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The current study examined the effectiveness of a video modeling procedure on a basicmath skill acquisition in students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) using a multipleprobe across students design. Participants were four kindergarten/first grade students in aself-contained classroom in an urban public school. All met the criteria for ASD prior tobeginning the study. The independent variable included a video model teaching a basicmath skill. The dependent variable was correct student response. Results indicated thatone of the four students responded to the intervention immediately and these skillsmaintained over time. However, the other three students did not respond to videomodeling instruction. Conclusions regarding the effectiveness of the video modelingprocedure for teaching math skills were inconclusive. Implications for further researchare addressed.

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Imitation is a core deficit often observed in children diagnosed with autism. Video modeling has been shown to be effective for teaching children with autism a variety of skills, but there is little research demonstrating the effectiveness of this technique with core skills such as imitation. The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a video modeling intervention to teach a preschool-age child with autism to imitate novel and acquired actions (with and without objects) in natural contexts (i.e., songs and toy play activities). A general case approach was used to examine the instructional universe of common preschool songs in order to select the exemplars that were most likely to facilitate generalization. In addition to video modeling, additive components that included highlighting the critical features of the video examples and prompting/fading were required to demonstrate a functional relationship. Experimental control was evident in a multiple baseline design across three imitation activities. The results are discussed with reference to previous research, future research directions, and implications for practice in educational settings.

This study was conducted to explore the ability and propensity to verbally deceive others in children with and without autism spectrum disorders (ASD). We also explored the relationships among lie-telling ability, false belief understanding as measured using a standard battery of false belief tasks, and verbal mental age as measured using a standardized test of language ability. To explore antisocial lie-telling ability, we used a modified temptation resistance paradigm in which children were tempted to commit a transgression in the experimenter’s absence and given the opportunity to tell a lie about their transgression and to exercise semantic leakage control (SLC)—that is, to maintain consistency between the lie and subsequent statements that they make. To explore prosocial lie-telling ability, we used a modified undesirable gift paradigm in which children were awarded an unattractive prize for winning a game and given the opportunity to lie about liking the prize that the experimenter gave them. We found that children with ASD, like typically developing children, can and do tell antisocial lies to conceal a transgression, and prosocial lies in politeness settings. However, children with ASD were less able than typically developing children to exercise SLC. Furthermore, we found that, unlike in typically developing children, lie-telling ability in children with ASD was not related to their false belief understanding. The pattern of relations among lie-telling ability, false belief understanding, and verbal mental age are discussed with respect to possible contentions regarding the underlying processes by which children with ASD tell lies and succeed on false belief tasks. / Thesis (Master, Psychology) -- Queen's University, 2009-09-25 23:03:37.259

“Despite the fact that memory in people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) has been researched for over fifty years, there has been very little in the way of attempts to synthesize or codify the findings” (Boucher & Bowler, 2008, p. xv). It is the intent of this thesis to address this need specifically for episodic memory function in individuals with autism or Asperger’s syndrome. A scoping review was conducted on episodic memory function in this population and the findings are used to: (1) produce an episodic memory profile for individuals with autism or Asperger’s syndrome; and (2) identify gaps in the existing literature for future areas of study. The framework for the search criteria was based on Lind and Bowler’s (2008) claim of development of episodic memory being dependent on three cognitive abilities: (1) concept of self; (2) meta-representation; and (3) temporal cognition. Implications for teaching practice were discussed in light of the findings. / Thesis (Master, Education) -- Queen's University, 2012-09-24 16:42:01.194

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Persons with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) appear to be slower to interpret the meaning of symbolic cues. This could be because they are slower to read the symbolic cue, or because they are slower to select a response to the symbolic cue. Groups of participants with autism (n=11), participants with Asperger syndrome (n=9), and typically developing children (n=16) completed four forced-choice reaction time tasks to examine whether persons with ASD are slower to process the symbolic cue or slower to prepare a response to the cue. The participants completed two control conditions and two orienting conditions using non-predictive central arrow cues. In the Target and Cue conditions, participants gave a speeded response to the appearance of either a target (x) or a central arrow. In the Variable Cue Exposure (VCE) condition, the exposure time to the cue varied (100, 300, 600, or 1000 ms) and was followed by a 100 ms blank screen before the presentation of the target. In the Constant Cue Exposure (CCE) condition, all cues were presented for 100 ms and were followed by blank screens that varied in presentation length (100, 300, 600, or 1000 ms) before the presentation of the target. The results indicated that each group showed a unique pattern of responding. In both the Target and Cue conditions, participants with autism were slower than both Asperger syndrome and typically developing children. In both the VCE and CCE conditions, behavioural effects of the cue were found for participants with autism at longer SOAs than for Asperger syndrome, and at longer SOAs for Asperger syndrome than for typically developing children. These findings support the notion that persons with ASDs are impaired in their preparation of responses as opposed to impaired in reading the meaning of the cue. Further, both the ASD groups showed stronger facilitation effects at longer SOAs than typically developing children, indicating that they were less able to use cue predictability to mediate responding. The differences found between autism and Asperger syndrome are discussed in terms of developmental and clinical distinctions between the groups, and implications for theory and research design.

Children with sensorial and cognitive disabilities have been largely ignored under the ‘universal’ design philosophy. This is clearly an oversight on the part of the design community as autism, present designers with the opportunity to take on new environmental design challenges. As research demonstrates, children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are extremely disadvantaged when it comes to playing both with others and alone. As a result, children with autism have underdeveloped socializing skills and can suffer from low self-esteem, self-worth and loneliness. This practicum supposes that safe, stimulating and engaging play spaces for autistic children could not only improve their development in these areas, but enrich their lives. Furthermore, it provides background into autism, its affect on the human senses and play, supplies results of an observational study and provides an example of a play space designed to increase social interaction and accommodate sensorial needs in order to decrease isolation.