The current study investigates basic, relational concept development, as measured by the Boehm Test of Basic Concepts 3rd Edition – Preschool Version (BTBC3-P), in 51 preschool aged children (Mage = 49.26 months; SD = 8.53 months) with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) attending the same Comprehensive Application of Behavior Analysis to Schooling (CABAS©) preschool. Relational concepts represent spatial, dimensional, temporal, quantitative, and class relationships between objects or people (i.e., above and behind). They predict academic achievement in grades two and three and are essential for following directions, making comparisons, sequencing, and classifying—the foundational skills for more complex problem solving (Boehm, 2013; Steinbauer & Heller, 1978). Relational concepts are difficult to learn, represent less tangible and stable relationships, and are often acquired incidentally (Boehm, 2001). Research in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) has found that incidental learning generally does not occur until a child masters the naming capability (Greer & Longano, 2010). Naming is a phenomenon that involves a circular understanding whereby a child can see a nonverbal term (i.e., a picture or a word), name that term, hear themselves naming the term, and then select the appropriate representation of that term without direct instruction (Horne & Lowe 1996). Naming is the mechanism through which success in traditional classroom settings is possible, such that once a child has attained the naming capability, that child can learn through observation or by asking questions if he/she sees or hears something novel (i.e., “What is pesto?” Greer & Longano, 2010; Greer & Speckman, 2009). Considering the widespread use of ABA to help children with ASD develop language, this study investigated relational concept acquisition using an ABA (i.e., Verbal Behavior Development Theory [VBDT]) framework. Overall, preschool children with ASD knew significantly fewer total concepts, quantitative concepts, and spatial concepts than their typically developing (TD) counterparts. In addition, the more VBD cusps and capabilities a child attained, the more concepts he/she correctly identified (R2 VBD= .054 with diagnosis held constant). Further, regardless of diagnosis and student progression of VBD, naming was a significant predictor of total concepts known (R2 naming = .114), as well as of concepts known not covered in the C-PIRK© curriculum (R2 naming = .099) used at the preschool. The latter finding supports previous studies that identify naming as a prerequisite to incidental learning. A secondary aim of this dissertation investigated the actions of the examiner required to keep children motivated and on task by creating an Assessor’s Tactic Checklist that lists a number of behavioral techniques to build motivation and increase assessment validity. Overall, diagnosis and naming were related to the number of assessor’s tactics used, with those children with ASD and children without naming requiring significantly more types of tactics than those without (approximately two more types for ASD and two and a half more types for those without naming). Implications for future studies include exploring the rate of concept learning pre and post naming acquisition as well as working to uncover the mechanisms through which naming affects concept acquisition. There is also an identified need for continued exploration into the usefulness of an Assessor’s Tactic Checklist. Strengths and weaknesses of the study are also addressed.

Autism is a life-long neurological disease that manifests differently in every autistic person. Children with autism have difficulties with four developmental areas, namely: language and communication, social interaction, imagination, and sensory issues. These behaviours make it extremely difficult to care for, or teach, autistic children as these children often present with behaviours that are psychologically, cognitively and physically challenging. As there is only one government subsidised school with the expertise and support structures to teach and care for autistic children in the Eastern Cape, parents often have no option, but to place such children in residential care in order for the children to receive the expert teaching they need. As a result, hostel housemothers are often placed in parental roles as they provide much of the parenting on a daily basis. Many of these caregivers have their own families that also need support and care. This may place additional burdens on these employees that could lead to a variety of psychological and physical conditions, depending on their resilience, and ability to handle frequent stressful situations. It is for this reason that this study is imperative, as it will uncover the stressors experienced by the hostel housemothers who play such a pivotal role in the lives of autistic children. The results of the study will serve to inform possible future interventions. This is a qualitative study. Participants were obtained through purposive sampling, and data was analysed through a thematic analysis approach. The Salutogenesis theory of Antonovsky was used, which particularly looks at stressors, tension, breakdown, and Salutogenesis. The study has generated, in the researcher, an understanding of how hostel housemothers cope with the stressors of caring for autistic children, and intends to do the same for readers.

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) commonly present with reading comprehension impairments that impede their academic achievement and independent living. Research suggests that intervening on listening comprehension deficits of preschool children with ASD may contribute to improved reading comprehension proficiency in the school aged years. Dialogic reading is an empirically supported shared reading method known to increase the oral language and listening comprehension of young children with and without language impairments prior to formalized schooling. This study utilized a single subject repeated acquisition design to evaluate the effect of a parent-delivered dialogic reading intervention on the independent and accurate responding of preschool children with ASD. Overall, results showed that the dialogic reading intervention was highly effective for increasing the independent and accurate responding for two of the three participants; however minimally effective for the third. Although the parent participants demonstrated varying levels of procedural fidelity to the dialogic reading procedures, they perceived the intervention to be both feasible and effective when implemented with their preschool children with ASD. Limitations and implications for future research are discussed. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2019. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) are frequently associated with communicative impairment, regardless of IQ or mental age. The most significant feature of this impairment tends to be in the dimension of both expressive and receptive prosody, possibly due to reduced neural connectivity between disparate brain areas responsible for language. Despite extensive overlap between the auditory and structural features linking prosody and music as well as extensive shared neural resources, music listening and performance are not impaired. In fact, there is some evidence that these abilities may even be heightened in some ASD individuals. Using behavioral and EEG/ERP methods, the present study sought to investigate this dissociation. A similar electrophysiological response has been observed for both prosody and music, the Closure Positive Shift (CPS), and Music CPS, respectively. This study used language and music stimuli in order to investigate the differences between language and music processing for individuals with ASDs and neuro-typicals. While a CPS was observed for language for the ASD group, it was substantially reduced in its distribution and amplitude. Further, the presence of an offset N1 response to the onset of pauses interfered with the clarity of the CPS response. In music, no music CPS was observed, however, a sustained centrally maximal positivity was observed for both the neuro-typical and ASD groups during the phrase boundary. Additionally, the ASD group showed a similar positivity in response to phrase boundaries in the condition in which the phrase-final note was prolonged. This positivity was similar to the language CPS in duration and amplitude, and suggests similar processing responses to phrase boundaries in language and music. The positivity in response to the second condition suggests that some individuals with ASDs may indeed have heightened processing ability for music. These results support the theories of functional under-connectivity in language and local bias toward sensory features of auditory information at the expense of global prosodic processing. Possible explanations, including the presence of repetition found in music, yet generally absent in language, are considered. / acase@tulane.edu

School-aged children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) experience significant difficulty with peer interaction (Lord & Bishop, 2010), an important aspect of childhood. Unresolved social skills difficulties lead to continued dysfunction in relationships which influence long term success. Research into the most effective strategies has increased but several questions remain. One approach that appears to help school-aged children is Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) which focuses on changing how a person thinks about specific social situations as well as how they behave. This study evaluated the efficacy of a 15-week CBT-based social skills group intervention for boys aged 10-12 years diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder. Boys with average or better receptive language skills and IQ attended weekly sessions focused on teaching self-monitoring skills, social perception and affective knowledge, conversation skills, taking another persons perspective, social problem-solving, and friendship management skills. Group size varied from four to six participants. The intervention was based on two intervention programs available in the literature and was manualized. Eight of the fifteen participants were waitlisted (Delayed Treatment group) while the remaining participants began 15 sessions of intervention immediately (Immediate Treatment group). A repeated measures ANOVA was used to compare the Delayed Treatment group to the Immediate Treatment group on pre and post measures of social perception, peer interaction, social knowledge, pragmatic language, social responsiveness and general socialization skills. Compared to the Delayed Treatment group, the Immediate Treatment group showed significant improvements after intervention in social perception, peer interaction, and social knowledge. The Delayed Treatment group was also examined on all measures at three time points: prior to the waitlist time, pre-intervention, and post-intervention. Significant improvements only after intervention were present for peer interaction, social knowledge, and a parent report measure of socialization. The implications of these findings are discussed in relation to a model of social information-processing, the executive functioning theory of autism, and how cognitive behaviour therapy techniques may contribute to social skills intervention for children with ASD. The intervention used in this study shows promise but replication with larger samples is needed. / Rehabilitation Science

Introduction: Little is known about the physical activity [PA] habits of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders [ASD]. ASD specific PA barriers and facilitators have not been investigated. Purpose: To describe the PA habits of children with ASD and the barriers and facilitators to optimal PA participation. Methods: Twenty-three parents of children with ASD reported on their child’s PA habits, perceived barriers to PA participation, and functioning. A rating scale was applied to score responses and children were classified into functional level groups and PA level groups. Results: On average, children were reported to meet or exceeded national PA frequency guidelines, belonged to active families and participated in a variety of physical activities. Parents identified several barriers to optimal PA for their children. Conclusions: Children with ASD can attain optimal PA. Exposure to a variety of PA opportunities and experiences aids in identifying the ideal activity for each individual child.

Background: Sleep disorders have been poorly described in children and adolescents diagnosed with FASD. The objective of this study is to describe the sleep and circadian rhythm characteristics of children with FASD using overnight polysomnography, sleep questionnaires, and the Dim Light Melatonin Onset (DLMO) test. To our knowledge, no comprehensive studies of this nature have been conducted. Methods: Children ages 6-18 years diagnosed with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) were recruited from various FASD clinics to the Youthdale Child and Adolescent Sleep Centre in Toronto. After medical consultation, each participant had one night of overnight polysomnography, as well as an additional night of DLMO. Participants completed various sleep and FASD questionnaires. Results: Significant differences were found when comparing the sleep architecture of FASD participants to normative data. There was a high prevalence of sleep disorders in this sample. Most of the melatonin profiles of the FASD participants were found to be abnormal.

Introduction: Little is known about the physical activity [PA] habits of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders [ASD]. ASD specific PA barriers and facilitators have not been investigated. Purpose: To describe the PA habits of children with ASD and the barriers and facilitators to optimal PA participation. Methods: Twenty-three parents of children with ASD reported on their child’s PA habits, perceived barriers to PA participation, and functioning. A rating scale was applied to score responses and children were classified into functional level groups and PA level groups. Results: On average, children were reported to meet or exceeded national PA frequency guidelines, belonged to active families and participated in a variety of physical activities. Parents identified several barriers to optimal PA for their children. Conclusions: Children with ASD can attain optimal PA. Exposure to a variety of PA opportunities and experiences aids in identifying the ideal activity for each individual child.

Background: Sleep disorders have been poorly described in children and adolescents diagnosed with FASD. The objective of this study is to describe the sleep and circadian rhythm characteristics of children with FASD using overnight polysomnography, sleep questionnaires, and the Dim Light Melatonin Onset (DLMO) test. To our knowledge, no comprehensive studies of this nature have been conducted. Methods: Children ages 6-18 years diagnosed with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) were recruited from various FASD clinics to the Youthdale Child and Adolescent Sleep Centre in Toronto. After medical consultation, each participant had one night of overnight polysomnography, as well as an additional night of DLMO. Participants completed various sleep and FASD questionnaires. Results: Significant differences were found when comparing the sleep architecture of FASD participants to normative data. There was a high prevalence of sleep disorders in this sample. Most of the melatonin profiles of the FASD participants were found to be abnormal.

Although the concept of quality of life (QOL) has become increasingly popular in the past few decades in a number of fields of research, few studies have specifically examined QOL for high-functioning individuals with autism spectrum disorders. Several studies have found that objectively measured outcomes for adults with high-functioning autism (HFA) and Asperger's syndrome (AS) tend to be poor in terms of employment, relationships, mental health, and independence. However, it has been recently suggested that in order to obtain a more accurate depiction of overall QOL, subjective impressions must be examined as well. Recent research has found that the most significant predictor variable of QOL for high-functioning individuals with autism spectrum disorders is the discrepancy between support needed and formal support provided. The current study examined 15 formal support variables and their relationships to subjective QOL scores on the WHOQOL-BREF, in 4 domains (physical health, psychological health, environment, and social relationships) as well as overall QOL. A total of 33 participants completed a questionnaire that included items designed to obtain information on demographics and formal support. Participants also completed the WHOQOL-BREF in order to obtain overall QOL scores along with QOL domain scores. Significant negative correlations were found between Environmental QOL scores and the accessing of a social worker as well as the accessing of social groups. Significant negative correlations were also found between Social QOL scores and the accessing of a psychiatrist and a single-item overall QOL score and the accessing of counselling or psychotherapy. All correlations between formal support factors and QOL scores showed lower QOL scores for those individuals who accessed the supports. The results of standard multiple regression analyses revealed a significant model that accounted for 49% of the total variance in the amount of total supports accessed as well as two other significant models predicting Social QOL and Environmental QOL.