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Friday, May 8, 2009
Northwest Hall (Chicago Hilton)
2:30 PM
Background: Non-speaking people with autism are not typically included in neuroscientific studies. Analysis of DVD-recorded sessions of non-speaking children with autism undergoing a communication therapy provides insight into the specific interactions between autistic behaviors and learning-related behaviors over time. Exploring learning-related behavior in children with autism will help to clarify the cognitive processes involved in how non-speaking individuals with autism learn.
Objectives: The effects of communication therapy on learning-related behaviors and behaviors inhibiting the learning process in non-speaking children with autism were examined through a longitudinal analysis of video recordings.
Methods: DVD-recorded sessions of 8 children (6 boys, 2 girls, mean age 134.3 months, SD 42.8 months) undergoing a therapy that attempts to develop communication by a strategy of prompted pointing were coded, with special attention to identifying behaviors that were likely to impact learning in this non-speaking autistic population. Twenty-minute segments were coded from each of four sessions per child (the first, second, and fourth sessions, and, when available, the eighth session). An original coding scheme was developed to assess incidence and relative timing of prompts and choice complexity, as well as child behavior, including appropriate response, joint attention, reinforcement seeking, affect, and non-task activity. Antecedents for the coding scheme for autistic behaviors included the Early Social Communication Scales, the Autism Diagnostic Interview – Revised, and other published resources. The coding scheme for learning-related behaviors was based on the targeted behavioral objectives for the intervention.
Results: The effects of the therapy on joint-attention and other learning-related behaviors will be discussed. Preliminary data suggest that increased exposure to the intervention is associated with a decrease in non-task behaviors, with a correlated increase in joint attention to task-related stimuli.
Conclusions: Leaving aside the question of whether prompted pointing reliably evokes valid and independent communications, analysis of video-recorded sessions of non-speaking children with autism undergoing this therapy suggests that exposure to the therapy has a positive effect on joint attention and decreases time off task. These data can provide valuable insight into the specific relationships between autistic behaviors and learning-related behaviors over time.
Objectives: The effects of communication therapy on learning-related behaviors and behaviors inhibiting the learning process in non-speaking children with autism were examined through a longitudinal analysis of video recordings.
Methods: DVD-recorded sessions of 8 children (6 boys, 2 girls, mean age 134.3 months, SD 42.8 months) undergoing a therapy that attempts to develop communication by a strategy of prompted pointing were coded, with special attention to identifying behaviors that were likely to impact learning in this non-speaking autistic population. Twenty-minute segments were coded from each of four sessions per child (the first, second, and fourth sessions, and, when available, the eighth session). An original coding scheme was developed to assess incidence and relative timing of prompts and choice complexity, as well as child behavior, including appropriate response, joint attention, reinforcement seeking, affect, and non-task activity. Antecedents for the coding scheme for autistic behaviors included the Early Social Communication Scales, the Autism Diagnostic Interview – Revised, and other published resources. The coding scheme for learning-related behaviors was based on the targeted behavioral objectives for the intervention.
Results: The effects of the therapy on joint-attention and other learning-related behaviors will be discussed. Preliminary data suggest that increased exposure to the intervention is associated with a decrease in non-task behaviors, with a correlated increase in joint attention to task-related stimuli.
Conclusions: Leaving aside the question of whether prompted pointing reliably evokes valid and independent communications, analysis of video-recorded sessions of non-speaking children with autism undergoing this therapy suggests that exposure to the therapy has a positive effect on joint attention and decreases time off task. These data can provide valuable insight into the specific relationships between autistic behaviors and learning-related behaviors over time.