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Williams, Joanna Gwendolyn. "Screening for autism spectrum disorders." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2004. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.615931.
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Ing, Natalia. "Wayfinding in autism spectrum disorders." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/11122.
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Urbach, Jonathan Aaron. "Autism or autisms? The clinical manifestations and classification of autism spectrum disorders." Thesis, Boston University, 2012. https://hdl.handle.net/2144/12660.
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Thesis (M.A.)--Boston University
PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you.Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (autistic disorder, Asperger's disorder, childhood disintegrative disorder, and pervasive developmental disorder - not otherwise specified) are a very heterogeneous group. The disorders on the spectrum are behaviorally defined (according to the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual-IV, Text Revision) with specific behaviors falling within categories. For autistic disorder, the categories reflect the core deficits of social interaction, communication, and restricted or repetitive behaviors or interests ("CDC- Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASDs)- NCBDDD," n.d.). The behaviors that fall within these categories have been carefully researched and described in order to allow for uniformity in diagnosis and the discussion of causality in research. The diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) relies on established thresholds within these categories, with the clinician responsible for characterizing and counting the number of behaviors that are present and in which category they fall. Other associated symptoms (low IQ, language impairments, epilepsy, and others) are often present, and while not diagnostic of ASD, can contribute much to the phenotypic heterogeneity. As a result, individuals who exhibit different behavioral symptoms might be diagnostically indistinguishable. This thesis is intended to be a critical review of the current state of autism research. In the different sections (Phenotype, Epidemiology, Genetics, Cellular/Molecular Mechanisms, Neural Circuits, and Therapeutics), the discussion is focused on what has been firmly established in the field. In many cases, what is known about autism leads to a better understanding of how to subdivide the population. Genetics, for instance, can divide autism into syndromic or idiopathic cases (those associated with a comorbid genetic condition such as Rett's Syndrome or Fragile X and those that have no apparent genetic etiology, respectively). Epidemiology research has shown that a host of chemical, social, and emotional exposures are correlated with varied risks of developing autism (leading to possible distinctions between autism caused by teratogens or autism caused by other mechanisms). Molecular research has revealed a subset of autistic individuals who have various causes of synaptic dysfunction, and within this group there have been certain proteins implicated, offering additional points of differentiation between individuals. The study of therapeutics, however, has largely left the population as a whole in research. As a result, the comparisons (based on mean differences between controls and ASD subjects) are not fine-grained enough to show benefits within certain subgroups of ASD individuals. What the research shows is that the autism spectrum can (and should) be subdivided. Establishing multiple well-defined "autisms" allows for much more targeted research. The first step is creating clear boundaries to the spectrum, and the proposed revisions to the Fifth Edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual is intended to do just this (collapsing the spectrum disorders into one diagnosis with a streamlined set of common behavioral features). The answer to the "autism or autisms?" questions is both: once the spectrum is clearly distinguished from the non-spectrum, research will establish the points at which autism should be subdivided. Homogeneous subgroups (however they are defined) will allow for more robust study of the underlying pathophysiology and possible treatment options.
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Hitt, Sara Beth, and false. "Autism Spectrum Disorder." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2016. https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-works/4068.
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Burnett, Hollie. "(Re-)conceptualisation in autism spectrum disorders." Thesis, University of Hull, 2012. http://hydra.hull.ac.uk/resources/hull:6865.
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Background: Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have been shown to be compromised in cognitive flexibility and attentional switching. However, most studies that examine these executive functions did not distinguish between the ability to form new concepts and the ability to switch between concepts. Very few attempts have been made to disassociate them as separate abilities, or investigate whether the animate or inanimate nature of the concepts/objects affects these abilities. Further, very few switching tasks have investigated the autistic spectrum as a whole, with most studies focusing on severely autistic individuals. Aims: The aim of this thesis was to explore individual limitations in the perceptual-cognitive abilities of forming concepts (conceptualisation) and of switching between concepts (reconceptualisation) in individuals with varying degrees of ASD and in typically-developed (TD) individuals. Further aims were: (i) Examine whether the animate or inanimate nature of the concepts affect the (re-)conceptualisation abilities, and whether this effect varies along the autism spectrum. (ii) Examine the impact of the ‘salience of physical reality’ on the (re-)conceptualisation abilities. (iii) Examine whether there is a continuum in concept forming and/or switching underlying the entire autism spectrum, extending into the TD population. Methods: The basic experimental paradigm involved recognition of ambiguous and impoverished objects. Distinct animate and/or inanimate objects were morphed into each other, resulting in a sequence of interpolations with decreasing proportions of one object and increasing proportions of the other object. Participants had to identify the newly emerging object. There were two distinct versions: the Conceptualisation Task, in which participants had to form a new concept from ‘scratch’, and the Reconceptualisation Task, in which an existing concept had to be traded in for a new concept. Participants: Three different clinical groups were tested: adults with Asperger’s Syndrome (AS), children with AS, and children with autism. Each group and their control group, did not differ significantly in terms of age, sex or cognitive ability. In addition, on the basis of their score on the Autism Quotient (AQ), approximately the top and bottom 20% of the TD individuals were allocated to either a low or high AQ group. Experiments: Four new experimental paradigms were employed: (Re-)Conceptualisation Silhouette Task (see Chapters 2 and 3), (Re-)conceptualisation Gabor Task (see Chapter 4), Delis-Kaplan Executive Functioning System (D-KEFS) Sorting Task with a unique added ‘No Shuffle’ condition, where the cards were not shuffled after each correct sort (see Chapter 5) and an Object-Ratio Task (see Chapter 7). In addition, the performance of the participant groups on these new tasks was compared with their performance on existing concept-switching tasks that are part of the D-KEFS: the Trail Making Task and the Twenty Questions Task (see Chapter 6). Results: In both the Silhouette and Gabor tasks, the ASD groups were significantly impaired in identifying concepts compared to TD groups, in both the conceptualisation and the reconceptualisation conditions. However, the deficit was largest when they first had to disengage attention (reconceptualisation), and when the object was animate. The autism group performed worse than the AS group, but only with respect to animate objects. Furthermore, when the start-object remained physically present (Gabor Tasks), or when the correctly made sort was not shuffled, but remained physically present until a new sort was made (Card Sorting Task), the ASD groups were even more impaired. Quite strikingly, this impairment specifically pertained to animate objects. In the TD population, differences were found between those with low and those with high AQ scores. In terms of performance on the (Re-)Conceptualisation Tasks, the high AQ group occupied a position in between the low AQ and AS groups. Conclusions: Overall, the studies suggest that individuals with ASD are impaired in forming new concepts, especially when they first have to disengage their attention from a previously identified concept, and when the concept is animate. This deficit also extends to the TD population (to those TD individuals with high AQ scores). The findings therefore support the notion of a concept forming and concept switching continuum, that is present not only in ASD, but also in the general population. The findings further suggest that individuals with ASD possess a processing deficit specifically for animate concepts/objects, which becomes worse with increasing ASD severity.
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Koh, Hwan Cui. "Visual perception in autism spectrum disorders." Thesis, University of Sheffield, 2009. http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/10348/.
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This thesis presents research conducted at the cognitive level, the neurophysiological level and the psycho-physical level, for examining vision in ASD. The psycho-physical findings suggest that atypical visual perception in ASD is unlikely to have a sub-cortical origin as sub-cortical magnocellular and parvocellular pathway functioning, and low/high spatial frequency detection in adolescents with ASD were found to be no different from typically-developing controls. There was, however, evidence indicating local motion direction perception deficits in the same adolescents with ASD suggesting that atypical motion perception in ASD may have a cortical origin. Electrophysiological investigation of low level visual perception in ASD revealed findings concurring with this latter interpretation. More specifically, whereas visual evoked potentials demonstrated visuo-integrative processes associated with perception of second order and hyperbolic gratings were not atypical in children with ASD, there was increased activity of the visual cortical region. A further gamma power analysis then demonstrated that there may be increased neuro-connectivity within primary visual area V1 in the children with ASD. Atypical low level visual cortical processes may result in locally-biased perceptual style previously observed in individuals with ASD. However, a cross-cultural comparison of perceptual style in children with ASD and TD children from Singapore and England, found evidence suggesting that locally-biased perceptual style in ASD may not be culturally universal. In sum, lower level visual cortical processes may be atypical in ASD, and whether these atypicalities manifest at the higher perceptual level can be determined by cultural variability in attention and response processes.
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Ludlow, Amanda Katherine. "Colour processing in autism spectrum disorders." Thesis, Goldsmiths College (University of London), 2006. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.428989.
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Homs, Raubert Aïda 1983. "Epigenetic alterations in autism spectrum disorders (ASD)." Doctoral thesis, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/403885.
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The aetiology of autism spectrum disorders (ASD), a group of neurodevelopmental conditions with early onset, characterized by social and communication impairment and restricted interests, is unknown in about a third of the patients. The intense research done over the past decade has revealed a genetic contribution, while the epigenetic contribution barely begins to show. The epigenetic marks can exert an effect in gene expression without altering the underlying genetic sequence. In turn, these marks can be impaired by genetic mutations in their target sequence. Therefore, research in genomic, epigenomic and transcriptomic fields will provide convergent information to unravel the causes of ASD, necessary to establish improved diagnostic protocols and therapeutic strategies, allowing an earlier diagnosis and personalized treatment crucial for a better prognosis. Our data reveal variants associated to the phenotype which shows genetic-epigenetic interplay along with gene expression consequences. It also reveals region epigenetic variants, which follow a polygenic or complex model. Finally, we found ASD genotype-specific epigenetic marks. In the future, the progress in cost-efficiency technologies assessing epigenomics, and the availability of a reference epigenome in various tissues and cell types will provide the background to set a step-forward in establishing the developmental stage, cell types and tissues involved in the epigenetic mechanisms of the disorder.L'etiologia dels trastorns de l'espectre autista (TEA), un grup de malalties del neurodesenvolupament d’aparició primerenca caracteritzades per problemes de comunicació, relació social, i per la presencia d’interessos restringits, és desconeguda per un terç dels individus afectats. La intensa investigació feta durant l'última dècada ha revelat una gran contribució genètica en aquesta malaltia, mentre que de l’epigenètica tot just es comença a evidenciar. Les marques epigenètiques, sense alterar la seqüència genètica subjacent, tenen un efecte en l'expressió dels gens. A la vegada, aquestes marques epigenètiques es poden veure afectades per mutacions genètiques a la seqüència. Així doncs, la recerca en genòmica, epigenòmica i transcriptòmica proporcionarà informació convergent per determinar les causes dels TEA, indispensable per establir millores en els protocols de diagnòstic i en estratègies terapèutiques, facilitant el diagnòstic precoç i el tractament personalitzat, crucial per a un millor pronòstic. Les nostres dades mostren que hi ha alteracions genètiques i epigenètiques associades al fenotip, que interactuen i tenen conseqüències sobre l’expressió gènica. També hem trobat regions amb alteracions epigenètiques, que sembla que contribueixen de manera additiva i seguint un model complex. Finalment, trobem marques epigenètiques específiques de grups de genotips TEA. En el futur, la millora de les tecnologies disponibles per avaluar l’epigenòmica, i la disponibilitat d'un epigenoma de referència en diversos teixits i tipus cel•lulars, serviran com a base per fer un pas cap endavant en l'establiment de l’etapa del desenvolupament, dels tipus cel•lulars i els teixits involucrats en els mecanismes epigenètics del trastorn.
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Tomchek, Scott David. "CHARACTERIZING SENSORY PROCESSING IN AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDERS." UKnowledge, 2005. http://uknowledge.uky.edu/gradschool_diss/455.
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Rationale: Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder with onset prior to the age of three years characterized by qualitative impairments in social interaction and communication skill, along with a restricted repetitive and stereotyped pattern of behavior, interests, and activities. In addition to these core diagnostic features, aberrant sensory responding has also been widely reported in the literature describing children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Aberrant sensory processing has, however, been infrequently studied compared to communication and cognition in autism and existing studies have had multiple methodological deficiencies, especially with sampling procedures. Purpose. The purpose of this study is to describe patterns of sensory processing found in children with an ASD to test the relationship(s) of these patterns to diagnostic and developmental variables. Method. Retrospective data collection was used to collect developmental and sensory processing variables of 400 children with an ASD. Sensory processing abilities were measured by the SSP. Results. The majority of the sample (80.5%) had a diagnosis of autism. The average age of the sample was 49.58 months. The adaptive, social, language, and motor developmental variables were consistent with diagnostic patterns in that the children with Asperger Disorder demonstrated higher developmental levels than the children with autism and PDD-NOS. Eighty-nine percent of the sample demonstrated some degree of sensory processing dysfunction on the SSP Total Score with the greatest difficulties reported on the Underresponsive/Seeks Sensation, Auditory Filtering, and Tactile Sensitivity sections. Exploratory factor analysis identified 6 parsimonious factors: Low Energy/Weak, Tactile and Movement Sensitivity, Taste/Smell Sensitivity, Auditory and Visual Sensitivity, Sensory Seeking/Distractibility, and Hypo-responsivity. These factor variables contributed to explaining the differences in five of six developmental variables of the sample that are associated with the diagnosis of autism. Receptive language, adaptive and expressive language performance were significantly correlated with sensory processing factor scores. Conclusions. Together, the sensory processing findings noted in this study describe a pattern of dysfunctional sensory modulation. These findings have significant implications for intervention programs involving individuals with an ASD, given the potential impact of these findings on a childs ability to maintain active engagement.
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Strømgren, Børge. "Aggression replacement training and autism spectrum disorders." Thesis, University of Ulster, 2007. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.445228.
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Witwer, Andrea N. "Psychopathology in Youngsters with Autism Spectrum Disorders." The Ohio State University, 2009. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1243561855.
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PISCIOTTA, LIVIA. "Autism Spectrum Disorder and other Neurodevelopmental Disorders: cytogenetic and genomic approaches." Doctoral thesis, Università degli studi di Genova, 2021. http://hdl.handle.net/11567/1057765.
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Introduction: Neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) are a heterogeneous class of conditions involving the brain, including intellectual disability (ID) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD), that affect about 1%-3% of children (Miller et al., 2010). The genetics of NDDs is complex and include copy number variations (CNVs), pathogenetic mutations in single genes. To date, more than 1000 genes have been implicated in the etiopathogenesis of NNDs. Preliminary investigations have suggested that the majority of Developmental Disorders, in particular ASD, are actually polygenic; in addition, the genetic and environmental interplay in defining the phenotype clearly classifies NDDs such as ID and ASD as complex disorders. In this dissertation, I sought to explore the contribution of rare de novo and inherited coding variation in neurodevelopmental disorders and use these genetic variations to identify neurodevelopmental disorder associated genes and new/unknown oligogenic mechanisms.
Methods: In a retrospective review of data, we re-evaluated all the results of diagnostic array-CGH tests on 700 cases with NDDs, focusing on variants previously interpreted as VOUS. Furthermore a series of 68 patients with autism spectrum disorder were recruited to perform whole exome sequencing and eventual whole genome sequencing. A deep analysis of VOUS, mainly consisting in a revision of gene expression/function annotation, and chromatine organization data, was performed. New candidate genes were analysed by GeneCodis4 to evidence enrichment for known NDD-associated GeneOntology terms and pathways. Whole exome sequencing was performed and potentially deleterious variants prioritized by custom filtering strategies including the use of ORVAL (Oligogenic Resource for Variant Analysis Platform) and enrichment analysis of candidate genes with GeneCodis4.
Results: In about 42% of cases pathogenic CNVs were found, while in 58% identified CNVs remained initially VOUS. New potential genes and mechanisms such as double-hit mechanisms were found in our patients. In our 34 analysed ASD patients 11 cases showed possible deleterious rare variants, in different and, in the majority of cases, in multiple genes. The role of X chromosome and neurotransmitter pathways appears important.
Conclusion: In our cohort of NDDs patients CNV-mediated double-hit mechanisms seem to play a relevant role in elucidate complex phenotypes. About 10% of patients from our ASD cohort also showed rare deleterious variants in multiple genes that seem to fully explain their complex phenotype.
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Hofvander, Björn. "AD/HD and autism spectrum disorders in adults." Malmö : Forensic Psychitry, Lund University, 2009. http://www.lu.se/o.o.i.s?id=12588&postid=1487259.
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Snyder, MacKenzie Renee. "Symbolic Organization in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders." Ohio University Honors Tutorial College / OhioLINK, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ouhonors1367585378.
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Pidruzny, Jacquelyn N. "Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders and Violent Media." University of Toledo / OhioLINK, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1404317555.
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Thiess, Erica Kimberly. "Awareness of autism spectrum disorders in general education." Online version, 2008. http://www.uwstout.edu/lib/thesis/2008/2008thiesse.pdf.
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Williams, Katrina. "The epidemiology and classification of autism spectrum disorders." Thesis, The University of Sydney, 2004. https://hdl.handle.net/2123/28156.
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Autism was first described in the 19403 as a disorder characterised by abnormal
communication, behaviour and social interaction. Some children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have Autistic Disorder while others have fewer characteristics than is required for a diagnosis. There are still many unanswered questions about autism.
Aims
- To estimate the incidence of autism spectrum disorders in NSW and to use
epidemiological methods to describe its risk factors, classification and clinical
characteristics and outcome.
- To explore the effectiveness of two treatments; auditory integration training and secretin.
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ANNUNZIATA, SILVIA. "Genetic and phenotypic characterization of Autism Spectrum Disorders." Doctoral thesis, Università degli studi di Pavia, 2022. http://hdl.handle.net/11571/1452943.
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Kerr, Sharyn. "Early behavioural markers in autism spectrum disorders : implications for theories of autism." University of Western Australia. School of Psychology, 2006. http://theses.library.uwa.edu.au/adt-WU2007.0057.
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[Truncated abstract] There are few existing screening instruments designed to identify Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) at an early age, such as the Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (CHAT) and the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (M-CHAT). Unfortunately, many are limited in their ability to identify children at risk in the first two years of life while displaying an acceptable level of reliability. Given this limitation, the present study aimed to identify any additional early markers of ASD from either the retrospective analysis of early autistic symptomatology (parental report and video analysis of footage made before the diagnosis) or performance-based measures linked to different theoretical accounts of ASD. Specifically, measures addressing theory of mind, executive dysfunction and weak central coherence were developed. In the first study, parents of three groups of children those of typical development (n = 19, mean CA = 26 months), children with an ASD (n = 39, mean CA = 34 months) and children with developmental delay (n = 14, mean CA = 28 months) were interviewed about their child's early development. In the first study, parents of three groups of children those of typical development (n = 19, mean CA = 26 months), children with an ASD (n = 39, mean CA = 34 months) and children with developmental delay (n = 14, mean CA = 28 months) were interviewed about their child's early development. Several behaviours discriminated children with ASD from children with typical development and children with delayed development. ... A discriminant function analysis using the two factor scores indicated that Factor 1 discriminated the ADI-R groups, while Factor 2 scores did not add to the ability of Factor 1 scores to discriminate the ADI-R groups. Furthermore, while the finding that joint attention behaviours differentiated children with ASD from children with typical development and children with delayed development, more research is needed to determine if this impairment is a precursor of a theory of mind deficit or if this impairment and later appearing impairments in theory of mind are the result of a more global impairment in social-emotional approach behaviours. Additional research is also needed to determine the relationship between the early appearing deficits in joint attention and the impairments in social relating behaviours that appear to develop later in the chronology of ASD development and how both of these relate to the theory of mind hypothesis of ASD.
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Ioannou, Christina. "Facing social threats in adolescents with autism spectrum disorders." Thesis, Paris Sciences et Lettres (ComUE), 2017. http://www.theses.fr/2017PSLEE073/document.
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Les troubles du spectre de l’autisme (TSA) sont caractérisés par des difficultés persistantes dans les domaines de la communication et des interactions sociales. Les individus atteints de TSA ont notamment des difficultés à décoder les émotions d’autrui et il est souvent suggéré qu’un déficit général du traitement des visages émotionnels est à l’origine de ces difficultés. Cependant, les résultats de la littérature sont incohérents et soulignent l'importance de facteurs méthodologiques qui pourraient influencer la performance des personnes TSA. Deux théories actuelles sont pertinentes au regard de ces difficultés rencontrées dans les interactions sociales : 1) la théorie de la régulation comportementale propose que ces difficultés résultent de dysfonctionnements du traitement des émotions et/ou des mécanismes permettant de répondre de façon appropriée à ces émotions; et 2) la théorie de la motivation sociale propose au contraire que ces mécanismes sont intacts et que les difficultés rencontrées sont le résultat d’un déficit de motivation sociale. Cette thèse avait pour but de départager ces deux théories, tout en contrôlant de nombreux facteurs méthodologiques qui pourraient influencer la performance des personnes TSA. L’expérience 1 visait à étudier l’impact de la direction du regard sur le traitement de la peur et de la colère. L’expérience 2 étudiait les choix d’actions spontanées en présence de visages de peur ou de colère et la catégorisation de ces émotions présentées en vision périphérique. Ces deux études révèlent des résultats similaires chez des adolescents neuro-typiques et TSA. Ces deux groupes sont capables de décoder des expressions de peur et de colère, présentées au centre de l’écran ou en périphérie, ils sont aussi sensibles aux variations d’intensité de ces émotions et aux variations de contexte (ici étudié sous la forme de la direction du regard). D’autre part, les deux groupes répondent de façon similaire à ces émotions, notamment en choisissant des actions qui leur permettent d’éviter des individus menaçants. Pris dans leur ensemble, ces résultats indiquent que les mécanismes impliqués dans le traitement des émotions, l’intégration des facteurs contextuels, et dans l’adaptation de son comportement en réponses à ces signaux sociaux sont intacts chez des adolescents atteints de TSA. Ces résultats sont discutés au regard des théories de la motivation sociale et de la régulation comportementaleAutism spectrum disorders (ASD) are neurodevelopmental conditions characterised by persistent deficits in social reciprocity. Deficits in emotion perception are common in ASD and suggested to stem from a generalised deficit in the processing of facial affect. The literature however is inconsistent, stressing the importance of methodological factors that might bring individuals with ASD to a disadvantage. Two relevant theoretical frameworks are considered: 1) the behavioural self-regulation account proposes that affective atypicalities stem from deficits in the processing of the emotional signals and/or the regulation of appropriate responses to these signals; and 2) the social motivation account proposes that the mechanisms behind either of these two stages of emotion understanding are intact and that behavioural deficits stem from reduced weighting of social information. This Ph.D. aimed to disentangle between the two theories in the context of social threats by taking into account the necessary methodological factors. Experiment 1 investigated the contextual impact of gaze direction on the categorisation of facial expressions of anger and fear. Experiment 2 investigated both free action choice in response to implicit social threats –facial expressions of anger and fear- and their emotion categorisation accuracy in visual periphery. Across both studies ASD and typically developing (TD) adolescents demonstrated intact processing of both anger and fear in direct view and in visual periphery and were sensitive to the changes in emotional intensity of the stimuli. In Experiment 1, although the control group was overall more accurate than the ASD group in emotion decoding, gaze direction impacted the processing of threat similarly in both groups. Specifically, gaze direction raised the saliency of the threat for the observer and enhanced their sensitivity to the most salient ones. In Experiment 2, both groups demonstrated an overall tendency to avoid emotional agents, which was particularly evident in the case of anger. Taken together, the mechanisms behind the processing of facial social threats appear relatively spared in ASD adolescents and the impact of contextual factors are similar ASD and typical development. Adolescents with ASD are able to use social threats to adapt their behaviour by avoiding the emotional agent, which is not surprising during a developmental period characterised by enhanced reactivity to threat. These findings are discussed in terms of the social motivation and behavioural self-regulation frameworks and future directions are proposed
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Tavassoli, Teresa. "Sensory perception in autism spectrum conditions." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2012. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.610035.
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Sun, Xiang. "Epidemiology of autism spectrum conditions in China." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2013. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.607741.
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Schumann, Cynthia Mills. "Neuropathology of the amygdaloid complex in autism spectrum disorders /." For electronic version search Digital dissertations database. Restricted to UC campuses. Access is free to UC campus dissertations, 2005. http://uclibs.org/PID/11984.
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Miranda-Linné, Fredrika. "Individuals with autism spectrum disorders : teaching, language, and screening." Doctoral thesis, Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för psykologi, 2001. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-677.
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The present dissertation on autism spectrum disorders (ASD) addressed several questions. First, the behavioral symptoms of speaking and mute individuals with ASD were compared on the Autism Behavior Checklist (ABC), a commonly used diagnostic instrument. In addition, questions about the construction of the ABC were investigated. In Study I it was found that although the two groups did not significantly differ on the total ABC score, the mute group demonstrated significantly more pathology on 21 of 57 items and 3 of 5 subscales. The speaking group obtained significantly higher scores on only 8 items and 1 subscale (Language). The appropriateness of providing greater pathology scores to speaking, rather than mute, individuals with ASD was called into question. In addition, it was speculated that the expressive language items are weighted too heavily, on both the Language subscale and the total score. Second, because the 57 items of the ABC were categorized into 5 subscales on a subjective basis, an empirical investigation of the factor structure of the ABC was performed. In Study II, a 5-factor model that contained 39 of the items accounted for 80% of the total variance in the checklist. No support was found for classifying the 57 items into the existing 5 subscales. Finally, the two most common forms of instruction to teach children with ASD, discrete-trial teaching and incidental teaching, were assessed. In Study III it was ascertained that discrete-trial teaching was more efficient and produced faster acquisition and initially, greater generalization. However, by follow-up, the incidental teaching methods resulted in equal retention, greater generalization, and equal or greater spontaneous usage. The findings indicate that although it takes a longer time for children with autism to learn with incidental teaching procedures, once they have acquired an ability, it may be more permanent.
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Isomura, Tomoko. "Facial Emotion Processing in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders." 京都大学 (Kyoto University), 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/2433/199150.
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Kuusikko-Gauffin, S. (Sanna). "Social anxiety and emotion recognition in autism spectrum disorders." Doctoral thesis, Oulun yliopisto, 2011. http://urn.fi/urn:isbn:9789514293344.
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Abstract The primary aim of the current study was to examine social anxiety symptoms in high-functioning children and adolescents, ages eight to 17 years old with autism (HFA) or Asperger syndrome (AS). The second aim was to study emotion recognition skills in children and adolescents with HFA/AS. In addition, two internationally used social anxiety questionnaires (The Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory for Children and; The Social Anxiety Scale for Children -revised) were translated into Finnish, and psychometric analyses were performed in order assess the research and clinical utility of these measures as novel tools for the study of child social anxiety in Finland. Results suggest that adolescents, in particular, with HFA/AS experience a greater number of social anxiety symptoms and have increased rates of clinically relevant social anxiety disorder (SAD) than do their control counterparts. Parents reported higher levels of anxiety symptoms in their children with HFA/AS regardless of the child’s age; however, individuals with HFA/AS self-reported anxiety symptoms increased later in their development (i.e., adolescence). In addition, overall facial emotion recognition increased with age in the HFA/AS group. Despite this, the HFA/AS group did not reach the higher ability level attained by the typically developing adolescents regardless of age. Specifically, when the facial emotion expressed a combination of both surprise and fear, participants with HFA/AS labelled the facial expression as “fear” statistically significantly more often than did controls. Moreover, control participants interpreted faces which blended sadness and neutral emotions as neutral more often than HFA/AS participants. Results suggest that social anxiety is clinically important to assess in children and adolescents with HFA/AS. Clinical interventions which enhance emotion recognition skills and reduce social anxiety symptoms in individuals with HFA/AS may be warrantedTiivistelmä Tutkimuksen päätarkoituksena oli selvittää sosiaalista ahdistuneisuutta 8–17-vuotiailla hyvätasoisilla lapsilla ja nuorilla, joilla on autismi (HFA) tai Aspergerin oireyhtymä (AS). Tutkimuksen toinen tarkoitus oli selvittää, miten HFA- ja AS-lapset ja nuoret kykenevät tunnistamaan tunteita kasvonilmeistä. Tutkimus arvioi myös kahden kansainvälisesti tunnetun, sosiaalista ahdistuneisuutta mittaavan kyselylomakkeen (The Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory for Children ja The Social Anxiety Scale for Children -revised) toimivuutta suomalaisessa väestössä. Tavoitteena oli antaa uusia työvälineitä suomalaiselle lastenpsykiatrialle tutkimus- ja kliiniseen työhön. Tutkimustulokset osoittivat HFA- ja AS-nuorten kokevan muita nuoria useammin sosiaalista ahdistuneisuutta. Vanhemmat havaitsevat HFA- ja AS-lastensa sosiaalisen ahdistuneisuuden oireet lapsen iästä riippumatta, kun lapset itse kertoivat oireistaan vasta nuoruusiässä. Tutkimus osoitti myös, että HFA:ta tai AS:ää sairastavien kyky tunnistaa tunteita paranee iän myötä. Se ei kuitenkaan saavuta tavalliseen tapaan kehittyvien lasten taitotasoa nuoruusikään mennessä. HFA- ja AS-lapset ja nuoret tulkitsevat ikätovereitaan useammin kasvojen ilmeen peloksi silloin, kun kasvojenilme on sekoitus pelko-yllättyneisyyttä. Tavalliseen tapaan kehittyneet lapset ja nuoret tulkitsevat kasvojenilmeen useammin neutraaliksi kuin HFA tai AS diagnoosin saaneet, jos kasvojenilme on sekoitus surullinen-neutraalia. Tutkimustulosten perusteella tulee HFA:ta tai AS:ää sairastavia lapsia ja nuoria hoidettaessa ottaa huomioon sosiaalinen ahdistuneisuus. Heille tulisi nykyistä useammin tarjota tilaisuus myös kuntouttaa kykyä tunnistaa toisten ihmisten tunteita
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Smith, Richard Stewart. "Unusual sensory experiences in people with autism spectrum disorders." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2011. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.556147.
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Unusual Sensory Experiences (USEs) are a significant and common issue in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs). People may be over- or under-sensitive to sensory information in any of the sensory domains. These expenences can seriously affect people's lives, causing distress and correlating with impairments in a number of areas of functioning. These experiences have received relatively little attention in research into ASDs. The first paper reviews the literature from the last ten years for treatments for USEs and their sequelae. Results indicate that risperidone and massage therapy can be validly shown to reduce the severity of the USEs and their effects in other areas of functioning. The other treatments have equivocal or inconclusive results and so require more research. In the second paper nine adults with Asperger Syndrome (AS) were interviewed about how their USEs have affected their lives. Results indicated that these experiences had powerful effects in many areas of their internal and social worlds. The experiences could be distressing often leading to escape and subsequent avoidance of certain situations. They could cause rejection from other people. These experiences could therefore often lead to the person with AS becoming extremely isolated. Other experiences could be fascinating and lead to specific sensory abilities which if nurtured could be utilised in jobs or pursuits. These results give evidence for the central role USEs can have in many areas of functioning for people with ASD. Implications for services and future research are discussed.
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Miranda-Linné, Fredrika M. "Individuals with autism spectrum disorders : teaching, language, and screening /." Uppsala : Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis : Univ.-bibl. [distributör], 2001. http://publications.uu.se/theses/91-554-5047-4/.
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Ramachandran, Rajani. "Are individuals with autism spectrum disorders sensitive to traits?" Thesis, University of Nottingham, 2007. http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/12016/.
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This thesis examined whether individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders are sensitive to traits. The ability of individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders to infer traits from descriptions of behaviour was investigated by asking participants to read trait implying sentences and then to chose one of two words that best related to the sentence. In experiment 1, individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders performed similarly to matched controls in being faster at choosing the trait in comparison to the semantic associate of one of the words in the sentence. The results from experiments 1 and 2 provided converging evidence in suggesting that inferring traits from textual descriptions of behaviour occurs with relatively little effort. The results of experiment 3 suggested that making trait inferences took priority over inferring actions or making semantic connections between words. Experiment 4 investigated whether individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders associated the inferred trait with the person carrying out the behaviour (actor). Participants were presented with a pair of faces and sentences followed by the same pair of faces being presented with a single word. Participants had to choose which actor is best described by the word. The results provided evidence that participants with Autism Spectrum Disorders were able to associate inferred traits with the actor easily, even when the actor was represented by his face. The experiments described in this thesis provide evidence for the possibility of trait inference as relating to behaviour being a spared socio-cognitive function in autism.
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Lo, Lai-man, and 盧麗雯. "Attentional performance of young children with autism spectrum disorders." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10722/209693.
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Attentional abnormalities are one of the earliest signs of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Despite flourishing attention studies in autism, relatively little is known about attentional performance among young children with high-functioning autism (HFA). The present study compared 23 preschool children with HFA and 28 typically-developing children on attention network efficiencies, selective attention to social or non-social information and attention switching, with age, cognitive and language abilities matched or controlled. Compared with typically-developing children, young children with HFA showed comparative attention network efficiencies, slower orienting to face and better attention switching. Alternative explanations for their strength in attention switching are given based on superior focused attention to visual details and hyper-systemizing skills. Implications on future research and practice are discussed.published_or_final_version
Educational Psychology
Master
Master of Social Sciences
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Long, Emily Ann. "Classroom lighting design for students with autism spectrum disorders." Kansas State University, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/2097/6915.
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Master of ScienceDepartment of Architectural Engineering and Construction Science
Raphael A. Yunk
Autism Spectrum Disorders, (ASD) are being diagnosed at an alarming rate. Students with ASD face many challenges in educational environments and struggle to overcome daily distractions. Students with ASD have variances in neuron connections that cause them to receive and understand their environment differently than a student without special needs. In the educational classrooms, fluorescent lighting is a significant source of extraneous stimuli that not only a source of annoyance but can also trigger common symptoms of ASD. Fluorescent fixtures economically provide an acceptable uniformity and quality of illumination, but also have disadvantages that can aggravate symptoms in students with ASD. Ballasts are required for the operation of fluorescent fixtures. These ballasts, especially if not replaced at the end of their usable life, can generate an audible hum and cyclical flickering of light. Alternative light sources, such as incandescent lamps and fixtures should be evaluated and installed not only in special needs classrooms but standard group classrooms as well. Providing additional sources or quality sources of light may help students with ASD focus on the information presented in the classroom. Traditional classroom design needs to be re-evaluated to accommodate the needs of those students with ASD to better provide a comfortable and less distracting learning environment. It is difficult to establish rigid standards for lighting designs sensitive to individuals and special needs occupants'. By understanding the symptoms of ASD and taking into account the occupants needs lighting designers will be better able to design an environment that is both comfortable and educational. This report will address the classroom environment and student considerations in order to develop parameters and design practices that will assist new lighting designers.
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Sahab, Lama A. "Investigating dental anxiety in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders." Thesis, University of Reading, 2017. http://centaur.reading.ac.uk/74797/.
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Dental anxiety is a common and disabling problem for individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Little is known about the causes of dental anxiety in ASD but the literature suggests it may be related to sensory sensitivity (Stein et al., 2011) and having high rates of anxiety in general (White et al., 2009). The purpose of this research is to examine the factors that predict dental anxiety in children with ASD. The first two qualitative studies were designed to identify relevant factors in dental anxiety using a bottom-up approach. Interviews were carried out with parents of children with ASD and individuals with ASD. The second study interviewed dentists with varying expertise in ASD. Both sets of interviews were analysed using content analysis. Findings from the qualitative studies suggest that dental anxiety is related to parental anxiety, sensory sensitivity, worries about pain, and negative experiences. In the third study 45 children with ASD aged (11 to 17) and their parents, and a comparison group of 50 Typically Developing (TD) children and their parents, completed measures examining dental anxiety and associated factors. The results demonstrate that children with ASD have higher rates of dental anxiety related to their higher overall anxiety level. Correlations show that dental anxiety is related to other forms of anxiety: unusual sensory processing, cognition, past experiences at the dentist, parents’ dental anxiety, and the number of visits that a child has had to the dentist. Regression analysis shows that dental anxiety in children with ASD is determined by their worries about treatment and the number of dental visits. In TD children, dental anxiety was only predicted by their worries about treatment. Nevertheless, despite the aforementioned small differences, this third study showed that children with ASD and TD children are more alike than different, which is an interesting finding that requires further investigation. Overall, this research helps us understand the underlying causes of dental fear in children with ASD and gives insight into interventions to support them with oral care.
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Andrew, M. "Imitation of atypical biological motion in autism spectrum disorders." Thesis, Liverpool John Moores University, 2016. http://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/5086/.
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The aim of the present thesis was to examine imitation of biological motion in adults with autism spectrum disorders. Using a novel behavioural protocol, adults with autism and matched neurotypical control adults imitated models that displayed distinctly different, but biological believable kinematics. In Chapter Two it was observed that adults with autism exhibited low-fidelity imitation of atypical biological motion. In Chapter Three it was observed that when selective-attention instructions were provided, although eye movements recorded during action- observation was similar to controls, imitation of atypical biological motion was still impaired. In Chapter Four across three experiments it was shown that adults with autism exhibit reasonably high-fidelity imitation of atypical biological motion. This was achieved by presenting the to-be-imitated biological models in a fixed presentation structure which is known to facilitate greater integration and consolidation of sensorimotor information. This suggestion was supported by a further study where firstly participants were required to complete a secondary motor task during the inter-trial delay, and when the presentation structure was randomised (similar to Chapters Two and Three) resulting in low-fidelity imitation of atypical biological motion. These findings across the present thesis will be discussed in light of a critical evaluation with respect to current literature on imitation in autism, as well as implications for theoretical accounts of impaired imitation in autism and related sensorimotor control processes. Future considerations and translational research will be discussed, with the intention of offering prospective social rehabilitation protocols in autism.
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Philip, Biji A. "Conversational Repair Strategies in Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders." Bowling Green State University / OhioLINK, 2008. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1225745290.
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Thirtamara, Rajamani Keerthi Krishnan. "Animal Models of Drug Addiction and Autism Spectrum Disorders." The Ohio State University, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1386011455.
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Ravindran, Neeraja. "Perspectives of Parents from India on Autism Spectrum Disorders." VCU Scholars Compass, 2008. http://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd_retro/125.
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Cultural beliefs and practices affect factors associated with early diagnosis of developmental disorders, parents' understanding of the disorder, beliefs about causes, and choice of treatment procedures. Currently, most research regarding autism emanates from Western cultural perspectives. However, the notion that treatment methods are universal and that they can simply be developed in the West and exported elsewhere is inherently flawed. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the experience of parents from India now living in the US or other countries outside India who have a child with an autism spectrum disorder, and explore the unique contributions of the Indian culture in parents' understanding and acceptance of a childhood disability like autism. Specific cross-cultural variables measured in the study included what symptoms the parents first recognized in their child, parents' beliefs about causes, choice of treatment procedures, roles of grandparents in the child's life, availability of community resources, parent-professional interactions, and acculturation. Twenty seven parents of children with autism (24 mothers, 3 fathers) participated in the study; all but 3 of them now lived outside India. All 27 participants and their spouses were Indian in ethnicity and were born and raised in India. Most parents endorsed the western beliefs in a combination of genetics, environmental toxins, and biological factors; a substantial number also endorsed a belief that immunizations were a direct cause. A significant minority of our parents also called upon traditional Indian beliefs in karma, destiny or fate, and parental mistakes in present or past life. Most of these parents were far from their own parents and in-laws and thus removed from the high level of grandparental involvement that would be typical if they had stayed at home; however, despite the long distance separating them, a majority of the families consider their parents and in-laws as important sources of emotional support. Although a majority of parents reported that they currently do not use any treatment that came from their Indian culture, about half reported that they would prefer to use a combination of both western and Indian medicine and educational practices, if it is made available. A majority of parents in the study appear to be well integrated with their host culture. These parents have become bicultural by maintaining characteristics of their own natal culture, while selectively acquiring those of their host culture.
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Nugent, Stella. "Forensic aspects of intellectual disabilities and autism spectrum disorders." Thesis, University of Nottingham, 2016. http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/34777/.
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Overview This thesis reviewed forensic aspects of Intellectual Disabilities (ID) and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Chapter two was a case study where an individual with ID and ASD who exhibited forensic/Challenging Behaviour (CB) was assessed and intervention offered. Chapter three then focussed on the assessment of people with ID and ASD by critiquing the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS), version 3 and 4 (WAIS-III & WAIS-IV) (Wechsler, 1997; Wechsler, 2008a, 2008b, 2008c) and discussed application issues for people with ID and ASD. Chapter 4 and 5 examined intervention in more depth. Chapter 4 applied Weiner’s (1985, 1993) theory of achievement, motivation and emotion as a way of understanding contextual intervention and Chapter 5 examined the effect of psychotherapeutic interventions on CB. Chapter Two The case study discussed in chapter two examined explanations of violence and diagnoses. ASD and an ID were identified as useful neurodevelopmental diagnoses that could be used as a framework to understand the individual’s needs. Some explanations of violence were related to features of these diagnoses. Social factors were also identified as increasing risk. Violence was modelled by a key male figure during childhood development which appeared to have been retained as a template of acceptable behaviour, supporting the work of Bandura on social learning (1973). This, and the experience of being a victim of this violence, also supported the work of Douglas, Hart, Webster and Belfrage (2013) who indicated that social factors can increase the risk of violence. In turn this affected attachment supporting the work of Bowlby (1980). The behavioural approach (Cipani & Schock, 2010) was also applied to identify functions of violence. A psychotherapeutic intervention was offered to improve one aspect of emotional recognition, face perception, with the aim of enabling him to comprehend visual feedback from the environment, make interpretations about the emotions experienced by others, and modify his behaviour accordingly. There was little difference to his level of skills following the intervention. It was concluded that particular skills development may be difficult for someone with a neurodevelopmental difficulty if the biological structures are not there to support that skill, or skills may take a long time to develop. In this case it was concluded that the best intervention was to consider a placement for him in an appropriate environment that would cater for his ASD and ID related needs. Comments were made about the quality of assessments and for improvements to be considered to formulation and intervention. Chapter Three Chapter three was a critique of the WAIS, a tool widely used as part of the process to identify whether someone has an ID. This may determine if an individual may be unfit to plead in court or to determine the services appropriate for that individual’s needs. The review focussed on the most recent version, WAIS-IV (Wechsler, 2008a, 2008b, 2008c) but also referred to other versions in particular the WAIS-III (Wechsler, 1997). The conclusion was there were some flaws to the assessments that required further research and also some omissions in the epistemology. The critique examined different aspects of validity and reliability. The examination of convergent validity yielded mixed results with some positive correlations with other tests and some weak correlations. This difference could be caused by some tests measuring different aspects of ‘g’. The consequences of differences can be significant, for example the scores of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, version 4 (WISC-IV) (Wechsler, 2003) and the WAIS-IV scores could differ by up to 10 points and could mean individuals moving from a children’s to an adult service could become ineligible for the same levels of support. The results for test-retest reliability were good in the short term but more research was recommended to determine if the latest version of the WAIS would be reliable in the long term. The ‘Flynn effect’ (Flynn, 2007) indicated that levels of intelligence were rising so the WAIS-IV compensated for this and currently measures intelligence at around 3 points lower than the WAIS-III. The stability of this effect was unclear. The results for internal reliability were good although more research independent of the WAIS was recommended. The application of the WAIS for individuals with an ASD and ID was considered with the WAIS being found to be a limited tool for discriminating between categories of ASD, although what can be expected is an uneven profile. It was also unclear how useful the WAIS was to discriminate between individuals with a substance misuse/abuse disorder and normal controls. There were also difficulties with the application of the WAIS to individuals with ID. Difficulties measuring intelligence at lower levels were identified as scores can be unstable. Research was also recommended to provide a comprehensive view of the effect upon results of variables such as nationality, gender and age. Chapter Four Chapter four was an empirical research project investigating Weiner’s (1985, 1993) theory of achievement, motivation and emotion as a means of understanding the responses of unqualified nursing staff to clients with ASD exhibiting CB. One hundred and twenty seven unqualified nursing staff responded to an Attributional Style Questionnaire (ASQ) (Dagnan & Cairns, 2004) and questions based on a vignette. The quantitative results found weak support for Weiner’s model. There was weak evidence for the effect of demographic variables and the type of client (ASD or ID) and the type of service (ASD or Mental Health/ID) did not affect the results. Qualitative data was themed and coded according to Braun and Clarke (2006) and Boyatzis (1998) and provided an insight into the psychological processes influencing staff responses to CB. The results suggested that intervention was influenced by staff, patient and contextual variables. A recommendation was made for a contemporary exploration of the topic and to improve the validity and reliability of the ASQ. Chapter Five Chapter five was a systematic review of psychotherapeutic interventions aimed at reducing the CB exhibited by people with ID only due to a paucity of research using people with ASD as participants. A systematic literature search was conducted using 5 databases, a search of relevant journals and contact made with experts. From this 8 papers met the inclusion/exclusion criteria and these were analysed qualitatively. Three types of psychotherapeutic intervention were used within the ten papers, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), “Soles of the Feet” meditation and Solution-Focussed Brief Therapy. All types of psychotherapeutic intervention reduced CB although the results of studies using CBT were mixed. There were shortcomings to these conclusions; these were methodological issues such as a need to ensure the consistency of outcome measures and the types of CB used to measure change. The effect of intervention may have been modified by variables such as length of treatment, the context and intrapersonal variables. Conclusions The chapters of this research thesis indicated that neurodevelopmental factors influenced forensic/CB, although social role models, attachment and trauma were also significant. Assessments were important as they may affect fitness to plead and services/treatment offered. Assessments such as the WAIS are supported by research although further research has been recommended. The use of the WAIS with people with ASD and ID was limited as people with ASD appear to exhibit uneven profiles when completing the WAIS and there were inaccuracies when using the WAIS with people with lower levels of intelligence. The difficulties people with ASD have with social communication skills can also affect performance and support is needed when administering assessments. Intervention for people with a neurodevelopmental difficulty can also be successful. Consideration is needed regarding appropriate intervention for each individual, how long before the intervention is effective, the context including the type of support offered and how that affects outcomes, intrapersonal variables such as intelligence, and whether the treatment includes one to one support. More research of an improved quality is required to determine the effectiveness of both assessment and treatment including contextual based treatment such as the interaction between staff and patients within an institutional setting. Considering these further would improve the service for this client group and contribute to a reduction of risk.
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Weaver, Charlene. "Characterization of Autism Spectrum Disorders in Children's Picture Books." Diss., CLICK HERE for online access, 2008. http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/ETD/image/etd2336.pdf.
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Scott, Ashley Anna. "Imaging genetics of frontostriatal function in autism spectrum disorders." Diss., Restricted to subscribing institutions, 2009. http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1872142711&sid=8&Fmt=2&clientId=1564&RQT=309&VName=PQD.
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Lanter, Elizabeth Watson Linda R. "Emergent literacy development in children with autism spectrum disorders." Chapel Hill, N.C. : University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2009. http://dc.lib.unc.edu/u?/etd,2440.
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Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2009.Title from electronic title page (viewed Sep. 3, 2009). "... in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Speech and Hearing Sciences in the Department of Allied Health Sciences." Discipline: Allied Health Sciences; Speech and Hearing Sciences; Department/School: Medicine.
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Chen, Yu-Wei. "Everyday social experience in individuals with autism spectrum disorders." Thesis, The University of Sydney, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/2123/13686.
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The extent to which individuals with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) wish to engage socially is controversial. The aim of this thesis is to understand the everyday social experiences and motivation for social engagement in cognitively able adolescents and adults with ASD (i.e., mild ASD). Following an introductory chapter and a review of literature, the first paper examines the feasibility of experience sampling methodology (ESM) for collecting information in real time across daily contexts. The results showed that the data collected are valid and reliable. The second to fourth papers explore social participation of 14 Australians and 16 Taiwanese with mild ASD using ESM. The results reported in the second paper showed that participants with fewer ASD symptoms and those with more severe social anxiety were less likely to engage socially. Further, Australian female participants were more socially active than Australian males or Taiwanese of either gender. Results from the third paper showed that engaging socially was associated with enjoyment, although participants were more likely to experience anxiety when engaging in social activities. Further, the degree of severity of ASD and social anxiety moderated social experience. The results from the final paper using self-determination theory showed that participants were more likely to be self-determined while engaging in social activities. Further, they perceived that friends listened to them in the context of social interaction, suggesting that their needs for relatedness were met. Yet, global social anxiety moderated the perceptions related to difficulty of interactions and social reciprocity. To conclude, individuals with mild ASD desire to engage socially. However, the extent to which contexts supports their ability to meet innate needs influences engagement. The findings underscore the need to investigate everyday experience for promoting their social participation.
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Jones, Errin. "Humour and laughter in children with autism spectrum disorders." Thesis, University of Ballarat, 2009. http://researchonline.federation.edu.au/vital/access/HandleResolver/1959.17/40358.
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Studying humour and laughter in children with ASDs can provide unique insights into their socio-communicative impairments, and aid in the development of effective interventions. The current study investigated humour and laughter in 16 school-aged children with autism and Asperger Syndrome (AS).Doctor of Psychology (Clinical)
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Greenfield, Katie. "The development of multisensory integration in autism spectrum disorders." Thesis, University of Nottingham, 2017. http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/39129/.
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In order to understand and interact with the world, our brains must integrate information from multiple sensory modalities to create coherent representations of scenes and events. The integration of visual, tactile and proprioceptive inputs underpins the subjective sense of self and body ownership. This, in turn, underlies the development of social processes including self-awareness, imitation and empathising, which are impaired in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Evidence suggests that the social functioning deficits characterising ASD could contribute to atypical sensory integration underlying body representation. However, the exact mechanisms underlying sensory integration difficulties have not been specified. Moreover, it is not clear when, and how, visual, tactile and proprioceptive integration matures in typical development. This is important to establish, in order to compare how and why this integration may differ in ASD populations. This thesis firstly aimed to investigate the typical development of multisensory integration underlying body representation. Experiment One found that the ability to optimally integrate visual and proprioceptive inputs during hand localisation increases with age from very little integration in 4-year-olds to almost adult-like in typically developing 10- to 11-year-olds. Experiments Two and Three showed that sensitivity to the spatial constraints of visuo-proprioceptive integration, and sensitivity to the temporal constraints of visuo-tactile integration, develops with age in 4 to 11-year-olds. Together these studies suggest that the maturation of adult-like multisensory integration for body representation follows a protracted time course over childhood. The second aim of this thesis was to investigate the evidence for two prominent theories of atypical sensory integration underlying body representation in ASD. These are 1) an over-reliance on proprioception and 2) temporally extended sensory binding. Experiment Four examined whether trypically developing (TD) adults with a high number of autistic traits exhibit an over-reliance on proprioception. No evidence was found for this, which could indicate that atypical sensory integration is only present in individuals with a clinical diagnosis of ASD. Experiments Five and Six found evidence for temporally extended visuo-tactile integration in children with ASD, compared to TD control participants. Though no evidence was found for a fundamental over-reliance on proprioception, extended binding may have led to reduced processing of temporal synchrony over modality-specific information (i.e. proprioception). Experiment Seven and Eight found no evidence of proprioceptive over-reliance or temporally extended sensory binding in adults with ASD, relative to a TD control group. I conclude that children with ASD demonstrate temporally extended visuo-tactile binding. This represents a developmental delay rather than a life-long deficit; however, it could have a life-long impact on sensory sensitivities and social processing.
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Ronconi, Luca. "The deployment of visual attention in autism spectrum disorders." Doctoral thesis, Università degli studi di Padova, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/11577/3423653.
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Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a pervasive neurodevelopmental condition that affects almost 1% of the population. One of the main challenges in the current ASD research is to define the early neurocognitive impairments that provide critical foundations for the core deficits in social and communication abilities. In particular, early attentional dysfunctions may play a critical role in the emergence of ASD. In this doctoral thesis I present six studies that give significant new insights into the nature of altered visual attention in individuals with ASD and their possible neural underpinnings.
In the first study we show that individuals with ASD are impaired in enlarging (i.e., “zooming-out”) the attentional focus size relative to the control group and this deficit can impact the rapid orienting toward a cued location in the visual field. The second and the third studies show how parents without any history of ASD but with elevated autistic traits can transmit to their infants subtle deficit in visual attention (at the expense of both orienting and zooming mechanism) that may impact children’s future socio-communicative abilities. In the fourth and the fifth studies we employed transcranial magnetic stimulation and dense-array electroencephalography, respectively, with typical adults participants and we show that a network of frontal (mainly FEF and IFG) and parietal (mainly IPS/SPL) brain areas are fundamental in regulating the size of the attentional focus. In the last study, we evaluated the spatial profile of the attentional focus in individuals with ASD and results show that the inhibitory ring outside the focus of attention – fundamental to attenuate processing of irrelevant information – is significantly weakened relative to the control group.
Overall, these findings show the importance of attentional impairments in the core manifestations of ASD and in its developmental course. Defining attentional abnormalities and their neural correlates is extremely important (i) to improve the early detection of the disorder and, (ii) to implement timely prevention programs to reduce the incidence of ASD.Il disturbo dello spettro autistico (DSA) è un disturbo neuroevolutivo pervasivo che colpisce quasi l'1% della popolazione. Una delle principali sfide nell'attuale ricerca sul DSA è definire i deficit neurocognitivi precoci che costituiscono le fondamenta dei disturbi "chiave" nelle abilità sociali e comunicative. In particolare, precoci disfuzioni attentive potrebbero giocare un ruolo decisivo nell'emergere del DSA. Nella presente tesi di dottorato presento sei studi che contribuiscono significativamente alla comprensione delle alterazioni dell'attenzione visiva nei DSA e le loro possibili basi neurali. Nel primo studio, mostriamo che gli individui affetti da DSA sono compromessi nell'abilità di allargare ("zoom-out") la dimensione del fuoco attentivo e che questo problema può avere un impatto negativo nell'orientamento rapido verso una posizione segnalata nel campo visivo. Il secondo e terzo studio mostrano come genitori senza alcuna storia clinica di DSA ma con elevati tratti autistici possano trasmettere ai loro infanti sottili alterazioni nell'attenzione visiva (a carico sia del meccanismo di orientamento che di quello di zoom) che possono avere conseguenze negative sul futuro sviluppo delle abilità socio-comunicative dei loro figli. Nel quarto e quinto studio, abbiamo utilizzato la stimolazione magnetica transcranica e l'elettroencefalografia ad alta densità, rispettivamente, in partecipanti adulti a sviluppo tipico e mostriamo che un network di aree frontali (principalmente FEF e IFG) e parietali (principalmente IPS/SPL) sono fondamentali nella regolazione della dimensione del fuoco attentivo. Nell'ultimo studio, abbiamo valutato il profilo spaziale del fuoco attentivo in individui con DSA e mostriamo come l'anulo inibitorio circostante al fuoco attentivo – fondamentale per attenuare il processamento d'informazioni irrilevanti – è significativamente più debole nel DSA rispetto al gruppo di controllo. Complessivamente, queste evidenze mostrano l'importanza dei deficit attentivi nelle manifestazioni chiave del DSA e nel suo decorso evolutivo. Definire le anomalie dell'attenzione e i corrispondenti correlati neurali è estremamente importante (i) per migliorare la diagnosi precoce del disturbo e (ii) per implementare tempestivi programmi preventivi mirati a ridurre l'incidenza dei DSA.
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Saddington, Catherine E. "Obsessions and compulsions in autistic spectrum disorders." Thesis, Canterbury Christ Church University, 2013. http://create.canterbury.ac.uk/12480/.
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Questions have been raised as to whether the patterns of thoughts and behaviours experienced by individuals with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) can be indicative of comorbid obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). The current study aimed to compare the experiences of adults with ASD or OCD and healthy controls (HC) in terms of the symptoms experienced and the associated emotions and responses. Associations between autistic traits and OCD severity were explored. A cross-sectional design utilising MANOVA, ANOVA and correlation was employed. Methods: Eighteen participants with ASD, 20 with OCD and 19 healthy controls completed self-report measures and interviews assessing IQ, comorbid diagnoses, OCD symptoms, autistic traits and emotions and responses associated with obsessional thoughts. Participants with ASD scored significantly higher than healthy controls in terms of OCD severity and also number of obsessions and compulsions and associated distress. While the OCD and ASD groups did not differ significantly on OCD severity, the OCD group reported significantly higher levels of sadness, worry, shame, guilt and disapproval triggered by obsessions. The ASD and healthy control groups were largely comparable on these factors. Associations were found between OCD severity and particular domains which are typically impaired in ASD, including social skills, attention switching, communication and imagination. Findings suggest that OCD symptoms may be common and a source of distress in individuals with ASD, thus perhaps warranting psychological intervention. Further research into the exact nature of this distress and how this can be assessed is required.
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Lai, Meng-Chuan. "How is sex related to autism?" Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2011. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.609885.
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Shore, Stephen Mark. "Examining five promising methodologies for treating children with autism spectrum disorders." Thesis, Boston University, 2008. https://hdl.handle.net/2144/32004.
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Thesis (Ed.D.)--Boston UniversityThrough written survey and recorded interviews a snapshot in time was taken on how theorists of five promising approaches- Applied Behavioral Analysis, TEACCH, Daily Life Therapy, Miller Method, and DIR- think about children on the autism spectrum. Some of the findings include agreement on the need for a better definition of autism, the need for treatment-based research for developing and maintaining best practice, that the diversity of needs of people on the autism spectrum requires a wide range of approaches, and a general sense that people with autism have many valued strengths to contribute to society. Other findings include extensive use of non standardized assessments along with judicious employment of standardized instruments. Finally, all the theorists - some of home have spent more than 4 decades helping children with autism - all feel that the work they have done can be useful to youth with other challenges as well.
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Larson, Felicity Violet. "The association between autism spectrum conditions and psychosis." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2014. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.648798.
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Austin, Kira. "Training needs of paraprofessionals supporting students with autism spectrum disorders." VCU Scholars Compass, 2013. http://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/3056.
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The purpose of this study was to understand professional development for paraprofessionals supporting students with ASD in Virginia. This understanding was reached through explanatory, sequential mixed methods design. Surveys and interviews provided insight into training practices, training needs, and training barriers. An interpretation of their professional development was developed through considering the perceptions of paraprofessionals supporting students with ASD, teachers of students with ASD, and directors of special education. Findings revealed a lack of supervision, training, and skills. The lack of training and supervision resulted in paraprofessionals learning through trial and error. Paraprofessionals supporting students with ASD felt qualified to complete their duties as a result of personal disposition and effective supervision. Paraprofessionals supporting students with ASD desired individualized training concerning behavior management. The results of this study provide several recommendations for training content and delivery format. It also provided a theoretical framework for explaining how paraprofessionals supporting students with ASD experience training.
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Boggs, Teresa. "Autism Strand: Promoting Communication and Interaction Skills in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2002. https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-works/1514.
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