In this study, a promising new intervention implemented for adults with aphasia due to stroke, Multimodal Communication Treatment, was modified for its use with one child with autism spectrum disorder to identify if the child could learn and communicate new words through learning multiple modalities. Data was collected on the child’s communicative output as well to assess the frequency and types of his communication attempts. The child presented with challenging behaviors throughout the intervention period, and its potential impact on the execution of the intervention was studied. The study found that Multimodal Communication Treatment was not an effective intervention approach for this child. The majority of his output was not communicative in nature and challenging behaviors impacted the effectiveness of implementing the approach. Further research is needed to identify whether Multimodal Communication Treatment could be an effective intervention for children with more communicative intent and increased attention. / text

A broad review of assessment and intervention research relevant to Theory of Mind (Baron-Cohen, 1985) and Autism Spectrum Disorders from birth to age twelve was conducted. Nine assessment articles were reviewed to examine the major differences between children with autism spectrum disorders and children who are typically developing, particularly in the area of social perception. Assessment tasks aimed to discover a child's thoughts relevant to another's thoughts, beliefs, and emotions. It was discovered that children with autism spectrum disorders performed less well on Theory of Mind tasks, and tended to provide responses that were more egocentric and idiosyncratic in nature. A review of the intervention research revealed improvement in Theory of Mind domains is possible when teaching strategies explicitly target goals relevant to perspective taking. Generalization of skills to natural environments was a lacking area across all twelve articles, indicating a need for more intensive practice in natural environments. Interestingly, when social skills were taught in the absence of Theory of Mind training, no collateral effects were observed to Theory of Mind domain. / text

<p>Syfte</p><p>Övergripande syfte i studien är att undersöka vad som är möjligt att tillämpa av systemteori i interventionsstudier för barn i behov av särskilt stöd samt vilka teoretiska och praktiska implikationer det kan få för interventioner för dessa barn.</p><p> </p><p>Metod</p><p>En ideal systemteoretisk intervention konstruerades, med hjälp av generell systemteori och dynamisk systemteori för att användas som ett verktyg för analys. Därefter vidtog en systematisk litteraturstudie baserat på ett hermeneutiskt och systemteoretiskt angreppssätt.</p><p> </p><p>Resultat</p><p>Resultat av litteraturundersökningen blev att endast tre artiklar inkluderades. Dessa artiklar analyserades i jämförelse med den ideala systemteoretiska interventionen. Analysen visar att systemteori fortfarande används på ett övergripande sätt och att man i interventionerna inte använder systemteori under hela interventionsprocessen.</p><p>Aspekter som saknades i interventionerna är ekologisk validitet, reaktivitet och systemkarakteristika. Lite förenklat innebär detta att man inte beaktar de processer som pågår i relationen mellan det specifika barnet och en specifik kontext. Andra aspekter som saknades i interventionerna var stabiliserande central attraktor (SCA), självstabiliserande och destabiliserande processer. I interventionerna beaktades således inte vad som var systemets stabiliserande kärna, det vill säga vad som upprätthåller systemet i balans och inte vilka processer som stabiliserar och destabiliserar systemet.</p><p> </p><p>Studiens betydelse</p><p>Sammantaget implicerar den här undersökningen att systemteoretiska interventioner för barn i behov av särskilt stöd behöver utvecklas teoretiskt såväl som praktiskt. Framtida forskning bör på ett teoretiskt plan använda sig av systemteori och dess termer för att kunna följa alla faser i en interventionsprocess. På ett praktiskt plan bör man försöka genomföra systemteoretiska interventioner för olika barn i behov av särskilt stöd i vilka man kontinuerligt uppmärksammar attraktorer för att på så sätt kunna hjälpa så många barn och ungdomar som möjligt i de system de vistas i.</p><p> </p>

The Trans-community Approaches to Childhood Obesity Prevention and Treatment Study (Activa Y Sana) was a two-year (August 2006 to May 2008) intervention in one hundred and forty-one 3rd and 4th grade children and their parents from four schools in the Sunnyside School District in Tucson, Arizona. Activa was designed to expand upon schools as an intervention venue, and was the first to test the feasibility and impact of a multi-level, or "trans-community" approach (involving children, their parents or caregivers, schools, and community agencies) on the prevention of childhood weight gain in an at-risk Mexican-American population.Families were assigned to one of three interventions, depending upon which school the child attended: Level 1, state-mandated nutrition- and physical activity-based health curricula; Level 2, Level 1 curricula plus an after-school program; or Level 3, Level 1 + Level 2 activities, plus a family intervention.Primary endpoints of this study were changes in child BMI z-score, % fat, abdominal circumference, activity levels and food intake, psychosocial characteristics and correlates of these measures.The three manuscripts contained herein represent the main findings of this pilot study. Identifying potential mediators and describing their influence on childhood overweight is essential to development of successful interventions. In Study #1, the findings for the examination of correlates of child BMI z-score and % fat are reported. Activa Y Sana was designed to test whether combining different levels of intervention would have a greater impact on child weight. In Study #2, the results of this trans-community intervention on child weight status is discussed. The majority of evidence-based obesity prevention programs in use today were not designed with minorities in mind, and the continued scarcity of research in Latino populations has hindered the development of culturally-competent interventions that might reduce overweight prevalence. The challenges encountered while implementing Activa Y Sana, a population-specific intervention, are described in Study #3.The results from this research may be used to help inform the design of future intervention programs with the goal of reducing the burden of obesity in Mexican-American children, currently the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. population.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

Obesity is a growing concern in North America and current research suggests that for addressing childhood obesity, family-based behavioural interventions targeting children are the treatment of choice. Due to the lack of clinics that offer face to face treatment, the Internet may serve as a viable method for the delivery of such interventions. Three studies are presented in order to explore the viability of the internet as a treatment modality for delivering family-based interventions for children who are overweight. The first study attempted to deliver a family-based behavioural intervention via the internet - the Healthy Eating and Active Living Throughout Youth (HEALTHY) - for children aged 8 to 14 (M = 10.5). The initial goal was to evaluate the effectiveness of the internet as a treatment modality for childhood obesity. A total of 20 families consisting of 25 child-parent dyads consented to the intervention. However, adherence and attrition were significant issues throughout the 3-month intervention and only two child-parent dyads (8%) completed the 3-month intervention. Therefore the goals of this study changed to become primarily exploratory, with the aims of identifying factors related to treatment adherence and attrition. For the second study, the parents of the 20 families who consented to the HEALTHY intervention were invited to participate in a telephone interview around their impressions of the study, barriers to participation, and their needs in seeking services for their children. Sixteen families (80%) provided consent and thematic analyses were conducted. Four categories of themes emerged from the data and included: 'Knowledge and Education', 'Social Supports', 'Tools for Success', and 'Program Goals'. These categories, and the themes embedded within each category are presented and discussed. For the third study a systematic review of exclusively web-based studies for paediatric obesity was conducted. Five health and social sciences databases were search between 1995 and March 2012 (including an initial and updated search). A total of 2432 bibliographic records were identified (following de-duplication) and were subjected to title and abstract screening, and a further 120 records were subject to full-text screening. Two reviewers independently assessed the eligibility of each bibliographic record at these multiple levels and conflicts were resolved by third party. Three records were included in the review, and a further three records were identified as noteworthy in that they reported on one larger web-based study with a minimal face-to-face component (i.e., 4 sessions over 2 years). Data regarding attrition, adherence, and body composition changes were extracted by two independent reviewers. Attrition rates from the included studies ranged from 43% to 85%. The noteworthy study reported 18% overall attrition at six months (following randomization: 18% from the intervention group) and 34% overall attrition at two years (following randomization: 36% from the intervention group). Adherence measures were varied, but suggested low adherence to study components. Body composition changes were marginal in the short-term, but then lost in the longer-term. Implications for research and practice will be discussed. The contributions of this thesis include examining whether family-based interventions for pediatric obesity delivered over the internet are feasible. This question will be answered by exploring baseline characteristics that are related to treatment adherence and attrition, investigating barriers that interfere with adherence and contribute to attrition, and reviewing other research conducted in the field. Following from this thesis, and other relevant research, implications and recommendations for future research and clinical practice will be discussed