Weeks 11 & 12- The End!

Hi everyone,

This will (most probably) be my final post on this blog! These last couple weeks were the final weeks of my SRP. I spent them analyzing data and finishing my final presentation and paper. To analyze the data, I definitely had to learn some new things about Excel, which I was not completely comfortable with in the beginning. However, as I finally became accustomed to making tables and graphs, it became interesting and fun finding the trends in the data. In addition, as I put the finishing touches on my presentation and paper, I definitely learned a lot about presenting data and results in a condensed format.

My final presentation went really well, and I am so happy I was able to share something that I truly enjoyed with other people in my school! I will definitely miss this project, and interacting with kids and dogs everyday. However, I am so thankful for this opportunity. It really did give me a new perspective on ASD, and I could not be more grateful.

Thank you all for sticking with me throughout this journey. Thank you so much for reading!

Swati :)

Weeks 10 & 11- Data Entry and Final Rehearsals

Hi everyone!

My apologies for the extremely late update. As my project begins to wrap up, I seem to have forgotten to write in this blog due to all of the excitement. These last couple weeks have been a blur of data entry and preparations for my final product and presentation. Over the last couple weeks, I have been entering data from my coding sheets (the sheets I collected data on during each study session) onto an Excel spreadsheet. The result is a huge spreadsheet that is filled with seemingly arbitrary numbers. Now that all the data has been entered, the next step in the process is to analyze the data and come up with some results. Basically, this will involve making sense of the numbers on the spreadsheet, and hopefully presenting it in a more clear format using graphs and tables.

My final product is coming along as well, as I prepare for both my final presentation on May 9 and my final paper. Last week, I rehearsed my presentation at school, and I think the hardest part with that for me has been timing. I have had a hard time keeping my presentation within the time limit, and narrowing down the content that I want to present. Hopefully, once I have some results, I will be able to edit my presentation as necessary. Similarly, I am hoping that I will be able to narrow the focus of my final paper once I have the results prepared.

As always, thanks for reading!

Swati :)

Week 9- The last week!

Hi everyone!

Believe it or not, the eight weeks of the study are officially over. Aside from a few more make-up sessions, most of the kids are done with their sessions. It was definitely a little bittersweet, as I really did enjoy seeing these kids every weeks and watching them interact with their dogs and proxies. However, I am really excited to take part in the next phase of the experiment, which is data analysis. Now that I am (mostly) done coding data for every kid, I will help analyze the data to see if there are any potential trends. I am really excited to see what all of this data shows!

My final product, the research paper, is slowly coming together. I have been doing a lot of brainstorming, as it is a bit tricky to decide which important points I need to make in my paper. There is no way to talk about each child specifically, so I will have to find a way to report my results efficiently. I am hoping that, once my data analysis is more complete, I will be able to narrow the focus of my paper more effectively. In addition, I am finding that I do need to look back on articles that I read weeks ago so that I can cite some information from these readings. Although it is slow going, my paper is slowly coming together!

Next week I will hopefully be able to tell you a bit more about data analysis. Thanks for reading!

Swati :)

Week 8- What is my Final Product?

Hi everyone!

I have found that, although each week of the study is scheduled the same way, I continue to learn more about ASD and each individual child every week. At this point, it is difficult for me to remark on an apparent trend throughout the course of the study, because each child is so unique. For instance, some children instantly warmed up to the presence of a dog or proxy in the room, while others needed a couple weeks to adjust to the change. Some children were obviously excited to play with the dog, while other seemed like they couldn't care less. Every child is so different that I have found it difficult to point to one common trend amongst the children. Even so, every week gives me the opportunity to learn more about each child and their place on the autism spectrum.

As it is the eighth week of my project, I suppose it would be beneficial to talk a little about what my final product will be. Every student who is doing an SRP at my school is required to present something as their final product, whether it is a paper, an artistic work, or something entirely different. In addition, we will all be presenting our finding in a presentation next month. My final product will be a scientific paper that outlines the study that was conducted. This paper, similar to any other paper about a scientific study, will describe the methodology and results of the study, as well as any future implications for the study. This week, I began working on my paper and presentation, and it is definitely more difficult than I thought it would be. Previously, when I read articles about scientific studies in my science classes, the studies seemed relatively straight forward and easy to conduct. However, as I am quickly learning, these studies are anything but straight forward, and it is difficult to capture that in a scientific paper or presentation. However, it is all definitely a learning experience, and I am excited to see how my final paper and presentation will turn out.

As always, thanks for reading!

Swati :)

Week 7: The Development of ASD (Plus More Pictures!)

Hi everyone!

This week, I was able to see the differences between the dog and proxy settings more clearly. Because most of the kids showed up to their sessions, and also possibly because they were no longer on spring break, there was a much clearer difference between the two that I noticed. One of the most obvious changes for me was the difference in attitude between both sessions. They was a definite shift in the way the children were behaving, even though it seemed to be a more qualitative shift than a quantitative one. Many of the children with the dogs seemed considerably happier, as demonstrated by their facial expressions and the way they acted with the dogs. However, I am still not sure how this change in attitude will translate to the quantitative data. I suspect that the change will be more evident to us after we analyze the data, but it is still very interesting to see how the children are facing the change in setting everyday.

My own research this week focused on the development of ASD, and outlined the changes happening from a child's infancy into his/her later years. As I mentioned previously, early intervention in children with ASD generally yields better results, so it is essential to catch symptoms of such disorders as soon as possible. Studying the development of kids with ASD, and comparing their development to that of normally developing children, is essential so that diagnosis and treatment of these disorders can occur quickly. These types of studies try to predict the signs that parents should look for in their children and the expected developmental trajectories of children with ASD. [1] For instance, in their first year of life, children with ASD might have difficulties processing faces, responding to their names, and other similar acts that would come naturally to normally developing kids. By the time they are one year old, these children might maintain very little eye contact, use very few communicative gestures, and have some delays in language, amongst other things. By the time they are toddlers, children with ASD will show many abnormalities, such as limited/abnormal social interaction (e.g. limited interest in people and limited social reciprocity), communication deficiencies (e.g. low frequencies of communication and stereotypical/idiosyncratic use of language), abnormal play and imagination (e.g. absent or atypical pretend play), etc. Because all children are different, they may demonstrate some of these abnormalities more than others, and they may develop symptoms of ASD earlier or later in life. However, it is generally accepted that symptoms typically emerge before the age of three. [2]

Finally, for those of you who have read this entire post (or for those of you who skipped to the end), here are some pictures of the drawings that the children in the study have drawn in the past few weeks :

Thanks for reading!

Swati :)

[1] Landa, R. J., Gross, A. L., Stuart, E. A., & Faherty, A. "Developmental trajectories in children with and without autism spectrum disorders: the first 3 years." Child development. 84.2 (2013): 429-442. Print.

[2] Chawarska, Kasia. "Autism in Infants and Young Children." Yale University. Yale University, New Haven, CT. n.d. Guest Lecture.

Week 6- Some Big Changes

Hello!

As I mentioned in my previous post, this week marked the transition week in the study. All of the children faced some type of change, whether it was the shift from interacting with a proxy to engaging with a therapy dog, or vice versa. I previously mentioned that I was expecting some type of reaction from the children as a result of this transition. I was expecting some excitement from the kids who would finally play with the dogs, and maybe some disappointment from the children who had to now engage with the proxies. However, possibly due to several unexpected variables, I have not seen much of a change from most of the children yet. This week was spring break for all of the children, and as a result, about half of them did not show up to their study session. The ones who did show up might have been a bit disoriented due to the lack of their normal schedules, and I know from experience that this does affect one's ordinary behaviors. Additionally, the kids and the dogs were all getting accustomed to the new settings, and I am sure they will become more comfortable in the coming weeks. Even though I did not see any immediate results, I am excited to see how the rest of the study goes!

As promised, I will talk a little about treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorders, but my summary will definitely not be able to address every part of treatment. As I have said repeatedly, and as you are probably getting tired of hearing, ASD is a very, very complex disorder. Due to this, the treatment strategies can be very different from each other, depending on the client's needs. One general area of consensus seems to be that early intervention is very important, and usually leads to better results. In addition, intervention must be interdisciplinary, with emphasis on social skills, communication, play, behavioral issues, adaptive skills, and other such categories. This type of intervention must involve experienced providers, as well as family and peers. Finally, it is essential that intervention is individualized based on the child's needs. All children with ASD have certain strengths and weaknesses, so it is important to plan an intervention program based on these.

Thanks for reading!

Swati :)

Week 5- We're Halfway There!

Hello everyone!

This week marked the halfway point in the study. This means that, starting next week, the children who were previously working with dogs will work with proxies, and vice versa. I am so excited to see how the kids react to the changes. I am anticipating that the kids who were engaging with the proxies will be really excited to finally work with the dogs. On the other hand, the kids who were engaging with the dogs might be a little less enthusiastic about the change. Either way, I am excited to see if each child's social interactions change depending on the situation they are in. So far, it's been interesting to see some of the children's behaviors change, even though they have not been exposed to the alternate settings yet. This has been especially apparent with some of the lower functioning kids, as they have visibly been initiating more social interaction and participating in more of the activities. This suggests that this entire process might be positively affecting some of these kids, even if they are not yet engaging with the therapy dogs.

In my independent research, I have recently been reading up on diagnosing and treating ASD. This week, I'll focus on what I've learned about diagnosing children with ASD, and I will go into treatments later on. There are three main categories that are important to look at when diagnosing a child: reciprocal social interaction, communication, and restricted/repetitive behaviors. In order to assess a child's strengths and weaknesses in each of these categories, a multi-disciplinary approach is necessary, so that multiple areas of functioning are assessed. Amongst other things, the child's history (i.e. developmental history, family history, etc.), developmental/cognitive functioning, speech/language, and ability to adapt must be evaluated. In addition, this information must be collected across a variety of settings, because children will often behave differently depending on the situation they are in. Finally, to make this process even more confusing, ASD must be differentiated from other disorders, such as language disorders, intellectual disabilities, schizophrenia, and many others that share some symptoms with ASD. [1] Even so, it is possible for a child with ASD to have a comorbidity, which is another disorder in addition to the primary one. For instance, many children with ASD also have some type of intellectual disability, and these possible accompanying disorders must also be taken into account when diagnosing a child. [2]

If you found any of this confusing, you are not alone. Due to the complexity of ASD, the diagnosing process is also extremely complex. Please comment below if you have and questions or comments. Thanks for reading!

Swati :)


[1] Tsatsanis, Katherine. "Autism Assessment." Yale University. Yale University, New Haven, CT. n.d. Guest Lecture.

[2] Volkmar, F., Siegal, M., Woodbury-Smith, M., King, B., McCracken, J., & State, M. "Practice parameter for the assessment and treatment of children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder." Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. 53.2 (2014): 237-257. Print.

Week 4- The Protocol is Changing!

Hello everyone!

I apologize for the late update! Last week, I was able to witness a few minor changes in the protocol. Because this is a pilot study, we are able to change certain aspects of the protocol depending on their apparent effectiveness. At the end of the study, we are hoping to develop a protocol that will be useful in future studies. Although the changes we made last week weren't huge, I could see that they did make a difference during each session. For instance, some of the activities that the kids are told to complete were made more difficult to prevent boredom. As far as I could tell, this was effective with most children, and they seemed to appreciate the new challenges that the changes brought forth. In addition, the coding sheet that I use to collect data and make observations was also changed a bit. The coding sheet lists certain behaviors that I might observe, and I count the number of times I see every behavior during each session. To make this sheet more useful, certain categories were removed, because I was not observing these behaviors as often as expected. Similarly, other categories were added because I was observing certain behaviors more often than we expected. These changes have been very helpful so far, and I am sure that the protocol will change even more throughout the next few weeks.

Outside of my internship, I have recently been reading up on some of the suggested causes of ASD. As expected, there is a lot of debate regarding the matter. However, the general consensus seems to be that ASD is caused by a mix of certain genetic and environmental factors. Studies show that there are higher rates of autism in siblings of affected children, which suggests that there is a genetic component to autism. Even so, most people agree that there are multiple genes involved in ASD, so it is difficult to pinpoint the specific genes that might cause this disorder. [1] On the other hand, some people believe that the environment plays a bigger role in causing ASD. For instance, Dr. Robert Melillo believes that the rising incidence of autism is due to changes in the environment. He believes that some type of environmental trigger is causing higher rates of this disorder, and researchers like him are currently searching for ways to prevent these environmental causes. [2] After reading about these differing opinions, it is evident to me that there is no clear cause for autism. People lean in both directions, whether it is the argument for genetic causes or environmental causes, but there is no agreement on which of these is "more correct."

That's all for this week! As always, thanks for reading!

Swati :)


[1] Volkmar, F., Siegal, M., Woodbury-Smith, M., King, B., McCracken, J., & State, M. "Practice parameter for the assessment and treatment of children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder." Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. 53.2 (2014): 237-257. Print.
[2] Melillo, Robert. Autism: The Scientific Truth About Preventing, Diagnosing, and Treating Autism Spectrum Disorders--and What Parents Can Do Now. New York: Penguin Group, 2013. Print.

Week 3- Midweek Update and Picture Time!

Hi everyone!

What? Swati is updating her blog before the end of the week? Is the world coming to an end?? No, the world is not coming to an end (hopefully not anytime soon, at least), and yes, I am updating my blog earlier than usual! This is only because I am SO excited to share what's been going on with my SRP and I just couldn't contain myself.

Yesterday, I taught some med school students. Well, maybe I didn't exactly teach, but I did help! In order to get more data for the study, some med school students will be coding data from the video recordings of each session. They will essentially be doing what I do everyday in person, and their extra observations could help us find any trends in the data and gain more feedback on possible issues with the study. From what I have seen, there are pros and cons to this type of video observation. This could be really beneficial because the coders will be able to pause and rewind as necessary to obtain all the data they need. In my experience, this is helpful because it's easy to miss small details while coding in person. However, on the downside, the quality of the videos so far has not been optimal. Last week, we were using two cameras that were set up in two corners of the room. Because we couldn't move the cameras around, it was difficult to observe facial expressions and other such necessary parts of each session. This week, we are trying to fix this issue by attaching a GoPro to me. It looks really odd in person, but we're hoping that this will help since my job is to maneuver around the room and get a good view of the child's behaviors. For you to get a better idea of the setup, here's what I now look like while coding data everyday:

Yes, that's me with a GoPro on my chest.

So far, this week has been going really well. The kids seem to be enjoying their sessions, and it doesn't look like they are completely bored with the activities yet. I have also been gaining a deeper understanding of what the autism spectrum looks like, and I've noticed that it really doesn't impact every child in the same way. Every child has a different grasp of language and communication, and different types of repetitive behaviors. I've even seen these different aspects of the spectrum through the activities that the children take part in, too. For example, in one of the activities, each child is told to draw either the proxy or the dog on some plexiglass. Here are some of the results that I've seen:

In my experience, the kids that seem to have more severe autism have a more difficult time following directions. Although this is not an all-encompassing rule by any means, I noticed this trend with the drawing activity especially. I thought these drawings were really interesting, and I hope you find them intriguing as well. That's all for this week! Thanks for reading!

Swati :)

Week 2- The Study Begins!

Hello everyone!

I hope you all had a wonderful week! This week marked the first week of the study, and I have had so much fun watching the kids interact with either a dog or a proxy everyday. The kids seem to be enjoying all of the activities so far, and each session has been running quite smoothly. As I have become acquainted with these kids, I think the biggest thing I have realized is that Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is, indeed, a spectrum disorder. This may sound redundant, but even after reading about ASD, I had never truly anticipated just how broad this spectrum could be. For example, on the first day of the experiment, I met a child who was remarkably high-functioning. He is one of the smartest young boys I have ever met, and didn't seem to have too much trouble in social situations. On the other hand, later in the week, I met a little girl who had difficulties initiating any type of social interaction. She was prone to repetitive behaviors and sometimes had difficulties following directions. These are only a couple examples of the kids I met this week, but each child I have met has exposed me to a different aspect of ASD. Every child has demonstrated different symptoms, and this has helped me understand the "spectrum" aspect of ASD.

Through my independent research, I have gained a basic understanding of studies similar to the one we are currently conducting. According to one of the articles I read, experiments that evaluate the effects of Animal Assisted Interventions (AAIs) are too few and variable to make any solid conclusions about the effectiveness of AAI. The article stated that there is some evidence that suggests that AAI is beneficial to children with many different disorders, but there is no empirical data that really supports this claim. In addition, there are so many variables to account for that it is difficult to conduct studies that research AAI. [1] Even in my experience, during this past week I have witnessed how difficult it is to conduct studies like this. Several variables and possible problems have come up, and here are just a few that I have observed:

1. Sometimes, kids get bored: This study will last 8 weeks, and every week each kid will do the same activities, either with a dog or with a proxy. However, even though it is only the first week of the study, some of the kids already showed signs of boredom with some of the activities. We anticipated that each activity would last approximately 5 minutes, but some activities have lasted only a couple minutes. In addition, the kids may learn how to do the activities better throughout the next few weeks, which could lead to the activities taking less time and skewed data. We are currently brainstorming ways to prevent boredom, so hopefully we'll come up with a way to solve this issue.
2. Every dog is different: Some of the dogs we have worked with are very engaged and friendly, whereas others are easily distracted and less engaged. Because of this, the dogs' ability to participate in each activity could impact the kids' responses. As I mentioned in my previous post, the dogs' behaviors are variables that we cannot entirely account for.
3. Pets at home?: The presence of pets at the kids' homes could impact their behaviors with these therapeutic dogs. Some kids might be more comfortable with dogs than others, and this could affect their behaviors throughout the study.
4. Parents in the room: The children's parent(s) are usually in the room during each session, and this could either positively or negatively impact each child's behavior. Some kids might behave and respond better because they know their parents are watching, while others may act out for the same reason. 

In conclusion, there are some variables that we may have to eventually account for. However, this is a pilot study, so we are hoping to fix these flaws in any future studies that are conducted. Thank you for reading!

Swati :)

[1] Esposito, L., McCune, S., Griffin, J. A., & Maholmes, V. "Directions in human-animal interaction research: Child development, health, and therapeutic interventions." Child Development Perspectives. 5.3 (2011): 205-211. Print

Week 1- An Introduction to Autism

Hello everyone!

If there is one thing I have learned through my research over this past week, it is this: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a highly variable disorder that can often be very difficult to diagnose. Nowadays, there is a general consensus that ASD is a neurodevelopmental, social disorder [1]. In other words, ASD is a developmental disorder that often affects an individual's ability to socialize, communicate, etc. However, because it is a spectrum disorder, individuals do show varying levels of ability. For instance, some may demonstrate severe language impairment, while others may be able to utilize language with ease. Similarly, some may have more significant intellectual disabilities, while others do not demonstrate such cognitive difficulties. Because of this, there is no definitive diagnosis of ASD. The DSM-5 outlines a general diagnostic, which lists the minimum level of social-communicative deficits and behavioral tendencies necessary to be diagnosed with ASD. However, in reality, people who fall under this broad spectrum show a variety of symptoms that will not always be consistent in every individual. [2]

In other news, this week at my internship was filled with planning and scheduling. On Thursday, many of the wonderful people involved in the study got together at the Tucson Medical Center (the main location of the study) for a dress rehearsal. We ran through the protocol once, and everybody got an idea of what their jobs would be during the study. To summarize the protocol, a facilitator will be assigned to engage in a variety of activities with the child. There will be two different situations: one in which the child can interact with a therapy dog, and another in which the child interacts with a proxy (a human stand-in for the dog) instead. The coder (that's me!) takes notes on the way the child behaves in both situations, while a supervisor oversees the study and assists whenever necessary.

Our first run-through of the protocol went pretty smoothly. However, we also got an idea of some of the possible shortcomings of the protocol, and brainstormed ways that could fix these issues. For instance, one unanticipated issue we faced was the unresponsive, distracted behavior of the dog that was present during the rehearsal. The dog often did not interact with the child altogether, which made us realize that the dog involved in each experimental session will be an unpredictable variable. We decided that it would be beneficial to include a short note in the observations that describes the behavior of each dog. However, the dog's behavior is one variable that we cannot entirely account for. Other issues are sure to come up throughout the course of the study, depending on each child and dog we encounter. Even so, I am sure we will be able to quickly resolve any other problems that come up during the coming weeks.

I am so excited to start the study this week! Thanks for reading!

Swati :)



[1] Klin, Ami. "Overview of Autism." Yale University. Yale University, New Haven, CT. n.d. Guest Lecture.
[2] Ganz, J.B. "Overview of Autism Spectrum Disorders and Complex Communication Needs." Aided Augmentative Communication for Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders. New York: Springer, 2014. 3-12. Print.

A Brief Introduction

Hello!

Before we begin, I believe a brief introduction is in order. My name is Swati Chandra, and I am a senior at BASIS Tucson North. Throughout the next few weeks, I will be working on my Senior Research Project, in which I will observe the effects of companion dogs on the symptoms of school age children, between the ages of 6 and 10, with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). This blog will keep you updated on all aspects of my project, from my daily experiences at my internship to the independent research that I conduct. However, before I get into that, let me give you some background on my project.

I was first exposed to developmental and intellectual disabilities at Camp Civitan, a summer camp for individuals of all ages with special needs. As I befriended the campers at this camp, I realized that I found their disabilities intriguing for a variety of reasons. Their disabilities were not of the physical kind, so their disorders could be difficult to diagnose and treat. Moreover, even if two campers nominally had the same disorder, they were all so remarkably different in terms of their communication skills, learning abilities, and other such attributes. There were high-functioning campers who could carry conversations with ease, and low-functioning ones who had difficulties in any social situations. This was especially true of those diagnosed with ASD, as campers could fall anywhere along a relatively broad spectrum. I realized that I wanted to learn more about these disabilities, and especially the treatment options that were available for such disorders.

I am incredibly lucky to have found an internship that perfectly aligns with my interests. I will primarily be working with the Department of Developmental Pediatrics at the University of Arizona on a scientific study that assesses how companion dogs (also known as Animal Assisted Intervention) affect children with ASD. My main job is to aid in data collection, which means I will be writing down my observations about behaviors that I observe everyday throughout the course of the study. This experiment is a pilot study, so it could help open up pathways for future research on this topic.

I apologize for my not-so-brief introduction to my project, but I hope you found it as interesting as I do! I am so, so excited to see where this project takes me, and I would love to hear your comments on my project throughout these next few weeks. Even if you're just recommending a book (a bibliophile like me can never have too many books) or sharing a personal anecdote (even if it's about your grandma's crazy dog), I would love to hear what you have to say.

Thanks for reading!

Swati :)