Background: Joint attention (JA) is selectively and pervasively impaired in
children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and has been found to link to later
outcomes in language, theory of mind, play and social development. This study
investigated the effectiveness of a social interactive intervention to improve
initiating JA skills in children with ASD. The intervention was based on the
mirror neuron hypothesis, in that techniques used encouraged the children to take
on their communication partners’ perspective through a process of embodied
simulation. Method: Three participants diagnosed with ASD, under the age of 5,
were recruited as well as 3 typically developing children for the setting of training
criteria. A multiple-baseline design across participants was implemented. Results:
All three participants displayed improvements in their ability to initiate JA. Skills
generalized to other settings and communication partners. Improvements were
observed by both trained and naïve observers. Conclusions: A social interactive
model, based on the mirror neuron hypothesis, utilizing specific techniques which
follow the child’s lead may be used to effectively improve initiating joint attention
(IJA) in some children with ASD.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/7584 |
| Date | 02 March 2010 |
| Creators | Dos Santos, Kerry |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | application/pdf |
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