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Biomedical subjects

S L Harris

Publications and source records attributed to S L Harris.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1982

Language environments of autistic and normal children matched for language age: a preliminary investigation.

The language patterns of the mothers and fathers of four autistic boys were compared with those of the parents of four normal boys matched for language age with the autistic children. Language patterns were assessed during two 20-minute free-play sessions videotaped in the subjects' homes. The tapes were reliably coded using an 11-category coding system. Only one difference between the language patterns of the parents of the autistic and normal children emerged: The parents of the normal children engaged in a greater proportion of adult-directed language than did the parents of the autistic children. Comparison of the language patterns of mothers and fathers revealed similarities and differences. Both the frequency and percentage of occurrence scores for direct requests for language were significantly greater for mothers than for fathers. However, although the frequency of reinforcement for language did not differ across the sexes, fathers had a greater percentage occurrence score than mothers. There were no other significant differences between the mothers and the fathers.

Autistic Disorder↗
PubMed1981

The acquisition of language skills by autistic children: can parents do the job?

The mothers and fathers of 11 preschool autistic children were taught operant procedures used in teaching speech to nonverbal children. The children's speech skills were assessed twice before and once after their parents were trained. At posttreatment, the children showed significant gains in prespeech and speech skills as measured by a 21-step hierarchy of speech behaviors. Those children who had acquired at least verbal imitative skill after training made greater progress than those who had not. Although children maintained their gains in a 1-year follow-up assessment, there was no evidence of significant improvement beyond that achieved at the end of training. The importance of support for parents in continuing to do formal "teaching" after the training program ends was stressed.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

The limits and motivating potential of sensory stimuli as reinforcers for autistic children.

This study investigated the reinforcing properties, limits, and motivating potentials of sensory stimuli with autistic children. In the first phase of the study, four intellectually retarded autistic children were exposed to three different types of sensory stimulation (vibration, music, and strobe light) as well as edible and social reinforcers for ten-second intervals contingent upon six simple bar pressing responses. In the second phase, the same events were used as reinforcers for correct responses in learning object labels. The results indicated that: (a) sensory stimuli can be used effectively as reinforcers to maintain high, durable rates of responding in a simple pressing task; (b) ranked preferences for sensory stimuli revealed a unique configuration of responding for each child; and (c) sensory stimuli have motivating potentials comparable to those of the traditional food and social reinforcers even when training receptive language tasks.

Autistic Disorder↗
PubMed1980

Generalization from school to home with autistic children.

This investigation assessed the generalization of verbal behavior from school to home with three autistic boys. The study attempted to expand upon previous research by Handleman (1979) by analyzing the effects of single versus multiple trainers on generalization. By the use of a multiple-baseline design counterbalanced for treatment condition, the three youngsters were taught responses to common questions in two school settings and were probed to determine transfer of learning to their homes. All three children demonstrated greater generalization when they received training at varied locations as opposed to instruction in a single setting. Results of the study suggest that manipulating the school environment to more closely simulate home conditions may facilitate transfer of treatment gains to the natural setting.

Autistic Disorder↗
PubMed1979

Suppression of self-stimulation: three alternative strategies.

Four boys with autistic-like behavior were treated for self-stimulatory behavior with three different treatment procedures--time out, differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO), and overcorrection. All four boys showed a rapid response to the overcorrection procedure. Three boys demonstrated some evidence of decrement in responding with time-out. During the DRO procedure, one showed a modest decrease, two showed no change, but one exhibited a consistent increase in responding under this condition. A multiple baseline applied to one of the subjects failed to reveal any generalization of suppression from one setting to another. A strong but not perfect relationship was found between a frequency and a duration measure of self-stimulation. There was some evidence of negative side effects for one boy during overcorrection and for another during time-out. None of these negative side effects was enduring. There was also some indirect evidence that overcorrection facilitated appropriate play.

Autistic Disorder↗
PubMed1977

Behavior modification in the home: siblings as behavior modifiers, parents as observers.

It was hypothesized that siblings could function as effective behavior change agent for their behaviorally disturbed brother and sisters within the home environment. Further, it was predicted that parents could be trained to be reliable observers of their children's performance under these circumstances. The results of the study supported both predictions with siblings in two separate families demonstrating their ability to work with their brother or sister within the context of an ABAB reversal design. Parents were also shown to obtain consistently high reliability ratings when compared to outside observers. The judicious use of siblings as behavior modification aides is recommended as a treatment procedure.

Autistic Disorder↗
PubMed1976

Advising parents of severely atypical children.

The family physician is often the primary source of continuing guidance for the parents of autistic, schizophrenic, or brain-damaged children. It is essential to anticipate problems in such areas as use of medication, early education, reactions of siblings, and stresses within the lives of the parents. The family physician can help parents find the resources to cope with the multitude of problems confronting them and their children.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1975

Increasing isolate and social play in severely disturbed children: intervention and postintervention effectiveness.

A group treatment procedure was instituted in Study 1 to increase the isolate and social play of 4 severely disturbed children. The results indicated that play behavior could be increased significantly by the use of food and social reinforcement and by the use of passive shaping, but that it quickly declined when the intervention was terminated. Social play, however, did remain above baseline levels during extinction. Study 2 replicated the results of Study 1 with a second group of older children, also severely disturbed. However, the procedure of fading adult intervention proved an effective method for increasing the resistance of social play to extinction relative to Study 1. A PROCEDURE OF CONtinuous and multiple-observer reliability assessment was employed for both studies, and the positive results and the methodological implications of the procedure are discussed.

Age Factors↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The differential and temporal effects of antecedent exercise on the self-stimulatory behavior of a child with autism.

The effects of two levels of exercise (walking versus jogging) in suppressing the self-stimulatory behavior of a five-year-old boy with autism were examined. The exercise conditions were applied immediately before periods of academic programming. Maladaptive self-stimulatory behaviors were separately tracked, enabling identification of behaviors that were more susceptible to change (e.g., physical self-stimulation and "out of seat" behavior) versus those that were more resistant (e.g., visual self-stimulation). Examination of temporal effects indicated a decrease in physical self-stimulation and "out of seat" behavior, but only for the jogging condition. In addition, sharp reductions in these behaviors were observed immediately following the jogging intervention and gradually increased but did not return to baseline levels over a 40 min period. Implications for further research and clinical intervention are discussed.

Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity↗