analysis (ABA) to address behavior interfering with developing social skills and to increase appropriate social skills. Currently, few studies document the effectiveness of improving social skills at a summer camp program for children with ASDs. This study utilized a pre-post analysis for all participants to compare changes in social skills, as measured by the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) and the Home and Community Social Behavior Scales (HCSBS). The measures were completed by the mothers the week before the camp commenced and again during the last week of camp. Significant positive differences between pre- and post- camp response scores were found among social communication, social competence, and peer relations subscales. A significant negative difference was found on autistic mannerisms, antisocial behavior, and deviant/disruptive behavior subscales. This study suggests that an intensive summer camp program utilizing ABA can improve social skills in children with ASDs. / Department of Special Education

No description available.

No description available.

The movement skill abilities of fourteen children with autism were assessed on three movement tasks: the overhand throw, kick and horizontal jump. Skill level was assessed both quantitatively and qualitatively. Correlations were calculated to determine the relationship between these two measures on all skill items. / A Generalizability Analysis was conducted to determine the minimal conditions required to observe reliably the movement skills of children with autism. The conditions generalized in this study were observers and trials. / The results indicated that there was a significant relationship between quantitative and qualitative measures on the horizontal jump and the kick. A correlation of.37 was obtained for the overhand throw, but was not considered significant. Results of the generalizability analysis indicated that reliable results were obtained with one observer and one trial for all three skill items.

Motor planning was assessed by performance of 10 male children (age range 9-12 years) with ASD on a simple obstacle course of horizontal barriers. The primary measures of motor planning were acts of hesitation and hesitation time. These measures, along with executive functioning scores from the BRIEF, and measures of movement execution were correlated to assess the validity of this obstacle course. Results of these correlations supported the validity of the motor planning inferences from the performance of the obstacle course since motor planning correlated in the expected directions with the BRIEF scores and movement execution measures. Internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha) was sufficiently high to support the reliability of this obstacle course, with the item analysis providing direction for the most reliable barrier heights. Therefore, the use of this obstacle course task provides both valid inferences and reliable measures of motor planning, although further development is warranted.

Thesis (M.A.)--York University, 2006. Graduate Programme in Psychology. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 80-86). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:MR19653

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Tufts University, 2003. / Adviser: Calvin Gidney. Submitted to the Dept. of Child Development. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 60-64). Access restricted to members of the Tufts University community. Also available via the World Wide Web;