Experiences and perceptions of mothers of young people with and without additional support needs and autistic spectrum disorder in relation to behaviour, maternal stress, access to services and family quality of life

This research explores experiences and perceptions of mothers of adolescents and young adults (13-22yrs) with Additional Support Needs (ASN) in relation to stress, service provision and family and individual Quality of Life (QoL). A particular focus is the effect of having a family member with ASN who also has a diagnosis of Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) or where the young person with ASN may have an ASD which has not been diagnosed. Mothers of young people from 4 groups were recruited: i) those with ASN and no ASD (n=41), ii) those with ASN and a diagnosis of ASD (n=18), iii) those with ASN, no diagnosis of ASD but with a positive score on an ASD screening measure (n=17) and iv) typically developing controls (n=17). The mothers of young people with ASN (n=76) completed standardised questionnaires about family and individual QoL, stress, service provision, child behaviour and presence and severity of ASD traits. Twenty two of these mothers also took part in a semi-structured interview about coping with issues identified as most stressful by them in the stress questionnaire. The mothers of typically developing young people (n=17) completed standardised questionnaires on individual and family quality of life and on the behaviour of their similarly aged son or daughter. Data collected via these questionnaires showed that increased severity of ASD was associated with increased maternal stress, which in turn was associated with decreased family and maternal QoL. Mothers of typically developing young people had significantly higher individual and family QoL scores than each of the three other groups. The findings from the interviews supported the questionnaire results and gave further insight into mothers’ life experiences. Mothers identified many perceived barriers to their child’s progress including: lack of support and lack of co-ordinated service provision. The results suggest that mothers of young people with ASN experience lower individual and family quality of life than mothers of typically developing young people. Parenting an adolescent or young adult with ASN is perceived as stressful and that the presence of behaviour associated with ASD is additionally stressful. Possible reasons for differences in quality of life outcomes amongst the study groups are discussed. Implications for adequate services and recommendations for future research are suggested.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

The boundaries of the cognitive phenotype of autism: Theory of mind, central coherence and ambiguous figure perception in young people with autistic traits

Theory of Mind, Weak Central Coherence and executive dysfunction, were investigated as a function of behavioural markers of autism. This was irrespective of the presence or absence of a diagnosis of an autistic spectrum disorder. Sixty young people completed the Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ), false belief tests, the block design test, viewed visual illusions and an ambiguous figure. A logistic regression was performed and it was found that Theory of Mind, central coherence and ambiguous figure variables significantly contributed to prediction of behavioural markers of autism. These findings provide support for the continuum hypothesis of autism. That is, mild autistic behavioural traits are distributed through the population and these behavioural traits may have the same underlying cognitive determinants as autistic disorder

Autistic traits and cognitive performance in young people with mild intellectual impairment

Cognitive performance and the relationship between theory of mind (TOM), weak central coherence and executive function were investigated in a cohort of young people with additional learning needs. Participants were categorized by social communication questionnaire score into groups of 10 individuals within the autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) range, 14 within the pervasive developmental disorder range and 18 with few autistic traits. The ASD group were significantly poorer than the other groups on a test of cognitive flexibility. In the ASD group only, there was a strong relationship between executive performance and TOM which remained after controlling for IQ. Our findings suggest that the relationship between cognitive traits may more reliably distinguish autism than the presence of individual deficits alone

Sur les traces de Mobi’Kids. L’enfant autonome au défi de la ville: Livret Mobi'kids

Que signifie être autonome en ville pour les enfants ? Comment les enfantsdéveloppent-ils leurs rapports aux espaces de la ville ? Comment parcourentilsla ville ? Quelles différences de déplacements observe-t-on en fonction descontextes de vie ? Quel est le rôle des parents et des cultures éducatives dans cetapprentissage des espaces extérieurs ? Comment une équipe de scientifiques a-telleprocédé pour enquêter, comprendre et analyser ses questions d’autonomie etde mobilités enfantines dans la métropole rennaise ? Quels dispositifs d’enquêteset moyens techniques a-t-elle mis en oeuvre ? Combien de familles ont décidé departiciper à cette enquête au long cours ? Partez à la découverte du programme Mobi'kid

Sur les traces de Mobi’Kids. L’enfant autonome au défi de la ville: Livret Mobi'kids

Que signifie être autonome en ville pour les enfants ? Comment les enfantsdéveloppent-ils leurs rapports aux espaces de la ville ? Comment parcourentilsla ville ? Quelles différences de déplacements observe-t-on en fonction descontextes de vie ? Quel est le rôle des parents et des cultures éducatives dans cetapprentissage des espaces extérieurs ? Comment une équipe de scientifiques a-telleprocédé pour enquêter, comprendre et analyser ses questions d’autonomie etde mobilités enfantines dans la métropole rennaise ? Quels dispositifs d’enquêteset moyens techniques a-t-elle mis en oeuvre ? Combien de familles ont décidé departiciper à cette enquête au long cours ? Partez à la découverte du programme Mobi'kid

Sur les traces de Mobi’Kids. L’enfant autonome au défi de la ville: Livret Mobi'kids

Que signifie être autonome en ville pour les enfants ? Comment les enfantsdéveloppent-ils leurs rapports aux espaces de la ville ? Comment parcourentilsla ville ? Quelles différences de déplacements observe-t-on en fonction descontextes de vie ? Quel est le rôle des parents et des cultures éducatives dans cetapprentissage des espaces extérieurs ? Comment une équipe de scientifiques a-telleprocédé pour enquêter, comprendre et analyser ses questions d’autonomie etde mobilités enfantines dans la métropole rennaise ? Quels dispositifs d’enquêteset moyens techniques a-t-elle mis en oeuvre ? Combien de familles ont décidé departiciper à cette enquête au long cours ? Partez à la découverte du programme Mobi'kid

Sur les traces de Mobi’Kids. L’enfant autonome au défi de la ville: Livret Mobi'kids

Que signifie être autonome en ville pour les enfants ? Comment les enfantsdéveloppent-ils leurs rapports aux espaces de la ville ? Comment parcourentilsla ville ? Quelles différences de déplacements observe-t-on en fonction descontextes de vie ? Quel est le rôle des parents et des cultures éducatives dans cetapprentissage des espaces extérieurs ? Comment une équipe de scientifiques a-telleprocédé pour enquêter, comprendre et analyser ses questions d’autonomie etde mobilités enfantines dans la métropole rennaise ? Quels dispositifs d’enquêteset moyens techniques a-t-elle mis en oeuvre ? Combien de familles ont décidé departiciper à cette enquête au long cours ? Partez à la découverte du programme Mobi'kid