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Theses and Dissertations

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Browsing Theses and Dissertations by Subject "autism"

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    Effects of music on joint attention between individuals with autism and neurotypical siblings
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2015) Montgomery, Jaley A., author; LaGasse, A. Blythe, advisor; Knight, Andrew, committee member; Most, David, committee member
    Given that a common social skills deficit for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is joint attention, and that development in joint attention can cause improvement in other social skill deficit areas such as affect, imitation, initiation of socialization, and expressive language (Ferraioli & Harris, 2011), it is necessary to examine treatment options that promote joint attention. This study measured the effects of music versus non-music interventions on joint attention between individuals with ASD and neurotypical siblings. One sibling pair (dyad) participated in this study. To be eligible for the study, one sibling must have an ASD diagnosis, be between the ages of 6 to 10 years old, have a sibling up to three years older with no ASD or related diagnosis, speak English as a primary language, and both siblings free of significant visual or hearing impairments. The sibling dyad received two fifteen-minute sessions a week for two weeks. The first session of each week was a music session designed to elicit joint attention in siblings. In the second session of each week, the group participated in a fifteen-minute non-music session designed to elicit joint attention between siblings. The neurotypical sibling primarily led these sessions, with video instruction shown to the participants before each task in the sessions.
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    Sung versus verbal directives with young adults diagnosed with autism
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2013) Koszczuk, Katrina Marie, author; LaGasse, Ashley Blythe, advisor; Davis, William, committee member; Kees, Nathalie, committee member
    Autism Spectrum Disorder is a Pervasive Developmental Disorder characterized by deficits in three main areas: social interaction, communication, and an intense resistance to change which could include repetitive, self-stimulatory behaviors according to the American Psychiatric Association (2000). The National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2012) defines a receptive language disorder as exhibited by an inability to understand the words of others, difficulties enacting verbal directives, and deficits in thought organization. These deficits can cause individuals to have difficulties while participating in school, home, and social situations, and may lead to problem behaviors. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2012) has linked receptive language disorders with other disabilities including Autism Spectrum Disorder (Hoch, 2012). Because this is a largely unexplored area, research is needed to find and support therapeutic techniques addressing deficits in receptive language. Three young adult males between the ages of 14 and 22 with a primary diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder were recruited by flyer and word-of-mouth from Northern Colorado. This study employed a multiple baseline across participants with repeated measures design. There were a total of 6 experimental observations with each research subject. Behavioral coding was utilized to determine if there were any mean time differences between the sung and verbal directive conditions. Because data was coded separately by the researcher and research assistant, Pearson's r was used to test inter-rater correlation through Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software (IBM Corporation, 2012). Pearson's r = + 0.997 signifying a positive correlation between the two coders. A Repeated Measures of Analysis of Variance was applied using SAS software to test for statistical significance between the verbal and sung conditions (SAS Institute Inc., 2011). The RM ANOVA yielded no statistically significant results. However the p value of the statistic, p = 0.0769, was very close to the p value set for the present study, p < 0.05. A power analysis revealed that if an average of 10.2 seconds with a standard deviation of 6.8 seconds remained constant after recruiting a total of 7 volunteer participants, then statistical significance could be reached. Even though statistical significance was not reached, trends in the data were discussed. Overall there was a decrease in time between the verbal and sung conditions for each participant. However, this trend was not clear and variability was seen among the participants throughout the sung observations after separating and plotting the data on bar and line graphs. Future researchers should increase the sample size and eliminate inherent study design flaws to thoroughly test if there is a difference between the verbal and sung directives.
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    The effect of auditory-motor mapping training in Korean on the speech output of children with autism
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2014) Kim, Hae Sun, author; Davis, William B., advisor; LaGasse, A. Blythe, advisor; Fails, Anna Dee, committee member
    Given the lower verbal output in many children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), a number of interventions in English are available for them. However, currently there are no interventions specifically researched with children with ASD who come from different language backgrounds other than English. The present study examined the effect of an intonation-based treatment called auditory-motor mapping training (AMMT) to facilitate verbal output in two children with a diagnosis of ASD from Korean-speaking households. Both participated in a total of nine AMMT sessions in addition to four assessments over a 4-week period. A baseline assessment was conducted prior to the first treatment, and probe assessments were conducted after treatment session 3, 6, and 9. Each child's verbal production including consonants and vowels were measured. The results showed some improvements in the production of consonants and vowels over the treatment period; however, the differences were not significant. Although no statistically significant results were observed in this pilot study, more conclusive results may be observed in future studies adhering to the suggested recommendations.
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    The use of developmental speech and language training through music to enhance quick incidental learning in children with autism spectrum disorders
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2012) Cooley, Jennifer, author; LaGasse, Blythe, advisor; Davis, William B., committee member; Cooley, Dan S., committee member
    Given vocabulary acquisition in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is an important concern, it is necessary to investigate potential treatments that enhance children's ability to learn novel words in the Quick Incidental Learning (QUIL) context. The present study examined the effects of Developmental Speech and Language Training through Music (DSLM) to facilitate QUIL and attention in 8 children, ages 3-5, with a diagnosis of ASD. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two conditions and were exposed to speech and song scripts via a two period crossover design. An experimental session presented one song and spoken script, each embedded with 4 novel lexical items, through video stimuli. Attention was examined by recording eye gaze toward a computer monitor, and lexical probing was administered after each experimental session to measure production, comprehension, and generalization of target lexical items. The results showed that attention, production, comprehension, and generalization improved as a result of both the speech and music conditions; however, the difference between music and speech was not statistically significant.