DESIGNING FOR AUTISM: AN ASPECTSS™ POST-OCCUPANCY EVALUATION OF LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS

Author(s):  
Magda Mostafa

The objective of this paper is to demonstrate the application of the Autism ASPECTSS™ Design Index in the Post-Occupancy Evaluation of existing learning environments for children along the autism spectrum. First published in 2014 this index outlines 7 design criteria that have been hypothesized to support environments conducive of learning for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Using the index as a framework, this paper outlines a case study of a Post-Occupancy Evaluation (POE) of an existing pre-K-8th grade public charter purpose-built school for children on the autism spectrum. The tools used for the evaluation were: the ASPECTSS scoring of the school through a survey of teachers and administrators; on-site behavioral in-class observation; and focus groups of parents, teachers, staff and administrators. The results informed a design retro-fit proposal that strived to assess any ASPECTSS compliance issues and implement the index across the learning spaces, therapy spaces, support services and outdoor learning environments of the school. This paper will outline the application of the index and the resultant design from this process. The results will strive to present a scalable and replicable methodology and prototype for improving existing built environments for learners with ASD.

Psibernetika ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elita Kirana ◽  
Ediasri T Atmodiwirjo ◽  
Debora Basaria

<p><strong><em>ABSTRACT</em></strong><strong><em>: </em></strong><em>Children with autism have deficit characteristics in social communication and social interaction, as well as restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior, and limited interests or activities. As children grow and engage in a wider environment, this is become a problem because of the lack of social skills on children with autism. The purpose of this research is to improve the social skills of children with autism. There are several methods that can be applied to children with autism to improve their social skills. One of them is the DIR </em>(<em>Developmental, Individual Differences, &amp; Relationship Based</em>) <em>Floortime method. DIR Floortime aims to help children reach the stage of their emotional development through play activities. This type of research is a clinical case study, involving two middle childhood boys that are diagnosed with a mild level of autism. The instruments used in this study are Autism Social Skills Profile and Functional Emotional Assessment Scale. This research involves 20 sessions, conducted in May until June 2018, consisting of 10 sensory sessions and 10  symbolic sessions for each subject. The results of this research show an improvement in social skills in both participants, marked by an increase in the post test scores, but not significantly. Qualitatively, both subject demonstrates an improvement on social skills in their daily behavior after they had participated in the intervention.</em><strong><em></em></strong></p><p><strong><em>Keywords</em></strong><strong>: </strong><em>autism spectrum disorder, middle childhood, </em>DIR <em>Floortime,social skills</em></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong>ABSTRAK</strong><strong>: </strong>Anak autistik memiliki karakteristik kesulitan dalam komunikasi dan interaksi sosial serta adanya yang minat terbatas, perilaku berulang, atau keterikatan dalam minat dan aktivitas. Hal ini menjadi masalah saat anak tumbuh seiring usia dan terlibat dalam lingkungan yang lebih luas karena kurangnya kemampuan sosial pada anak autistik. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk meningkatkan kemampuan sosial anak autistik. Ada beberapa metode yang dapat diterapkan pada anak autistik untuk meningkatkan kemampuan sosial. Salah satunya adalah metode DIR (<em>Developmental, Individual Differences, &amp; Relationship Based</em>) <em>Floortime</em>. DIR<em> Floortime</em>  bertujuan membantu anak mencapai tahap perkembangan emosionalnya melalui kegiatan bermain. Jenis penelitian ini adalah case study yang melibatkan dua orang partisipan, yaitu anak laki-laki berusia <em>middle childhood</em> dengan autisme <em>level Mild</em>. Instrumen dalam penelitian ini adalah <em>Autism Social Skills Profile dan Functional Emotional Assesment Scale</em>. Penelitian ini berlangsung selama 20 sesi intervensi yang dilaksanakan pada bulan Mei hingga Juni 2018. Sesi intervensi terdiri dari 10 sesi sensori auditori dan 10 sesi simbolik bagi masing-masing subjek. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan adanya peningkatan yang signifikan pada kapasitas emosi, tetapi kemampuan sosial kedua partisipan tidak meningkat secara signifikan. Secara kualitatif, kedua subjek menunjukkan kemampuan sosial yang lebih baik setelah mengikuti sesi intervensi, hal ini tampak dalam perilaku sehari-hari.<strong></strong></p><p><strong>Kata kunci</strong>: autisme<em>, middle childhood, </em>DIR <em>Floortime,</em> kemampuan sosial</p>


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 268
Author(s):  
Aaron Shield ◽  
Megan Igel ◽  
Kristina Randall ◽  
Richard P. Meier

Palm orientation reversal errors (e.g., producing the ‘bye-bye’ gesture with palm facing inward rather than outward as is customary in American culture) have been documented in the signing of deaf and hearing children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and in the imitation of gestures by signing and non-signing children with ASD. However the source of these unusual errors remains opaque. Given that children with ASD have documented difficulties with both imitation and motor skills, it is important to clarify the nature of these errors. Here we present a longitudinal case study of a single child with ASD, a hearing, signing child of Deaf parents. Samples of the child’s signing were analyzed at ages 4;11, 6;2, 10;2, and 14;11. Lexical signs and fingerspelled letters were coded for the four parameters of sign articulation (handshape, location, movement, and palm orientation). Errors decreased for handshape, location, and movement after age 4;11, but increased on palm orientation from 4;11 and remained high, exceeding 55% of signs by 14;11. Fingerspelled letters contained a large proportion of 180-degree reversals, which suggest an origin in imitation differences, as well as midline-facing errors, suggestive of a motor origin. These longitudinal data suggest that palm orientation errors could be rooted in both imitation differences and motoric difficulties.


Biostatistics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Shamshoian ◽  
Damla Şentürk ◽  
Shafali Jeste ◽  
Donatello Telesca

Summary Multi-dimensional functional data arises in numerous modern scientific experimental and observational studies. In this article, we focus on longitudinal functional data, a structured form of multidimensional functional data. Operating within a longitudinal functional framework we aim to capture low dimensional interpretable features. We propose a computationally efficient nonparametric Bayesian method to simultaneously smooth observed data, estimate conditional functional means and functional covariance surfaces. Statistical inference is based on Monte Carlo samples from the posterior measure through adaptive blocked Gibbs sampling. Several operative characteristics associated with the proposed modeling framework are assessed comparatively in a simulated environment. We illustrate the application of our work in two case studies. The first case study involves age-specific fertility collected over time for various countries. The second case study is an implicit learning experiment in children with autism spectrum disorder.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalia Stewart Rosenfield ◽  
Kathleen Lamkin ◽  
Jennifer Re ◽  
Kendra Day ◽  
LouAnne Boyd ◽  
...  

We describe a virtual reality environment, Bob’s Fish Shop, which provides a system where users diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) can practice social interactions in a safe and controlled environment. A case study is presented which suggests such an environment can provide the opportunity for users to build the skills necessary to carry out a conversation without the fear of negative social consequences present in the physical world. Through the repetition and analysis of these virtual interactions, users can improve social and conversational understanding.


Author(s):  
Víctor del Toro Alonso ◽  
Mónica Jiménez-Astudillo ◽  
Pilar Gutiez-Cuevas

Play is an ideal tool for enhancing the development of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). It is important to know their possibilities and to develop play activities that permit the special educational needs of these children to be addressed in an adequate way. Therefore, a case study is presented with two children and a two-year follow-up period during which the authors observe which aspects the development has evolved and if it is possible to increase the sense of the activity in these children using play as an educational response. The results are accompanied by an in-depth interview with the teachers of the students over the two-year period. An improvement in areas of development is evidenced in the social, communicative, symbolic, and anticipation and flexibilization dimensions during the two years immersed in a play methodology, supported by the structuring of routines and task spaces. Also, an evolution of the sense of the activity and the development of functional play is observed.


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