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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Effects Of Teaching Emotions To Students With High Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorders Through Picture Books, Jennifer M. Fletcher Aug 2010

Effects Of Teaching Emotions To Students With High Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorders Through Picture Books, Jennifer M. Fletcher

Theses and Dissertations

Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) struggle with identifying others' emotions, which impacts their ability to successfully interact in social situations. Because of the increasing number of children identified with ASD, effective techniques are needed to help children identify emotions in others. The use of technology is being researched as a way to help children with emotion identification. However, technology is not always available for teachers to use in classrooms, whereas picture books are much easier to access and have been successfully used to improve students' social skills. Picture books are naturally used in classroom, home, and therapy settings. This …


Hope And Worry Among Mothers Of Children With An Autism Spectrum Disorder Or Down Syndrome, Paula Ogston Jan 2010

Hope And Worry Among Mothers Of Children With An Autism Spectrum Disorder Or Down Syndrome, Paula Ogston

Theses and Dissertations

The present study used quantitative and qualitative methodology to examine mothers’ hope and worry. Participants were recruited via autism and Down syndrome organizations. Two hundred fifty-nine mothers of children with autism spectrum disorders (n = 199) and Down syndrome (n = 60) responded to the online questionnaire. Most mothers were white (n = 230); eighty-seven percent were married and their average age was 39.06 years. Findings support previous research suggesting that hope is a protective factor against psychological distress: mothers with higher hope reported lower dispositional worry. Mothers were asked to describe what they worried about when they woke up …


Approaching Autism: A Qualitative Review Of Maternal And Familial Adaptation Among Families Of Children With Autism, Stephanie A. Williamson Jul 2009

Approaching Autism: A Qualitative Review Of Maternal And Familial Adaptation Among Families Of Children With Autism, Stephanie A. Williamson

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to serve as an exploration of family experiences in relation to a child's autism diagnosis. Specifically, it focuses on family adaptation as explained by McCubbin, et al.'s Double ABCX Model (1983). Given that mothers play a crucial role in the family system and are often the primary caregivers for children with disabilities, maternal adaptation is also investigated. This study employs qualitative methods, including in-depth personal and group interviews. Mothers shared their perceptions and experiences surrounding children's autism diagnoses, including initial recognition of atypical behavior and development, the formal diagnosis process, and subsequent transitions within …


The Claustrum In Autism And Typically Developing Male Children: A Quantitative Mri Study, Warren B. Davis Sep 2008

The Claustrum In Autism And Typically Developing Male Children: A Quantitative Mri Study, Warren B. Davis

Theses and Dissertations

The claustrum (Cl) is a subcortical gray-matter structure housed between the external capsule medially and the extreme capsule laterally. Due to its extensive reciprocal connections throughout the brain, it has been implicated in consciousness and other higher order functions including linking behavior and emotion. Such linkage may be important in understanding the neurobiology of autism since other cortical and subcortical regions including the spatially and ontologically related basal ganglia, as well as limbic structures, have been implicated in the disorder. Participants were males with autism (n=16) and typically developing (TD; n=14) matched for head circumference and age. The Cl and …


Characterization Of Autism Spectrum Disorders In Children's Picture Books, Charlene Weaver Mar 2008

Characterization Of Autism Spectrum Disorders In Children's Picture Books, Charlene Weaver

Theses and Dissertations

Forty-two children's picture books portraying characters with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) were evaluated to determine how symptoms of ASD are being portrayed as well to determine common themes found in these books. Books were evaluated using behavioral checklists created using symptoms found in common ASD diagnostic rating scales for both autism and Asperger Syndrome (AS). Of the 42 books, 35 books had characters with autism and 7 had characters with AS. The most commonly found symptoms were relating to people, verbal communication, and taste, smell and touch responses. Personal characteristics such as gender and race were identified as well as …


Expectations And Stress Related To Choosing And Providing Treatment: A Comparative Study Of Parents Of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders Or With Down Syndrome, Virginia H. Mackintosh Jan 2007

Expectations And Stress Related To Choosing And Providing Treatment: A Comparative Study Of Parents Of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders Or With Down Syndrome, Virginia H. Mackintosh

Theses and Dissertations

This study looked at the level of stress experienced by parents (N = 280) of children with an autism spectrum disorder (Autism, n = 134; Asperger's disorder, n = 36; & PDD-NOS, n = 42) or with Down syndrome (n = 68) as it related to child's impairment and to the process of choosing and providing treatments. Using the new Family Access to Disability Services (FADS) measure, it was discovered that parents of children with an autism spectrum diagnosis had more difficulty in accessing and providing the treatments they wanted for their children. Higher FADS scores predicted parenting stress, even …


The Frequency And Severity Of Problem Behaviors Among Individuals With Autism, Traumatic Brain Injury, And Mental Retardation From The Utah Dspd Dataset, Melanie Kay Arp Nov 2005

The Frequency And Severity Of Problem Behaviors Among Individuals With Autism, Traumatic Brain Injury, And Mental Retardation From The Utah Dspd Dataset, Melanie Kay Arp

Theses and Dissertations

The study reports on analyses of data collected from the Inventory for Client and Agency Planning (ICAP) for 5,859 children with Autism (n = 511), Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI, n = 522), or Mental Retardation (MR, n = 4826) whose legal guardians applied for support services through the Utah Department of Services for People with Disabilities (DSPD). Results indicate that the least to most frequent problem behaviors were (a) destructive to property, (b) hurtful to self, (c) hurtful to others, (d) socially offensive, (e) unusual habits, (f) withdrawal, (g) uncooperative, and (h) disruptive behaviors. The degree of severity varied from …


A Formal Semantic Analysis Of Autistic Language: The Quantification Hypothesis, Michael B. Manookin Jul 2004

A Formal Semantic Analysis Of Autistic Language: The Quantification Hypothesis, Michael B. Manookin

Theses and Dissertations

Autism is characterized by language dysfunction ranging from mild and peculiar language usage to a total lack of expressive language function. These language oddities are manifest in the form of phonological, morphological, syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic/behavioral dysfunction. Research suggests that the autistic language deficit is focal—dealing with a specific area of language processing; however, previous research has failed to identify this language enigma. This thesis demonstrates a novel approach to the problem, showing that the autistic language deficit is tied to a particular aspect of language processing—quantification. Quantification is defined and explained in the context of autistic language and behavior.


Parental Reports Of The Development Of Autism In Their Children: The Relevance Of Regression, Comorbidity, And Genetics In The Detection Ofearly Characteristics, Robin Page Goin Jan 2003

Parental Reports Of The Development Of Autism In Their Children: The Relevance Of Regression, Comorbidity, And Genetics In The Detection Ofearly Characteristics, Robin Page Goin

Theses and Dissertations

Early detection of autism plays an important role in enhancing developmental outcomes for affected children. Identifying potential characteristics of the disorder evident during infancy and toddlerhood aids efforts to screen for such symptoms, which may lead to earlier and more accurate diagnoses; however, it is unclear to what extent certain factors encourage or impede early detection. Because parents are responsible for making decisions on behalf of their children based upon their perceptions of children's developmental progression, caregivers were queried in terms of their beliefs about the development of autism characteristics in their children. Participants included 393 caregivers of children with …