Training siblings as change agents for children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) has been shown to be beneficial in teaching a sibling to teach their brother or sister. There are very few interventions, however, that explore the range of effects that targeting particular skills has on sibling interactions. The purpose of this study was to assess the direct and collateral effects of training behavioral teaching techniques to a typically developing sibling. Four experimental conditions were assessed: baseline, sibling teaching toy play, baseline, and sibling teaching social play. Across all conditions, measures of teaching components and siblings' interactions were assessed. Results of the assessment showed that the sibling was an effective change agent and that more favorable interaction and engagement occurred when social play skills were taught. The results of this sibling intervention and guidelines for condition changes are discussed in terms of sibling relationships.

Social deficits are one of the defining symptoms of autism spectrum disorder and affect a child’s ability to build relationships with others. These deficits put children with autism at a disadvantage when most of their world is focused on building connections with others – family, friendships, and community ties. Sunny Starts, a service-learning project, was created to specifically meet the needs of families with young toddlers with autism. The primary focus of Sunny Starts is to enhance the quality of the parent-child relationship by teaching parents a basic teaching interaction and to arrange the child’s environment in ways that are mutually reinforcing. The purpose of this experiment is to study the effects of the Sunny Starts DANCE training package, a responsive parent training program, on three levels of parent and child behaviors: 1) teaching episodes, 2) turn taking, social attending, vocal requests, and 3) synchronous engagement. Participants included two parent-child dyads. Parent training included 5-minute video assessments, video review, descriptions, rationales, modeling, practice, and feedback. The effects of the parent training were evaluated using a concurrent multiple baseline across participants. Results indicate parent teaching episodes and child behaviors (turn taking, social attending, and verbal requests) increased during the intervention phase. The duration of parent-child synchronous engagement maintained at high levels and slightly increased.

The motivation of the study was to explore the problems of families in South Africa who struggle to manage their children with autism and to find out whether they were receiving appropriate assistance. This was done by assessing the needs of the parents of children with autism by means of semi-structured interviews. Through these interviews, the parents were given the opportunity to express what information or recommendations they would like to have available to them. How the parents view their experience, their feelings about these experiences, and the strategies and actions that they take in order to cope with raising their child with autism, is important information. The aim of the study was to explore the problems South African families have so that this may form the base of information supplied to professionals such as psychologists, social workers, and educators thereby assisting in improving service delivery to parents of children with autism. / Social Work / M.Diac. (Play Therapy)

The focus of this qualitative study is the way siblings of children with autism experience their nuclear family. Five participants in their middle childhood (6 to 12 years), with a younger sibling with autism, participated in the study. Individual unstructured interviews were conducted with all participants to describe their experience of their family. The interviews were, with the consent of the parents and children, video-recorded and transcribed. Eight recurring themes were identified in the transcriptions and studied relative to the existing literature. True to the qualitative nature of this study, the aim was not to generalize the findings, but to give each of the participants the opportunity to tell his/her story. The result of this study is the detailed description of how siblings of children with autism experience their nuclear family. / Social Work / M.Diac.(Play Therapy)

Thesis (MA (Psychology))--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / The primary aim of this study was to identify the characteristics and resources that families possess that enable them to adapt successfully, and as such, be resilient despite the presence of an autistic child in the family. The study was rooted within the contextual framework of the Resilience Model of Adjustment and Adaptation of McCubbin, Thompson and McCubbin (1996). Self-report questionnaires were completed by the parents of 34 families whose children attend either the Alpha School for Autistic Learners, the Vera School for Autistic Learners, or the Special Needs Adapted Programme. The self-report questionnaires were based on the Resilience Model of Adjustment and Adaptation. In addition, families were required to complete a biographical questionnaire and an open-ended question relating to their experience of factors relating to adaptation. The results pointed towards the importance of resilience factors in adaptation. The most significant resilience factors identified in this study include higher socioeconomic status; social support; open and predictable patterns of communication; supportive family environment, including commitment and flexibility; family hardiness; internal and external coping strategies; a positive outlook; and family belief systems. The clinical utility of the study in facilitating adaptation lies in its ability to provide parents with confirmation of the value of their efforts to improve the quality of life of their autistic child, as well as the family, and in providing all those involved in helping the autistic child, albeit parents or professionals, with insight into ways of creating a family environment, which will enhance the well-being of the autistic child, without detriment to the total family system. Family resilience theory provides a relevant framework within which the process of adapting to an autistic child can be considered. By applying these theories to their specific crisis situation, families of autistic children can work towards identifying, as well as implementing those factors which will lead to better adaptation, and thus increased resilience.

Thesis (MEdPsych (Educational Psychology)--University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In this research voyage of discovery, we story the voices of me (the research inquirer), my family and a teacher about our experience with a young woman with Autism Spectrum Disorder – my youngest sister Leyna.1 This is our attempt to give Leyna and (dis)ability a voice. Their voices have been silenced from research for too long. I try to explain a narrative research lens as a foundation for this document – one that views autism not as a disorder, but as a difference that needs to be embraced. People often live their lives according to the problem stories they tell themselves, and do not see the alternative stories that surround them every day. On this voyage I therefore tell our story to document the inspirational experiences that people with autism bring about in the lives of those supporting them. Little research that focuses on alternative stories about autism has been done on a global scale. Moreover, little research has been done on autism specifically in the South African context. This thesis relates the stories of the people involved in caring for my sister with autism. It brings a message of hope and suggests possibilities for future research voyages about autism. 1 Pseudonym / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In hierdie navorsingsontdekkingsreis vertel ons 'n storie deur verskeie stemme te laat hoor: ek, die navorsingsondersoeker, my gesin en 'n onderwyseres vertel 'n storie oor ons ervaringe met 'n jong vrou met Outisme Spektrum Versteuring – my jongste suster Leyna.2 Hierdie is ons onderneming om vir Leyna en gestremdheid 'n stem te gee. Te veel stemme is al te lank deur navorsing stilgemaak. Ek probeer die narratiewe navorsingslens te verduidelik as 'n grondslag vir hierdie dokument – een wat outisme nie as 'n versteuring sien nie, maar eerder as 'n verskil wat aangegryp en gerespekteer moet word. Mense leef dikwels hul lewens uit op grond van die probleemgesentreerde stories wat hulle aan hulself vertel, en sien nie die alternatiewe stories raak wat hulle daagliks omsluit nie. In hierdie reis vertel ek dus ons storie om die inspirerende ervarings wat mense met outisme in die mense wat hulle ondersteun teweeg bring, te dokumenteer. Min navorsing wat op die alternatiewe stories oor outisme fokus is tot op hede op 'n globale skaal gedoen. Verder is daar nog min navorsing oor outisme spesifiek in die Suid-Afrikaanse konteks gedoen. Hierdie studie vertel die stories van die mense wat betrokke is in die versorging van my suster met outisme. Hiermee word 'n boodskap van hoop gebring en moontlikhede voorgestel vir toekomstige navorsingsreise oor outisme. 2 Skuilnaam is gebruik

Mothers and siblings of children with autism incur stressors that impact their well-being more adversely than mothers of children with ADHD or normally developing children. In Study 1, twenty-six mothers of children with autism (Group 1) were compared to 24 mothers of children with ADHD (Group 2) and 24 mothers with normally developing children (Group 3). All families included a normally developing child (ages 4 to 12). Measures to delineate levels of maternal functioning were administered. Results for Study 1 indicated that mothers of children with autism had higher levels of psychological symptomatology, higher parenting stress, poorer perceptions of their family environment and their ability to parent the siblings, and higher perceptions of internalized problems of the siblings than mothers with normally developing children. These findings support the literature stating that mothers of children with autism may experience increased levels of maternal stress. The reciprocal nature of the parent-child relationship suggests that parents should be involved in meeting the needs of siblings in these families. A subgroup of Group 1 mothers participated in a parent group that occurred simultaneously with a sibling group. Mothers were randomly assigned to participate in a parent/sibling group, a sibling only group, or a wait-list group. Intervention efficacy was assessed using Study 1 measures plus measures designed specifically for the intervention. Overall results of study 2 indicated that mothers in the deluxe intervention perceived their parenting of the siblings to have improved after the intervention when compared to the standard and wait-list groups. This suggested that concurrent mother/sibling intervention provided the mothers with beneficial information and contributed to their enhanced sense of competence about parenting the siblings. In addition, mothers in the deluxe intervention perceived their family environment and the behaviors of the sibling to get worse at post-intervention, but return to baseline over time. This suggests that the intervention may have initially brought some difficulties to the surface that were resolved over time. Results will be discussed with their implications for further research and clinical intervention.

The motivation of the study was to explore the problems of families in South Africa who struggle to manage their children with autism and to find out whether they were receiving appropriate assistance. This was done by assessing the needs of the parents of children with autism by means of semi-structured interviews. Through these interviews, the parents were given the opportunity to express what information or recommendations they would like to have available to them. How the parents view their experience, their feelings about these experiences, and the strategies and actions that they take in order to cope with raising their child with autism, is important information. The aim of the study was to explore the problems South African families have so that this may form the base of information supplied to professionals such as psychologists, social workers, and educators thereby assisting in improving service delivery to parents of children with autism. / Social Work / M.Diac. (Play Therapy)

The focus of this qualitative study is the way siblings of children with autism experience their nuclear family. Five participants in their middle childhood (6 to 12 years), with a younger sibling with autism, participated in the study. Individual unstructured interviews were conducted with all participants to describe their experience of their family. The interviews were, with the consent of the parents and children, video-recorded and transcribed. Eight recurring themes were identified in the transcriptions and studied relative to the existing literature. True to the qualitative nature of this study, the aim was not to generalize the findings, but to give each of the participants the opportunity to tell his/her story. The result of this study is the detailed description of how siblings of children with autism experience their nuclear family. / Social Work / M.Diac.(Play Therapy)

The purpose of this study compared the emotional closeness of 56 mothers of sons with autism to 57 mothers of typically-developing sons.