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.