scholarly journals EFFECT OF VISUAL-CUEING ON TWO-LEGGED HOPPING VARIABILITY IN CHILDREN WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER: A PILOT STUDY

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel E. Lidstone ◽  
Janet S. Dufek

ABSTRACTBackgroundMotor deficits in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are highly prevalent. High variability of motor output is commonly reported in children with ASD. Visual cueing using an exergame may be an effective intervention to reduce motor variability in children with ASD.AimTo examine the effect of visual cueing on two-legged hopping variability in children with ASD.MethodsFour children with ASD and six age-matched TD controls performed three 20-s hopping trials with no visual cueing (no cue = NC) and with a 2 Hz visual cue (visual cue = VC). Three-dimensional kinematic data of the sacrum marker and ground reaction force were collected during each hopping trial. Variability was determined using the intra-trial coefficient of variation (CoV) of hopping frequency, hop height, and negative sacral displacementResultsA marginally significant interaction between GROUP (ASD/TD) and CUE type (NC/VC) was observed for hopping frequency variability (p = 0.06) indicating greater impairment in the ASD group vs. TD group with visual vs. no-cueing. The main effect of group showed a statistically significant difference in hopping frequency (p = 0.037), hopping frequency variability (p = 0.008), and negative sacrum displacement variability (p = 0.04).ConclusionThis pilot study confirmed high motor variability in the amplitude and frequency of repetitive movements in children with ASD. However, visual cueing was ineffective at reducing the variability of motor output in children with autism.

Author(s):  
Mary Alice Keller ◽  
Anne Marie Tharpe ◽  
James Bodfish

Purpose The present pilot study aimed to provide estimates of the feasibility and efficacy of a remote microphone (RM) system as an augmentative intervention to improve the functional listening performance of preschool children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and language disorder. Method Eight children with ASD and language disorder participated. Efficacy of the RM system was determined by evaluating participants' functional listening performance, as measured by an observational measure in RM-off and RM-on conditions. Responses were evaluated at the individual level using an alternating conditions design. Results Adequate feasibility was demonstrated as all participants were able to complete tasks in the RM-on condition. A subset of participants showed significant improvements in their functional listening performance in the RM-on condition, as demonstrated by visual inspection and effect sizes (nonoverlapping data points and percentage of data points exceeding the mean), indicating that there may be important sources of individual differences in responses to RM use in children with ASD. Conclusion The results of this pilot study provide support for future research on RM systems to target functional listening performance in children with ASD and language disorder.


2018 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenny M. Burton ◽  
Karla N. Washington ◽  
Maureen Samms-Vaughan

Most research related to communication skills in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has been obtained from monolingual English-speaking children from high-income countries. Based on questionnaires completed by parents, this pilot study aimed to describe the communication characteristics of six children with ASD living in Jamaica. Parents had concerns about their child’s speech intelligibility, expressive language, and social communication. All children were reported to speak using Standard Jamaican English (SJE). Exposure to SJE and Jamaican Creole (JC) was reported by half of the parents. Emergent literacy was considered a relative strength. All parents reported that their child could recite the alphabet and identify some letters and that family members also helped their child print and read letters or words. Other aspects of the home literacy environment and early literacy skills were varied. Information from this group provides some insights into communication skills in children with ASD from Caribbean backgrounds.


2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-156 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Carlon ◽  
Mark Carter ◽  
Jennifer Stephenson

A pilot study of the effectiveness of guided access to websites that provide information on intervention options for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) was conducted with 12 parents of preschool-aged children with ASD. Guided access to reliable websites that included information about the efficacy of interventions for ASD (Raising Children Network, 2006–2014; Research Autism, 2006–2014) was provided in the format of a DVD presentation. The guidelines for choosing interventions provided on the Raising Children Network (2009) website were reiterated and assistance was provided with navigation and interpretation of the sites. Participants reported the guided access to reliable websites as useful and also reported an increased level of confidence in making intervention decisions after using the package. However, the guided access did not appear to influence the factors that parents considered important in decision-making, their understanding of the level of research support for interventions, nor their desire to use different interventions. Implications for future research and attempts to disseminate information to parents are discussed.


2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Faihan Alotaibi ◽  
Nabil Almalki

<p class="apa">The present study sought to examine parents’ perceptions of early interventions and related services for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in Saudi Arabia. In this study a survey was distributed to a sample of 80 parents with children who have ASD. Parents also were asked open-ended questions to enable them to provide suggestions. The findings indicate that parents have varying perceptions of early interventions and related services. However, they seem to agree that these services are important in assisting their children. Accordingly, parents have suggested that the government needs to increase these services by providing more centers for children with ASD in Saudi Arabia, providing more specialists to deal with children with ASD, promoting inclusion in regular schools and providing more information on early intervention.</p>


Author(s):  
Ana Gentil-Gutiérrez ◽  
José Luis Cuesta-Gómez ◽  
Paula Rodríguez-Fernández ◽  
Jerónimo Javier González-Bernal

(1) Background: Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) frequently have difficulties in processing sensory information, which is a limitation when participating in different contexts, such as school. The objective of the present study was to compare the sensory processing characteristics of children with ASD in the natural context of school through the perception of professionals in the field of education, in comparison with neurodevelopmental children (2) Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study as conducted with study population consisting of children between three and ten years old, 36 of whom were diagnosed with ASD and attended the Autismo Burgos association; the remaining 24 had neurotypical development. The degree of response of the children to sensory stimuli at school was evaluated using the Sensory Profile-2 (SP-2) questionnaire in its school version, answered by the teachers. (3) Results: Statistically significant differences were found in sensory processing patterns (p = 0.001), in sensory systems (p = 0.001) and in school factors (p = 0.001). Children with ASD who obtained worse results. (4) Conclusions: Children with ASD are prone to present sensory alterations in different contexts, giving nonadapted behavioral and learning responses.


2021 ◽  
pp. 073428292110259
Author(s):  
Brittany A. Dale ◽  
W. Holmes Finch ◽  
Kassie A. R. Shellabarger ◽  
Andrew Davis

The Wechsler Intelligence Scales for Children (WISC) are the most widely used instrument in assessing cognitive ability, especially with children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Previous literature on the WISC has demonstrated a divergent pattern of performance on the WISC for children ASD compared to their typically developing peers; however, there is a lack of research concerning the most recent iteration, the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Fifth Edition (WISC-V). Due to the distinctive changes made to the WISC-V, we sought to identify the pattern of performance of children with ASD on the WISC-V using a classification and regression (CART) analysis. The current study used the standardization sample data of the WISC-V obtained from NCS Pearson, Inc. Sixty-two children diagnosed with ASD, along with their demographically matched controls, comprised the sample. Results revealed the Comprehension and Letter-Number Sequencing subtests were the most important factors in predicting group membership for children with ASD with an accompanying language impairment. Children with ASD without an accompanying language impairment, however, were difficult to distinguish from matched controls through the CART analysis. Results suggest school psychologists and other clinicians should administer all primary and supplemental subtests of the WISC-V as part of a comprehensive assessment of ASD.


2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 584-597
Author(s):  
Christine Holyfield

Purpose Technology features that maximize communicative benefit while minimizing learning demands must be identified and prioritized to amplify the efficiency and effectiveness of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) intervention. Picture symbols with paired text are a common representation feature in AAC systems for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who are preliterate, yet little research about their comparative benefit exists. Method Four school-age children with ASD and limited speech who were preliterate participated in two single-subject studies. In one study, communication of high imageability words (e.g., nouns) on an AAC app during a book-reading activity was compared across two representation conditions: picture symbols with paired text and text only. In the second study, communication of low imageability words (e.g., verbs) was compared. Both studies had baseline, intervention, generalization, and maintenance phases. Results Prior to intervention, participants communicated across both representation conditions at low rates except two participants who were relatively successful using picture symbol with paired text representations of high imageability words. In response to intervention, all participants demonstrated increases in communication across representation conditions and maintained the increases. Participants demonstrated generalization in the text-only representation condition. Conclusions Children with ASD who were preliterate acquired communication at comparable rates regardless of whether an AAC app utilized picture symbol with paired text or text-only representation. Therefore, while larger scale research is needed, clinicians and technology developers could consider increasing the use of text in AAC representation given the inherent value associated with learning to recognize written words. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.13661357


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