Increasing the Number Sense Understanding of Preschool Students With ASD

2021 ◽  
pp. 027112142110061
Author(s):  
Bonnie L. Ingelin ◽  
Seyma Intepe-Tingir ◽  
Nanette C. Hammons
Keyword(s):  
Preschool Children ◽  
Number Sense ◽  
Functional Relation ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Preschool Students ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Early Number ◽  
Mathematical Success ◽  
Number Talks

Teaching children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) academic skills supports their future opportunities. For example, early number sense skills are predictive of future mathematical success for all children including children with ASD. Yet, research on foundational early childhood mathematics skills of children with ASD is limited. This study used an adapted version of Number Talks to increase the number sense skills of preschool children with ASD. Number Talks is a constructivist approach that was combined with systematic instruction (i.e., system of least prompts and modeling) in this study. A multiple probe across participants design established a functional relation between using an adapted version of Number Talks and the early number sense skills of preschool children with ASD. Findings suggest using an adapted version of Number Talks can increase the early number sense skills of preschool children with ASD. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.

Remote Microphone System Use in Preschool Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder and Language Disorder in the Classroom: A Pilot Efficacy Study

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Mary Alice Keller ◽  
Anne Marie Tharpe ◽  
James Bodfish
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Preschool Children ◽  
Pilot Study ◽  
Language Disorder ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Data Points

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.

Building the Early Number Sense of Kindergarteners With Autism: A Replication Study

2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (6) ◽  
pp. 378-388 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenny R. Root ◽  
Bonnie Henning ◽  
Bree Jimenez
Keyword(s):  
Number Sense ◽  
Classroom Teacher ◽  
Functional Relation ◽  
Kindergarten Students ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Early Numeracy ◽  
Systematic Instruction ◽  
Students With Autism ◽  
Early Number ◽  
Teacher's Perception

This study reports findings of a systematic replication and as such sought to evaluate effects of an early numeracy curriculum on early number sense attainment for Kindergarten students with autism. Through daily 15-min story-based math lessons with embedded systematic instruction delivered by their classroom teacher, participants learned to compare sets, identify and work with patterns, and use standard and nonstandard measurement, and calendar skills. Results indicate a functional relation between the intervention and early number sense, and students were able to generalize skills when systematic instruction was faded. Similar results were mirrored by pre–post standardized norm-referenced measures of early mathematics abilities. Implementation of the curriculum had positive results on the teacher’s perception of self-efficacy. The study’s contribution to research, recommendations for practice, and implications for future research are discussed.

Exploring Growth in Expressive Communication of Infants and Toddlers With Autism Spectrum Disorder

2021 ◽  
pp. 105381512199557
Author(s):  
Jay Buzhardt ◽  
Anna Wallisch ◽  
Dwight Irvin ◽  
Brian Boyd ◽  
Brenda Salley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Progress Monitoring ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Growth Patterns ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Infants And Toddlers ◽  
Early Communication ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Language Growth

One of the earliest indicators of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is delay in language and social communication. Despite consensus on the benefits of earlier diagnosis and intervention, our understanding of the language growth of children with ASD during the first years of life remains limited. Therefore, this study compared communication growth patterns of infants and toddlers with ASD to growth benchmarks of a standardized language assessment. We conducted a retrospective analysis of growth on the Early Communication Indicator (ECI) of 23 infants and toddlers who received an ASD diagnosis in the future. At 42 months of age, children with ASD had significantly lower rates of gestures, single words, and multiple words, but significantly higher rates of nonword vocalizations. Children with ASD had significantly slower growth of single and multiple words, but their rate of vocalization growth was significantly greater than benchmark. Although more research is needed with larger samples, because the ECI was designed for practitioners to monitor children’s response to intervention over time, these findings show promise for the ECI’s use as a progress monitoring measure for young children with ASD. Limitations and the need for future research are discussed.

scholarly journals Eye gaze differences in school scenes between preschool children and adolescents with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder and those with typical development

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuko Ishizaki ◽  
Takahiro Higuchi ◽  
Yoshitoki Yanagimoto ◽  
Hodaka Kobayashi ◽  
Atsushi Noritake ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Preschool Children ◽  
Children And Adolescents ◽  
Eye Gaze ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Typical Development ◽  
Human Face ◽  
Gaze Behavior ◽  
Psychosomatic Symptoms ◽  
Children With Asd

Abstract Background Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may experience difficulty adapting to daily life in a preschool or school settings and are likely to develop psychosomatic symptoms. For a better understanding of the difficulties experienced daily by preschool children and adolescents with ASD, this study investigated differences in eye gaze behavior in the classroom environment between children with ASD and those with typical development (TD). Methods The study evaluated 30 children with ASD and 49 children with TD. Participants were presented with images of a human face and a classroom scene. While they gazed at specific regions of visual stimuli, eye tracking with an iView X system was used to evaluate and compare the duration of gaze time between the two groups. Results Compared with preschool children with TD, preschool children with ASD spent less time gazing at the eyes of the human face and the object at which the teacher pointed in the classroom image. Preschool children with TD who had no classroom experience tended to look at the object the teacher pointed at in the classroom image. Conclusion Children with ASD did not look at the human eyes in the facial image or the object pointed at in the classroom image, which may indicate their inability to analyze situations, understand instruction in a classroom, or act appropriately in a group. This suggests that this gaze behavior of children with ASD causes social maladaptation and psychosomatic symptoms. A therapeutic approach that focuses on joint attention is desirable for improving the ability of children with ASD to adapt to their social environment.

Validation of Wearable Sensor Technology to Measure Social Proximity of Young Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders

2021 ◽  
pp. 108835762110282
Author(s):  
Sarah N. Douglas ◽  
Yan Shi ◽  
Saptarshi Das ◽  
Subir Biswas
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Sensor System ◽  
Sensor Data ◽  
Sensor Technology ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Social Proximity ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Spectrum Disorders

Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) struggle to develop appropriate social skills, which can lead to later social rejection, isolation, and mental health concerns. Educators play an important role in supporting and monitoring social skill development for children with ASD, but the tools used by educators are often tedious, lack suitable sensitivity, provide limited information to plan interventions, and are time-consuming. Therefore, we conducted a study to evaluate the use of a sensor system to measure social proximity between three children with ASD and their peers in an inclusive preschool setting. We compared video-coded data with sensor data using point-by-point agreement to measure the accuracy of the sensor system. Results suggest that the sensor system can adequately measure social proximity between children with ASD and their peers. The next steps for sensor system validation are discussed along with clinical and educational implications, limitations, and future research directions.

scholarly journals Acquisition of Verb Meaning From Syntactic Distribution in Preschoolers With Autism Spectrum Disorder

2018 ◽  
Vol 49 (3S) ◽  
pp. 668-680 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabrina Horvath ◽  
Elizabeth McDermott ◽  
Kathleen Reilly ◽  
Sudha Arunachalam
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Social Context ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Future Research ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Prior Work ◽  
Verb Learning ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Syntactic Frames

Purpose Our goal was to investigate whether preschool children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can begin to learn new word meanings by attending to the linguistic contexts in which they occur, even in the absence of visual or social context. We focused on verbs because of their importance for subsequent language development. Method Thirty-two children with ASD, ages 2;1–4;5 (years;months), participated in a verb-learning task. In a between-subjects design, they were randomly assigned to hear novel verbs in either transitive or intransitive syntactic frames while watching an unrelated silent animation or playing quietly with a toy. In an eye-tracking test, they viewed two video scenes, one depicting a causative event (e.g., boy spinning girl) and the other depicting synchronous events (e.g., boy and girl waving). They were prompted to find the referents of the novel verbs, and their eye gaze was measured. Results Like typically developing children in prior work, children with ASD who had heard the verbs in transitive syntactic frames preferred to look to the causative scene as compared to children who had heard intransitive frames. Conclusions This finding replicates and extends prior work on verb learning in children with ASD by demonstrating that they can attend to a novel verb's syntactic distribution absent relevant visual or social context, and they can use this information to assign the novel verb an appropriate meaning. We discuss points for future research, including examining individual differences that may impact success and contrasting social and nonsocial word-learning tasks directly.

Fostering Inclusion of Children and Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorders in Daily Settings Through Technological Supports

2021 ◽  
pp. 224-245
Author(s):  
Fabrizio Stasolla ◽  
Alessandro O. Caffò ◽  
Viviana Perilli
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Assistive Technology ◽  
Communication Skills ◽  
Challenging Behaviors ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Future Research ◽  
The Third ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Adolescents With Autism ◽  
Spectrum Disorders

This chapter emphasizes a selective overview of the newest empirical contributions available in the literature within the last decade (i.e., 2008-2019) regarding the use of assistive technology for the inclusion of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in daily settings. According to the including and excluding criteria, 40 studies were retained and grouped in five main categories, namely (1) communication skills, (2) adaptive and/or social skills, (3) life skills, (4) challenging behaviors, and (5) academic performance. The first aim of the chapter was to outline strengths and weaknesses of the aforementioned studies. The second objective of the chapter was to provide some practical and illustrative examples of assistive technology-based programs aimed at the integration of children with ASD in daily settings. Finally, the third purpose was to discuss the findings pointing out some useful guidelines for future research and practice. Results were fairly positive, although some failure occurred. Clinical, educational, psychological, and rehabilitative implications were critically discussed.

Robots and Autism Spectrum Disorder

2016 ◽  
pp. 905-924
Author(s):  
Amie Senland
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Critical Review ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Technological Intervention ◽  
Educational Applications ◽  
Potential Use

Technology featuring robots is a promising innovative technological intervention for treating and educating children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). This chapter reviews, critiques, and presents future directions for research on clinical and educational applications of robots for these children. Specifically, this chapter reviews current research on: (1) robots that act as social mediators for children with ASD and (2) robots that assist them in developing social skills such as joint attention and imitation. A critical review of the research suggests that robots may have the capacity to assist some of these children, but additional rigorous studies are necessary to demonstrate their efficacy and effectiveness. Future research must (1) examine whether robots have differential effects for specific subgroups of children with ASD and (2) contribute to a deeper understanding of robots' potential use in educational settings.

scholarly journals Subtle Oculomotor Difficulties and Their Relation to Motor Skill in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emma Sumner ◽  
Samuel B. Hutton ◽  
Elisabeth L. Hill
Keyword(s):  
Smooth Pursuit ◽  
Motor Skill ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Oculomotor Control ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Saccade Amplitude ◽  
Amplitude Variability ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Fixation Stability

Abstract Objectives Sensorimotor difficulties are often reported in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Visual and motor skills are linked in that the processing of visual information can help in guiding motor movements. The present study investigated oculomotor skill and its relation to general motor skill in ASD by providing a comprehensive assessment of oculomotor control. Methods Fifty children (25 ASD; 25 typically developing [TD]), aged 7–10 years, completed a motor assessment (comprising fine and gross motor tasks) and oculomotor battery (comprising fixation, smooth pursuit, prosaccade and antisaccade tasks). Results No group differences were found for antisaccade errors, nor saccade latencies in prosaccade and antisaccade tasks, but increased saccade amplitude variability was observed in children with ASD, suggesting a reduced consistency in saccade accuracy. Children with ASD also demonstrated poorer fixation stability than their peers and spent less time in pursuit of a moving target. Motor skill was not correlated with saccade amplitude variability. However, regression analyses revealed that motor skill (and not diagnosis) accounted for variance in fixation performance and fast smooth pursuit. Conclusions The findings highlight the importance of considering oculomotor paradigms to inform the functional impact of neuropathologies in ASD and also assessing the presentation of co-occurring difficulties to further our understanding of ASD. Avenues for future research are suggested.

scholarly journals Risk Factors for Unhealthy Weight Gain and Obesity among Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (13) ◽  
pp. 3285 ◽  
Author(s):  
Khushmol K. Dhaliwal ◽  
Camila E. Orsso ◽  
Caroline Richard ◽  
Andrea M. Haqq ◽  
Lonnie Zwaigenbaum
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Weight Gain ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Lifestyle Factors ◽  
Repetitive Behaviors ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Unhealthy Weight

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder characterized by social and communication deficits and repetitive behaviors. Children with ASD are also at a higher risk for developing overweight or obesity than children with typical development (TD). Childhood obesity has been associated with adverse health outcomes, including insulin resistance, diabetes, heart disease, and certain cancers. Importantly some key factors that play a mediating role in these higher rates of obesity include lifestyle factors and biological influences, as well as secondary comorbidities and medications. This review summarizes current knowledge about behavioral and lifestyle factors that could contribute to unhealthy weight gain in children with ASD, as well as the current state of knowledge of emerging risk factors such as the possible influence of sleep problems, the gut microbiome, endocrine influences and maternal metabolic disorders. We also discuss some of the clinical implications of these risk factors and areas for future research.

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