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.