Autism and Asperger Syndrome: strategies to promote prosocial behaviours
CAROL GREENWAY
Psychological Service, City of Westminster, 2nd NW8 8EA, UK
SUMMARY The social deficits of children on the autistic spextrum represent a major barrier to their successful inclusion into mainstream schools. This presents a significant challenge for educational psychologists (EPs). This paper surveys the literature for social skil ls screening instruments and interventions, which have the greatest relevance to the work of the EP in supporting inclusion in the mainstream setting. Although not specifically designed for pupils on the autistic continuum, several screening instruments are identified that not only provide a description of the problem area and an understanding of the pupil ’s behaviour, but also provide pointers for interventions. Those found in the research literature that have been particularly successful in mainstream are the Social Stories and Circle of Friends approaches. Other interventions are also described that have potential for pupils on the autistic spectrum who are being considered for integration.
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| Promoting Prosocial Behaviors.pdf | 156.35 KB |
William W. Thompson, Ph.D., Cristofer Price, Sc.M., Barbara Goodson, Ph.D., David K. Shay, M.D., M.P.H., Patti Benson, M.P.H., Virginia L. Hinrichsen, M.S., M.P.H., Edwin Lewis, M.P.H., Eileen Eriksen, M.P.H., Paula Ray, M.P.H., S. Michael Marcy, M.D., John Dunn, M.D., M.P.H., Lisa A. Jackson, M.D., M.P.H., Tracy A. Lieu, M.D., M.P.H., Steve Black, M.D., Gerrie Stewart, M.A., Eric S. Weintraub, M.P.H., Robert L. Davis, M.D., M.P.H., Frank DeStefano, M.D., M.P.H., for the Vaccine Safety Datalink Team
ABSTRACT Background It has been hypothesized that early exposure to thimerosal, a mercury-containing preservative used in vaccines and immune globulin preparations, is associated with neuropsychological deficits in children. Methods We enrolled 1047 children between the ages of 7 and 10 years and administered standardized tests assessing 42 neuropsychological outcomes. (We did not assess autism-spectrum disorders.) Exposure to mercury from thimerosal was determined from computerized immunization records, medical records, personal immunization records, and parent interviews. Information on potential confounding factors was obtained from the interviews and medical charts. We assessed the association between current neuropsychological performance and exposure to mercury during the prenatal period, the neonatal period (birth to 28 days), and the first 7 months of life. Results Among the 42 neuropsychological outcomes, we detected only a few significant associations with exposure to mercury from thimerosal. The detected associations were small and almost equally divided between positive and negative effects. Higher prenatal mercury exposure was associated with better performance on one measure of language and poorer performance on one measure of attention and executive functioning. Increasing levels of mercury exposure from birth to 7 months were associated with better performance on one measure of fine motor coordination and on one measure of attention and executive functioning. Increasing mercury exposure from birth to 28 days was associated with poorer performance on one measure of speech articulation and better performance on one measure of fine motor coordination. Conclusions Our study does not support a causal association between early exposure to mercury from thimerosal-containing vaccines and immune globulins and deficits in neuropsychological functioning at the age of 7 to 10 years.
| Marc Rosen lives in Roslyn Heights. November 24, 2007 It seems nowadays that autism has become a center of controversy. As an autistic person, it disheartens me to see that most people lack a clear understanding of what autism is like for their children, peers, students and so on, yet they claim to know what is best for us.
Autism is called abnormal and a disorder only because neurologists operate under a Philistine's notion that there is "normal" within all things, and that only their arbitrary definition of "order" is valid.
An autistic person often is said to think outside the box, or deliberately cross the line. I can tell you from experience that we don't. To us, there's no box, there's no line. And we find neurotypical people absurd for complaining about something that just doesn't exist. This comes from the fact that many of us don't naturally develop intuitive thought and imagination, though once we learn how, we're quite capable of these feats.
This is a common experience for autistic people, but even more common is the idea among those of us who have found acceptance that we're happy the way we are and don't want to be "cured." The part about us that is especially different is that we don't process data via symbological means. In other words, we don't consider things to have greater meaning than themselves.
I had severe social difficulties from preschool onward, and by the time a term like "autism" would have had any meaning to my peers, most had already drawn conclusions, and would continue to do so.
My isolation, combined with a longstanding rift I had with my family, led to severe depression by age 9, which went undiscovered until I was 14 or so. Unable to express my emotions, I was placed in outpatient therapy for four years, which was enough to allow me to see my existence as valid. In all, I'd say that part of my life wouldn't have happened if I were better understood and wasn't persuaded that I was diseased, disordered or sick and in need of a cure.
Parents, educators and others who work with autistic people should take these words to heart, and continue to do all they can to work with autistic kids and teens, rather than trying to make them normal.
Newsday, Saturday, November 24, 2007
There is currently a critical need to develop reliable and valid
social skills assessment tools for children and adolescents with
autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The Autism Social Skills
Profile (ASSP) is a new assessment tool that provides a comprehensive
measure of social functioning in children and
adolescents with ASD. The ASSP was designed to assist with
intervention planning and to provide a measure of intervention
outcomes. This study provided a preliminary analysis of the
psychometric properties of the ASSP to determine the underlying
structure, or subscales, of the instrument. Results indicate
that the ASSP has excellent psychometric properties with
respect to internal consistency, test–retest reliability, and
concurrent validity. Results suggest that the ASSP contains
three subscales, labeled Social Reciprocity, Social Participation/
Avoidance, and Detrimental Social Behaviors
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| The development of the autism social skills profile.pdf | 419.42 KB |
This study examined the effect of a social–behavioral learning
strategy intervention (SODA) on the social interaction skills of
4 elementary school children with Asperger syndrome (AS).
More specifically, the study investigated the effect of SODA
training on the abilities of 4 children with AS to participate in
cooperative learning activities, play organized sport games, and
visit with their peers during lunch. A multiple-baseline-acrosssettings
design (Tawney & Gast, 1984) was used to analyze
social behavior without SODA (baseline) and with SODA (intervention)
during fourth- or fifth-grade social studies cooperative
learning activities, noon recess, and lunch. Maintenance probes
occurred once a month for 5 months following completion of
the intervention. The participants benefited from the SODA
intervention. They presented increased percentages of time
spent learning cooperatively, playing organized sport games,
and visiting during lunch when SODA training began. When
SODA training discontinued, they maintained high performance
across all study conditions, nearly matching those achieved by
4 peers without disabilities. In addition, the participants presented
long-term memory of SODA 1 month after maintenance.
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| The Impact of Social Behavior Learning Strategy Training on the Social Interaction Skills of Four Students with Asperger Syndrome.pdf | 327.83 KB |
The purpose of this study was to determine whether the use of a personal digital assistant (PDA) would facilitate the recording of homework by an adolescent boy with Asperger syndrome (AS). A multiple-baseline-across-settings design was used in the student’s history, English, and science classes to determine the accuracy with which he recorded (a) the subject in which the homework was assigned, (b) the date the assignment was due, and (c) qualifying details of the assignment (e.g., problem numbers, chapter questions). Results of the study revealed a marked increase in recording of homework assignments from baseline to intervention phases.
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| Using a Personal Digital Assistant to Improve the Recording of Homework Assignments by an Adolscent with Asperger Syndomr.pdf | 113.55 KB |
Using an AB design with generalization, this study sought to
determine the effectiveness of presenting videotaped emotions
and Social Stories™ to teach a 9-year-old child with Asperger
syndrome to recognize and understand emotions in himself
and to generalize them to other situations in his home. Data
collected in the child’s home showed an improvement between
baseline and intervention in the child’s ability to recognize
emotions and understand their occurrence.
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| Social Stories.pdf | 130.52 KB |