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.