The dominant approach to treating social dysfunction in individuals with autism views that dysfunction as a skill deficit. However, another plausible interpretation is that social dysfunction in some individuals arises from motivational deficits. The proposed study presents a method to assess motivational deficits for social attention in individuals with autism. By borrowing methods from behavioral economics, we assessed the essential value for social attention and compared it to the essential value for food. Five individuals diagnosed with autism were included in the project. First, we assessed preference for food by using paired-preference assessment. To identify preference hierarchy for attention, we used a modified version of the paired-preference assessment. After establishing the preference hierarchies for food and attention, the top items from each category were delivered on a fixed-ratio schedule. During this reinforcement assessment the participants received one reinforcer every time they emitted the target response. The final stage of the study included the assessment of the essential value for each of the two commodities (food and attention). During this stage, we increased the number of responses participants were required to emit to earn a reinforcer across each daily session. All of the participants showed a decrease in reinforcers earned as the work requirement increased, and for three of the participants the essential value of food appeared noticeably higher than that of attention. Using the methods from behavior economics allowed the comparison of two commodities that differed in nature, and assisted capturing the important qualities of these potential reinforcers. These results suggest that behavioral economic-based assessments of reinforcer value may have clinical utility.

Presently, the DSM is undergoing revision in anticipation of the publication of the DSM-5 in 2013 (APA, 2010a). The Neurodevelopmental Disorders DSM-5 workgroup has suggested that Asperger’s Disorder (AS) and Autistic Disorder (AD) be subsumed into a new, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) diagnosis (APA, 2010b). This project reviews researcher methodologies for the description, study inclusion/exclusion, and assessment of individuals with AS and AD in 100 highly cited articles from high-impact journals. Results demonstrate that researchers’ methodologies are highly variable. Additionally, all researchers do not use the “gold standard” combination of the ADOS and the ADI-R for assessing AS and AD. The use of inconsistent and potentially inappropriate methodologies in the literature suggests it may be preemptive to base the proposed DSM-5 revision on the incomparable results in the research.

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Females may present with autism more frequently than is diagnosed, due, in part, to autistic trait and sensory processing differences. Unfortunately, recruiting enough autistic female participants is difficult, because of such underdiagnoses. By approaching autism as a continuous variable, neurotypical (NT) individuals can be studied to better understand autistic individuals. Thus, to examine potential neurobiological underpinnings of sex-based behavioral profiles, we recruited 52 NT individuals (22 male; 30 female). Participants underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine how functional network connectivity (via group independent components analysis) underpinned overall male/female differences in previously measured behavioral autistic trait and sensory processing questionnaire scores. Results showed that males' sensory processing and autistic trait patterns were correlated with sensorimotor and social brain areas while females' intolerance of uncertainty and autistic traits were correlated with areas implicated in sensory processing and anxiety. Additionally, both sexes exhibited a close relationship between sensory processing (e.g., auditory, higher order visual), social functioning (e.g., middle temporal gyrus), and empathizing (e.g., right temporal-parietal junction, fusiform gyrus), though the networks present within these correlations differed somewhat between the sexes. Systemizing was most strongly correlated with executive functioning and language processing areas in both sexes, with different brain networks showing greater significance in males than females. Overall, males and females displayed similar neurophysiological patterns involved in autistic traits, sensory processing, empathizing, and systemizing, though they seemed to activate these networks differently. Understanding these network differences in an autistic population may provide for sex-specific brain-based interventions for sensory processing, anxiety, and autistic trait manifestation.

In 1944 Hans Asperger, a Viennese physician, identified a neurological disorder which hinders a person’s ability to communicate and interact socially. Lorna Wing’s research reintroduced the disorder in 1981, but Asperger’s Syndrome was not recognized in the United States until 1994. This study, aimed at generating knowledge about the lived experience of individuals with Asperger’s, is grounded in hermeneutic phenomenology. The writings of Martin Heidegger (1962, 1971), Hans Gadamer (1975/2003), and Edward Casey (1993) provided the philosophical foundation that helped me to open up the phenomenon as I answered the question, “What is the lived-experience of individuals with Asperger’s Syndrome?” Van Manen’s (2003) six research activities served as a framework: (a) turning to a phenomenon which seriously interests us and commits us to the world; (b) investigating the experience as we live it rather than as we conceptualize it; (c) reflecting on the essential themes which characterize the phenomenon; (d) describing the phenomenon through the art of writing and rewriting; (e) maintaining a strong and oriented pedagogical relation to the phenomenon; and (f) balancing the research context by considering parts and whole. Individuals with “Asperger’s Syndrome” navigate the world in a manner that makes sense to them. These adults desire to build nearness in what has been coined a neurotypical world. Five adults with Asperger’s Syndrome were interviewed three times each, sharing their experiences in school, the workplace, and community, elaborating upon how they attempted to fit in with their neurotypical peers. They also shared strategies developed to build nearness and find place in the neurotypical society. Participants reported experiences such as wearing masks as a tool to gain insider status in the neurotypical world, and the sense of exhaustion this behavior involves. They described their experiences with terms such as “bully magnet” and “emotional traffic jam,” in illuminating the daily discomforts they face attempting to meet the expectations of social interaction. The experience of bullying particularly seems to have had a lifelong impact. Recommendations for further research include examining the effect of early diagnosis, and how early transition experiences contribute to social development. A study on the effects of bullying that Aspies encountered during their school years would also add valuable information to the literature. Finally, work is a significant part of every adult’s life. Recommendations for employers include exploring mentoring or natural supports to employees who disclose the disorder. Additional supports and resources would increase performance and job retention. / Ph. D.

The broad autism phenotype (BAP) has been defined both behaviorally and biologically. There has been little research on the association of the BAP, behaviorally defined, with neural or cognitive biomarkers typically associated with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). People diagnosed with ASD tend to show reduced gaze fixation toward the eye region, but much less eye-tracking research has been done related to the BAP (Boraston & Blakemore, 2007). In this study, we sought to assess eye gaze patterns in people with the behaviorally defined BAP, as defined by a score of 30 or above on the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ; Baron-Cohen et al., 2001). It was hypothesized that the BAP group participants would exhibit longer average fixation duration to the eye region during an emotion recognition condition, relative to a free-viewing condition, whereas the comparison group participants (defined as an AQ score of 24 and below) would not show a difference in fixation duration to the eye region between conditions. Nine hundred and thirty-nine undergraduates completed an online survey, and 45 of these students (15 BAP group and 30 comparison group) participated in the eye-tracking session, where they viewed a series of human faces, each presented twice within a condition. Results revealed a significant negative relationship between social anxiety and eye region fixation duration in the free-viewing condition, for both presentations of faces. Contrary to expectation, BAP predicted longer eye region fixation duration in the free-viewing condition, for the second presentation of faces. Possible explanations for these surprising findings are discussed. / Master of Science

Syftet med denna studie är att bidra till en fördjupad kunskap om arbetssätt i förskolan som kan främja utveckling och lärande hos barn med autism och autismliknande svårigheter som även fokuserar på kommunikation och sociala relationer. Barn med autism och autismliknande svårigheter är ofta i behov av särskilt stöd och vi vill undersöka hur det särskilda stödet kan se ut. Studien bygger på kvalitativa intervjuer med fem förskollärare. De forskningsfrågor som används är ”Vilka framgångsrika arbetssätt beskriver förskollärare att de har gällande kommunikation och sociala relationer som främjar barn med autism och autismliknande svårigheter?” samt ”Hur beskriver förskollärarna att de arbetar för att inkludera barn med autism och autismliknande svårigheter i gruppen?” Sedan analyserades resultatet ur två specialpedagogiska perspektiv, det relationella och det kategoriska perspektivet. Vi valde dessa två specialpedagogiska perspektiv eftersom vi ansåg att de kunde användas för att klargöra vårt resultat samt att de är breda och populära inom dagens specialpedagogik. Resultatet visar att förskollärarna använder sig av förstärkning, tydliggörande pedagogik, mindre grupper och social träning i form av lekstarka barn som förebilder. Dessa arbetsmetoder beskrivs även gynna de neurotypiska barnen i förskolan. Slutsatsen blir att det finns flera gynnsamma metoder att arbeta med barn med autism och autismliknande svårigheter. Det finns olika hjälpmedel för att förstärka och förtydliga kommunikationen, exempelvis bildstöd eller TAKK. I slutsatsen lyfts även vikten av de neurotypiska barnens roll som förebilder för socialt relationer.