Managing Challenging Behaviours in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Author(s):  
Cristina Dumitru ◽  
Dana-Elena Ciobanu

Managing challenging behaviours is crucially important in order for a child to start learning, and this chapter provides teachers with certain tips and recommendations that are meant to improve the quality of life of autistic children, which implies, in particular, increasing their level of independence, the ability to establish social relationships, the opportunity to study and work, access to outdoor and leisure activities. The main aims of this chapter would be addressing the development of new positive behaviour skills which will facilitate social interaction, communication, and learning readiness and the reduction of undesirable forms of behaviour (aggression, self-aggression, hysterics, fears, unusual interests, stereotype behaviours), which are the main factors that hinder socialization and learning. This chapter will present some instruments to collect data about managing behaviours, interpret the data, and address the challenging behaviour in an appropriate manner.

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Khaled Yousef Asi

<p>The current study aimed to identify the level of quality of life among parents of children with autism spectrum disorder and the differences according to the relationship with the autistic child, gender, severity of disability. The sample consisted of (100) parents of children with autism spectrum disorder, enrolled in the program of autism, intentionally selected in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Quality of life scale prepared and utilized by the author after verification of validity and reliability. The results showed that the level of quality of life among the participants was medium, and the results showed statistically significant differences in the level of quality of life among the participants due to the impact of the relationship with autistic children, where differences were in favor of the parents, and the variable of gender of the autistic child, where differences were in favor of the males, and severity of the disability, where the differences were in favor of the mild group. The study recommended the need to draw the attention of officials in the care and service centers for children with autism spectrum to provide training programs and activities for parents of autistic children to raise the level of quality of life, especially mothers.</p>


Author(s):  
Emma Staunton ◽  
Claire Kehoe ◽  
Louise Sharkey

Objective To evaluate stress and quality of life in parents of children with an intellectual disability (moderate–severe–profound), who attend a Child and Adolescent Mental Health Intellectual Disability Service (CAMHS ID), and to estimate the perceived levels of challenging behaviour and satisfaction with supports. Methods Data from children attending the service from 2014 to 2017, along with clinician and parent rating scales were collected. Results Most children had medical comorbidities, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and challenging behaviours. Half had a diagnosis of a mental health disorder. Less than half received respite care. Challenging behaviours and ASD were found to be correlated with increased parental stress while perception of support was inversely correlated with stress. Intellectual disability, ASD, and parental stress were correlated with a decrease in perceived family quality of life. Conclusions This study concurs with previous studies, outlining that parents of children with intellectual disability, in particular, where there is a diagnosis of comorbid ASD and challenging behaviour, experience increased psychological distress and lower quality of life.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (SPL2) ◽  
pp. 171-174
Author(s):  
Lal D V ◽  
Sowmi Sri ◽  
Ambikapathy ◽  
Benjamin S

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neuro developmental disorder in DSM-5, characterized by social deficits and communication difficulties, stereotyped or repetitive behaviours and interests, sensory issues, and in some cases, cognitive delays. Prevalence of ASD is ever increasing recently throughout the world. There aren’t enough studies which have considered the qualities of life (QoL) of Autistic children through there are many comparing the QoL of parents of children with ASD. Hence there is need for more research on the quality of life of autistic children. The diagnostic criteria for ASD are available in the revised text edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V) of the American Psychiatric Association. This study assesses the Paediatric Quality of Life (PQOL) of ASD children, from a multidimensional perspective based on the Cross-sectional survey which considered Physiological function, emotional function, social function and school performance. This study aimed to evaluate the QoL of children with ASD aged 2–12 years. 98 autistic children (male: 69, female: 29; 2- 4 years old: 40, 5- 7 year old: 43, 8 - 12 years old: 15) and 100 normal children (control group) are brought into this study. The children satisfying the DSM-5 as ASD were subjected to assessment of their QoL with Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL)  questionnaire by their parents, compared with standard scores. Present study shows lower scores in the test group on the PedsQL4.0 universality Core scale in comparison with the control group. Behaviour issues had a negative effect on Community adaptation, mental health, a lower intelligence-related quality of life for children and clinically significant autistic symptoms in comparison with children with fewer symptoms. Results suggest greater impairment in adaptive functioning and emotional disorders. For mild-moderate ASD children, better development probably played a significant role in response to rehabilitation, to achieve and maintain the best level of overall outcome. The severity of the disorder and coping strategies in social settings were related to self-care ability and adaptation and intelligence. Hence pediatricians are must evaluate these children for early interventions and medications, if needed, and have QoL integrated in the overall care plan.


2019 ◽  
pp. 195-207

Background: Autism spectrum disorder is characterized in part by atypical behavior in the communication, social, and visual domains. Success in vision therapy is judged not only by changes in optometric findings, but through improvement in quality of life involving communication, social behavior and visual behavior. It would therefore be beneficial to have a validated questionnaire to assess parent reported quality of life pre and post vision therapy specific to patients with autism spectrum disorder. To our knowledge, a questionnaire of this nature has not been previously published in the literature. Methods: Questionnaire items were generated through surveying medical literature based on symptoms in three different categories: visual behavior, social behavior and communication. A pool of 34 questions was developed initially and then with thorough discussion with other experts, a 20-point questionnaire was developed with each item reflected in the construct concept. A draft of 20 questions was then sent to 10 subject experts with clinical experience in the field for more than 20 years, to review the pooled items. Validity and reliability was established prior to assessing the psychometric properties of the ASD/QOL-VT. Prospective observational study was conducted for a duration of 18 months. The study included individuals undergoing vision therapy in the age range of 3 to 15 years who had been diagnosed with ASD. The questionnaire was administered to parents of these children prior to the start of vision therapy. All subjects completed a minimum of 60 vision therapy sessions. The questionnaire was readministered after completing 60 sessions of vision therapy. Results: Cronbach’s alpha value for this questionnaire was 0.93, which reflected very good internal consistency. Factorial analysis yielded four factors with an Eigen value exceeding 1.0 which accounted for 68% variation in the model. The Cronbach alpha value for subscales identified by factorial analysis is 0.97 indicating excellent internal reliability. The mean pre vision therapy social behavior, communication and visual behavior score was 12.0±3.21, 17.07±4.57 and 26.97±6.41 respectively. The mean post vision therapy scores for social behavior, communication and visual behavior was 8.27±4.16, 11.33±5.27 and 17.93±6.52 respectively. On paired t test, the mean difference in score was statistically significant with P<0.001 in all three subcategories. Conclusions: Our study presents the development of a valid and reliable parent questionnaire, the ASD/QOL-VT, that judges communication, social behavior, and visual behavior in autism. Results of the study conducted indicate that vision therapy can result in significant improvements in the quality of life of patients with ASD as judged by their parents. This is evidenced by statistically significant changes in psychometric properties of the ASD/QOL-VT in social behavior, communication and visual behavior.


2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Murphy ◽  
Hannah Mullens

Purpose Although individuals with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) represent a small proportion of forensic psychiatric patients as a group they present with specific difficulties and needs. There is also evidence that if detained individuals with an ASD experience particular difficulties within custodial environments as a result of a mismatch between the difficulties associated with their ASD and the environmental demands. The purpose of this paper is to explore the experience of individuals with an ASD admitted to a high secure psychiatric care (HSPC) hospital. Design/methodology/approach Using both a semi-structured interview and a quality of life self-report measure (the Lancashire Quality of Life Profile) the experiences and views of seven patients with an ASD detained in one HSPC hospital were qualitatively explored. Findings Whilst a diverse range of negative and positive aspects of being within HSPC were identified by patients interviewed, those with prison experience thought HSPC was a less stressful environment with more therapeutic opportunities. As a group, patients with an ASD reported a similar or significantly better quality of life in many domains (global, leisure, financial and living situation) compared to other detained forensic patient groups. Practical implications Although most patients with an ASD interviewed reported positive experiences, there are a number of practical improvements that could be made within the hospital to reduce experienced stress levels and perhaps improve therapeutic outcomes. Originality/value Within the context of the Department of Health's autism strategy (2010) and subsequent update think autism (2014), the survey highlights continued ASD awareness training for staff as important. In responding to the risks and needs of individuals with an ASD in HSPC there is further support for the development of an ASD specialist service.


Autism ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 440-449 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marieke de Vries ◽  
Mathilde GE Verdam ◽  
Pier JM Prins ◽  
Ben A Schmand ◽  
Hilde M Geurts

Previously, a total of 121 children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) performed an adaptive working memory (WM)-training, an adaptive flexibility-training, or a non-adaptive control (mock)-training. Despite overall improvement, there were minor differences between the adaptive and mock-training conditions. Moreover, dropout was relatively high (26%). In the current study we explored potential predicting and moderating factors to clarify these findings. The effects of intelligence, autism traits, WM, flexibility, reward sensitivity and Theory of Mind on dropout, improvement during training, and improvement in everyday executive functioning (EF), ASD-like behavior, and Quality of Life (QoL) were studied. None of the predictors influenced dropout or training improvement. However, 1) more pre-training autism traits related to less improvement in EF and QoL, and 2) higher reward sensitivity was related to more improvement in QoL and ASD-like behavior. These findings suggest that these EF-training procedures may be beneficial for children with fewer autism traits and higher reward sensitivity. However, the exploratory nature of the analyses warrant further research before applying the findings clinically.


2021 ◽  
pp. 135910452110617
Author(s):  
Evanilza T. Adorno ◽  
Daiany C de J. Dos Santos ◽  
Beatriz M. DeJesus ◽  
Adrielle A. Passos ◽  
Lavínia Teixeira-Machado

This study investigated dance practice in psychosocial and functional aspects, and quality of life in children with Down syndrome and autism spectrum disorder. Children with DS and ASD, between 3 and 12 years old, attended a dance program during 16 sessions/lessons, lasting 60 min, twice a week, in suitable place. Functional Independence Measure (FIM), Childhood Autism Rating Scale SF-36 quality of life survey, and Knowledge, Attitude and Practice Inquiry (KAP Inquiry) were applied before and after dance classes. Eleven participants concluded the study. Functional independence changes were observed in relation to self-care, sphincter control, locomotion, and communication domains. Children’ “quality of life” reported by parents showed changes in functional capacity, vitality, mental health, physical and social aspects, and general state of health domains. These findings suggest that regular dance practice can underlie psychosocial adjustments in children with DS and ASD.


2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 955-967 ◽  
Author(s):  
Émilie Cappe ◽  
Nathalie Poirier ◽  
Carol Sankey ◽  
Andréa Belzil ◽  
Carmen Dionne

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