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Specifying the boundaries of pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified comparisons to autism and other developmental disabilities on parent-reported autism symptoms and adaptive and behavior problems /Snow, Anne V., January 2009 (has links)
Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2009. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 101-112).
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Patterns of cognitive functioning in young children with autism spectrum disordersSo, Wai-on, Ann, 蘇惠安 January 2014 (has links)
Previous research demonstrates an uneven pattern of cognitive abilities in children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). This study examined whether this uneven pattern exists in preschool children. Participants include 24 children with high-functioning ASD and 28 typically developing (TD) children aged 4 to 6 with comparable average age and development level. No significant group difference in cognitive abilities was found between the ASD and TD group on the MANOVA. Patterns of cognitive functioning found include better performance on memory, weaker performance on language comprehension and expression, fine motor and speed of processing. Nonverbal and visual motor abilities were comparable between groups. Language expression was less impaired than language comprehension, and fine motor abilities were correlated with more cognitive abilities. / published_or_final_version / Educational Psychology / Master / Master of Social Sciences
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An essay in cognitive science examined through the instance of autism spectrum disorderSimes, Mark January 2006 (has links)
Boston University. University Professors Program Senior theses. / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / 2031-01-02
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Early Empathy Development and Cooperation in Toddlers at Risk for an Autism Spectrum DisorderMcDonald, Nicole 01 January 2010 (has links)
People with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) have difficulty empathizing with others, contributing to deficits in social interaction and communication. The degree of difficulty empathizing may be related to the level of impairment associated with the ASD. Little is known about the early development of empathy prior to ASD diagnosis. A novel way of studying the early development of ASDs is to study the development of younger siblings of children with ASDs, who are at an increased genetic risk for these disorders, and compare them to children with typically developing older siblings. The current study examined how empathic responding and cooperation, a measure of prosocial functioning, at 24 and 30 months of age differed between children who later received a diagnosis of autism or pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified, and those who did not. Overall, children engaged in more empathic responding at 30 months than at 24 months. As expected, children later diagnosed with autism engaged in less empathic responding than children with no diagnosis. Additionally, lower empathic responding at 24 months predicted higher autism symptomatology at 30 months. In terms of cooperation, children tended to engage in less noncompliant behavior at 30 months than at 24 months. However, no age differences were found for compliant behavior. Contrary to expectations, there were no diagnostic group differences in cooperative behavior nor was there a relation between empathic responding and cooperation. This was one of the first studies to investigate empathic responding in young children prior to diagnosis with an ASD. Results show that empathy deficits are present from an early age, and may be an important predictor for later diagnosis. Implications for these findings and future directions are discussed.
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Associations between autistic traits and emotion recognition ability in non-clinical young adultsLindahl, Christina January 2013 (has links)
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.
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Pilot study for subgroup classification for autism spectrum disorder based on dysmorphology and physical measurements in Chinese childrenWong, Tsz-yan, Polly., 黃芷欣. January 2012 (has links)
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder
affecting individuals along a continuum of severity in communication, social
interaction and behaviour. The impact of ASD significantly varies amongst
individuals, and the cause of ASD can originate broadly between genetic and
environmental factors.
Previous ASD researches indicate that early identification combined with a
targeted treatment plan involving behavioural interventions and multidisciplinary
therapies can provide substantial improvement for ASD patients. Currently there
is no cure for ASD, and the clinical variability and uncertainty of the disorder still
remains. Hence, the search to unravel heterogeneity within ASD by subgroup
classification may provide clinicians with a better understanding of ASD and to
work towards a more definitive course of action.
In this study, a norm of physical measurements including height, weight, head
circumference, ear length, outer and inner canthi, interpupillary distance, philtrum,
hand and foot length was collected from 658 Typical Developing (TD) Chinese
children aged 1 to 7 years (mean age of 4.19 years). The norm collected was
compared against 80 ASD Chinese children aged 1 to 12 years (mean age of 4.36
years). We then further attempted to find subgroups within ASD based on
identifying physical abnormalities; individuals were classified as
(non)dysmorphic with the Autism Dysmorphology Measure (ADM) from physical
examinations of 12 body regions.
Our results show that there were significant differences between ASD and TD
children for measurements in: head circumference (p=0.009), outer (p=0.021) and
inner (p=0.021) canthus, philtrum length (p=0.003), right (p=0.023) and left
(p=0.20) foot length. Within the 80 ASD patients, 37(46%) were classified as
dysmorphic (p=0.00).
This study attempts to identify subgroups within ASD based on physical
measurements and dysmorphology examinations. The information from this
study seeks to benefit ASD community by identifying possible subtypes of ASD
in Chinese population; in seek for a more definitive diagnosis, referral and
treatment plan. / published_or_final_version / Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine / Master / Master of Philosophy
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From cortical to subcortical: aberrant structural brain organization in autism spectrum disorder acrossdevelopmentFung, Ching-man, Germaine., 馮靜雯. January 2012 (has links)
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by communication difficulties, social interaction impairments, and stereotyped patterns of behavior. Prior studies have shown that ASD is associated with differences in neuroanatomy in the cerebral cortex and the subcortical regions as well as the connectivity among these regions. However, findings have been mixed due to the varying age group sampled and the methods used to measure these brain structures. In view of the heterogeneous findings in ASD, three cross-sectional design studies were conducted in this thesis to examine brain structural pathologies that may be related to the clinical and behavioural phenotype of the disorder across development.
In the childhood and adolescent sample, two studies were carried out. The first one examined cortical thickness using a vertex-wise approach. Results revealed thinner cortex in the occipital, parietal and frontal regions, and thicker cortex in the inferior parietal and caudal anterior cingulate regions. These regions also showed age-related differences that deviated markedly from the typical developmental trajectories observed in the control group. Some of these regions with significant differences in cortical thickness were found to be associated with clinical symptoms in ASD.
The second study in the childhood and adolescent sample examined the volume of subcortical structures and CSF using a spatially non-biased parcellation approach. It was found that intracranial volume was enlarged in children with ASD, accompanied by smaller bilateral cerebellum and left thalamus. These regions showed an age-related increase in volume in children with ASD, whereas the typically developing children showed a general age-related decrease in volume of the same regions. The volumes of the cerebellum, thalamus and basal ganglia structures were associated with relatively weaker motor control in ASD, and in particular greater volume of the left thalamus rather than age predicted worse motor performance in the clinical group.
The third study was carried out in a large adult sample. The cerebellar white matter system, that interconnects cortical and subcortical targets, was examined. Using a diffusion-tensor imaging tractography approach, the cerebellar input and output white matter pathways were dissected. Both the input and output pathways were observed to be disrupted in ASD, supporting the hypothesis that ASD may be a “disconnectivity disorder”. Lower fractional anisotropy of the left middle cerebellar peduncles was associated with increased difficulties in communication and social interaction, and lower fractional anisotropy in the right superior cerebellar peduncle was linked to worse motor performance in adults with ASD.
Therefore, my studies confirmed differences in neuroanatomy of cortical and subcortical regions with altered brain developmental trajectories in children and adolescence with ASD, and revealed disrupted cerebellar network system in adults with ASD. Dysmaturation of cortical and subcortical regions as well as cerebellar white matter pathways may contribute to clinical and motor phenotype of the disorder. Lastly, postmortem and early life imaging studies, together with evidence that prenatal stressors during 21 to 32 weeks of gestation may increase incidence of ASD, lead me to speculate whether the abnormalities reported here may have origins prior to 31 weeks of gestation. / published_or_final_version / Psychiatry / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy
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Investigating individuals with autism spectrum conditions and their siblings : cognitive measures, brain structure and functionHolt, Rosemary January 2013 (has links)
No description available.
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How is sex related to autism?Lai, Meng-Chuan January 2011 (has links)
No description available.
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The Effects of In Situ Behavioral Skills Training on Parent Implementation of the PEAK Relational Training SystemMaston, Kaitlyn L 01 May 2018 (has links)
The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the effectiveness of whether Behavioral Skills Training (BST) was effective in teaching PEAK-DT to parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Along with, if parent implementation of PEAK was effective in increasing the children’s PEAK scores. Three parents and their child with autism were participants in the current study using the PEAK Relational Training System-Direct Training module (PEAK-DT). The procedure first required the parents to read information on how to implement the programs found in the introduction of the PEAK-DT module. Following this step, parents observed their child’s therapy sessions conducted at an ABA clinic by student therapists. Next, the parents were instructed to implement three programs and received feedback from the child’s therapist. Implementation fidelity was collected based on the parent performance and child progress was recorded based on percent correct responding within the actual program. Each parent was able to successfully implement programs within the PEAK-DT module within their child’s therapy sessions and the children were accurately responding and two of the three children had increases in skill acquisition. The results of the present study suggest that training parents using a BST model to implement PEAK-DT was effective in teaching children with autism.
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