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Identifying the active components of a visual schedule intervention in a school setting
Get PDFSeveral literature reviews have indicated the effectiveness of visual schedules (VS) to increase engagement and decrease problem behavior related to transitions for individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, Lequia et al. (2012) noted that VS are typically combined with multiple intervention components, making it unclear whether visual cues contribute to observed reductions in problem behavior. Waters et al. (2009) conducted a component analysis of an intervention that combined VS with DRO + Extinction. These authors found that VS did not contribute to decreased in problem behavior during predictable transitions between the same preferred and nonpreferred activity. The purpose of this study was to replicate and extend the findings of Waters et al. by evaluating the effects of VSs with and without extinction during transitions designed to be unpredictable. Three individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) participated, and sessions were conducted in the classroom in the context of the typical school day. Results for all three participants indicated extinction was necessary to decrease problem behavior and the VS did not contribute to improved transitions. We also assessed preference for treatment components with two participants and their staff and found no preference for the VS component
Program efficacy to reduce stressors for direct care workers in a retirement community
Get PDFThe research study was carried out to identify factors that contribute to staff stress & burnout, different experiences that direct care workers (DCWs) encounter in residential living or senior living facilities, mechanisms to reduce workplace stress and burnout and occupation-based activities as intervention strategies to manage stress and burnout symptoms. This was a purposive and convenience sampling study which included a semi-structured interview, pre and post surveys. Participants were 3 DCWs that work full-time on 2 shifts in a senior living community. The study took place over 5 days with an occupation-focused activity (walking meditation,) that occurred once a day for 10 minutes while participants indicated their stress levels with a free downloadable App (Stress Scan) before and after the activity. It included discussion about concerns, events, and plans for its use as an intervention strategy to manage stress/burnout. Participants demonstrated significant decrease in their stress levels after the activity
Implementation of driving services into a student-run pro-bono occupational therapy center
Get PDFThis doctoral experiential capstone project focuses on the implementation of driving services into the BEAR PAW Center to offer a free driving program to members of Springfield, Massachusetts (MA) and the surrounding community. In conjunction with implementation into the BEAR PAW Center, the Western New England University (WNE) Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD) curriculum will be reevaluated to incorporate the driving component into the existing requirement. This will allow current and future students to learn more about occupational therapy’s role in driving and serve as an additional experiential learning opportunity. The overall goal of the project is to increase access to affordable care for community members, establish safe communities and driving practices, and foster the development of more competent generalist practitioners
Subtyping and Treatment of Restrictive Interests and Repetitive Behavior in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder
No full textHagopian, Rooker, and Zarcone (2015) evaluated a model for subtyping and predicting effective treatment methods for automatically reinforced self-injurious behavior (SIB). It may be the case that this subtyping model could be extended to the treatment of other topographies of automatically maintained challenging behavior, including stereotypy and other forms of repetitive behavior like arranging and ordering. To date, only one study has examined automatically maintained arranging and ordering, which is classified as higher-level repetitive behavior (Rodriguez et al., 2012). The purpose of the current study was to replicate and extend Rodriguez et al. (2012) while applying Hagopian et al. (2015/2017) subtyping analysis to arranging and ordering to predict whether treatment would require more than alternative sources of reinforcement in the environment. Competing stimuli, identified through an augmented competing stimulus assessment (A-CSA; Hagopian et al., 2020), were identified to inform treatment. Following a treatment analysis wherein access to competing stimuli decreased arranging and ordering, generalization probes were conducted. Interobserver agreement (IOA) data were collected across at least 30% of all sessions, conditions, measures, and ranged from 80%-100%. Results suggest that subtyping did not serve as a predictive behavioral marker for this instance of automatically maintained repetitive behavior. It is also possible that the A-CSA is a more effective method for identifying competing stimuli than selecting items that seem to match the sensory stimulation produced by engaging in arranging and ordering
Assessment of Readability and Quality of Consumer-Oriented Pediatric Drug Information Websites
Get PDFIntroduction: The Internet is often a first-line medical resource for parents seeking childhood lay medical advice. Concerns exist regard- ing readability and quality of consumer-oriented Internet drug infor- mation, particularly where readability should be aimed at a sixth grade reading level.
Research Question or Hypothesis: This study sought to assess popular pediatric drug information websites for consumer-oriented readability and information quality.
Study Design: Sample websites were identified by simulating searches on three top United States search engines using pre-identified terms. The primary outcome was website readability according to the English-language and healthcare-validated Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG) Index. The secondary outcome was website informational quality, measured using the validated DISCERN instrument.
Methods: Google, Bing, and DuckDuckGo were used to perform Internet searches by combining “child” with four sample search terms: “ear pain” OR “treatment” OR “medicine” OR “antibiotics.” The ten most common domains across all search engines were compiled. Four raters independently applied the SMOG Index to one web page from each domain for a total of 40 web pages to determine the primary outcome and then independently applied the DISCERN instrument to the same pages to determine the secondary outcome. Advertisements, videos, paywalled, or unavailable content were excluded.
Results: Final analysis included 37 web pages. The SMOG Index ran- ged from 8.24 - 17.88 (median 12.07). Mean SMOG score for com- mercial web pages was 12.18±1.67, versus mean combined organizational, government, and educational score of 12.24±2.30 (p = 0.93). The median DISCERN score was 55 (interquartile range 46 – 62) with interrater reliability calculated at 0.86 (Microsoft Excel v.16.70).
Conclusion: Readability averaged at a high school reading level, which is higher than the recommended sixth grade reading level, with no difference between commercial and combined organizational, government, and educational domains. Quality ranged from “fair” to “good.” Improved readability and quality control is needed for consumer-oriented drug information
A Comparison of Teaching Procedures to Teach Auditory-Visual Matching-to-Sample Tasks
No full textWe evaluated 3 procedures for teaching auditory-visual conditional matching-to-sample tasks using a parallel treatments design. An adolescent boy with autism served as the participant, and 2 comparisons were conducted. Comparison 1 evaluated effects of three teaching procedures: error correction, gestural prompt, and picture prompt. A different set of 3 auditory-visual relations was assigned to each procedure. Baseline accuracy ranged from 22 to 44%. The mean accuracy scores for the last 3 sessions of the training phase were 100% for the picture prompt condition, 85% for the error correction condition, and 7% for the gestural prompt condition. Comparison 2 evaluated effects of the gestural prompt and picture prompt procedures. Baseline accuracy was 33% for both sets of relations, and the mean scores for the last 3 sessions of training were 93% for gestural prompt and 0% for picture prompt. The inconsistent findings between the two comparisons are discussed
An evaluation of preference for work over play following a history of effective working
Get PDFThe Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 2004) specifies that the objectives in individualized education programs enable students to make progress in educational curricula. For some students receiving special education services, persistent problem behavior can impede their ability to access their curriculum and lead to alternative educational placements. In this study, we evaluated the conditions under which students enrolled in an alternative education placement due to problem behavior would freely choose to participate in work (i.e., academic instruction) relative to a play area