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The use of a novel treatment protocol based off acceptance and commitment therapy for the problematic behaviors of two high functioning children with autism

The present study extends previous research on acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) by using a new ACT protocol, the Fusion Management System (Dixon, 2013 in press) with a new population. Participants were 2 high functioning children with autism: an 8-year old boy and a 12 year-old girl. Using a multiple baseline design, 2 participants were exposed to 15 hours of therapy over the span of 12 weeks. Behavioral data was taken for each participant by their parent(s) on a problematic behavior that was of concern to them. Prior to and following the ACT intervention, both participants took three psychometric measures that were designed to measure ACT related processes: the Child and Adolescent Mindfulness Measure (CAMM), the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II (AAQ-II), and the Avoidance and Fusion Questionnaire for Youth (AFQ-Y). Following the intervention one participant improved on all measures of the ACT related processes and the other participant's score improved on the AFQ-Y and slightly deteriorated on the CAMM and AAQ-II. During the intervention phase of this study both participants' problematic behavior significantly improved. Implications of the study and future research are also discussed.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:siu.edu/oai:opensiuc.lib.siu.edu:theses-2356
Date01 December 2013
CreatorsHill, Elisa Marie
PublisherOpenSIUC
Source SetsSouthern Illinois University Carbondale
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typetext
Formatapplication/pdf
SourceTheses

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