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Abstract: This article presents a study where the overall objective is to measure any changes found as a result of the application of a program to facilitate the development of the semantic memory of people with Level 1 Autism Spectrum Disorder, following the implementation of a specific program to facilitate the creation of conceptual categories. The study, based on a quasi-experimental design, analyzes the effectiveness of the program designed around four cognitive variables, comparatively observed in three groups of participants (N:19), distributed across one experimental group (N:7) and two control groups (made up of 7 and 5 participants respectively), conducted over three successive measures, 1 pre-test and 2 post-test measures at 6-month intervals. The results, found by repeatedly testing measures of intra-subject effects, show the effectiveness of the designed program, as it has aided in the development of meaningful learning for the members of the experimental group. Keywords: Autism Spectrum Disorder, semantic memory, concepts, categories. Download Full Article |
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Abstract: The situation of global economic crisis and the rapid increase of the unemployment rate cause changes in people´s attitudes about the labor market. These changes, sometimes, are motivated by the influence of certain individual variables such as the duration of unemployment. The objective of this research is to analyze the mediator influence of unemployment duration in the attitudes towards work among unemployed people over 45 years old. The people who participate in the research are 161 unemployed that agreed voluntarily in taking part in the interview of attitudes towards work. The data took out from the interviews were analyzed with the statistical software ATLAS.ti 6.2. The results demonstrate that unemployment duration plays an important mediator role in the attitudes towards work when conditioning the job search behavior and favor the chances of finding a job. The conclusion is about practical suggestions and the continuity of research in this area. Keywords: Unemployment, attitudes towards work, unemployment duration, people over 45 years old, qualitative study.Download Full Article |
Editor’s Choice : Comprehensive Multi-Disciplinary Assessment Protocol for Autism Spectrum Disorder
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Abstract: Legal mandates established under IDEA specify a student must be assessed in all areas of suspected disability. Never is this task more overwhelming than its application to the assessment of a student suspected of a diagnosis of autism. The assessment of an individual suspected of an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis is a complex task and is dependent on the integration of information gleaned from assessments conducted by an array of professionals, each with their own distinct area of expertise. The purpose of this article is to introduce the Comprehensive Multidisciplinary Assessment Protocols-Autism Spectrum Disorder, referred to as the CMAPs, as a mechanism for organizing multidisciplinary team assessments. The CMAPs were developed in response to the challenges experienced by school-based assessment teams in developing appropriate and legally defensible assessment plans. The CMAPs provide teams a systematic, organizational, and comprehensive platform to organize the assessment of students across the spectrum of the disorder with the goal of making the task less overwhelming. Each assessment protocol considers the assessment needs of individuals with ASD using their communication skills as a preliminary starting point. Keywords: Autism spectrum disorder, assessment, multidisciplinary.Download Full Article |
Editor’s Choice : Aetiology Based Diagnosis and Treatment Selection in Intellectually Disabled People with Challenging Behaviours
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Abstract: Since both intellectual disability and challenging behaviour are entities encompassing heterogeneous clinical conditions and current taxonomies are of limited use in this field of psychiatry, diagnosing psychiatric symptoms in intellectually disabled patients is still very complex. In the diagnostic process of psychiatric symptoms and behavioural abnormalities, the first step should be genome profiling using the latest techniques in order to detect pathogenic CNVs or single gene mutations that are causative for the developmental delay. Their importance can be derived from the scientific observation that several genetic syndromes are associated with a specific behavioural, psychiatric, neuropsychological or neurological symptom profile, relevant for both choice of treatment and prognosis. Second, it has to be stressed that psychiatric disorders, especially from the depression and anxiety spectrum, frequently manifest with atypical symptoms that may hamper adequate pharmacological treatment. With respect to challenging behaviours in general, it should be emphasized that these are essentially dependent on contextual variables for which no rational pharmacological treatment is available and behavioural interventions are primarily warranted. Prescription of psychotropics has been demonstrated to be marginally effective only and to induce regularly unwanted side effects or even an increase of abnormal behaviours. It is therefore recommended to measure always the plasma concentration of psychotropics and antiepileptics and to perform, preferably prior to the start of treatment, genotyping of relevant cytochrome isoenzymes. In is concluded that, apart from the a priori genetic analysis, careful investigation of the here described data sources is needed to formulate a diagnostic hypothesis and treatment proposal. Keywords: Psychiatric diagnosis, DSM, genetic etiology, psychotropics, pharmacogenetics, behaviour, behavioural phenotype.Download Full Article |
Editor’s Choice : Discrepancy between Motor and Cognitive Control in Adults with Intellectual Disabilities
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Abstract: Purpose: To investigate the relationship between motor and cognitive control in adults with intellectual disabilities (ID), focusing on two aspects, speed and accuracy. Method: Participants were 62adults with ID aged 20 to 47 years. Their intelligence quotients (IQ) ranged from 13 to 61. Nine of the adults with ID had Down syndrome, and 8 of the adults had autism. We conducted three tasks: seal affixation task, tray-carrying task, and the Matching Familiar Figures Test (MFFT). The seal affixation and tray-carrying tasks are motor tasks we devised that can separately measure the speed and accuracy of motor control. MFFT is a cognitive control task that can be used to evaluate cognitive styles, such as impulsive-reflective. Results:Adults with ID showed high motor accuracy and similar motor speed regardless of their MFFT performance. That is, discrepancies between motor and cognitive control existed in adults with ID. Conclusions:The results of this study indicate that some types of motor control problem may become unclear with growth. A longitudinal investigation focused on the motor skill development of persons with ID is therefore necessary. Keywords: Motor control, cognitive control, intellectual disability, speed and accuracy.Download Full Article |