The Comparative Study of Pretend Plays Between 5 - 7 Years Old High-functioning Autistic Children and Their Normal Peers with Child-initiated Pretend Play Assessment

Background: Autism is one of the prevalent disorders in childhood. Children with autism have difficulties in different life skills and their daily activities. Pretend plays are essential in improving these skills, but the patterns of playing are impaired in this group. Objectives: The present study was designed to compare pretend plays between high-functioning autistic children and typical peers. Methods: The research is the result of a cross-sectional study. Two groups of children with high-functioning autism and typical peers in the age range of 5 - 7 years were studied. Each group consisted of 87 participants who were selected by convenience sampling. Each participant was assessed by the Child-Initiated Pretend Play assessment (ChIPPA) test. The results were analyzed using descriptive statistics and an independent t-test. Results: Data analysis and comparison of scores between the two groups of children showed a significant difference in the mean scores. The average percentage score of the number of object substitutions (NOS) and the elaborate pretend play actions (PEPA) in children with autism were lower than typical peers (P < 0.001). In other words, children with autism were less able to organize play and pretend. But the number of imitated actions (NIA) scores in children with autism was higher than their counterparts (P < 0.001). That is, children with autism relied more on examiner-playing patterns. Conclusions: The significant difference in scores between children with autism and typical peers showed significantly lower pretend skills in children with autism. According to pretend play basics on academic skills, language, and having a flexible mind, and with the attention to the same problems in children with autism, pretend play can be in greater attention to be improved among these groups.

HYDROCARBON PLAY ASSESSMENT OF “OSWIL” FIELD, ONSHORE NIGER DELTA REGION

Hydrocarbon play assessment of any field involves the evaluation of the production capacity of hydrocarbon reservoir unit in the field. This involves detail study of the reservoir petrophysical properties and geological interpretation of structures suitable for hydrocarbon accumulation in the field as observed from seismic reflection images. This study details the assessment of hydrocarbon play in OSWIL field onshore in Niger Delta, with the intent of appraising its productivity using a combination of seismic, well logs, petrophysical parameters and volumetric estimation using proven techniques which involves an integrated methodology. Two reservoir windows ‘R1’ and ‘R2’ were defined from five wells OSWIL-02, 04, 06, 07 and 12. The top and base of each reservoir window was delineated from the wells. Structural interpretation for inline 6975 revealed two horizons (X and Y) and eight faults labelled (F1, F2, F6, F8, F10, F16, F17 and F18). Five faults (F1, F6, F10, F17 and F18) were identified as synthetic faults and dip basin wards while three faults (F2, F8 and F16) were identified as antithetic faults and dips landwards. Time-depth structural map at top of reservoirs R1 and R2 revealed structural highs and closures. These observations are characteristics of growth structures (faults) which depicts the tectonic style of the Niger Delta. Results of petrophysical evaluation for reservoirs ‘R1’ and ‘R2’ across the five wells were analysed. For reservoir ‘R1’ effective porosity values of 27%, 26%, 23%, 20% and 22% were obtained for wells OSWIL-04, 12, 07, 06 and 02 respectively with an average of 23.6%, while for reservoir ‘R2’ effective porosity values of 26%, 22%, 21%, 24% and 23% for wells OSWIL-04, 12, 07, 06 and 02 were obtained respectively with an average of 23.2%. This porosity values correspond with the already established porosity range of 28-32% within the Agbada formation of the Niger Delta. Permeability index of the order (K > 100mD) were obtained for both reservoirs across the five wells and is rated very good. Hydrocarbon saturation (Shc) across the five wells averages at 61.6% for reservoir ‘R1’ and 67.4% for reservoir ‘R2’. Result of petrophysical model for porosity, permeability and water saturation reveal that the reservoir system in R1 and R2 is fault assisted and fluid flow within both reservoirs is aided by presence of effective porosity and faulting. Volumetric estimation for both reservoirs showed that reservoir R1 contains an estimate of 455 × 106 STB of hydrocarbon in place, while reservoir R2 contains an estimate of 683 × 106 STB of hydrocarbon in place. These findings impact positively on hydrocarbon production in the field and affirm that the two reservoirs R1 and R2 are highly prospective.

Role Play: Let’s Act It Out!

Generally, most university students are reluctant to speak English in public due to lack of Englishproficiency. This situation has led to lost interest in role-play activity among UiTM Cawangan Kelantanstudents; particularly Integrated Language Skills 1 (ELC121) students. Hence, this project intends toincrease students’ interest in role-play activity as well as enhance students’ proficiency in Englishlanguage especially in role-play assessment. This project focuses on using Interactive DVD as a tool tohelp in motivating the student’s interest and enhancing student’s proficiency level. This interactive DVD iscomprised of notes, samples of dialogues and video presentations meant for teaching and learning roleplay.Based on the outcomes, the students show positive enthusiasms in joining the class and performoutstandingly in role-play test. The Interactive DVD motivates them to actively participate in role playactivity with confidence.

A role-play assessment tool and drama-based social skills intervention for adults with autism or related social communication difficulties

This study adds to a small literature on social skills measures and interventions for adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or related social communication difficulties (SCD) without intellectual disability (ID). In study 1, a new multimodal assessment tool, the role-play assessment of social skills (R-PASS), was used to measure real-time application of social skills. The scores of adults with ASD/SCD were marginally lower than those of neurotypical adults, with a large effect size, suggesting that the measure can identify differences between the two groups. Therefore, the R-PASS shows potential as an objective tool to assess dynamic and naturalistic social skills. In Study 2, a pre–post single-group design study, we measured the effectiveness of a drama-based social skills intervention for seven participants who self-identified as having ASD/SCD. The R-PASS was used by external raters blind to diagnosis and intervention status to compare the performance of intervention participants to that of neurotypical adults. R-PASS scores suggested substantial improvement of social skills in the majority of participants post-intervention. Furthermore, relatives’ and participants’ perception of their social communication and self-regulation skills improved from pre- to post-intervention. These results suggest that the intervention may have helped the participants improve their social skills.