• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.39-49
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• 2020

The prosody of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) has several abnormal features, including monotonous speech. The purpose of this study was to compare acoustic features between an ASD group and a typically developing (TD) group and within the ASD group. The study also examined audience perceptions of the lengthening effect of increasing the number of syllables. 50 participants were divided into two groups (20 with ASD and 30 TD), and they were asked to imitate a total of 28 sentences. In the auditory-perceptual evaluation, seven participants chose sentence types in 115 sentences. Pitch, intensity, speech rate, and pitch slope were used to analyze the significant differences. In conclusion, the ASD group showed higher pitch and intensity and a lower overall speaking rate than the TD group. Moreover, there were significant differences in s2 slope of interrogative sentences. Finally, based on the auditory-perceptual evaluation, only 4.3% of interrogative sentences produced by participants with ASD were perceived as declarative sentences. The cause of this abnormal prosody has not been clearly identified; however, pragmatic ability and other characteristics of autism are related to ASD prosody. This study identified prosodic ASD patterns and suggested the need to develop treatments to improve prosody.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.11 no.8
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• pp.221-230
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• 2011

The purpose of this study was to examine validity of the Korean-Child Behavior Checklist: K-CBCL) as measures for emotional and behavioral problems for use with children with autism spectrum disorders. In present study, the factor of the K-CBCL was investigated, using data of 248 children with autism spectrum disorders, with 11.17 mean ages. The two factor model of Internalizing problems (Withdrawn, Somatic Complaints, Anxious/Depressed) and Externalizing problems (Delinquent Behavior, Aggressive Behavior) was investigated by the confirmatory factor analysis. The two factor model of K-CBCL was adequate for children with autism spectrum disorders. The inter-item consistency for the sub-factor of K-CBCL demonstrated on adequate reliability of the measure. Although the inter-item consistency of Withdraw, Social problems, Delinquent Behavior was not acceptable, the inter-item consistency of Internalizing, Externalizing and total problems were good. This results supported validity and reliability and suggested that K-CBCL is used to assess for emotional and behavioral problems in children with autism spectrum disorders.

• Journal of Music and Human Behavior
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.21-37
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• 2014

The significant role of joint attention in the development of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has highlighted the importance of early intervention. With the emphasis on the effective cueing and reinforcer for orienting to social stimuli in improving responding to joint attention (RJA) of children with ASD, the use of musical cue was hypothesized. This study aimed to examine the occurrence of RJA behaviors depending on the attentional cue, which differed in the level of information and type of auditory modality. Nine children with ASD participated in this study. The use of eight different joint attention cues were analyzed in terms of the frequency and accuracy of RJA behaviors elicited. The results of the study showed that RJA behaviors occurred more frequently with musical cues than with verbal cues and the mean accuracy rate of RJA was higher with musical cues (p = .047). Musically delivered eliciting and directing cues accompanied with pointing elicited the highest attentional shift and RJA accuracy. The significant increases in RJA with the use of musical cues indicated that incorporating musical elements into an attentional cue may provide more accurate cue information, enough to improve RJA behaviors of children with autism.

• Journal of rehabilitation welfare engineering & assistive technology
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.38-45
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• 2018

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of an increase in self - determination experience on the behavior of young children with autism spectrum disorder by telepresence robot. As for research method, the study used AB design, two selected children engaged in activities with a telepresence robot in free play time in the morning. The activities were conducted in 19 sessions, twice a week, 15 to 40 minutes each. To investigate the effect of the activity on the child's behavior was observed using the behaviors of free play time and work time in the afternoon. All the process was recorded by a camera and then analyzed by frequency recording. The results of the study are as follows. First, the participation of young children with autism spectrum disorder in free play time increased. Second, choice-making or preference behavior of young children with autistic spectrum disorder were increased. This study suggests that increasing the self-determination experience of young children with autism spectrum disorders using telepresence robots increases their participation and increases their choice-making or preference behavior.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.374-384
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• 2018

This study examined the effects of clarification training on conversational breakdowns and repair strategies of 3 school aged children with ASD. Clarification training provided to the participants during playing the barrier games. The results found that the occurrence of conversational breakdown was decreased in terms of overall and types. The occurrence and appropriateness rates of repair strategies were increased among all participants. Based on the results, 'clarification training' used in this study can be an effective method to train children with ASD for appropriate repair strategies in conversation.

• Therapeutic Science for Rehabilitation
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.83-95
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• 2019

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of the Power Card strategy on the receptive vocabulary and expressive vocabulary in children with autism spectrum disorders. Method: Three children with autism spectrum disorder were selected for this study and the power card strategy language intervention was applied, using a multiple baseline design across individuals. The target vocabulary was selected by examining the individual preferred characters. Power cards were constructed, and intervention was applied to improve the receptive vocabulary and expressive vocabulary through the baseline stage, intervention, and maintenance. Result: The application of the power card strategy showed that the acquisition rate of receptive vocabulary in children with autism spectrum disorder was increased, and expressive vocabulary acquisition rate was also improved. Conclusion: During the intervention period using the power card strategy, the children's target receptive vocabulary and expressive vocabulary acquisition rates improved, and the acquisition rate was maintained, even after the intervention. This suggests that the power card strategy is effective in improving the vocabulary of autistic children with disabilities, of school age.

• Journal of Music and Human Behavior
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.61-87
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• 2016

With broad individual variability in social communication skills of children with autism spectrum disorders and increasing focus on interventions targeting social communication of this population, there is a need for systematic analysis of how social communication outcomes are measured. This study aimed to systematically analyze the measurement tools used in the music therapy interventions for improving social communication of children with ASD. Electronic databases and music therapy journals were searched for controlled studies published between 1980 and 2015. A total of 21 studies were included for the analysis. The results demonstrated that direct observation of behaviors was the most frequently used and the combination of targeted social communication areas and specific measurements used for a specific skill varied among the studies. In addition, 90.4% of studies reported interrater reliability. These results indicate that there has been a diversity in approaches to measure social communication skills despite increasing attempts for systematic measurements. In consideration of the nature of social communication development in children with ASD, multifaceted strategy to understand and assess the target skills in terms of specific behavior acquisition, social functioning in general, and social cognition was recommended.

• Therapeutic Science for Rehabilitation
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.63-73
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• 2015

Objective : The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of sensory diet home program for children with autism spectrum disorder who have sensory defensiveness and explore how this intervention affect to sensory modulation and social interaction ability. Methods : The subject of this case study was a 12-year-old girl with autism spectrum disorder who was struggling with her sensory modulation problem. Parent interview and evaluations were conducted and subject-tailored sensory diet home program was made by the therapist. Parent education for the home program was provided to parents and everyday, 3 times, 30minutes of home program activities were conducted to the child for 23 days. Adolescent/Adult Sensory Profile and Social Maturity Scale were measured at pre and post intervention and parent wrote daily observation record about child during the intervention. Results : After the intervention, Low Registration, Sensory Sensitivity, Sensation Avoiding area of Adolescent/Adult Sensory Profile included to the normal range and the scores of the Social Maturity Scale improved. Conclusions : Child's sensory defensiveness was relieved and sensory modulation and controling emotion ability were improved. While there was significant improvement for sensory modulation and social interaction ability, this was a case study and there was only one subject. So we need to study with larger sample size to generalize this intervention's effectiveness.

• Journal of Music and Human Behavior
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.19-43
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• 2017

This study aimed to examine the effects of a reciprocal attention intervention on the joint attention behaviors of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) by comparing the music and nonmusic conditions. An alternating treatment design was applied as one of the single subject designs and the reciprocal attention intervention included music and nonmusic conditions implemented alternately within a session. The participants were four children between the ages 4 and 5 years and each participant who participated in 23 intervention sessions that followed the sequence of baseline (3 sessions), treatment (15 sessions), and follow-up (5 sessions). The music condition consisted of structured joint instrument playing, trials for attentional shift, and interactive instrument playing. The nonmusic condition consisted of joint toy play, trials for attentional shift, and turn taking-based play. The occurrence of target behaviors (i. e., joint attention behavior, eye gaze, and joint action) was analyzed across sessions. At pretest and posttest, the Early Social Communication Scale was administered. All participants showed increasing tendency in all target behaviors, but such occurrence was greater in the music condition than in the nonmusic condition. The findings support the use of a reciprocal attention intervention with musical stimuli to effectively improve joint attention in this population.

• Journal of Music and Human Behavior
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.97-125
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• 2020

This case study examined the effects of synchronization-based group music therapy for improving peer interaction of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The participants were five children between the ages of 6 and 10 with ASD. A total of eight 30-minute music therapy sessions were conducted two times a week. During sessions, target behaviors (i.e., engagement in joint action, synchronized movements, eye contact, and initiation of social interaction) were observed and analyzed. Also, the PIPPS-P was completed by parents to identify behavioral changes in real-life environments from pretest to posttest. Following the intervention, all of the participants showed increases in synchronized movements with peers and attempts to initiate social interaction. In addition, parents rated their children's play behavior as being improved in their everyday living environment. These results support that synchronous movements between children with ASD, which were facilitated with rhythmic cueing, led to enhanced engagement in joint action. Considering that those movements are the basis for further social skills (e.g., play behavior), this study also indicates that synchronization-based group music therapy could be an effective therapeutic approach for improving the peer interaction of this population.