scholarly journals Imagination in Autism: A Chance to Improve Early Language Therapy

Healthcare ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 63
Author(s):  
Andrey Vyshedskiy
Keyword(s):  
Critical Period ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Play Theory ◽  
Occipital Area ◽  
Therapy Outcomes ◽  
Language Therapy ◽  
Early Language ◽  
Spatial Prepositions ◽  
Tunnel Vision ◽  
Imaginative Play

Children with autism often have difficulties in imaginative play, Theory of Mind, and playing out different scenarios in their minds. Research shows that the root of these problems may be the voluntary imagination network that involves the lateral prefrontal cortex and its long frontoposterior connections to the temporal-parietal-occipital area. Previously disconnected visuospatial issues (stimulus overselectivity and tunnel vision) and language issues (lack of comprehension of spatial prepositions and complex recursive sentences) may be explained by the same voluntary imagination deficit. This review highlights the new insights into the mechanism of voluntary imagination, its difference from involuntary imagination, and its unusually strong critical period. Clearer developmental terminology and a better understanding of voluntary imagination have the potential to facilitate communication between therapists and parents, and improve therapy outcomes in children.

scholarly journals Imagination exercises improve language in younger but not in older children with autism suggesting a strong critical period

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrey Vyshedskiy ◽  
Edward Khokhlovich ◽  
Rita Dunn ◽  
Alexander Faisman ◽  
Jonah Elgart ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Imagery ◽  
Critical Period ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Older Children ◽  
Language Therapy ◽  
Treatment As Usual ◽  
Observational Trial ◽  
Critical Period Hypothesis ◽  
Cognitive Awareness ◽  
Over Time

AbstractImagination exercises administered by caregivers were investigated in a three-year-long observational trial of 3,540 children with autism aged 2-12 years. Tablet-based verbal and nonverbal exercises modeled on language therapy and emphasizing mental-juxtaposition-of-objects were organized into an application called Mental Imagery Therapy for Autism (MITA). MITA-exposed children were matched to the ‘Treatment-as-Usual’ participants (TaU, N=5,222) by age, gender, language, sociability, cognitive awareness, health, and ASD severity at baseline. Both younger (2-5 years-of-age) and older children (5-12 YOA) in MITA and TaU groups improved their symptoms over time, but younger MITA-exposed children showed 2.3-fold improvement in language score at the end of the trial vs. TaU group. There was no difference between MITA and TaU in the older children group, supporting Lenneberg’s critical period hypothesis.

scholarly journals Predicting language treatment response in bilingual aphasia using neural network-based patient models

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Uli Grasemann ◽  
Claudia Peñaloza ◽  
Maria Dekhtyar ◽  
Risto Miikkulainen ◽  
Swathi Kiran
Keyword(s):  
Treatment Response ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Computational Models ◽  
Therapy Response ◽  
Therapy Outcomes ◽  
Language Therapy ◽  
Behavioral Profile ◽  
Bilingual Aphasia ◽  
Model Training ◽  
Cross Language

AbstractPredicting language therapy outcomes in bilinguals with aphasia (BWA) remains challenging due to the multiple pre- and poststroke factors that determine the deficits and recovery of their two languages. Computational models that simulate language impairment and treatment outcomes in BWA can help predict therapy response and identify the optimal language for treatment. Here we used the BiLex computational model to simulate the behavioral profile of language deficits and treatment response of a retrospective sample of 13 Spanish-English BWA who received therapy in one of their languages. Specifically, we simulated their prestroke naming ability and poststroke naming impairment in each language, and their treatment response in the treated and the untreated language. BiLex predicted treatment effects accurately and robustly in the treated language and captured different degrees of cross-language generalization in the untreated language in BWA. Our cross-validation approach further demonstrated that BiLex generalizes to predict treatment response for patients whose data were not used in model training. These findings support the potential of BiLex to predict therapy outcomes for BWA and suggest that computational modeling may be helpful to guide individually tailored rehabilitation plans for this population.

scholarly journals A combined prosodic and linguistic treatment approach for language-communication skills in children with autism spectrum disorders: A proof-of-concept study

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 8
Author(s):  
Silva Kuschke ◽  
Bart Vinck ◽  
Salomé Geertsema
Keyword(s):  
Social Interaction ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Listening Skills ◽  
Language Therapy ◽  
Baseline Design ◽  
Traditional Language ◽  
Pragmatic Skills ◽  
Pre Treatment

<p>This study aimed to determine whether the use of prosodically varied speech within a traditional language therapy framework had any effect on the listening skills, pragmatic skills and social interaction behaviour of three children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). A single participant multiple baseline design across behaviours was implemented. Three participants with ASD were selected for this research. The listening skills, pragmatic skills and social interaction behaviour of the participants were compared before treatment, after a 3-week <br />period of treatment and after a 2-week withdrawal period from treatment, utilising prosodically varied speech within a traditional language therapy approach. Statistical significance was not calculated for each individual due to the limited data, but visual inspection indicated that all the participants showed positive behavioural changes in performance across all areas after 3 weeks of treatment, independent of their pre-treatment performance level. The use of <br />prosodically varied speech within a traditional language therapy framework appears to be a viable form of treatment for children with ASD.</p>

The Most Important Therapy Outcomes for School-Aged Children Who Stutter: An Exploratory Study

2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (3S) ◽  
pp. 1152-1163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katie Cooke ◽  
Sharon K. Millard
Keyword(s):  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Young Person ◽  
Successful Therapy ◽  
Therapy Outcomes ◽  
Language Therapy ◽  
Holistic View ◽  
School Aged Children ◽  
Delphi Approach ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Integrated Or

Purpose The aim of this article was to identify what school-aged children who stutter consider to be the most important outcomes from therapy. Method A Delphi approach was employed for the study. Eighteen participants aged 9–13 years completed a survey, generating 90 statements that would constitute successful therapy outcomes. After categorization and reduction, 79 statements were sent to participants in a second survey to seek consensus on their importance. Fifteen participants aged 8–14 years completed this second survey. Statements with the highest median ratings and smallest standard deviations were retained. Results Twenty-one statements were retained after analysis. These reflected hopes for affective and behavioral change in the young person and in other people after therapy. Important outcomes included, but are not limited to, increased fluency, greater independence, increased confidence at school, others knowing how to support the individual, and communication situations feeling easier. Conclusions Participants identified a range of outcomes that were important to achieve as a result of speech and language therapy. The findings suggest a need for a more holistic view of what is meant by successful therapy, incorporating improvements in the ability to communicate and participate in daily situations. The findings suggest that an integrated or holistic approach to intervention would be required to achieve these goals and should include significant others from the child's environment. The important statements identified in this study could be used to inform the content of therapy and to evaluate change over time. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.7144205

Effects of Shared Reading on the Early Language and Literacy Skills of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Systematic Review

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 205-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susannah A. Boyle ◽  
David McNaughton ◽  
Shelley E. Chapin
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Shared Reading ◽  
Language And Literacy ◽  
Early Language ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Spectrum Disorders

Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) often demonstrate delays in early language and literacy skills. Shared reading, the practice of adults reading aloud to children while using behaviors (e.g., asking questions) that are meant to promote interaction between the adult and child, is an intervention that has had positive effects on those early skills for typically developing children. A meta-analysis of 11 shared reading interventions with children with ASD was conducted, and positive effects were found for listening comprehension, expressive communication, and other communicative and noncommunicative acts.

scholarly journals Language evolution to revolution: the leap from rich-vocabulary non-recursive communication system to recursive language 70,000 years ago was associated with acquisition of a novel component of imagination, called Prefrontal Synthesis, enabled by a mutation that slowed down the prefrontal cortex maturation simultaneously in two or more children – the Romulus and Remus hypothesis

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrey Vyshedskiy
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Communication System ◽  
Critical Period ◽  
Language Evolution ◽  
Genetic Mutation ◽  
The Other ◽  
Spatial Prepositions ◽  
Slowing Down ◽  
Grammar Acquisition

AbstractThere is an overwhelming archeological and genetic evidence that modern speech apparatus was acquired by hominins by 600,000 years ago1. On the other hand, artifacts signifying modern imagination, such as (1) composite figurative arts, (2) bone needles with an eye, (3) construction of dwellings, and (4) elaborate burials arose not earlier than 70,000 years ago2. It remains unclear (1) why there was a long gap between acquisition of modern speech apparatus and modern imagination, (2) what triggered the acquisition of modern imagination 70,000 years ago, and (3) what role language might have played in this process. Our research into evolutionary origin of modern imagination has been driven by the observation of a temporal limit for the development of a particular component of imagination. Modern children not exposed to recursive language in early childhood never acquire the type of active constructive imagination called Prefrontal Synthesis (PFS). Unlike vocabulary and grammar acquisition, which can be learned throughout one’s lifetime, there is a strong critical period for the development of PFS and individuals not exposed to recursive language in early childhood can never acquire PFS as adults. Their language will always lack understanding of spatial prepositions and recursion that depend on the PFS ability. In a similar manner, early hominins would not have been able to learn recursive language as adults and, therefore, would not be able to teach recursive language to their children. Thus, the existence of a strong critical period for PFS acquisition creates an evolutionary barrier for behavioral modernity. An evolutionary mathematical model suggests that a synergistic confluence of three events (1) a genetic mutation that extended the critical period by slowing down the prefrontal cortex development simultaneously in two or more children, (2) invention of recursive elements of language, such as spatial prepositions, by these children and (3) their dialogic communications using these recursive elements, resulted in concurrent conversion of a non-recursive communication system of their parents to recursive language and acquisition of PFS around 70,000 years ago.

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