In this study the effectiveness of WatchMinderTM, a vibrating prompt watch, was examined as a component of a self-monitoring intervention package to help students with autism increase on-task behavior during independent seatwork. A multitude of literature since the 1970s has suggested that self-monitoring interventions are integral in increasing task engagement. Tactile prompting devices are a new aspect of self-monitoring interventions, and the limited research has shown that these unobtrusive devices are effective for providing feedback to monitor their behavior. Self-graphing is another component of self-monitoring interventions that has received little attention in the literature. However, many studies recognize the importance for individuals to be active participants in their educational programs by analyzing progress and being a part of the decision making process. This study assessed the use of WatchMinder and self-graphing on the on-task behavior of four elementary students with autism in the special education setting. / Lisa Finn. / Thesis (M.Ed.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2013. / Includes bibliography. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / System requirements: Adobe Reader.

I tested the effects of an observational intervention on observing responses, denial responses, and audience appropriate behaviors in 9 preschool children with developmental and language delays. The participants were 8 males and 1 female aged 3-5 years, who were selected from a preschool program that implemented a behavior analytic approach to all instruction. All participants had fluent listener and speaker repertoires and emitted mands, tacts, and sequelics with adults. The children were selected to participate because they displayed little to no awareness of, or interactions with their peers during free play and social settings. I conducted probes for a) peer observing responses, b) responses to denial of non-preferred stimuli being delivered to peers, c) social initiations to peers, d) responses to peers’ social initiations, and e) other socially appropriate behaviors. Pre-intervention probes showed that all participants emitted low peer observing responses in free play settings, and did not consistently initiate or reciprocate peer interactions across different social settings. Five out of nine participants emitted responses to denial prior to the intervention. The independent variable was an observational intervention using non-preferred stimuli and a denial condition that was used in prior studies to establish conditioned reinforcement by observation. The participant and peer confederate sat side-by-side at a table, and were separated by an opaque partition. They were both presented with a performance task. The participant observed the peer confederate receive the non-preferred stimuli but could not observe the peer’s responses to the task. The intervention continued until the participants emitted responses to denial of the non-preferred stimuli across two sessions. Post-intervention data suggest that peer observing responses in free play settings, as well as audience appropriate behaviors in social settings increased as a function of the observational intervention in 8 out of 9 participants. Responses to the denial of non-preferred stimuli delivered to a peer increased in 4 out of 4 participants who did not respond during pre-intervention probes.

No description available.

Excerpt: The social and emotional development of children and youth is of extreme importance for promoting a meaningful quality of life, both while in school and certainly beyond.

Thesis (M.A. (Clinical Psychology) --University of Limpopo, 2007 / Disruptive Behaviour Disorders are often associated with high rates of school drop outs, academic skills deficits and low achievement, drug abuse, low self esteem, depression, delinquency and incarceration. The main aim of the study was to establish whether children with DBDs are cognitively and/or neurologically impaired. The study investigated (1) whether children with DBDs show deficiencies in cognitive and motor functions and (2) whether gender and subtype influence cognitive and motor functions. Method: The sample of 137 children with DBDs (ADHD, ODD and CD) and those without a diagnosis of DBDs was drawn from children aged between 8 and 15 years. They were assessed using instruments that were selected to be measures of Executive Functions, cognitive functioning, and motor functions. The scores obtained from the administration of these measures were compared for significant differences between the DBD subtypes and a non-DBD control group as a possible function of gender. Results: The findings indicate that children with symptoms of DBDs performed poorer than the control group on all tests with the exception of the Digits backward. EF and motor impairments are associated with ADHD-C and ADHD-PI, and not with ADHD-HI, ODD and CD. Although among the DBDs, neuropsychological and cognitive impairments have been found to be severe in children with ADHD-PI and ADHD-C, the ADHD-C subtype showed qualitatively larger differences with the normal control group on most measures. There were no differences found between the genders in the performance on all tests that were administered. Conclusion Children of the ADHD-C and ADHD-PI subtypes are significantly more impaired on measures of Executive, cognitive and motor functions than those with ADHD-HI, ODD and CD and those without externalising disorders. However, the ADHD-C subtype found to be more severely impaired when compared with the ADHD-PI subtype.

Faculty of Education. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 243-286)

Includes vita. / Title from PDF of title page. / Document formatted into pages; contains 137 pages. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of South Florida, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references. / Text (Electronic thesis) in PDF format. / ABSTRACT: The researcher examined the relationships between tuberous sclerosis, a multi-system genetic disorder, and school functioning through the use of a parent questionnaire and behavior rating scale. Information was gathered on the typical school experiences of children with tuberous sclerosis, including educational placement and services, behavioral functioning, parent involvement, and parent satisfaction. The results indicated that the majority of students with tuberous sclerosis are in special education and receiving related services. Three-quarters received one or more related services through the public school, and 30% received private related services paid for by their parents. Parent involvement was positively correlated with parent satisfaction, and negatively correlated with t-scores on the Withdrawn/Depressed subscale of the CBCL. / ABSTRACT: Parents of children receiving Autism services were generally less satisfied with their children's school experiences than other parents. Parent satisfaction was negatively correlated with the Attention Problems scale of the CBCL. Student age was negatively correlated with time in inclusion and with related services. This information forms the basis for a discussion of school psychologists' roles in the educational success of students with tuberous sclerosis and the critical areas towards which interventions should be directed. / System requirements: World Wide Web browser and PDF reader. / Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Mississippi State University. Department of Counseling, Educational Psychology, and Special Education [Department of Counseling and Educational Psychology] / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

Current public health reports show that early childhood behavior problems have increased in magnitude and prevalence in educational settings in recent years (Brauner & Stephens, 2006). The prevalence of problem behaviors in young children in general is more than 10% for children under age 8 in the U.S. (Joseph & Strain, 2003). Challenging behaviors are those that deviate from the expected appropriate behaviors within a context (Gresham & Elliot, 1993). This study investigated the effects of positive behavior supports (PBS) on children with challenging behaviors in early childhood settings (ages 3-8 years). The implementation of multiple-component PBS interventions resulted in decreases in challenging behaviors and increases in appropriate behaviors across settings for each participant, respectively. / text

There is an accumulating body of evidence suggesting that being raised in a non-intact family may adversely affect child outcomes across a number of developmental domains. There are nevertheless questions re: interpretation for a number of methodological reasons ranging from conceptualization of exposure to analytic approach. Given the dynamic nature of family life for some children today, changes in family structure may need to be captured in a more comprehensive manner. The scientific question is how capturing dynamics of family structure can be achieved. Data were drawn from the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY), an ongoing longitudinal population survey following cohorts of Canadian children from infancy to adulthood across a number of domains of health and well-being. The sample comprised individuals aged 11-14 in cycle five of the NLSCY. We examined different approaches to conceptualizing and modeling the effect of the family structure effect based on previous studies in this area and from the lifecourse epidemiological literature. We examined the effects of current family structure, previous family structures, trajectories of family structure, and change in family structure on externalizing and internalizing behavior in pre-adolescence. We found that the validity of each approach was largely dependent on the specific research question at hand, with each one having its own advantages and disadvantages. Main methodological findings included confounding of the current family structure effect by previous experience, collinearity among family structure main effects, and low analytic power for trajectories. Guided by a conceptual diagram of the underlying causal structure, we also considered the time-varying nature of family income and employment status of the primary household respondent using inverse probability weighting to estimate the causal parameters of a marginal structural model. In one of our most sophisticated conceptualizations of family structure effects, we found that recent change in family structure had a statistically significant effect on the odds of externalizing behavior, OR (95% CI) = 2.95 (1.73-5.02). Overall, our substantive findings were tempered by methodological caveats, which have important implications for future studies in the area and for broader issues related to data collection, study design, and analysis.