Autism is a lifelong handicapping disorder that occurs on a continuum of severity. Children who show mild autistic behaviors but do not meet the criteria for a diagnosis of autism are often called autistic-like, but it is not known if their development and functioning are similar to that of autistic children. A follow-up study was done on 35 autistic and autistic-like children who were an average of 3 years of age when initially seen. Initial test scores indicated that the children were similar on measures of intellectual/developmental functioning, receptive vocabulary, and adaptive functioning. Approximately 4 years later they were evaluated again. Using the Childhood Autism Rating Scale, the children were divided at follow-up into three groups: nonautistic, mildly/moderately autistic, and severely autistic. Most children made gains on intelligence tests and displayed a diminishing number of autistic symptoms. Changes in nonverbal intelligence, adaptive functioning and receptive vocabulary scores depended on group membership. The results are discussed in relation to the reported stability of cognitive functioning in young autistic children and the implications for clinical practice, early intervention, and research on attachment. The nature of the syndrome of autism is also discussed, particularly in its relation to the milder, atypical children. The superior follow-up status of the autistic-like as compared to the autistic children raises serious questions about including the two groups in the same syndrome.

Parents of children with developmental disabilities (DDs) often suffer from psychological distress stemming from their children’s behavioral problems. One cause of distress is their challenge to accept their children’s illnesses mindfully. A culturally tailored and readily accessible mindfulness intervention may increase mindfulness and reduce distress. Also, there were insufficient studies regarding culturally relevant mindfulness trainings that have been conducted in Thailand. Therefore, a Brief Culturally Tailored Thai Mindfulness intervention (BCTTMi) was developed, merging the work of Jon Kabat-Zinn with Buddhist philosophy. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of the BCTTMi on stress, anxiety, and mindfulness in these parents. An experimental waitlist control crossover design with the 2-weekend BCTTMi was employed in 22 Thai parents and caregivers of children with DDs. They were all Thais and Buddhists; more than half had practiced meditation. They completed three Thai-version questionnaires: (a) the Parenting Stress Index-Short Form-4th edition; (b) the State Anxiety Inventory-Form-Y-1; and (c) the Mindfulness Assessment Scale, at three measurements (baseline, posttest, and two-week follow-up). Repeated measure ANOVA analyses were used to analyze data. The findings showed that anxiety significantly decreased from baseline to posttest, and mindfulness significantly increased with the BCTTMi. Nevertheless, stress did not significantly reduce over time, and change between intervention and control conditions did not differ for anxiety level. Moreover, there were no differences in any outcomes from posttest to two-week follow-up. In spite of Buddhist homogeneity of participants and sustained stress, mindfulness increased, and anxiety decreased following the BCTTMi. These findings indicate the feasibility of tailoring the mindfulness-based training to specific cultures and its usefulness as an efficient option for parents and caregivers of children with DDs. Further studies regarding the BCTTMi are warranted in broader populations and settings. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2018. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

There is an ongoing trend in Western societies, including Australia, to move people with developmental disabilities out of institutions and into community based accommodation. When deinstitutionalisation occurs it impacts not only on the person with a disability but on their significant others and also on the organisation/s providing them with support. While government departments and support organisations say that they involve family members in deinstitutionalisation, little previous research has focussed on family members’ experiences of deinstitutionalisation to know if it is an engaging and empowering experience for them. Most previous studies of deinstitutionalisation, where they have spoken to significant others, have focussed on their perceptions of the benefits or disadvantages of deinstitutionalisation for their son or daughter with a disability directly rather than considering how it impacted upon the significant others. I identified this as a gap in our current knowledge and set out through this study to find out what deinstitutionalisation was like from the viewpoint of some significant others involved in it My research methodology was informed by a Symbolic Interactionist approach whereby I wished to investigate the meaning attached by significant others to the process and the outcomes of deinstitutionalisation through in depth interviews The application of selective coding procedures led to the development of the core category - for some significant others devolution is a disempowering process. This is a different viewpoint to that expressed in the majority of studies of devolution. In considering why this study revealed a different story, I identified through the data and from reviewing the available international literature, that deinstitutionalisation rekindles feelings of guilt regarding the decision to place their child in an out-of-home placement. Application of these principles might result in Empowering Partnerships which would in turn benefit all three players. I translated the three major categories and five principles into a Model of Empowering Partnerships in Devolution. / Master of Arts (Hons)

The purpose of this investigation was to compare the effectiveness of integrated and segregated settings in elementary physical education. The efficacy of each setting was measured by the quantity of opportunities to respond (OTR) and the quality of those responses. This study examined the frequency and motor appropriateness of OTRs for children with developmental disabilities in integrated and segregated physical education classes. This study utilized a single subject alternating conditions design. Four students, 7 to 11 years, with developmental disabilities participated in this study. All participants received both general (integrated) physical education and adapted (segregated) physical education services throughout the 1997-1998 school year. Subjects were videotaped during the lesson focus portion of both the integrated and the segregated physical education settings once each week for a total of five weeks. Data on the frequency and motor appropriateness of the OTRs were collected and analyzed for each participant in both settings. Students with developmental disabilities generally made more responses in the segregated physical education setting. The motor appropriateness of these responses were similar in both segregated and integrated settings, although it was marginally higher in the segregated setting. The results of this investigation demonstrated that students with developmental disabilities received higher quantities of OTRs in the segregated physical education setting. However, there was little difference between settings with respect to the quality of the OTRs for three of the four subjects. For this reason and other suspected academic and social benefits of integration, an integrated physical education setting may prove beneficial for a number of students with disabilities. / Graduation date: 1998

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1981. / Bibliography: leaves [135]-141.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Delaware, 2006. / Principal faculty advisors: Michael Gamel-McCormick and Michael Ferrari, Dept. of Individual & Family Studies. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--York University, 2001. Graduate Programme in Psychology. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 74-85). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/yorku/fullcit?pMQ71633.

Communication is an integral part of life that allows for independence. It is common for individuals with disabilities to have deficits in communication, which often coincide with an increased presence of challenging behavior. One successful method of addressing this issue is the use of functional analysis to determine the function of challenging behavior. Next, functional communication training is used to teach the individual an a socially-appropriate and functionally-equivalent method of communication so that he/she no longer relies on challenging behavior in order to get his/her needs met. While functional communication training has proven to be a helpful procedure, it has been noted that it should be combined with other procedures for maximum efficiency. Additionally, very little research has targeted the generalization of skills acquired via functional communication training, although, research clearly identifies that generalization of skills as an area of difficulty among individuals with developmental disabilities. One possibility of improving both the intervention and the generalization of skills is the use of motivating operations. Motivating operations are any environmental change that alters the value of a reinforcer. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to assess the effects of potential motivating operations on functional communication training and generalization of newly acquired skills across four participants. This was accomplished by conducting functional analyses on each participant. The maintaining condition was repeated with pre-session conditions of either no access to the reinforcer or satiation with the reinforcer to identify motivating operations. These pre-session conditions, which were identified as motivating operations, were then implemented prior to functional communication training sessions, in the effect of no prior access to the reinforcer or 15 minutes of prior access to the reinforcer. This was again repeated with four different generalization assessments. Several patterns of behaviors resulted. First, functional communication training was improved for two participants when prior access to the reinforcer was implemented. Second, approximately half of the generalization assessments also showed improved responding when the participant had prior access to the reinforcer. Also, prior access to the reinforcer rarely impaired intervention or generalization. The results, limitations, and further research are discussed. / text

The purpose of the study was to establish diagnostic validity for a modified version of the Classroom Adjustment Rating Scale (CARS). To do this, two a priori multivariate contrasts were specified in order to detect differences on the three CARS scales between three groups of pupils. Subjects were 170 normal (NORM), 125 Learning Disabled (LD), and 48 Emotionally Handicapped (EH) elementary age boys who were rated by their classroom teachers. The original CARS was modified by maintaining and adding items that had high correlations with the original three scales of Acting-Out, Shy-Anxious, and Learning Problems. Results with both the CARS and modified CARS (MCARS) indicated a significant multivariate contrast between the NORM group and a weighted combination of the LD and EH groups. Also, a significant multivariate contrast between the LD and EH group resulted for the CARS and MCARS. Follow-up with discriminant analysis found 71.4% of all boys correctly classified by the original CARS scales. However, the MCARS scales resulted in only a slight improvement in overall correct classification, with 72.3% of boys correctly classified. Teacher-judged intelligence, social class, and prosocial classroom behavior were included as possible biasing variables. It was found that the set of prosocial items had considerable impact on the ratings of EH boys, thus demonstrating the importance of including positive behaviors on a rating scale.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of an integrated adapted physical education setting on the motor performance of preschool children with developmental delays. Subjects in this study participated in segregated and integrated adapted physical education classes. During the integrated conditions, same-age peers without delays participated in activities as "proximity peers" (Jenkins, Speltz & Odom , 1985). Child-directed activities were presented in each class and subjects were observed practicing locomotor and object control skills. The quality of each performance was analyzed to determine the number of critical elements present in the performance and the level of teacher or peer prompt required to initiate and complete each performance. A single subject reversal design (A-B-A-B) was used in this investigation. Four children with developmental delays were filmed within an eight-week school schedule while practicing two fundamental gross motor skills during segregated and integrated conditions. The level and trend of the data was calculated to describe the quality of each child's motor performance within each condition, between conditions, and across segregated and integrated conditions. The results of this study provide evidence that children with developmental delays are able to maintain their level of gross motor skill and independence within an integrated adapted physical education setting. Although day-to- day variability was calculated for each subject, overall skill level remained stable and their level of independence was not compromised in the integrated setting. Recommendations for future research are made based upon the results of this investigation. / Graduation date: 1993