Autism

Applied Behavior Analysis

"Do this," show clapping hands, grab child's hands and clap; repeat until they respond

Prevalence of Autism

1 out of 68 children; more males (4:1); found in combination with ID, seizure disorders, and tuberous sclerosis

Reciprocal Imitation Training (RIT)

3 Steps; step 1 - imitating actions, gestures, vocalizations/parallel talk. step 2 - modeling a slightly different behavior for child to imitate. step 3 - modeling play with different toy

Median Age of Identification of ASD

5.7 years; shift because now tend to be diagnosed earlier

Rote Memory

Ability to easily remember things without necessarily knowing what they mean

Ongoing Progress Monitoring

Child's social and communication progress Generalization of new skills Clinical Skill Building - Develop a rating scale to monitor a child's use of Social greetings Protesting Pointing

Communication and Social Differences

Communication profiles, early social interactions, hand leading, echolalia, poor peer relationships

Motor and Perceptual Differences

Delayed development, toe walking, body placement, self-help skills

Serotonin

Feelings of well-being, sensory perception, sleep, sexual behavior, motor function, learning and memory

SCERTS Intervention Style

Following the child's lead Offering choices Responding to child's intent Modeling at the child's level Elaborating the child's attempts

Tuberous Sclerosis

Genetic disorder that causes non-malignant tumors to form and can cause seizures, intellectual disabilities or autism

Assessment

Hearing, oral-motor skills, verbal communication, abilities during variety of activities

Home Intervention Programs

Implement behavior modification programs Involve child in interactions Facilitate child's independence, self-monitoring, goal setting and self-evaluation skills Social skills training - adolescence

Nonverbal Communication

Inflexible adherence to routines, restricted or fixated interests, hyper/hypo reactivity to sensory input or unusual interest in sensory aspects of the enviroment

Play Interactions Assessment

May examine simple turn-taking games, play behaviors, communication temptations

Learning Differences

Memory for meaningful information, retained rote memory, empathizing, theory of mind

Assessment Screening Tools

Must be sensitive and specific; qualitative

To be Classified as Autistic

Must demonstrate at least 6 items in the social impairment, communication ability and sterotypical and repetitive behavior domains before 3

Generalization

Must train and practice in as many real-life, natural situations as possible

Behavior Differences

Narrow interests and repetitive behaviors

Causation/Risk Factors

Neurophysiological.Neurochemical studies (cerebellar and brainstem abnormalities, dopamine and serotonin differences), genetic link (related children, 2 or more genes), no environmental link (vaccine)

Discrete Trial Therapy (DTT)

Part of ABA; a method using behavioral techniques to facilitate child behaviors; prompting, cuing, chaining, fading and differential reinforcement

Autism

Persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction, persistent restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior, severity based on support required

Sensorimotor Skills

Sequence varies (Piaget-object permanence and means end), Difficulty with social interaction and awareness of others, little imaginative or symbolic play, interact more with objects than people

Joint Attention

Sharing common focus of attention, alternately lead and follow others focus, precedes naming objects/actions

SCERTS Approach

Social Communication, Emotional Regulation and Transaction Support; Based on social interaction, development and family system theory, addresses a child's social communication abilities and social relationship as primary focus of intervention

Autistic Behaviors

Social impairment, communication difficulty (low pragmatics), stereotypical or repetitive behaviors, interests and activities, stimulation behaviors, internal or external behavior issues, routine change difficulty

Social-Emotional Reciprocity

Sterotypes or repetitive motor movements

Possible Cause Explanation

Too many neuro-connections but not enough compensation strategies; Skip the period of "pruning" to make for an effective system; Extra white matter was found deep into brain layers

SLP Home Intervention

Train and supply ways to help child better communicate; social skills very important

Joint Attention Intervention

Watch child's gaze/focus of attention Join child at eye level Ask, "What do you want?" or "Look, cookie!" Wait to elicit verbal/nonverbal response from child

Families and Schools

Work closely together to ensure appropriate educational placement and effective interventions

Empathizing

ability to perceive another's motives or thoughts as well as the ability to understand how another person might feel in a particular situation.

Children with ASD Communication Function and Means

children with ASD typically have a reduced range of communication functions because they are less motivated to interact with others and often demonstrate limited or unusual communication means (e.g., taking a parent's hand rather than making eye contact, using echolalic verbalizations).

Communication Means

describe "how" the child communicates; verbal behaviors, nonverbal behaviors

Communication Function

describe "what" motivates the child to communicate; pragmatic skills, requesting, commenting, protesting

Poor Peer Relationships

due to social and communication differences, these children tend to be limited in their ability to interact with others

Dopamine

facilitates the processing of social cues and affects working memory

Communication Profiles

fewer communication attempts and responses to others

Communication Temptations Example

girl wanting snack, but has to do work for; constantly leaning toward snack reward

Naturally Occurring Rewards

if you do not push anyone in line you can lead the line OR if you do push someone, you have to be in the back of the line

Echolalia

immediate echolalia, the child imitates the communication partner's utterance; in delayed echolalia, the child produces a previously heard sentence or phrase.

Transaction Support

interpersonal support provided by the child's adult and peer communication partners, the environmental modifications used to promote social communication and emotional regulation, and enhancement of family support systems.

Specificity

makes sure that people who do not have the disorder are not over identified; >80%

Early Social Interaction

not "cuddly," stiff and rigid infants

Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA)

operant, learning-based philosophy states that any behavior (even language) can be broken down into separate behaviors, measured in precise terms, and manipulated through principles of reinforcement.

Sensitivity

reflects how frequently an individual with the disability is identified by using the screening tool; >90%

Transaction Goals

support learning by reinforcing and motivating the child to use the targeted behavior and integrate new behavior into daily life.

Hand Leading

using another's body to communicate (e.g., moving the mother's hand toward an object), often replacing pointing.