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Full-Text Articles in Psychology
Accurately Diagnosing Autism Spectrum Disorder Among A Comorbid Population, Michelle Okolita
Accurately Diagnosing Autism Spectrum Disorder Among A Comorbid Population, Michelle Okolita
Dissertations
Two of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD), are diagnosed in early childhood. The two disorders share similar impairments across domains, are highly comorbid, and have many overlapping symptoms. Studies have shown that among this comorbid population, children receive an ASD diagnosis a few years after their initial ADHD diagnosis, which leads to many negative consequences, including a delay in treatment. The focus in this study was on the early indicators of ASD that are present prior to the age of 3 years in order to educate others on these symptoms. In an …
Teaching Children With Autism To Make Independent Requests Using An Echoic-To-Mand Procedure, Michael L. Tomak
Teaching Children With Autism To Make Independent Requests Using An Echoic-To-Mand Procedure, Michael L. Tomak
Dissertations
Mands are a vital skill for the development of a child’s communicative repertoire and are typically a major focus of early intensive behavior interventions (EIBI). Naturalistic teaching is more efficient than Discrete-Trial Training (DTT) for teaching mands (Jennet, Harris, & Delmolino, 2008); and therefore, the present study used crucial components from naturalistic teaching to teach mands in a discrete-trial format, using an echoic-to-mand procedure. This intervention increased the children’s independent vocal requests. Initially, they learned to mand for items in sight and eventually for those out of sight.
Using A Video Modeling Treatment Package To Teach Imitation To Children With Autism, Sofia F. Peters
Using A Video Modeling Treatment Package To Teach Imitation To Children With Autism, Sofia F. Peters
Dissertations
Imitation is a critical skill that allows individuals to learn through less restrictive prompting methods and may allow access to less restrictive learning environments, such as typical classrooms, where instruction is often delivered by modeling. Many individuals with autism learn to imitate with interventions that utilize live models and least-to-most prompting strategies; but, for some, these methods are not successful or efficient. While video modeling has been used to teach a variety of skills to individuals with autism, there is limited research using video modeling to teach imitation. This study investigated the effectiveness of using a video modeling treatment package …
Teaching Matching-To-Sample To Low-Performing Children With Autism, Blaire E. Michelin
Teaching Matching-To-Sample To Low-Performing Children With Autism, Blaire E. Michelin
Dissertations
Matching-to-sample is a basic procedure used in most programs for pre-school children with autism. However, a few children fail to acquire this skill with standard matching-to-sample procedures. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate an alternative method for teaching matching-to-sample to those children when the traditional methods are likely to fail. First, simple discriminations with the matching materials were taught, then the discriminations were made more complex across successive sessions. Initially, all discriminations were taught using bins to separate the comparison stimuli. All three children acquired matching-to-sample, which generalized to matching novel two-dimensional stimuli, not placed in bins.
Child Characteristics And Parent Factors In Children With Asd And/Or Adhd: Disruptive Behaviors, Internalizing Symptoms, Parental Distress, And Parenting Practices, Elizabeth Clara Fair
Child Characteristics And Parent Factors In Children With Asd And/Or Adhd: Disruptive Behaviors, Internalizing Symptoms, Parental Distress, And Parenting Practices, Elizabeth Clara Fair
Dissertations
The current study examined disruptive behaviors, internalizing symptoms, parental distress, and parenting practices in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), ASD+ADHD, and typically-developing (TD) children. Specifically, the current study examined how those factors differed according to diagnostic group as well as how child characteristics (i.e., disruptive behaviors and internalizing symptoms) were related to parental factors above and beyond specific symptoms of ASD and ADHD (examined dimensionally). To examine those questions, parents of 14 children with ASD, 16 children with ADHD, 13 children with ASD+ADHD, and 15 TD children participated in the current study (total N = 58). …
Assessing The Effectiveness Of A Picture Exchange Communication System On Increasing Manding And Vocal Speech In Identical Twin Adults With Autism, Laura C. Hilton
Assessing The Effectiveness Of A Picture Exchange Communication System On Increasing Manding And Vocal Speech In Identical Twin Adults With Autism, Laura C. Hilton
Dissertations
This study examined the effectiveness of a Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) on increasing manding (i.e., making requests) and spontaneous vocalizations. Participants were a set of identical twin adult women, both with a diagnosis of autism. The main dependent variable was the number of mands emitted by the participants while utilizing PECS. During each phase of training, participants had to meet a specific criterion before receiving a preferred item. Once the participants met the criterion for each phase of PECS training, a new phase began. Spontaneous vocalizations were tracked during each phase of training to determine if, as previous studies …
The Relation Between Behavior Problems Of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder And Adjustments In Their Typically-Developing Siblings: Role Of Parental Stress And Perceptions Of Social Support, Theodore Stephen Tomeny
The Relation Between Behavior Problems Of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder And Adjustments In Their Typically-Developing Siblings: Role Of Parental Stress And Perceptions Of Social Support, Theodore Stephen Tomeny
Dissertations
Available literature examining outcomes of typically-developing siblings of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) remains inconclusive and unclear. Studies have shown that some typically-developing children may experience maladjustment related to having a sibling with ASD, whereas others may show no differences or may actually experience developmental benefits. Increasing evidence suggests that genetic and environmental moderators and mediators likely influence the nature of the adjustment in typically-developing siblings. Therefore, the current study examined a double moderated mediation model involving problem areas in children with ASD and typically-developing siblings, parental stress, and perceptions of social support. Via an internet survey site, data …
The Family Environment And Children With An Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Longitudinal Examination Of The Relation Between Parental Expressed Emotion And Child Externalizing Behaviors, Stephanie Bader
Dissertations
The current study, a longitudinal study using Bader (2009) as Time 1 data, used questionnaire data to explore the longitudinal relation between parental expressed emotion, a well-established predictor of symptom relapse in various other disorders (e.g., schizophrenia, bipolar, and behavior disorders), with change in externalizing behaviors in 84 children, ages 8 to 18, with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Both components of expressed emotion, criticism/hostility and overinvolvement, were explored, though hypotheses were only made in regard to criticism/hostility. It was found that high levels of parental criticism/hostility, not parental overinvolvement, at Time 2 uniquely related to higher levels of externalizing …
The Relation Among Sleep, Routines, And Behavior In Children With An Autism Spectrum Disorder, Jill Angelique Henderson
The Relation Among Sleep, Routines, And Behavior In Children With An Autism Spectrum Disorder, Jill Angelique Henderson
Dissertations
Children with an ASD have a propensity for routines and reportedly have a greater incidence of sleep disturbance and externalizing behaviors than typical children. In addition, significant relations have been identified among routines, sleep behavior, and externalizing behavior in a community sample of children, suggesting that a lack of routines maybe related to sleep disturbance and externalizing behaviors. However, to date, no known studies have thoroughly examined the relation between these variables in children with an ASD. The primary purpose of the present investigation was to examine relations among routines, sleep, and behavior in children with an ASD. Primary caregivers …