• Journal of Music and Human Behavior
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.13-28
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• 2006

Autistic children have difficulties in communication. They tend to have more difficulties in general expression than in understanding sentences. This thesis tested the effect of music activities on children who have difficulties in language expression. As a research method, a group of autistic middle school students was selected who were attending normal schools. Three male students were selected for the test of K-ABC and CARS. Music treatments on the selected students were applied fifteen times, twice a week, for thirty minutes every time. The total treatment process could be divided into two stages. The stage one included the first twelve treatments and the stage two included following three treatments. In the stage one, the selected autistic students learned twenty four musics under real-world-like social circumstances. In the stage two, the students repeatedly learned the twenty four musics. A week before beginning the music treatment, the students were tested by PRES and a test developed by the author of this thesis. And a week after all treatments were completed, the students were tested again with the same test method to check if the students' expressive language ability got improved. The results of the research were as the following: First, the music treatment helped improve the autistic student's ability of expressing themselves such as 'requesting', 'rejecting', 'applying social customs' and 'providing information'. Second, the author of this thesis first had a hypothesis that the tested students might show different levels of achievements according to their intellectual ability or expressive language ability in K-ABC test, PRES and CARS. But it was not true. The student's level of achievement by music activities was proved not to have a significant correlation with their intellectual or expressive language abilities in the tests. Third, it was found that, through pre- and post-test of PRES, the music treatments could improve the receptive language ability as well as the expressive language ability. It saw great effect that musical data that utilize in specially this research investigator according to children's ability, autistic children write lyrics setting in social circumstance that is revealed much routinely and composes. To front, expect that suitable a lot of musics are developed in function and ability of subject person for elevation of expressive language ability.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.46-53
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• 1993

To find some involvement of environmental factors in autism, season of birth, birth order, and maternal age at birth of autistic children were investigated Total number of clinical outpatient autistic children was 357, which consisted of 319 male and 38 female, then male-to-female sex ratio was 8.4 to 1, and all subjects were born during $1986{\sim}1988.$ These data were compared with those of controlled general populations. The results were as follows : 1) In monthly and seasonal distributions of birth, autistic children were not different from normal control 2) Comparing with control group by Slater's and Greenwood-Yule's birth order calculation methods, there was no significant difference in birth order of autistic children 3) The maternal ages at birth in autistic group were significantly higher than those of control group(P<01) 4) High-risk pregnancies were significantly frequent in autistic group compared with control group(p<01)Our study supported the idea that at least some environmental factors, especially at-risk pregnancy, are involved in autism causation.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.237-243
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• 2010

This study was investigated the effect of antioxidative vitamin supplementation ($\beta$-carotene 175 mg, vitamin C 200 mg, vitamin E 33.5 mg) for 12 weeks on antioxidant status and autistic related behaviors in autistic children. The antioxidative vitamin-supplemented children had significantly lower concentrations of toxic mineral, such as cadmium (Cd), mercury (Hg) and lead (Pb) in hair, while they had higher concentration of antioxidant minerals (Se, Zn, Fe) in hair. Antioxidant vitamin supplementation for 12 weeks reduced free radical while it increased the hair levels of serotonin compared to the beginning of the study. Additionally, antioxidative vitamin supplementation resulted in significant improvement in social age. These results indicate that the consumption of antioxidative vitamin supplementation for 12 weeks in autistic children may increase plasma antioxidant mineral concentration, resulting in reduced toxic mineral and free radical and improved autistic behavior.

• Journal of Music and Human Behavior
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.53-67
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• 2012

Improvisational music therapy is known to promote social engagement in children with autism. This study investigated salient features that characterize the engagement of the child with autism and the therapist in improvisational music therapy. Through video analysis of the children's behavior, this study sets out to investigate what engages children with autism into mutual play with the therapist in improvisational music therapy by measuring the shared musical elements between the child and the therapist during musical synchronicity episodes and the children's choice of instruments. A repeated measures, a crossover design was employed in two different conditions (n = 10). Children were randomly assigned into two groups; group 1 participated music therapy first, followed by play therapy second. Group 2 followed the reverse order. Specific target behaviors were analyzed in the selected sessions 1, 4, 8 and 12. As expected, improvisational music therapy produced markedly more and longer events of musical synchronicity in children with autism than the play sessions with toys (p < .001). Rhythm and dynamic appeared to be the two most salient elements during musical synchronicity events between the child and the therapist. Observational findings confirmed that horns and whistles were the most frequently selected instruments in music therapy, whereas a dollhouse set was in play therapy by children with autism. The clinical implications and the details of these findings are discussed further.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.581-586
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• 2023

Recently a drama that features a lawyer with autism spectrum disorder has attracted a lot of attention, raising interest in the difficulties faced by people with autism spectrum disorders. If the Autism spectrum gets detected early and proper education and treatment, the prognosis can be improved, so the development of the treatment is urgently needed. Drugs currently used to treat autism spectrum often have side effects, so Digital Therapeutics that have no side effects and can be supplied in large quantities are drawing attention. In this paper, we introduce 'AEmotion', an application and a Digital Therapeutic that provides emotion and facial expression learning for toddlers with an autism spectrum disorder. This system is developed as an application for smartphones to increase interest in training autistic children and to test easily. Using machine learning, this system consists of three main stages: an 'emotion learning' step to learn emotions with facial expression cards, an 'emotion identification' step to check if the user understood emotions and facial expressions properly, and an 'expression training' step to make appropriate facial expressions. Through this system, it is expected that it will help autistic toddlers who have difficulties with social interactions by having problems recognizing facial expressions and emotions.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Sensory Integration
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.41-49
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• 2011

Objective : This study aims to compare children with and without pervasive developmental disorders in terms of the sensory processing ability and behavioral characteristic of oral feeding. This study also aims to identify correlation between sensory processing and characteristics of eating. Methods : The subjects of this research were normal children and those who have diagnosis of a pervasive developmental disorder, aged from 4 to 6. The research instruments were composed of Short Sensory Profile (SSP), Brief Autism Mealtime Behavior Inventory (BAMBI) and Food Items of the Sensory Checklist. Data collection was done by a professional survey institute located in 10 cities including Busan, South Korea. The survey questionnaires were distributed to 455 parents of children with and without pervasive developmental disabilities through the survey institutes. Total 263 answers were collected out of 455 questionnaires (62%) and 154 answers were used in data analysis. Out of 154 answers, 45 were for children with pervasive developmental disabilities and 109 were for normal children. Data analysis was done to identify correlations between sensory processing and characteristics of eating such as eating behavior and oral feeding. Results : 1. There was a significant difference between children with and without pervasive developmental disorders in all area of sensory processing ability (p<.05). 2. There was no difference between children with and without pervasive developmental disorders in eating behavior (p=0.881) and oral feeding (p=0.324). 3. In the group of children with a pervasive developmental disorders, it is found that there is negative correlation between sensory processing, eating behavior and oral feeding (r=-0.384, p<.01). 4. A remarkable significant correlation was found between sensory processing and eating behavior especially in taste/smell sensitivity (r=-0.6, p<.01) and auditory filtering (r=-0.326, p<.05). The correlation between sensory processing and oral feeding was most significant in under responsiveness/seeking sensation (r=-0.372, p<.05) and auditory filtering (r=-0.382, p<.05). Conclusion : This study found that there are significant correlations between sensory processing ability and some characteristics of eating behaviors for children with pervasive developmental disorders. This information can be useful to develop a program to intervene eating behavior problems of children with pervasive developmental disorders.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.13-25
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• 1998

Aim：We think that the most important etiology in parent abuse is the psychodynamic and psychopathology in the family. So, we investigated the adolescents being admitted in SNMH, whose chief complaints were parent abuse. We were trying to explore families psychodynamic and psychopathology, especially mother-child interaction and to differentiate them in according to developmental psychopathology. Method：Our objects were the adolescent patients admitted in SNMH from 1987 to 1997 because they attacked parents verbally and physically. We examined 21 adolescents except those with psychosis, organic mental disorder, autism and mental retardation by means of interview or chart review. Result and Conclusion：The number of male patients was 14 and the number of female patients was 7. The most common diagnosis was conduct disorder and borderline personality disorder. The mean age was in the mid-teens. We observed 4 subgroups that were divided developmentally in object relation. 1) Symbiotic group with mother：(1) They did not separate and remain in symbiotic relationships with their mothers based on insecure attachment. Fathers were abscent emotionally and physically, and their mothers were prominent in close relationships with the patients in their family , where as the patients were the only man in the family. Adolescents entered the second separation-individuation. They expressed anger and internal tension involved with the close attachment with their mothers and also attempted separation from their mothers through physically attacking them. (2) These patients had suffered from physical illness and developmental delay since birth. Therefore the parents overprotected their children. The children had persistent infantile omnipotence and fantasies of power, so they could not deal with unrealistic states, adapt to reality, and depended on their parents overtly. They easily acted out unless their demands were fulfilled. 2) Borderline personality disorder：We observed deficiencies in care taking. Their parents had personality problems and immaturity. They coulden’t help their children to be separated in the rapproachment phase. Their conflict about dependence-independence was revived in the second separation-individuation adolescent period. We understand parent abuse as an attempt to overcome the conflict. 3) Conduct disorder：They did not build up basic attachment with their parents. They think of their parents as only a means of fulfilling their needs. When patients’ need were not fulfilled and remained in a conflicted state, they attacked their parents, unable to control their aggressions and impulses.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.47-53
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• 1998

The purpose of this study was to investigate the possibility of providing familiar tasks as a treatment option to decrease echolalia. Two comparisons were made：One was to compare ‘conversation condition’ and ‘task performance condition.’ and the other was to compare ‘task performance alone condition’ and ‘task performance along with contingency of reinforcement condition.’ Two echolalic children aged 12 and 13 years participated in the experiment and A-B-A-B-BC-B-BC design was used, in which A was conversation only, B was task performance, and C was task performance along with contingency of reinforcement. In the A condition, the therapist asked easy and short questions to the child；in the B condition the child was given familiar tasks with short instruction, and in BC condition, each child was reinforced for his performance on given tasks, in which immediate echolalia was controlled through his hands being held down for 5 seconds. Delayed echolalia was recorded without any intervention being given. Each child was put into each of the 7 treatment conditions. With a 15 minutes session, each child went through 5 to 6 sessions per day for 2 weeks. The mean echolalia(immediate) rates across the 7 treatment conditions were：For child 1, A(99%)-B(65%)-A(95%)-B(10%)-BC(7%)-B(6%)- BC(7%) and for child 2, A(67%)-B(62%)-A(63%)-B(35%)-BC(8%)-B(4%)-BC(0%). As to the generalization of the treatment effect of immediate echolalia to the untreated delayed echolalia, there was shown a drastic reduction of delayed echolalia in child 2：A(35%)-B(57%)-A(56%)-B(40%)-BC(8%)-B(5%)-BC(9%). Child l’s delayed echolalia was negligible(mean=3%) pre-and post treatments. In conclusion, the results of this study clearly show that providing a task performance setting with familiar tasks can certainly be helpful for minimizing echolalic response, and along with the use of the contingency of reinforcement technique it can further not only correct echolalic behavior to a negligible degree but also help the echolalic child generalize its treatment effect to the child’ overall language improvement.