The Behavior Assessment System for Children, Second Edition (BASC-2; Reynolds & Kamphaus 2004) is a behavior rating scale commonly used in preschool settings. In addition to measuring behavioral constructs such as hyperactivity, social skills, and adaptive functioning, the BASC-2 includes a Developmental Social Disorders (DSD) content scale that evaluates the presence of behaviors commonly associated with pervasive developmental disorders, including items related to self-stimulation, withdrawal and poor socialization. This study compared the T-scores of toddler and preschool-aged children diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to children diagnosed with other developmental delays, and typically developing children using the BASC-2 Parent Rating Scales, Preschool form. Participants from the ASD group obtained significantly higher T-scores than the typically developing group on the Hyperactivity, Atypicality, Withdrawal, and Attention Problems scales, and obtained significantly lower T-scores on the Adaptability, Social Skills, Activities of Daily Living, and and Functional Communication scales. Significant differences were not observed between participants in the ASD group and those diagnosed with other developmental delays. However, the DSD scale was effective in distinguishing between groups, with participants in the ASD group obtaining significantly higher T-scores on the DSD scale than those diagnosed with other developmental delays and typically developing children.

This study investigated the associations between emotion recognition ability and autistic traits in a sample of non-clinical young adults. Two hundred and forty nine individuals took part in an emotion recognition test, which assessed recognition of 12 emotions portrayed by actors. Emotion portrayals were presented as short video clips, both with and without sound, and as sound only. Autistic traits were assessed using the Autism Spectrum Quotient (ASQ) questionnaire. Results showed that men had higher ASQ scores than women, and some sex differences in emotion recognition were also observed. The main finding was that autistic traits were correlated with several measures of emotion recognition. More specifically, ASQ-scores were negatively correlated with recognition of fear and with recognition of ambiguous stimuli.

No description available.

I och med en ändring i skollagen, som trädde i kraft juli 2011, får inte längre elever med autism eller autismliknande tillstånd vara inskrivna i någon särskoleform om de inte även har en utvecklingsstörning. Syftet med detta examensarbete var att undersöka aktörernas tankar och uppfattningar kring hur kommunen och skolan har organiserat sig för att ta emot och inkludera samt arbeta med elever med autism eller autismliknande tillstånd i grund- och gymnasieskolan utifrån den nya skollagsförändringen. Syftet var vidare att undersöka vilka möjligheter den undervisande personalen har eller anser sig behöva för att kunna genomföra sitt uppdrag. Studien utgår från en kvalitativ intervjumetod där pedagoger, specialpedagoger, representant från SPSM, rektorer samt skolchef intervjuas. Studien bygger på Urie Bronfenbrenners utvecklingsekologiska perspektiv som menar att barnet är ett subjekt i sig och utvecklas samt påverkar sin egen omgivning. Studien rör sig även på en organisatorisk nivå och därför har vi även använt ett systemteoretiskt perspektiv. Analysen av de intervjuades tankar och uppfattningar tog sin utgångspunkt utifrån ett hermeneutiskt förhållningssätt.   Resultatet av de intervjuades tankar och uppfattningar visade på att inkludering är något alla önskar skolan ska sträva mot men att den kan se olika ut samt att pedagogerna upplever det som svårast att få elever med autism eller autismliknande tillstånd att fungera i klassrummet. Dessa elever ställer krav på kompetensutveckling kring funktionsnedsättning, handledning från specialpedagoger till pedagoger samt organiseringen inom skolan såsom klassammansättningar, möjlighet till mindre grupper eller enskilda platser menar de flesta. Pedagogerna som arbetar direkt med dessa elever behöver arbeta med tydlighet och struktur vilket även forskningen påvisar. Specialpedagogen kan utifrån sin yrkesroll hålla sig ajour med senaste forskning och genom detta skapa bättre förutsättningar för organisationen, pedagogen samt eleven att göra fullgoda arbeten. De kan handleda pedagoger, arbetslag och skolor i arbetet med dessa elever. Med sin expertis i funktionsnedsättningen kan de hjälpa rektor, skolledning och även skolpolitiskt så att insatserna blir rätt. det vill säga gynnar den enskilde eleven, elevgruppen, skolan.

Autism awareness has increased in recent years in part because it is marked by confusion and controversy. The confusion and controversy stem from the fact that there are many beliefs about autism but little agreement. In this dissertation I examined the rhetoric produced by three primary groups?professional autism experts, caregivers to children with autism and mainstream media. In particular, I studied how each group explains autism. Explanations are vehicles for persuasion; they advance particular viewpoints about an illness. I conducted a rhetorical analysis of the three discourses produced by these groups, highlighting the most cohesive themes to emerge from the discourse. To study professional autism experts? explanations, I analyzed articles in autism?s flagship research journal and research articles from other journals and key books for additional insight. A computer metaphor guided expert explanations of autism. To define autism through one of most advanced and culturally accepted technological devices lent significant credibility to the explanations. Next, I studied the caregiver explanations, first conducting interviews with 19 parents to children with autism and then I analyzed the transcripts. Caregivers described autism as a social pathology; their children with autism were different and distant, or alien-like. The pathology affected people with autism, their caregivers and their families, many other neuro-typical people, and it also determined the course of treatment for the person with autism. Finally, mainstream media often explained autism in terms of its conflicts, framing its explanations of autism with a war metaphor. The vaccine debate received a significant attention, recharacterizing the role of medical institutions and health practitioners. Caregivers became the heroes, using their personal experiences as weapons against healthcare practitioners and their science. Caregivers also dealt with the invasion of autism, struggling for ways to return their children closer to the boundary that exists between the child with autism and the neuro-typical child.

Thesis (Ed. Spec.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--West Virginia University, 2004. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains v, 79 p. : ill. Vita. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 53-59).

Den ökade prevalensen av barn med Autismspektrumstörning (AST) har fått internationell uppmärksamhet under de senaste tio åren, och ökningen gäller i högre grad barn med normal begåvning än barn med olika grader av mental retardation. Syftet med studien var att undersöka hur blivande psykologer uppfattar den ökade prevalensen, och vad de tror att den kan bero på. En enkätstudie genomfördes med 92 psykologstudenter på Stockholms och Uppsalas universitet. Resultatet visade att prevalensen inom olika åldersgrupper överskattades, men att den genomsnittliga ökningen under de senaste tio åren underskattades. En faktoranalys visade på tre bakomliggande faktorer som tillsammans förklarade 62% av variansen i enkätfrågorna om prevalensökningen: ökad allmän förståelse, förändrade metoder för diagnosticering samt förändrade definitioner av AST. Studenterna skattade en faktisk ökning av de tillstånd som omfattas av AST som den minst troliga förklaringen till den ökade prevalensen. Slutsatsen är att psykologstudenter, sett till enskilda förklaringar, anser att ökad kunskap och medvetenhet om AST har haft störst betydelse för förändringar i prevalensen. Det finns dock vissa misstankar om överdiagnosticering, med en utbredd uppfattning att diagnosen inte alltid är motiverad utifrån den kliniska nyttan. Framtida studier bör undersöka diagnosticeringens roll i ett större sammanhang för att klargöra om det finns skäl för sådana misstankar.

The purpose of the current study is to understand the relationship between the volume of the posterior cerebellar hemispheres and cross-modality divided attention in ASD and control participants. Abnormalities in shifting, orienting, and selective attention are well reported in ASD, but few studies have examined divided attention. Furthermore, there is evidence of volumetric reduction of the posterior cerebellum in ASD. However, few studies have examined the relationship between the posterior cerebellum and behavioral performance. The current study addresses this gap in the literature through structural MRI and a neuropsychological attention task. It is hypothesized that the ASD group will have impaired divided attention abilities compared to the control group. Furthermore, within the ASD group, reduced posterior cerebellar volume is expected to be associated with impaired divided attention. The study will use multiple regression analyses. As ASD is a neurodevelopmental disability with considerable heterogeneity and unknown etiology, the current study seeks to contribute to the understanding of neural and behavioral markers of ASD. / text

The purpose of the current study is to contribute to the understanding of prenatal cerebellar pathology in autism. Reduction of Purkinje neurons is well reported in the cerebella of individual’s with autism. While there is evidence to suggest that this abnormality may be evident as early as prenatal development, no study to date has examined in the anataomical prenatal development of the cerebella in children later diagnosed with autism. The primary prediction being made is that a reduction of Purkinje neurons during prenatal development will present as reduced cerebellar size in the reports from mother’s prenatal ultrasound records. It is hypothesized that this reduction will be greater in children with an autism diagnosis compared to the records of children without an autism diagnosis. The secondary prediction will attempt to further support the link between aberrant cerebellar development and increased stereotyped behavior and repetitive interests. A retrospective analysis of prenatal ultrasound records and autism diagnostic information will test these hypotheses, predicting that records from children who have been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder will show reductions in transverse cerebellar diameter measurements when compared to TD peers, and that greater reductions will correlate with increased stereotypical and repetitive behaviors as measured by a standard diagnostic tool. / text