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Saturday, May 17, 2008
Champagne Terrace/Bordeaux (Novotel London West)
Background:
Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impairments in the domains of communication, social interaction and behavior (Volkmar, Chawarska & Klin, 2005). Children with autism have marked difficulties with communication and some acquire little to no language (Volkmar et al). The existence of atypical sensory processing in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) is well documented, (O’Neill & Jones, 1997), yet little empirical research has examined the effect of sensory processing issues (SPI) on language development.
Objectives:
This study investigates the relationship between SPI, language development and social withdrawal in young children with ASD.
Methods:
Twenty participants with ASD with mental ages between two and six years and a control group of 20 typically developing children matched on nonverbal mental age and sex directly to participants with ASD completed the Mullen Scales of Early Learning (Mullen, 1995) and Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test Fourth Edition (Dunn & Dunn, 2007). Caregivers completed the Sensory Profile (Dunn, 1999) questionnaire, Vineland Adaptive Behaviour Scales- Second Edition (Sparrow, Cicchetti, & Balla, 2005) and the Qualitative Abnormalities in Reciprocal Communication Subscale of the ADI-R (Rutter, Le Couteur & Lord, 2005) as a measure of social withdrawal. ASD diagnoses were confirmed using the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule-Generic (Lord et al., 2000)
Results: Data collection is approaching completion. A negative relationship between SPI and language development is expected such that individuals with more SPI will exhibit lower language levels. I hypothesize that social withdrawal will mediate the relationship between SPI and language development, such that those children with more SPI will be more socially withdrawn and hence display lower levels of language development.
Conclusions:
It is hypothesized that SPI in some individuals with ASD lead social stimuli to be perceived as aversive, leading to social withdrawal. This social withdrawal, in turn results in lower language levels of language development.
Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impairments in the domains of communication, social interaction and behavior (Volkmar, Chawarska & Klin, 2005). Children with autism have marked difficulties with communication and some acquire little to no language (Volkmar et al). The existence of atypical sensory processing in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) is well documented, (O’Neill & Jones, 1997), yet little empirical research has examined the effect of sensory processing issues (SPI) on language development.
Objectives:
This study investigates the relationship between SPI, language development and social withdrawal in young children with ASD.
Methods:
Twenty participants with ASD with mental ages between two and six years and a control group of 20 typically developing children matched on nonverbal mental age and sex directly to participants with ASD completed the Mullen Scales of Early Learning (Mullen, 1995) and Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test Fourth Edition (Dunn & Dunn, 2007). Caregivers completed the Sensory Profile (Dunn, 1999) questionnaire, Vineland Adaptive Behaviour Scales- Second Edition (Sparrow, Cicchetti, & Balla, 2005) and the Qualitative Abnormalities in Reciprocal Communication Subscale of the ADI-R (Rutter, Le Couteur & Lord, 2005) as a measure of social withdrawal. ASD diagnoses were confirmed using the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule-Generic (Lord et al., 2000)
Results: Data collection is approaching completion. A negative relationship between SPI and language development is expected such that individuals with more SPI will exhibit lower language levels. I hypothesize that social withdrawal will mediate the relationship between SPI and language development, such that those children with more SPI will be more socially withdrawn and hence display lower levels of language development.
Conclusions:
It is hypothesized that SPI in some individuals with ASD lead social stimuli to be perceived as aversive, leading to social withdrawal. This social withdrawal, in turn results in lower language levels of language development.