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Louisiana State University

LSU Master's Theses

Theses/Dissertations

2017

Articles 1 - 30 of 30

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

A Study Of The Urban Red Fox (Vulpes Vulpes) Population In Baton Rouge, Louisiana Using Social Media, Ahsennur Soysal Nov 2017

A Study Of The Urban Red Fox (Vulpes Vulpes) Population In Baton Rouge, Louisiana Using Social Media, Ahsennur Soysal

LSU Master's Theses

Foxes are timid yet resourceful animals that are integrated into many urban environments. Because they are elusive, collecting information about the number of urban foxes, their diet and spatial distribution, their interactions with the ecological community in their urban habitat, as well as residents’ response to them, is difficult. Involving stakeholders to participate in the data collection on wildlife via citizen science on social media is one way to overcome this complication, while simultaneously engaging residents in the ecology happening around them. Therefore, we used social media as the platform to engage the public to document and map the foxes …

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Generalizability Of Multiple Measures Of Treatment Integrity: An Empirical Replication, Elizabeth Wilson Nov 2017

Generalizability Of Multiple Measures Of Treatment Integrity: An Empirical Replication, Elizabeth Wilson

LSU Master's Theses

Treatment integrity is essential for the implementation of interventions in schools as it determines the accuracy or consistency with which different components of a treatment are implemented. There are no current standards regarding the best practices in treatment integrity measurement; however, higher integrity is associated with enhanced student outcomes. At present, there is no database providing information on treatment integrity for practitioners, researchers, and policy-makers to reference for choosing an appropriate level of treatment integrity needed for certain interventions for certain problems. Consequently, there is a need to establish convergent validity among different methods of treatment integrity measurement using multiple …

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Scaling Relationships Between Cranial Morphological Features And Cranial Capacity In Modern Humans, Jacob Jesch Nov 2017

Scaling Relationships Between Cranial Morphological Features And Cranial Capacity In Modern Humans, Jacob Jesch

LSU Master's Theses

Certain cranial morphologies referred to here as “cranial predictor features” are known to allometrically scale with body mass at statistically significant levels. Brain size likewise is known to scale with body mass, with brain-to-body-mass ratio being expressed numerically via the encephalization quotient. The study at hand aims to demonstrate whether brain size via its skeletal proxy of cranial capacity also scales with cranial predictor features. Correlation analysis was employed on two samples of contemporary male and female modern humans, respectively, in order to determine the statistical significance and degree of association between cranial predictor features and cranial capacity, as well …

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Assessing The Impact Of White Noise On Cognition In Individuals With And Without Adhd, Scott Roye Oct 2017

Assessing The Impact Of White Noise On Cognition In Individuals With And Without Adhd, Scott Roye

LSU Master's Theses

Although originally viewed only as a childhood disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is now recognized to persist into adulthood in many individuals. Adults with ADHD often demonstrate academic, cognitive, and general functioning deficits as a result of their symptoms. Theorists have suggested that features typically associated with ADHD, such as distractibility, excessive motor activity, and executive dysfunction, may stem from being under stimulated at a physiological level. This lack of arousal potentially causes individuals to seek out stimulation, making them more susceptible to background noise and other environmental stimuli. However, previous research primarily focuses on children and adolescents with …

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Advancing Democracy One Tweet At A Time, Landon T. Hester Aug 2017

Advancing Democracy One Tweet At A Time, Landon T. Hester

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis takes a broad look how citizens use social media to foster political discussion, enhance political knowledge and engage in political participation in the United States. In this study, democracy is broken down into three empirically measurable components: political discussion, knowledge and participation. To begin, I provide an in-­‐depth review of past research examining the impact social media has on each element of democracy. In addition, I analyze data collected from a novel social media panel of 3,811 Twitter users by researchers from Louisiana State University (Davis et. al, 2017). From this, I measure the impact that Facebook and …

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An Impossible Direction: Newspapers, Race, And Politics In Reconstruction New Orleans, Nicholas F. Chrastil Aug 2017

An Impossible Direction: Newspapers, Race, And Politics In Reconstruction New Orleans, Nicholas F. Chrastil

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis examines the racial ideologies of four newspapers in New Orleans at the beginning and end of Radical Reconstruction: the Daily Picayune, the New Orleans Republican, the New Orleans Tribune, and the Weekly Louisianian. It explores how each paper understood the issues of racial equality, integration, suffrage, and black humanity; it examines the specific language and rhetoric each paper used to advocate for their positions; and it asks how those positions changed from the beginning to the end of Reconstruction. The study finds that the two white-owned papers, the Picayune and the Republican, while political opponents, both viewed …

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Ncaa Student-Athletes And Defamation: Understanding Plaintiff Classification And First Amendment Protection, Lacey Elizabeth Sanchez Jan 2017

Ncaa Student-Athletes And Defamation: Understanding Plaintiff Classification And First Amendment Protection, Lacey Elizabeth Sanchez

LSU Master's Theses

The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a $871.6 million industry. Well over $700 million of this annual income is generated from the media, giving collegiate athletics a national platform. This brings both opportunities and downfalls to amateur athletes who play NCAA sports and the journalists who report on their sporting events. Conflict often arises on the playing field and can continue off the field. With high profile athletic events aired nation-wide, comments are bound to be made about the athletes involved in the game. Some comments may even rise to the level of defamation. Through an in-depth examination of published …

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Impacts Of Enso On Tornado Frequency, Intensity, And Geography Across The Eastern United States, Coryn Ann Collins Jan 2017

Impacts Of Enso On Tornado Frequency, Intensity, And Geography Across The Eastern United States, Coryn Ann Collins

LSU Master's Theses

Tornadoes are a reoccurring severe weather hazard, with the highest rates globally occurring in the central United States. Despite their high frequency in the U.S., the scientific community’s disagreement of tornado activity during varying phases and intensities of the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) justifies a need for further research. In this study, tornado events from 1950 to 2014 in the U.S. east of the Rocky Mountains were investigated for seven phases of ENSO: strong, moderate, and weak El Niño/La Niña and the neutral phase. A seasonal Niño 3.4 index was used as the definition of ENSO. ENSO influences on …

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Disclosing The Truth About Instagram Endorsers: A Study Of The Effects Of The Use Of Material-Connection Disclosures On Instagram And Types Of Endorsers On Advertising Identification And Consumer Response, Lauren Francis Myers Jan 2017

Disclosing The Truth About Instagram Endorsers: A Study Of The Effects Of The Use Of Material-Connection Disclosures On Instagram And Types Of Endorsers On Advertising Identification And Consumer Response, Lauren Francis Myers

LSU Master's Theses

This experiment studies the effects of the Federal Trade Commission’s material-connection disclosure requirement as it applies to Instagram, as well as consumer responses to the types of endorsers that advertise a product on their Instagram profiles. In this experiment, participants viewed the Instagram profiles of a social-media endorser or celebrity, followed by an Instagram posting of a product with or without a material-connection disclosure. Participants then answered a survey with questions referring to advertising identification, source credibility, message credibility, brand attitude, and purchase intentions. Results suggest that there are no significant effects of material-connection disclosures on the identification of a …

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Feasting In Florida: Evidence Of Swift Creek Ceremonial Feasting And Multi-Group Interactions At Byrd Hammock South (8wa30), Wakulla County, Fl, Joseph Michael O'Keefe Jan 2017

Feasting In Florida: Evidence Of Swift Creek Ceremonial Feasting And Multi-Group Interactions At Byrd Hammock South (8wa30), Wakulla County, Fl, Joseph Michael O'Keefe

LSU Master's Theses

During the LSU 2015 Summer Field School at the Byrd Hammock South site (8WA30) in Wakulla County, Florida, excavations uncovered a large stratified pit-fill feature (Length 78 cm x Width 65 cm x Depth 136 cm) associated with the Early Swift Creek culture (A.D. 0 – 500). The Swift Creek have been generally identified as a transegalitarian society, and are believed to have participated in the phenomenon known as the Hopewell Interaction Sphere. The feature, Feature 1 (F1), was located approximately 60 meters south of Burial Mound B on the western edge of a semi-circular midden that surrounded a clean …

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Composting The Garden: Hybrid Geographies Of Baton Rouge Urban Gardens, Lauren Hull Jan 2017

Composting The Garden: Hybrid Geographies Of Baton Rouge Urban Gardens, Lauren Hull

LSU Master's Theses

Home gardens are intimate spaces of interaction between humans and the natural world. This study examines how relations and practices within gardens both perpetuate and disrupt perspectives on human separateness from nature. Nine Baton Rouge gardeners participated in this study, sharing stories about their lives and garden through interviews and garden walk-throughs. By adopting more-than-human social theory, this study explores these stories to answer three questions: (1) What types of relationships are found between garden inhabitants in Baton Rouge? (2) How do these relationships influence garden practices? And (3) How do relationships and practices create hybrid garden spaces? Garden inhabitants …

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Ancient Maya Obsidian Trade: Arvin's Landing And Foster Farm, Belize, Kelsey Paige Johnson Jan 2017

Ancient Maya Obsidian Trade: Arvin's Landing And Foster Farm, Belize, Kelsey Paige Johnson

LSU Master's Theses

Arvin’s Landing and Foster Farm are ancient Maya settlements located on Joe Taylor Creek near Punta Gorda in southern Belize. The abundance of obsidian and the number of sources in the artifact assemblage at Arvin’s Landing and Foster Farm indicate the inhabitants of these settlement participated in long-distance trade with other Maya communities. The research was developed to examine the different geographic sources of obsidian as well as the distribution of these sources at both sites. The goal of this research is to determine whether these sites fit with existing trade patterns established by previous research over decades of obsidian …

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Pots, Pans, And Politics: Feasting In Early Horizon Nepeña, Peru, Kenneth Edward Sutherland Jan 2017

Pots, Pans, And Politics: Feasting In Early Horizon Nepeña, Peru, Kenneth Edward Sutherland

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis explores Early Horizon (900 – 200 BCE) feasting practices visible through the pottery assemblage at three archaeological complexes in the lower Nepeña Valley, north-central coast of Peru. Ceramic vessels were used for production, transportation, and storage of foods consumed for daily subsistence and during feasting events at the settlement of Caylán, a large town or city interpreted as the primary center of a multi-tiered polity. Secondary settlements at Samanco, a small coastal town, and Huambacho, an elite ceremonial center, indicate the complexity of this polity. Analysis of ceramic rim sherds reveals the types of vessels used at these …

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Video Based Intervention And Backward Chaining: Teaching Children With Autism, Philip Ross Richard Jan 2017

Video Based Intervention And Backward Chaining: Teaching Children With Autism, Philip Ross Richard

LSU Master's Theses

As we move further and further into the digital age, interventions that make use of advances in technology will become increasingly relevant. One example of the application of technology is Video Based Interventions (VBI). VBIs include interventions that utilize pre-recorded video footage to assist acquisition of functional life skills, social and play skills, and adaptive behaviors, among others (Rayner, Denholm, & Sigafoos, 2009). Due to the breadth of the term, there are many different types of VBIs that have been examined in research and practice. This study examined one type of VBI, video prompting, and its effectiveness when combined with …

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Journalist And Hoaxer: William Francis Mannix And The Long History Of Faked News, Madelyn Kay Duhon Jan 2017

Journalist And Hoaxer: William Francis Mannix And The Long History Of Faked News, Madelyn Kay Duhon

LSU Master's Theses

William Francis Mannix was a colossal hoaxer, journalist, criminal, and literary forger. He most famously fabricated “Memoirs of Li Hung Chang” (1913); sent sensational dispatches from Cuba during the Spanish American War that were published in the New York Times, Philadelphia Press, and other reputable papers; and is suspected of forging love letters written by Abraham Lincoln, published by the Atlantic Monthly in 1929. Mannix is representative of a type of journalist at the turn of the nineteenth century. At that time elements of the press were striving for professional respectability and embracing ethical standards. Historians have held these publications …

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National Electoral Winners And Losers: Satisfaction With Democracy Predicated On Institutional Context, Casey Newman Knott Jan 2017

National Electoral Winners And Losers: Satisfaction With Democracy Predicated On Institutional Context, Casey Newman Knott

LSU Master's Theses

How does being an electoral winner or loser shape a citizen’s satisfaction with democracy? More importantly, how does the voter’s institutional context moderate this relationship? In this paper, I demonstrate that the institutional context of a democracy interacts with a citizen’s national- level electoral loser status to moderate the relationship between the individual’s status as a loser and her satisfaction with democracy in her country. I also explore the way winning and losing at different levels of representation interact to formulate satisfaction with democracy. Using cross-sectional survey data from the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems nested in 75 different country-election …

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A Comparative Study Of The Effects Of River Flow Rates On Decomposition, Maddisen Paige Neuman Jan 2017

A Comparative Study Of The Effects Of River Flow Rates On Decomposition, Maddisen Paige Neuman

LSU Master's Theses

While the general biological processes of decomposition are known to forensic anthropologists, data on aquatic decomposition is in need of refinement. Water composition varies in mineral content, temperature, flow rate, and scavengers; each of these elements can have an effect on the rate of decomposition. This study specifically focuses on the effects of river flow rates on decomposition by comparing the rate of decay of three feral pigs (Sus scrofa) on land (control specimen), in faster flowing water, and in slower flowing water. The hypothesis states that the pig placed in the faster section of the river will decompose more …

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Language Use In Forensic Settings, Emily Faith Wiegers Jan 2017

Language Use In Forensic Settings, Emily Faith Wiegers

LSU Master's Theses

Understanding what constitutes proper communication is an important component of interaction for forensic science professionals. Using concepts from linguistic anthropology, this thesis recognizes patterns of discourse and register among individuals working within a forensic setting. Data collected from a survey distributed to members of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and from interviews with forensic professionals working in the state of Louisiana were used to analyze individual perceptions of language use in professional settings. Results show that variation among individuals within the forensic disciplines affects speech. Other determinants of proper speech include audience and the space within which the communication …

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The Cross-National Determinants Of Legislative Party Switching, Cassie Millet Knott Jan 2017

The Cross-National Determinants Of Legislative Party Switching, Cassie Millet Knott

LSU Master's Theses

Why do legislators switch parties? What accounts for variation in party switching across different countries? How do electoral rules impact legislative party switching behavior and how is this behavior impacted by changes to these rules? The first chapter of this study builds on the existing body of research on the determinants of legislative party switching. More specifically, I build on the extant theories which have identified vote-, office-, and policy-seeking as motivations of legislator behavior. I examine the strategic decision making of legislators in various institutional contexts and argue that such contexts create or modify incentives and constraints that condition …

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Vertebral Pathologies And Implications For Economic Lifestyle Changes In Two Prehistoric Skeletal Populations, Alyxandra Leigh Stanco Jan 2017

Vertebral Pathologies And Implications For Economic Lifestyle Changes In Two Prehistoric Skeletal Populations, Alyxandra Leigh Stanco

LSU Master's Theses

Little research considers the vertebral column in relation to inter-populational variation and changes in economic lifestyle. Numerous studies have been conducted regarding the influence of activity-related stress on post-cranial elements such as the knees, hips and shoulders, but few studies have considered the vertebral column. This study examined the vertebral columns of two prehistoric skeletal populations. The Indian Knoll site, home to a population of early hunter-gatherers, is located in Ohio County, Kentucky along the Green River. Indian Knoll was first excavated in 1915 by C.B. Moore. The Moundville site, a chiefdom of early agriculturalists, is located in the Black …

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Interrelationships Among Medication Types And Health Characteristics In Individuals With Bipolar Disorder Receiving Integrated Health Services, Laura Pier Valle Jan 2017

Interrelationships Among Medication Types And Health Characteristics In Individuals With Bipolar Disorder Receiving Integrated Health Services, Laura Pier Valle

LSU Master's Theses

Integrated primary and behavioral healthcare (PBHC) programs are a recent development in the field of mental health. The purpose of these programs is to combat the sizeable health discrepancies among persons with serious mental illness (SMI), who suffer from more comorbidities and lower life expectancy than the general population. Bipolar disorder (BPD) is a common SMI diagnosis that is associated with a substantial health burden. Research has shown that Bipolar disorder (BPD) responds well to medication, but clients with BPD often struggle with adherence to a medication regimen. Side effects and other health-related factors are often cited by clients as …

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Measuring Teachers' Perceptions Of Student Behavior Using The Systematic Screening For Behavior Disorders, Megan Ruth Erickson Jan 2017

Measuring Teachers' Perceptions Of Student Behavior Using The Systematic Screening For Behavior Disorders, Megan Ruth Erickson

LSU Master's Theses

As part of school- and district-wide preventative efforts, universal screening serves to identify students at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders while their behavior is still amenable to treatment. However, there are few universal screeners available for middle school students, who may be at heightened risk for developing emotional and behavioral difficulties due to major academic and social changes. The Systematic Screening for Behavior Disorders (SSBD), often considered the “gold standard” for behavior screeners, was recently validated for use in middle schools. However, there is little research on the reliability and validity of the SSBD for screening middle school students …

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Non-Metric Cranial Differentiation Between Asian And Native American Populations For Ancestry Assessment, Dominique Marie Bodoh Jan 2017

Non-Metric Cranial Differentiation Between Asian And Native American Populations For Ancestry Assessment, Dominique Marie Bodoh

LSU Master's Theses

Assessing ancestry from skeletal remains provides important information to aid in personal identification. However, trying to specify ancestry for Native American and Asian populations in the United States is a current challenge in laboratory analyses. Both Native American and Asian populations are still often combined in research for a variety of reasons: small sample sizes, skeletal similarities and less emphasis in contemporary literature. Historically, Carlton Coon, in 1939, and Riesenfield, in 1956, refer to this combination of both Native American and Asian populations as “Mongoloid,” a term which is deemed by many as an offensive and inaccurate categorization of both …

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Unlikely Allies: A Case Study On Cross Class Protest In Guatemala, Daniel B. Bollich Jan 2017

Unlikely Allies: A Case Study On Cross Class Protest In Guatemala, Daniel B. Bollich

LSU Master's Theses

Cross-class mobilization in developing countries can be a powerful force for precipitating political change, but the literature on cross-class protest movements in developing countries has focused almost exclusively on democratization movements and has not dealt adequately with cross-class protest in other contexts. Additionally, the literature on protest movements typically focuses on the lower classes, while the upper classes are either ignored or assumed to be one-dimensional, uniform, self-interested actors who only protest when it is in their own best economic and political interest. These deficiencies in the literature have been illuminated by the massive protests that occurred in Guatemala in …

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Crime Analysis In The City Of Baton Rouge And Brec Park Based On Crime Location Quotient And Hotspot Method, Anliu Jiang Jan 2017

Crime Analysis In The City Of Baton Rouge And Brec Park Based On Crime Location Quotient And Hotspot Method, Anliu Jiang

LSU Master's Theses

City parks provide intrinsic environmental, aesthetic, and recreation benefits to our cities and their inhabitants. Some researchers indicate that City parks serve as places of reduced crime and actually increase the safety of the surrounding area. Other researchers claim that city parks have been seen as contested space. The purpose of this thesis research is to study the relationship between parks and crime or comparing crime types between parks and their cities. First, this thesis research address the difference between crimes in city parks compared to crimes in the entire city. The second research question addresses the impact that parks …

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Immediate Effects Of The Mindful Body Scan Practice On Risk-Taking Behavior, Shelley Renee Upton Jan 2017

Immediate Effects Of The Mindful Body Scan Practice On Risk-Taking Behavior, Shelley Renee Upton

LSU Master's Theses

The concept of mindfulness stems from Buddhist philosophies. Recently, it has become secularized and used in psychological and medical treatments. Training in mindfulness has been shown to improve a variety of mental disorders (e.g., depression, anxiety), as well as physical conditions (e.g., irritable bowel syndrome, chronic pain). Additionally, mindfulness training has been shown to improve risk-taking behaviors following several weeks of training. Reducing risk-taking behaviors is of particular importance in regards to specific psychological disorders, such as substance use and eating disorders. Many studies that examine the effects of mindfulness utilize training programs that are typically 8-weeks or longer in …

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Sociodemographic, Health, Health-Related, Health Risk, Psychosocial, And Treatment-Related Characteristics Associated With Retention Among Community Mental Health Clients In An Integrated Health Program, Katherine Anne Thomas Jan 2017

Sociodemographic, Health, Health-Related, Health Risk, Psychosocial, And Treatment-Related Characteristics Associated With Retention Among Community Mental Health Clients In An Integrated Health Program, Katherine Anne Thomas

LSU Master's Theses

Individuals with serious mental illness (SMI) have higher rates cardiometabolic conditions than the general population, which put them at increased risk for early mortality. Treatment retention is especially important as it may prevent worsening of mental and physical health symptoms and lower such risks. Models of integrated primary and behavioral health care (PBHC) are promising for treating co-morbid mental and physical health conditions common to individuals with SMI. Previous research identified that individuals with SMI drop out of care at higher rates than other individuals with mental illness. Past studies on treatment retention with this population have been qualitative and …

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In-Group Effects Of News Use On African Americans, Folasade A'Lyce Adesanya Jan 2017

In-Group Effects Of News Use On African Americans, Folasade A'Lyce Adesanya

LSU Master's Theses

The topic of this thesis is how frequent news exposure affects the Black community’s perceptions of the world and trust in institutions. The purpose of this thesis is to uncover whether African Americans with more news exposure are more likely to view the world with skepticism and fear when compared to those with less news exposure. My hypotheses predicted that African Americans who have had frequent exposure to news will perceive the world as a meaner and scarier place (H1), will exhibit less trust in police officers (H2), and will exhibit less trust in news media (H3) than those who …

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An Investigation Of The Relationship Between Seizures And Autism Symptomology In Young Children, Claire O. Burns Jan 2017

An Investigation Of The Relationship Between Seizures And Autism Symptomology In Young Children, Claire O. Burns

LSU Master's Theses

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a condition that consists of deficits in social communication as well as restricted, repetitive interests or behaviors. Individuals with ASD also often have comorbid psychiatric and medical disorders. One such concern is high rates of seizures and epilepsy. Researchers have found that rates of seizures tend to be higher in individuals with ASD who also have more impaired functioning. However, few studies have examined how the presence of seizures is related to symptoms of ASD. The current study aimed to expand the extant literature by investigating whether a history of seizures is associated with ASD …

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Developmental Functioning Of Infants And Toddlers With Autism And Cerebral Palsy, Xinrui Jiang Jan 2017

Developmental Functioning Of Infants And Toddlers With Autism And Cerebral Palsy, Xinrui Jiang

LSU Master's Theses

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) often have one or more comorbid medical conditions including cerebral palsy (CP). Due to the overlaps between ASD and CP symptomatology (e.g., impairments in speech, repetitive movements, atypical sensory issues), co-occurring CP often leads to delayed diagnoses of ASD interfering with early interventions and subsequently affecting functional outcome. Utilizing the Baby and Infant Screen for Children with aUtIsm Traits-Part 1 (BISCUIT-Part 1) and the Battelle Developmental Inventory, Second Edition (BDI-2), this study assessed and compared ASD symptomatology and developmental functioning in three groups of infants and toddlers, namely, those with ASD only, those with …

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