Parents of children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are at greater risk than other couples for having higher stress levels and lower marital quality. Respite care has been suggested as a way to help alleviate stress. This study investigated the relationship between respite care and marital quality; and the potential of mother stress and father stress as mediating variables. One hundred and one couples, each consisting of a mother and a father who lived with their child with an ASD, were given questionnaires including a respite questionnaire, Revised Dyadic Adjustment Scale, Experience in Close Relationships Questionnaire, and Daily Hassles and Uplifts Scale. Results showed that the amount of respite care was positively related to marital quality for both husbands and wives. Husband and wife stress and husband and wife uplifts mediated the relationship between respite care and marital quality for both husbands and wives, indicating these variables of stress and uplifts were processes through which respite care had an indirect effect on marital quality. Results suggest that policy makers should develop strategies for providing respite care for families with children diagnosed with an ASD.

This study aimed to examine power among professionals in preschools who work with children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Furthermore, the study examined divisions of labor between different professionals, as well as professionals’ experiences and competence in relation to working with children with ASD. According to previous research, there are different forms of power and division of labor between different professionals working with children with ASD suggesting that the professionals who have education, competence, and knowledge in the field of ASD have the ultimate responsibility and power over the design of the work. Qualitative semi-structured interviews were used in the current study to investigate the perspectives of professionals. Eight professionals working in pre-schools were interviewed. The interviews were analyzed with interpretive phenomenological analysis to understand the participants’ individual thoughts and reflections. To interpret and discuss the results, theories of power and jurisdiction were used. The phenomenological analysis resulted in five themes: Diagnosis of ASD and professionals, Power over the identification of children with a diagnosis of ASD, Power over the design of work with children with ASD, Collaboration and division of labor, Challenges in working with children with ASD. Based on the results, the conclusions emerged that special knowledge about ASD was needed among professionals, for the children to receive a good education in preschool. Such knowledge was not acquired through preschool teacher or childcare training, but the participants gained it through courses that were specifically aimed at the area of ASD. All professionals in the present study described different positions of power in relation to working with children with ASD, and how power was manifested in preschool activities, in a way that was largely consistent with previous research. The majority of the participants in this study described that even though they had a lot of knowledge, different professionals had different amounts of power and, thus, the participants’ knowledge was not experienced as equally valuable. Especially professionals who did not have a preschool teacher diploma described that they had less power. Most believed that there were hierarchies of power based on knowledge and education; the person who was most competent and held a preschool teacher diploma was felt to be entitled to more power over the design of the work with children with ASD than other professionals were. The present study contributed with knowledge about how power is exercised by professionals, in relation to the work with children with ASD, and with knowledge about collaboration and division of labor between professionals in the work with the children.

Autism diagnoses are on the rise and part of the explanation is that society is making increasing demands on us and our brains. Autism is largely about how we perceive and interpret our surroundings, so there should be opportunities to support people with autism through thoughtful architecture to reduce stress levels and save energy. What is autism-friendly architecture and what might it look like?  In this project, I have designed a service residence (a type of LSS accommodation) for adults diagnosed with autism. By reviewing relevant literature and reference projects on the topic, I have tried to find keys on how to design a home that can support a person with autism. The overall objectives of the design are to reduce stress, enhance the individual's independence and support social interaction. The architectural aspects I have mainly worked on to achieve this are daylight, views, visual connections and boundaries and the organisation of the programme. Since people with autism have, among other symptoms, a different sensory experience often being hyper- or hypersensitivity to sensory input, an autism-friendly architecture is very much about designing for the senses.  The conclusion is that accommodation suitable for a person with an autism diagnosis can suit most people. It’s more about avoiding certain things that may be experienced as disturbing in different ways by people with autism, rather than adding special features.

Much research has been carried out on the subject diagnoses. More and more pupils have in recent years been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and therefore teachers need more information about how we can help these pupils, so that they can reach the skill requirements in school. Our purpose with this research is to find out if and how important routines are for pupils with autism spectrum disorder. Furthermore, we want to ascertain which tools and methods can be used to help these pupils. The empiricism was collected through interviews and observations. Based on these we have found out that routines are extra relevant for pupils that are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and also that there are some methods and facilities that are very helpful for these certain pupils.

No description available.

Syfte: Studiens syfte var att beskriva arbetsterapeuters erfarenheter av arbete kopplat till skolrelaterade aktiviteter tillsammans med barn med autismspektrumtillstånd. Metod: Studien antog en kvalitativ ansats för att beskriva arbetsterapeuternas subjektiva upplevelser. Sju arbetsterapeuter intervjuades för att samla erfarenheter av att arbeta med barn med autismspektrumtillstånd (AST) kopplat till skolrelaterade aktiviteter. Insamlat material analyserades genom en kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultat: Arbetsterapeuternas beskrivningar presenterades i resultatet under kategorierna; Förutsägbarhet underlättar utförandet av aktiviteter, Både fysisk och social miljö påverkar aktiviteter, Återhämtning, viktigt både hemma och i skolan samt Vuxenstöd och vikten av kunskap. Slutsats: Resultatet visade att arbetsterapeuterna arbetade tillsammans med barnen för att skapa struktur, förutsägbarhet, möjlighet till återhämtning samt en miljö som gynnade skolrelaterade aktiviteter. Resultatet visade även vikten av att informera, utbilda och ge tips till vuxna i barnens närhet, vuxenstödet är en viktig del i arbetet med barn med AST. / Aim: The aim of this study was to describe occupational therapists experience of work with children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and how they support them around school activities. Method: This study had a qualitative design. Seven interviews were conducted with occupational therapists with experience that could give answers to the aim of the study. The material was then analyzed. Results: The occupational therapists’ descriptions of their experiences were presented in four different categories; Predictability supports activity performance, Physical and social environment affects activities, Recovery is important at home and in school and Support from adults and the important of knowledge. Conclusion: The results showed that occupational therapists worked together with children with ASD to create structure, predictability and an environment that supported school activities. The results also showed how important it is to educate, inform and give advice to adults in the child’s life, support from adults is an important part of the work with children with ASD.

Suicide continues to be a critical concern for society as one of the leading causes of death in the United States, increasing from 10.4 to 13.5 per 100,000 from 2000 to 2016. This risk is further increased up to 8 times for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Suicidal thoughts and behaviors have been difficult to predict on a moment-by-moment basis, in part due to technological challenges. Suicidal ideation has been identified as an important indicator of suicidal behavior and an important measurement for predicting suicide in both neurotypical individuals and individuals with autism spectrum disorder. In particular, sleep disturbances are one risk factor for suicidal behavior. Important aims of this study include identifying personalized predictors of leading up to suicidal ideation, including how sleep activity patterns affect suicidal ideation, and how these risk factors differ between those with autism spectrum, socially anxious groups. This will give further insight into predictors of suicidal ideation, providing a better understanding for predicting changes in suicidal ideation, with aims to bring more clarity in this at-risk population and improve treatment options. To observe predictors of both long-term and short-term changes in suicidal ideation, I will analyze longitudinal data. The data includes daily phone questionnaires and actigraphy data tracking using GENEActiv wearable devices that includes sleep from individuals with autism spectrum and social anxiety with a history of suicidal ideation, and neurotypical individuals who are tracked over 24-36 weeks. Results of analysis indicate that sleep duration is not a significant predictor of suicidal ideation intensity, and that there is no difference between the autism spectrum and social anxiety groups in the predictive ability of sleep. Limitations of this study include local convenience sampling which includes a large majority of white participants, part of the study and data collected occurring during the COVID-19 pandemic, and potential response bias for such a sensitive topic. This study shows overall that there is a working model for this type of analysis, however many more features of sleep including movement during sleep and waking during sleep need to be analyzed to see if there is any predictive power in information from actigraphy, which would be a low invasive method for detecting increases in suicidal ideation risk.

Behavioral symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) begin to emerge around 12 months of age and are preceded by subtle differences in how infants process and interact with the world (Elsabbagh & Johnson, 2010). Similar atypical behavioral patterns and markers of brain organization (`endophenotypes') are present in infants at risk for ASD (HRA) due to their family history, regardless of whether they ultimately develop the disorder. Possible endophenotypes of ASD were investigated through four studies that examined event-related potentials (ERPs) to speech and language in HRA and low-risk control (LRC) infants as part of a larger, longitudinal project. Chapter 2 examined ERPs to language-specific phonemes at 6, 9, and 12 months (n=59 at 6mo, 77 at 9mo, and 70 at 12mo) and found that HRA infants were not delayed in phonemic perceptual narrowing yet exhibited atypical hemispheric lateralization of ERPs at 9 and 12 months. Chapter 3 explored these findings further in a sample with known developmental outcome (n=60 at 6mo, 75 at 9mo, and 72 at 12mo) in order to understand how these ERPs differ between infants who ultimately develop ASD and infants who do not. Chapter 4 examined responses to repeated speech stimuli at 9 months (n=95). HRA infants exhibited atypically large ERPs to repeated speech, and this pattern was associated with better later language ability. Finally, Chapter 5 examined ERPs to words at 18 and 24 months (n=41 at 18mo, 52 at 24mo) and found evidence for atypical topography of responses to known versus unknown words, particularly at 18 months. These findings provide evidence that in HRA infants, even those who do not develop ASD, neural processing of linguistic stimuli is altered during infancy and toddlerhood. The results from Chapter 4 suggest that at least some of the differences seen in HRA infants who do not develop ASD may reflect beneficial, rather than disordered, processing. Overall, these results contribute to growing evidence that familial risk for ASD is associated with atypical processing of speech and language during infancy. Future work should continue to investigate more closely the implications of atypical neural processing for infants' later development.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported that approximately 1 in 54 children in the U.S. is diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) (CDC, 2020). The prevalence of individuals diagnosed with or at-risk for ASD has increased over the past two decades (Baio et al., 2018). Impairments in social functioning, a central feature of ASD, have widespread effects on the lives and opportunities of individuals with this disorder (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). As a result, individuals with ASD are less satisfied with opportunities for social inclusion, physical well-being, and interpersonal relationships compared to individuals with intellectual disabilities (Arias et al., 2018). Technology-aided intervention may be used to reduce some of the barriers limiting access to social skills intervention. In particular, the technology-aided intervention can provide a highly motivating medium for the rehearsal of skills in a safe, controlled, and self-paced manner (Parsons & Beardon, 2000), allow for treatment programs to be implemented with high precision and fidelity with less variability, and reduce the cost of the intervention and other accessibility barriers (Ploog et al., 2013). VR has been studied extensively in training social skills for individuals diagnosed with ASD. With the flexibility and projected effectiveness that VR offers, it can provide more opportunities to learn and practice strategies for recognizing daily challenges that involve forming social relationships and related reasoning with more flexibility. VR provides a safer platform for people with ASD rather than practicing the social skill with actual people in a class or a group, it can be an excellent precursor for teaching these skills. There exists sufficient literature to provide evidence regarding the effectiveness of VR-based SST relevant for OT practice. However, the gap between the existing literature and method to integrate it in OT practice restrains OT practitioners to adopt and integrate VR in practice. Lack of comprehensive training designed specifically for OT practitioners to educate about the methods to implement, VR system selection for the priority population, and the theoretical base for implementation and use are some common barriers to using VR. To this end, this program is designed to empower OT practitioners to become efficient and confident in using this technology for addressing social skills deficits related to ASD. This is a professional development program to be delivered based on theory-driven approaches. The program is comprised of a training workshop accompanied by a hands-on practice element to provide OT practitioners with the avenue to learn, practice, and evaluate their current practices and knowledge regarding VR. Acquiring this training in using VR-based approaches will not only prepare therapists to confidently provide just the right challenge to the clients with autism according to their needs but also enhance the scope of individual OT practice.

Receiving a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder is often a pivotal moment for parents. The diagnostic feedback session can provide helpful information for moving forward with their child’s care but can also be filled with conflicting emotions. A few studies have looked at common parent experiences and have suggested actions for providers, but there is little information about how providers can predict parent reactions to the diagnosis and adjust their feedback accordingly. This study investigated factors related to parent reactions to the diagnostic disclosure session using a) interviews with providers that commonly diagnose autism; b) a focus group with parents of children with autism; and c) a mixed-methods survey of 189 parents with autistic children diagnosed in the US in the past 3 years. Overall, providers seem to give more information to families who are already knowledgeable about autism, helping them leave even more prepared. However, families who come to feedback very anxious about receiving a diagnosis are most critically in need of a breadth of information and are at risk of leaving the session feeling lost and unprepared if they do not receive adequate resources during feedback. Providers should be aware of parent anxiety about diagnosis and prior autism knowledge, as these factors predict parent post-session preparedness, positive emotions, difficult emotions, and confusion. Providers can help promote positive emotional reactions for parents and prevent confusion by increasing their positivity, warmth, and respect towards the family, and by being clear and confident in their communications.