Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders in Low-Resource Settings: Reported Experiences and Needs of Parents in Mongolia

Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders - Although it is well-documented that families of children with autism in developed nations report hardships, few researchers have focused on families...     

Intentional Communication of Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Judgments of Different Communication Partners

The purpose of this study was to examine judgments made by different listeners of the communicative intent, specifically requesting and rejecting, of young children with autism and limited expressive language. Video clips from a structured assessment study of three young children with autism spectrum disorder were edited and viewed by adult raters from four subgroups. Analysis of the findings indicated that those who were both familiar and expert were more accurate and more confident in their judgments than those who were unfamiliar and non-expert. There was more variation among the four subgroups of raters in accuracy related to rejecting compared to requesting behavior. It was concluded that collaboration in the determination of intention and consistency of responding to specific communicative forms among all individuals who are involved in the child’s life appear to be important steps in developing common communication goals.     

Understanding Communication Intervention for Young Children with Autism and Their Parents: Mixing Behavioral and Social Validity Findings

We retrospectively analyzed data from a pilot study that examined the impact of the Internet-based Parent-implemented Communication Strategies (i-PiCS) program (Meadan et al. in Journal of Early Intervention, 2016) on two families whose children primarily used unaided augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). The purpose of this analysis was to explore possible explanations for discrepant findings between behavioral data and social validity data in single-case research. These divergent findings were revealed when we attempted to mix two methods to make assertions about intervention effectiveness. Guided by two hypotheses, we recoded the original pilot study video recordings by introducing new dependent variables that were linked to information gleaned from the social validity assessment (i.e., self-reports by the parents and interventionist). After assessing these new dependent variables, we found support for improvement produced by the i-PiCS program that had not been identified in the original observational recording. We present the methods and results of this secondary analysis and discuss the potential value of using mixed methods to combine observational behavioral data with self-report social validity data in behavioral research.     

A Longitudinal Analysis of the Relationships Between Social,Communication, and Motor Skills Among Students with Autism

Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders - Many students with autism have difficulties engaging with their classroom environments and forming friendships, which are mostly affected by deficits...     

Review of Literature Related to the Social,Emotional, and Behavioral Adjustment of Siblings of Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Many individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have unique characteristics such as impairments in social interactions and communication that are expected to have an impact on members of the family. Much of the research investigating impact on family members when a child has ASD has focused on the parents and not the siblings. The purpose of this paper is to review the literature related to the social, emotional, and behavioral adjustment of siblings of individuals with ASD. A comprehensive review of the literature identified 12 articles published between 1997 and 2008 that were related to the social, emotional, and behavioral adjustment of sibling of individuals with ASD. Six themes related to the challenges of studying siblings of individuals with disabilities (Hodapp et al. Mental Retardation 45:334-338, 2005) are described in relation to the reviewed studies. The literature review revealed mixed results on outcomes for and adjustment of the typically developing siblings. Implications for both research and practice are discussed.     

Do You See a Difference? Evaluating Outcomes of a Parent-Implemented Intervention

The Parent-Implemented Communication Strategies (PiCS) project resulted in the development of an intervention package aimed at enhancing the social communication skills of young children with disabilities and limited expressive language. While the outcomes of the PiCS project seem to be positive, a thorough and comprehensive assessment of social validity was warranted. Wolf (Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 11, 203–214, 1978) contended that interventions should be assessed not only for effectiveness but also for social validity. This study of social validity addressed the question, “Was the PiCS project socially valid from an expert perspective?” Our expert evaluators were recruited from three groups: (a) parents of young children with disabilities, (b) early childhood special education teachers, and (c) speech language pathologists who worked with young children with disabilities. Each evaluator viewed video clips of parent–child interactions from pre- and post-intervention sessions, in random order, and completed a questionnaire about parent and child behaviors. The overall findings provided support for the social validity of the PiCS project. Further discussion that examines differences in the ratings of the groups of evaluators and implications for research and practice is provided.     

Getting Connected: Speech and Language Pathologists’ Perceptions of Building Rapport via Telepractice

Building rapport with families (parents and children) is recognized as an important feature of effective intervention. In telepractice service delivery, activities and practices that shape speech language pathologists’ (SLPs) rapport with children and families can take different forms of engagement and interaction. Identifying which SLP practices facilitate the establishment and nurturing of rapport is important and may provide keys to successful service delivery via telepractice. In this article, we present results from a qualitative study exploring SLPs’ perceptions of building rapport with the children and families they serve via telepractice and the strategies they use to establish and maintain rapport with them.     

Postsecondary Education and Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders: Experiences of Parents and University Personnel

Postsecondary education has become a viable post-school outcome for many students with disabilities, including students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Increasingly, students with ASD are pursuing two and four year degree programs, yet few investigations have examined the extent to which these students are receiving the types of supports and services needed to be successful. In this exploratory study, the experiences of individuals who provide support to students with ASD enrolled in postsecondary degree programs were examined. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 parents and 6 university personnel at one public research university. Data were analyzed using a constant-comparison method (Strauss and Corbin 1998). Five themes emerged focused on (a) characteristics and needs of students with ASD, (b) transition to the university, (c) available services and supports, (d) barriers and issues, and (e) additional support needed. Findings suggest that services offered by universities may need to be expanded to meet the unique needs of students with ASD.