How young adults with autism spectrum disorder watch and interpret pragmatically complex scenes

The aim of the current study was to investigate subtle characteristics of social perception and interpretation in high-functioning individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), and to study the relation between watching and interpreting. As a novelty, we used an approach that combined moment-by-moment eye tracking and verbal assessment. Sixteen young adults with ASD and 16 neurotypical control participants watched a video depicting a complex communication situation while their eye movements were tracked. The participants also completed a verbal task with questions related to the pragmatic content of the video. We compared verbal task scores and eye movements between groups, and assessed correlations between task performance and eye movements. Individuals with ASD had more difficulty than the controls in interpreting the video and during two short moments there were significant group differences in eye movements. Additionally, we found significant correlations between verbal task scores and moment-level eye movement in the ASD group, but not among the controls. We concluded that participants with ASD had slight difficulties in understanding the pragmatic content of the video stimulus and attending to social cues, and that the connection between pragmatic understanding and eye movements was more pronounced for participants with ASD than for neurotypical participants.Our Research Report for 2000-2002 reflects an outstanding level of achievement throughout the institution and demonstrates once again our high level of commitment to strategic and applied research particularly in areas that enhance the quality of life.casl70pub4526pub1

Simulaatioharjoituksen jälkeisen oppimiskeskustelun ohjaaminen

Simulaatioharjoituksen jälkeistä oppimiskeskustelua (debriefing) pidetään oppimisen kannalta tärkeimpänä vaiheena simulaatioharjoittelussa. Tämän tutkimuksen tarkoituksena oli kuvata oppimiskeskustelun ohjaamista simulaatio-ohjaajien toteuttamana. Tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli saada tietoa oppimiskeskustelukäytänteistä saatujen havaintojen perusteella. Tutkimuksessa kartoitettiin miten oppimiskeskustelu toteutetaan ja mistä asioista simulaatio-ohjaajan verbaalinen kommunikaatio oppimiskeskustelussa koostuu. Aineisto kerättiin havainnoimalla simulaatio-ohjaajia ja ohjaustilannetta kymmenessä oppimiskeskustelussa. Aineisto analysoitiin teoriaohjaavasti kuvailevalla analyysillä sekä aineistolähtöisesti teemoittelemalla. Tuloksista selvisi, että oppimiskeskusteluissa oli niin yhtäläisyyksiä kuin eroavaisuuksiakin. Oppimiskeskustelu oli kestoltaan 25-50 minuuttia ja sen ryhmäkoko vaihteli neljästä kahteentoista. Oppimiskeskustelu järjestettiin eri tilassa kuin harjoitus. Oppimiskeskustelun rakenteet poikkesivat toisistaan, mutta kaikissa analysoitiin tapahtumia pohtimalla onnistuneita tai kehitettäviä asioita. Simulaatio-ohjaajan sanallinen kommunikointi oppimiskeskustelussa koostui opettamisesta ja ohjaamisesta, reflektointiin haastamisesta, keskustelun ohjaamisesta sekä palautteen antamisesta. Johtopäätöksenä voidaan todeta, että oppimiskeskustelut toteutuvat pääsääntöisesti yleisen käytännön mukaisesti. Oppimiskeskusteluissa kuitenkin nähdään vaihtelevia ohjaamiskäytänteitä. Lisätutkimus on tarpeen vaihtelevien käytänteiden oppimisvaikutuksen selvittämiseksi. Voidaan pohtia myös, pitäisikö oppimiskeskustelun ohjaamisessa käyttää systemaattista työkalua tasalaatuisemman oppimismahdollisuuden tarjoamiseksi.Debriefing is thought to be the most important phase considering learning in simulation training. The purpose of this thesis was to gather information about how the debriefing is carried out by the facilitators. The objective was to collect information on facilitating practices. Content of facilitators’ communication, structure of debriefing and other aspects of the debriefing situation were examined by observation. The data were collected from ten debriefing sessions by observing the facilitators and the situation. The data were analyzed using descriptive analysis and thematic analysis. The debriefing lasted 25-50 minutes and the group consisted of four to twelve learners. The structures of the debriefings differed from each other. All the debriefings consisted of analysis phase where the team were informed what was correct or incorrect about the performance by instructor, group or themselves. The results suggest that the facilitators’ communication in the debriefing consisted of teaching and instructing, encouraging to reflect, guiding the discussion and giving feedback. The findings indicate that there are different debriefing practices. The further research is required to determine whether the variation has an influence for learning. In the future, one might also consider if the debriefing practices should be pre-planned and structured in order to serve equal opportunities for learning in the debriefing

A Comprehensive Analysis of Speech Disfluencies in Autistic Young Adults and Control Young Adults: Group Differences in Typical, Stuttering-Like, and Atypical Disfluencies

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the nature of speech disfluencies in autistic young adults and controls by using a wide-range disfluency classification of typical disfluencies (TD; i.e., filled pauses, revisions, abandoned utterances, and multisyllable word and phrase repetitions), stuttering-like disfluencies (SLD; i.e., sound and syllable repetitions, monosyllable word repetitions, prolongations, blocks, and broken words), and atypical disfluencies (AD; i.e., word-final prolongations and repetitions and atypical insertions). Method: Thirty-two autistic young adults and 35 controls completed a narrative telling task based on socially complex events. Frequencies of total disfluencies, TD, SLD, AD and stuttering severity were compared between groups. Results: The overall frequency of disfluencies was significantly higher in the autistic group and significant between-group differences were found for all disfluency categories. The autistic group produced significantly more revisions, filled pauses, and abandoned utterances, and each subtype of SLD and AD than the control group. In total, approximately every fourth autistic participants scored at least a very mild severity of stuttering, and every fifth produced more than three SLD per 100 syllables. Conclusions: Disfluent speech can be challenging for effective communication. This study revealed that the speech of autistic young adults was highly more disfluent than that of the controls. The findings provide information on speech disfluency characteristics in autistic young adults and highlight the importance of evaluating speech disfluency with a wide-range disfluency classification in autistic persons in order to understand their role in overall communication. The results of this study offer tools for SLPs to evaluate and understand the nature of disfluencies in autistic persons. </jats:sec