Infant screen media and child development: A prospective community study.

The current study examined longitudinal associations between early screen media exposure (assessed at 6, 12, and 24 months) and the child's motor and language/communication development at the ages of 24 and 36 months. We also aimed to study whether these associations varied by socioeconomic status (SES). Participants were 179 parent-infant dyads, recruited from well-baby clinic services during routine visits. Child development measures included standardized measures of developmental milestones as assessed by professionals and referral data to child developmental centers. Both measures were retrieved from the official health maintenance organization records by an expert in child development. Results indicated that screen exposure at 6 and 12 months was associated with a higher risk for language/communication deficits at 36 months in children with moderate or high SES but not in children with low SES. Our findings are consistent with existing literature demonstrating cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between early screen exposure and language development deficits. Given that media use practices and motivations vary among families from different backgrounds, further investigation of the interaction between SES and screen exposure is needed.

Developing Reading Skills in Prelingually Deaf Preschool Children: Fingerspelling as a Strategy to Promote Orthographic Learning.

The aim of this study was to clarify whether fingerspelling provides a sophisticated mechanism that promotes the development of detailed orthographic knowledge for deaf individuals even in the absence of paralleling phonological knowledge. An intervention program comprised of various procedures chaining between fingerspelled sequences; their written correlates and meaning were administered in a multiple probe single-subject research design across semantic categories to four children with severe to profound prelingual hearing loss (age 4.2-6 years). Results demonstrate the occurrence of rapid orthographic learning during intervention and reliable retention of it in maintenance checks, despite the participants' insufficiently developed phonological skills. Observations of the participants' behavior further suggest fingerspelling to function as an effective mediator in the initial development of robust detailed orthographic lexicon. Analyzes also indicate that "learning through action" and "relevance to the task" provide two key factors in relation to the promotion of orthographic learning, with their absence creating an obvious vacuum in this regard. Insights from the study are discussed with reference to their implication for the development of learning materials and learning environments for prelingually deaf and other novice learners.

Factors predicting school staff's responsivity toward students with intellectual and developmental disability and complex communication needs.

BACKGROUND: Children with significant intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) are characterized by substantial language delays. Responsivity, the quantity and quality of the communication partner's responses to child's behaviors, is a key component in communication development. AIMS: The aim of the study was to map multidimensional factors predicting school staff's responsivity toward communication of students with IDD with complex communication needs. METHOD: Interactions between 120 school staff members and 43 students ages 9-16, were videotaped, during group and individual routine sessions in school. Staff's behaviors were transcribed and coded to form responsivity scores. Statistical tests were performed to map variables predicting staff's responsivity. RESULTS: Analysis revealed the type of session (individual/group) as a main predictor of responsivity. Separate analysis of individual and group sessions revealed that while in the individual session students' speech level was the main predictor for responsivity, in group sessions, group size, number of sessions per week, staff's attitudes and students' disability level were among the variables predicting responsivity. CONCLUSIONS: Results emphasize group setting as more complex where multidimensional factors influence the communication process, whereas students' speech ability is important in promoting staff's responsivity in individual sessions. Implications for designing conditions to promote responsivity are discussed.

Sequence Learning in Minimally Verbal Children With ASD and the Beneficial Effect of Vestibular Stimulation.

People with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and especially the minimally verbal, often fail to learn basic perceptual and motor skills. This deficit has been demonstrated in several studies, but the findings could have been due to the nonoptimal adaptation of the paradigms. In the current study, we sought to characterize the skill learning deficit in young minimally verbal children with ASD and explore ways for improvement. For this purpose, we used vestibular stimulation (VS) whose beneficial effects have been demonstrated in the typical population, but the data regarding ASD are limited. We trained 36 children ages 6-13 years, ASD (N = 18, 15 of them minimally verbal) and typical development (TD, N = 18), on a touch version of the visual-motor Serial-Reaction-Time sequence-learning task, in 10 short (few minutes) weekly practice sessions. A subgroup of children received VS prior to each training block. All the participants but two ASD children showed gradual median reaction time improvement with significant speed gains across the training period. The ASD children were overall slower (by ~250 msec). Importantly, those who received VS (n = 10) showed speed gains comparable to TD, which were larger (by ~100%) than the ASD controls, and partially sequence-specific. VS had no effect on the TD group. These results suggest that VS has a positive effect on learning in minimally verbal ASD children, which may have important therapeutic implications. Furthermore, contrary to some previous findings, minimally verbal children with ASD can acquire, in optimal conditions, procedural skills with few short training sessions, spread over weeks, and with a similar time course as non-ASD controls. Autism Res 2020, 13: 320-337. © 2019 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. LAY SUMMARY: Minimally verbal children with ASD who received specially adjusted learning conditions showed significant learning of a visual-motor sequence across 10 practice days. This learning was considerably improved with vestibular stimulation before each short learning session. This may have important practical implications in the education and treatment of ASD children.

Creativity in Autism: An Examination of General and Mathematical Creative Thinking Among Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Children with Typical Development.

This study investigated creative thinking abilities among two groups of 20 children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) compared to 20 children with typical development ages 9-11. The study compared performance on two different creativity tests: general creativity (Pictorial Multiple Solutions-PMS) test versus mathematical creativity (Creating Equal Number-CEN) test, and investigated relationships between general and mathematical creative thinking across various cognitive measures including non-verbal IQ, verbal and non-verbal working memory and Attention. Results of the study demonstrate significant correlations among the measures of creativity indicating that the PMS and the CEN tasks represent different skills, or perhaps, different domains of creativity. Findings suggest that creativity can be found among individuals with ASD.

Profiles of vocalization change in children with autism receiving early intervention.

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) commonly present with comorbid language impairment, negatively impacting their learning and participation across settings. Addressing these needs requires a detailed understanding of their communication trajectories. In this study, we used the language environment and analysis (LENA) system to examine possible changes in children's (a) vocalizations and (b) ratio of speech to nonspeech vocalizations over a 10-month period. Data for 23 children with ASD (17M, 6F; ages 32-67 months) were analyzed, including monthly 3-hr in-class recordings and standardized measures of language, cognition, and ASD characteristics. Using hierarchical generalized linear models, we found significant time-trends for child vocalizations (P ≤ 0.001) and the vocalization ratio (P = 0.02), reflecting a waxing and waning pattern. Children with higher expressive language scores (Mullen scales of early learning, Vineland adaptive behavior scales - 2nd Ed.) and nonverbal cognition (Mullen scales of early learning), and fewer ASD characteristics (social communication questionnaire) demonstrated greater increases in the vocalization ratio over time (P values 0.04-0.01). Children with greater language and cognition difficulties were the most vocal, but produced a higher proportion of nonspeech vocalizations. The results demonstrate that significant fluctuations, as opposed to linear increases, may be observed in children with ASD receiving intervention, highlighting the value of assessment at multiple time-points. In addition, the findings highlight the need to consider both the quantity (vocalization counts) and quality (ratio of speech to nonspeech vocalizations) when interpreting LENA data, with the latter appearing to provide a more robust measure of communication. Autism Research 2019, 12: 830-842. © 2019 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. LAY ABSTRACT: In this study, we examined possible changes in speech and nonspeech vocalizations in 23 children with autism attending a comprehensive early intervention program over a 10-month period. Contrary to our expectation, we observed a waxing and waning pattern of change in children's vocalizations over time, rather than a steady increase. We also found evidence to suggest that looking at the quality of children's vocalizations (i.e., the ratio of speech to nonspeech vocalizations) provides a more accurate picture of children's development than simply looking at the quantity (i.e., how frequently they vocalize).

Structure Mapping in Autism Spectrum Disorder: Levels of Information Processing and Relations to Executive Functions.

Analogical reasoning was investigated among children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) without intellectual disabilities and typical development (TD). Children were asked to select one of two targets in two conditions: (1) with and without spatial structure similarity; (2) with and without a perceptual distractor. Results demonstrate that children with ASD were able to select targets based on structural similarity, but this ability decreased to chance level when presented with a perceptual distractor. Everyday executive functions were positively correlated with structural selections among children with ASD. Results suggest that although children with ASD were able to select based on systematicity principle, perceptual distractor decreased their selection so that their cognitive system produced less structure similarities, that negatively affects spatial analogical reasoning.

The Effect of Educational Software, Video Modelling and Group Discussion on Social-Skill Acquisition Among Students with Mild Intellectual Disabilities.

BACKGROUND: People with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) often demonstrate difficulties in social skills. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a comprehensive intervention program on the acquisition of social skills among students with mild IDD. METHOD: Single subject multiple baseline design across situations was used for teaching five school-age children with mild IDD social skills embedded in school-based situations. RESULTS: Results demonstrate that the intervention program that included video modelling and games embedded with group discussions and simulations increased the level and use of adequate social behaviours within the school's natural environment. CONCLUSIONS: Results demonstrate the unique attribution of a comprehensive interactive program for acquisition and transfer of participants' social skills such as language pragmatics and social rules within the school environment. Group discussions and simulations were beneficial and enabled both group and personalized instruction through the unique application of the program designed for the study.

Identifying patterns of communicative behaviors in girls with Rett syndrome.

The purpose of this study was to investigate behaviors of girls with Rett syndrome under different conditions and to determine if there were patterns of functional communicative behaviors. Six communication protocols portraying familiar and non-familiar activities were created to assist in identifying specified behaviors. The protocols incorporated activities and pre-scheduled interruptions designed to enhance communicative behaviors. Eight girls in the third and fourth stages of Rett syndrome were videotaped during the protocols. Results indicated that the girls' alternating eye gazing increased and persistence decreased when activities were interrupted. Additional behaviors varied by participant across different protocols. Several patterns of effective and ineffective communication were observed. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.

Word processing as an assistive technology tool for enhancing academic outcomes of students with writing disabilities in the general classroom.

This study investigated the use of a word processor for enhancing the academic outcomes of three students with writing disabilities in a junior high school. A single-subject ABAB design was used to compare academic output produced during class time with and without a computer equipped with a word processor. The number of spelling errors, the number of reading errors, and the number of words used per text were counted, and the overall structure and organization of text were examined across all in-class materials. The data demonstrated a clear difference between handwritten and computer phases. In traditional paper-and-pencil phases, students produced outcomes that had more spelling mistakes, more reading errors, and lower overall quality of organization and structure in comparison with the phases in which a computer equipped with a word processor was used. The results did not indicate any noticeable difference in the number of words per text. Implications and future research directions are discussed.

Effects of a computer-based intervention program on the communicative functions of children with autism.

This study investigated the use of computer-based intervention for enhancing communication functions of children with autism. The software program was developed based on daily life activities in the areas of play, food, and hygiene. The following variables were investigated: delayed echolalia, immediate echolalia, irrelevant speech, relevant speech, and communicative initiations. Multiple-baseline design across settings was used to examine the effects of the exposure of five children with autism to activities in a structured and controlled simulated environment on the communication manifested in their natural environment. Results indicated that after exposure to the simulations, all children produced fewer sentences with delayed and irrelevant speech. Most of the children engaged in fewer sentences involving immediate echolalia and increased the number of communication intentions and the amount of relevant speech they produced. Results indicated that after practicing in a controlled and structured setting that provided the children with opportunities to interact in play, food, and hygiene activities, the children were able to transfer their knowledge to the natural classroom environment. Implications and future research directions are discussed.

Effects of intelligence level and place of residence on the ability of individuals with mental retardation to identify facial expressions.

This study was designed to investigate the abilities of individuals with mental retardation to recognize and match emotional facial expressions from a series of photographs depicting various facial expressions. There were four groups of participants according to their place of residence (community or institution) and their intelligence level (mild or moderate). Each individual participated in two tasks: (1) recognizing a facial expression from an array of three pictures presented, and (2) matching a facial expression from one picture with a picture depicting a similar emotion from an array of three pictures. All information was presented to the participants in the native language, Hebrew. The six facial expressions used for the study included happiness, sadness, fear, anger, surprise, and disgust. The ability to recognize and match facial expressions was significantly higher for individuals with mild than moderate mental retardation. There was no significant difference for place of residence. Happiness was the easiest feeling to recognize and match for all groups. Fear and anger were the most difficult to recognize, while sadness and anger were most difficult to match.

Translucency and Complexity: Effects on Blissymbol Learning Using Computer and Teacher Presentations.

PURPOSE: A single-subject alternating treatment design was used to (a) evaluate the influence of translucency (i.e., the guessability of the symbol when the referent is known) and complexity (i.e., the number of lines or strokes that compose the symbol) on Blissymbol acquisition and (b) compare the effectiveness of computer-based instruction (CBI) and traditional teacher-based instruction (TBI) on students' accuracy in identifying Blissymbols. METHOD: Three students with communication disorders were taught to identify 40 Blissymbols using the two instructional formats. RESULTS: Findings revealed that high translucency Blissymbols were learned significantly faster than low translucency Blissymbols for all participants. High complexity assisted learning when translucency was high, but hindered learning when translucency was low. These results were evident in both interventions. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Both interventions were found to be effective instructional methods for teaching Blissymbols.