Scottish Research News

This page contains information on current autism research being undertaken in Scotland. If you would like information on your study to be shared please contact Autism Network Scotland directly via email [email protected] or call 0141 444 8146.

You can also join our Research Virtual Network - for more information please visit www.autismnetworkscotland.org.uk/autism-network-scotland-virtual-networks/

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Autism + Public Space - Questionnaire

Hi, my name is Ela Syrek and I am a postgraduate student in (MSc) Urban Strategies and Design at University of Edinburgh. My dissertation looks at Autism + Public Space, specifically in Glasgow.

I am seeking to understand the differences of autistic and non-autistic people’s experiences of public spaces. And how such understanding of possible differences and similarities can influence planning policies to include wider groups of needs in how cities are designed.

The questionnaire has only 8 questions, 6 very short ones, and 2 asking to give a few reasons why you like or dislike certain public spaces in Glasgow.

This questionnaire is completely anonymous and it needs answers of autistic and non-autistic participants, so feel free to share this with your family, friends or colleagues.

At the end of July, there will be a second part to this questionnaire in a fun form of comparing photos of public spaces. If you would like to take part again, you may leave your email at the end of this questionnaire or come back to the website for ‘Autism + Public Space PART 2’.

 

Link to the questionnaire (using Google Forms), please click here:

https://goo.gl/forms/H9RqBazMV0R4mZwh2

 

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Ela Syrek ([email protected])

 

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University of Strathclyde – BA Education and Social Services

 

Are you a parent living within Greater Glasgow? (inc. urban area of Greater Glasgow)

Has your child been diagnosed with Autism?

Would you like to voice your experiences of diagnosis and support?

This is an opportunity to voice your views and experiences of diagnosis, post and pre-diagnostic support as well as express what services may have benefitted your wellbeing. It is important for the future of service delivery to reflect on the experiences of those that have accessed support, in order to analyse the means in which this can be improved upon.

The research will be in the format of an online questionnaire (also available on paper) about your views and experiences, followed by a focus group around the key themes highlighted within the questionnaires.

The focus group will be held some time near the end of February within Strathclyde University.

If you are unsure whether you can attend the focus group, you may still complete the questionnaire - as your views and experiences are important.

If you would like to get involved, please send an email to Mark Brownlie for more information at: [email protected]

You can also email [email protected] or telephone 0141 444 8146 and we will forward you the hard copies of the required documents.

Consent form (003)

INFO Letter to Parents (online)

FG Rules (003)

 

To access the online questionnaire, please click here: http://bit.ly/2Gxl8s4

 

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My name is Jeremi Korhonen and I am running a research investigating the ways in which individuals on the autism spectrum perceive and engage with emotions in music.

The project is part of my Bachelor’s thesis, and through it we hope to further our understanding of how individuals on the spectrum tend to engage with the world (specifically music), and help improve their lived experience by possibly encouraging engagement with music in their everyday lives.

We are seeking participants with autism spectrum diagnoses who would be willing to spend a moment to complete an online experiment which involves listening to short clips of instrumental music, and then rating each piece of music based on its emotional content. The experiment has ethical approval from the School ethics review committee, takes about 30 minutes to complete, and can be completed at any time in any quiet setting.

All information and consent forms will be made available to participants online.

Please don’t hesitate to contact my supervisor, Chiara Horlin if you have any questions. Thank you!

Link to experiment: testable.org/t/13960de617

(The link works well with all computer internet browsers other than Safari)

Kind regards,
Jeremi Korhonen ([email protected])

Dr Chiara Horlin ([email protected])

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An exploration into accent acquisition of autistic individuals: with potential influences and impacts considered

SEEKING VOLUNTEERS

for a research study to explore non-native accent acquisition in autism

 

• Are you, or is your child autistic?
• Do you, or does your child, speak with a non-native/non-regional* accent? (Now or previously).

 

If you have answered yes to these questions and would like to share your experiences then you may be interested in participating in this research study.

Samantha Sharp is a Speech and Language Therapist and a Masters in Autism student at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, working under the supervision of Dr Anna Robinson.

Participants will be asked to complete an online questionnaire. If you wish to know more about the study and access the questionnaire, click on the link below:

 

If you are an autistic individual wishing to participate:

https://strath.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_4MFTC4hkl9F5i7j

If you are the parent of an autistic individual wishing to participate:

https://strath.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eExhKwEFBrvxcJT

 

If you require further information, please contact Ms Sharp on: [email protected].

 

* The term “non-native/regional” means that you or your child does not speak with an accent associated to the country you/they are from (native), e.g you/your child is Scottish, but speaks with an American accent, or the area of the country where you/they are from (region) e.g your child is Glaswegian but speaks with an English accent.

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Are you aged 16+ and living with a hidden disability and/or mental health condition and experiencing heightened sensory and/or anxiety issues through challenging environments?

If so, we would love to know a little more on how this affects you by answering a short online questionnaire.

Ahead of our forthcoming press release, Friendly Access, the School of Simulation and Visualisation at The Glasgow School of Art and the tech start-up Crag3D are joining efforts to create opportunities for those with hidden disabilities who experience the greatest degree of discrimination and isolation to thrive into more confident individuals and contributors in society.

Taking advantage of the technology available within the field of Virtual Reality, we are aiming to create an interactive and immersive experience that will allow the sensory desensitisation in typically challenging environments.

We would like to engage you in this creation process. To do so, we would like to ask you a series of questions in which you will be required to identify those sensory cues that lead you to experience acute stress and anxiety. Please complete the online questionnaire by Friday 16th June.

Your answers will allow us to determine what the most typical environmental stressors are, and understand better how challenging environments can become.

http://friendlyaccess.org/sensory-questionaire/

This study is funded by the European Social Fund and the Social Innovation Fund from the Scottish Government and your participation is very much appreciated.

 

Kind regards

 

The Friendly Access Team - www.friendlyaccess.org

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An investigation into the effectiveness of Nurture Groups in supporting autistic children: A Scottish teachers’ perspective

Volunteers Wanted for a Research Study

• Are you a teacher or a teaching assistant?
• Do you work in a primary school in Scotland?
• Do you or have you ever run a Nurture Group?
• Have any of these Nurture groups had an autistic child in them?

If you have answered yes to these questions – You may be interested in participating in a study investigating the effectiveness of nurture groups in supporting the wellbeing of autistic children.

Christina Symeonidou is a Master’s in Autism student at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow and the researcher on this study. The aim of the study is to investigate Scottish Teacher’s experiences of running Nurture groups for autistic and non-autistic children. Participants will give their experiences of the effectiveness Nurture groups have in enhancing social skills and emotional wellbeing of autistic children compared to other vulnerable groups. You are invited to complete an online questionnaire that should take no longer than 25 minutes.

If you wish to know more about the study click here.

 

To find out more about this study, please contact:

 

Researcher details: Christina Symeonidou
Email: [email protected]
Telephone: 07719 517385

 

Chief investigator details: Dr Anna Robinson
Email:[email protected]
Telephone: 0141 444 8142

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An Investigation into Autistic and Non-Autistic Adult Relationship with a Pet and Experiences of Loss
VOLUNTEERS WANTED:
Nikoleta Alexopoulou is an MSc in Autism student at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow. This study aims to investigate autistic and non-autistic relationships with having a pet and the experiences of losing a pet.
If you:

• Are an autistic or non-autistic adult?
• Have had one or more pets?
• Have experienced loss of your pet/s?
• Would be happy to share you experiences of having and losing your pet?

If you’ve answered yes to these questions then you might be interested in taking part in this study. You would take part in a Skype/FaceTime interview lasting for no longer than 45 minutes. If you are interested and would like to know more then please contact the Researcher (Nikoleta Alexopoulou) for more information on this study at [email protected].

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An Autistic Adult Perspective of Early Childhood Experiences of Intensive Individualised Interventions

SEEKING VOLUNTEERS

 

For a research study investigate the experiences of autistic adults who have participated in an Intensive Individualised Intervention (III) in childhood.

• Are you an autistic adult, aged over 18, who was given an autism diagnosis as a child?

AND

• Did you receive, participate or engage in an III (such as ABA or Sonrise for example) for a number of years?

And

• Can you recall your experiences of the III from your childhood?

 

If you have answered yes to these questions and would like to give your personal account of your experiences then you may be interested in participating in this research study.

Owen McGill is a Masters in Autism postgraduate student at the University of Strathclyde under academic supervision of Chief Investigator Dr Anna Robinson.

Participants will be asked to complete either a reflective questionnaire or take part in a Skype interview.

If you wish to know more about the study click on the link below:

https://hass.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bg9RZ3A2gKgVvaB

If you are interested, require further information or would like to set up a Skype interview, please contact Owen at:

[email protected]

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An Exploration of Autistic Adult Experiences of Emotion-Focused Group Therapy

Are you:

• 18 years or older …
• Autistic or have a diagnosis of Asperger’s Syndrome (AS) …
• Interested in exploring your own and others emotional understanding …
• Interested in talking about your life experiences and life issues with other autistic/AS adults …

If you’ve answered YES to the questions above you may want to take part in this research study.

If you are already in therapy/counselling or taking medication as a treatment then you would not be eligible to take part.

Dr Anna Robinson is a Counsellor and the Masters in Autism Course Leader at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow. Dr Robinson is looking for Autistic Adults who would like to take part in a research study exploring Emotion Focused Group Therapy for Autism Spectrum (EFT-AS). The aim of the study is to explore the impact of EFT-AS on emotional wellbeing for adults with AS.

You would be involved in a 9 week EFT-AS group intervention. You would be involved in the process of confirming your diagnosis and then complete a number of self-administered questionnaires before, during and after the therapy. These self-assessments should last between 45 minutes to an hour. Group weekly sessions will last for up to 1½ hours each week.

 

INFORMATION EVENT

Dr Robinson will be holding an information session on 13th June at the University of Strathclyde from 6pm-7:30pm. She will explain what EFT-AS is, show video to illustrate and explain what would be expected of you if you decide to refer yourself to be in a small group. An Autistic adult will share their experiences of going through EFT-AS and how this has had an impact in their life. There will be time for you to give your feedback and ask questions.

If you are interested in participating please contact me for further information by either calling 0141 444 8142 or via email on [email protected]

Those coming along will be sent more details (directions, room, and parking).

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I am Rasha Bawazir, a doctoral student at the UCL Institute of Education. I would like to invite professionals to take part in a brief questionnaire.

 

I am investigating professionals’ perspectives and practices concerning using Social Stories with the creative arts for individuals on the autistic spectrum.  Anyone who is working with individuals on the autistic spectrum can complete the questionnaire- I am interested in your opinions. It can be completed easily and quickly.

For information and to access the questionnaire - please click here.

Please don’t hesitate to email me if you have any questions. 

Email: [email protected]

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A new project launched by The Salvesen Mindroom Centre, in collaboration with The University of Edinburgh and The James Lind Alliance. Would like to get the opinions of as many people as possible.

Research Priorities for Learning Difficulties in Children and Young People is a project to find out what research is most important to people living with learning difficulties and those working alongside them. Across Scotland, we’re asking people who have learning difficulties, their families and the professionals working alongside them, to complete a short survey telling us what they would want researchers to find out about learning difficulties. By bringing all the responses together, the project will identify the top 10 research priorities for learning difficulties amongst children and young people. The results will help inform future research work into learning difficulties and the work of the Salvesen Mindroom Centre.

The short survey is available online here and in paper format. A child-friendly paper version is also available. Please email us on [email protected] for copies.

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Maggi Laurie, PhD student at the University of Edinburgh, is looking for practitioners who work in education settings with children on the autism spectrum to fill out a short survey about the technology they use at work.

The survey is open to anyone who works with autistic children who use technology, including support workers, teaching assistants, teachers, managers, speech & language therapists, educational psychologists, and other job roles. It takes around 15 minutes and there an option to enter a prize draw of up to £50 in vouchers. 

The link to the survey is https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ASDTechSchUK and questions can be directed to [email protected]

Some more information about the survey:

Ethics approval: Moray House School of Education at the University of Edinburgh have approved the study. I’m happy to send confirmation of this and/or apply for internal ethics here.

 

Contents:

• About the respondent (age, gender, job role + time in role)
• About the personal technology the use (e.g. confidence using technology)
• About the technology-specific training they have received, or that they would like
• About the children they work with (age group, comorbid learning disability, etc.)
• About the technology in the classroom (what tech, whether it’s used independently, what purposes it is used for, e.g. learning, play)
• Views on technology use in autism education
• Views on technology use in general education

Best wishes

Margaret Laurie - PhD Student

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I am a 4th year masters student studying Product Design Engineering at the University of Glasgow.

I am currently doing a project which aims to help provide more comfort or less stress when travelling. I am interested in designing a product for people with Autism and am looking for help in achieving this.

I would like to gain further knowledge about the difficulties that people with Autism face when travelling. It would be great to get feedback on concepts and prototypes to help design a successful product that will genuinely benefit users.

Any way that I could contact respective people would be great. Attending a support group meeting or emailing them would be ideal.

Do you know of anyone I can contact in respect to this?

Cerys Murray-Scott

 

By email:  [email protected]

By telephone:  07710256819

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July 2016 -  Music Tool - Interactive Prototype Tool For People On The Autism Spectrum

My name is John McGowan and I’m a 2^nd year PhD student based at Edinburgh Napier. I’m researching and creating an interactive prototype tool for people on the autism spectrum and was wondering if you might be interested in what I’m doing?

I have been looking at the factors involved in music therapy for the creation of an audio-visual intervention as an augmentation to music therapy to test if it could improve communication, social interaction and self-esteem. In the past few months I have interviewed a number of therapists in the design of the tool for initial requirements analysis. The aesthetic of the tool itself is based on Cymatics, which show what sound/music looks like when vibrated through a medium like water – what I have done is to create an interactive 3D version of that idea. It’s basis lies in the cause-and-effect of playing an electronic or acoustic musical instrument or using the voice. I have attached a couple of sample videos to this email to give you an idea of the work in progress - the first sample is a simple midi keyboard while the 2nd is a short voice test.

So, I’m hoping to involve some music therapists and autistic clients in a study (possibly a case study over a number of weeks) integrating the tool as a new intervention within a client’s sessions. If you know anyone that would be interested in having a chat with me concerning this I would be very much obliged.

Please feel free to get in touch.

John McGowan

 

By email: [email protected]

By telephone: 0131 455 2461

 

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June 2016 - Young People with Autism & Learning Disabilities Sexuality: Mothers’ Experiences

We are interested in finding about mothers’ experiences of their son or daughter’s sexual development and sexual understanding.  This is an area that is not given much attention, but is a vital part of growing up for all young people.

Who can take part?

We are looking to recruit mothers of young people with Autism and a Moderate or Severe Learning Disability, who are aged 16 to 25.

What does taking part involve?

The researcher, Rebecca Pryde, will meet with you to carry out an interview which will last 60 – 90 minutes.  The questions will include:

• A description of your family
• Your views on your child’s sexual development
• How you and your child have coped with their sexual development
• The challenges you have faced
• Sources of support you have received in relation to sexuality.

We hope that this research will improve the support and resources that are available to support young people and their families with regard to sexual development.

If you would like to find out more information about this study, or if you are interested in taking part, please contact Rebecca Pryde

By email: [email protected]

By telephone: 0141 211 3878

Study and Interview Flyer (PDF)

Participant Information Sheet (PDF)

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January 2016 - Parental and Practitioner Experiences of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Deafness

For a research study to investigate parental and practitioner experiences of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Deafness (D/HH)

Are you a parent of a child or adult who has autism and is also deaf/hard of hearing, or a practitioner supporting people who have autism and are deaf/hard of hearing?

Are you a practitioner supporting an individual or individuals who are deaf/hard of hearing whom you suspect may also have autism?

Do you use specific communication and interactive methods?

If you have answered yes to any of the above questions – you may be interested in participating in a study regarding your experiences of supporting people with autism who are deaf/hard of hearing.

My name is Lee Balfour and I have supported multiply-challenged adults who are deaf for over 20 years. I am currently studying for a Master’s Degree in Autism at the University of Strathclyde (Glasgow, Scotland), and in the context of my studies I am conducting a research project into parental and practitioner experiences of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Deafness.

Participants will complete a 30 minute online questionnaire.

If you wish to know more about the study, please read the Participant Information Sheet appended at the end of this document.

If you are interested or require further information, you can contact me on:

Contact Information

Name: Lee Balfour

[email protected]

 

Supervisor’s Name: Dr. Anna Robinson

Telephone: +44 (0) 141 444 8142

E-mail: [email protected]

You can view the complete study advert here.

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December 2015 - Research on the impacts which raising a child/having a sibling with Autism has on a family

My name is Nicole Devlin and I am a 4th year undergraduate student on BSc (Hons) Psychology degree at Glasgow Caledonian University. I am conducting a study in order to fulfil the requirements of my 4th year empirical project module. The study will look at the impacts which raising a child/having a sibling with Autism has on a family.

I am looking to interview one parent and one sibling (who should be over the age of 18) of and individual with Autism. Both, parent and sibling, should have regular contact with their child/ sibling who has Autism. I would be very grateful if your organisation would be able to facilitate my research in any way by helping to recruit participants who meet this criteria.

During this interview they will be asked about their experiences and feelings surrounding their child/siblings diagnosis of autism, whether this diagnosis impacted their daily life and how their child/siblings autism affected their family relationships. These interviews will take place at a time and location which is convenient for both the participant and the researcher and will last a maximum of 1 hour. I am looking for 5 families overall to participate.

I believe my research and findings will be greatly enhanced with your organisation’s help as it will be available to a wider community. Participants may not directly benefit from their participation, however, I aim to share the results which are found from this research, aiming for publication in this area. This research has been approved by the Glasgow Caledonian School of Psychology, Social Work and Allied Health Sciences ethics committee.

I would greatly appreciate your help in any way which you can offer. If you have any further questions regarding my research, please do not hesitate to contact me at [email protected].

Thank you for your time.

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November 2015: Finding a Voice: An Investigation into the Challenges Faced by Autistic People/People with Autism in Achieving Meaningful Participation in Policy Development in Local Authority Contexts.

My name is Emma Hanley. I’m a Speech and Language Therapist and the Co-ordinator for Autism Network Scotland. Autism Network Scotland is an organisation funded to support the implementation of the National Strategy for Autism, with a particular focus on wider engagement. I am currently studying for a Master’s degree in Autism at the University of Strathclyde under the supervision of Dr Anna Robinson.  In the context of my studies I am conducting research into how autistic people/people on the autistic spectrum view their involvement in developing their local area autism strategies and their experiences of meaningful inclusion when attending local area strategy meetings throughout this process.

I would like to speak to participants who:

• Are autistic/on the autistic spectrum.
• Have attended meetings in relation to the development of their local area autism strategy in the past 12 months.

As a participant your voice will be anonymous, but the findings from the study will be shared with local authorities and the Scottish Government with a view to creating a better understanding of the experiences people on the autistic spectrum have in participating in autism policy development.

There are two ways in which you can provide information about your experiences.

• You will be invited to take part in a semi-structured interview which will last approximately 45 minutes. The interview will ask about your experiences of meeting with people from your local strategy development group and wider stakeholders from your local authority during the development of your local area strategy.
• You will be invited to take part in a focus group with other people on the autistic spectrum, in your local area. Group discussions will last for approximately 60-90 minutes.

The location of focus groups will depend on the number of responses received for any particular local authority; with groups taking place where most interest has been registered.

Participation is voluntary and all information will be anonymised for the final report. Participants are invited to discuss their experiences of taking part in the development of their local area autism strategy with particular focus on experiences of attending meetings with members of their local authority autism strategy groups. If you do not wish to participate, this will not have any impact on any future interaction with Autism Network Scotland. You also have the right to withdraw from the study at any time.

For further information please see the information sheet or contact Emma Hanley on 0141 444 8146 or by email: [email protected].

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November 2015: Study into the Relationship between Anxiety, Sensory Processing Difficulties and Intolerance of Uncertainty in a Population of Adults with ASD

Seeking adults (18+) with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), who have access to the internet and are able to complete an online 20-30 minute questionnaire independently.

This study is designed to learn the relationship between anxiety, sensory processing difficulties and intolerance of uncertainty in a population of adults with ASD.

Research is being conducted by Kathryn Flatley ([email protected]) with collaborative supervision from Dr Ashley Robertson ([email protected]).

You can take part in this study by completing the survey at the following link: www.instant.ly/s/HZ33r

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July 2015: A Relationship between Autistic Traits and Perceived Personality from Voices

Research Study

Participants are currently being sought to partake in a study conducted by the University of Glasgow on how individuals who are high in autistic traits perceive personality through tones of voice. The study aims to identify any differences in interpreting personality through tone of voice in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and a control population.

The present study will investigate how people with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) perceive personality in the voices of novel speakers, compared to a typically developing control population. The difficulties faced in regards to social communication and interaction in ASD – both verbal and nonverbal – have garnered a lot of interest from researchers and practitioners alike. With deficits in direct eye and face contact when engaging with others being a well-established trait, much research has explored the ability for individuals with ASD to recognise emotion and personality through faces (cf. Harms et al., 2010, Neuropsychological Review; Simmons et al, 2009, Vision Research). However, there is little research which investigates the same percepts from voices. This research hopes to investigate this area in more depth.

What does the research involve?

The researcher is looking to recruit participants who live in Scotland between 16 to 65 years of age for a short online perception task. Your task is to simply listen to the voices presented in the task, and say how trustworthy or untrustworthy you perceive the voice to be. Following this, there is a short questionnaire looking at traits associated with Autism Spectrum Disorders. This is a non-diagnostic test and cannot be used to diagnose Autism.

The following link will take you to a consent form and ask you to include an email address and password to ensure your results are protected. Following this, select the HOW TRUSTWORTHY ARE THESE VOICES link and complete the experiment. Following the experiment you will be requested to complete the short questionnaire on ASD traits. This experiment should take no longer than 15minutes.

If you would like to participate in this study, please follow the link:

HOW TRUSTWORTHY ARE THESE VOICES:

http://experiments.psy.gla.ac.uk/consent.php

Alternatively, if you would like to know more or complete the experiment in your local support centre, please email Miss Adele Donaldson at [email protected].

Thank you for your participation.

Miss Adele Donaldson

Research Assistant

University of Glasgow

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July 2015: Women with Autism and their roles as Mum, Employee, Student and Housewife

Rebecca Dowley is carrying out this Research as part of her Masters in Autism, being studied distance at Birmingham University.

In this study she is investigating how Mothers who have autism experience the Triple Shift: the emotional labour, employment and household labour of motherhood.

The questionnaire can be accessed here: http://www.autismnetworkscotla…..ewife.docx

The questionnaires that you will complete are semi-structured. You should feel free to write as much as you want in the areas provided.

Your name and any personal details will only be known by the researcher and not shared with the supervisor or anyone else. As such your confidentiality and anonymity will be maintained at all times.

At the end of the questionnaire some support services details have been provided should any of the issues that arise during the questionnaire require support.

If you have any queries please contact Rebecca on: [email protected]

Many thanks.

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June 2015: Awareness and Openness towards individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder among University of Strathclyde Staff

Volunteers are needed for a research study to investigate awareness of autism among University staff, and their openness/acceptance towards individuals with autism

Participants must be employed at the University of Strathclyde and are either:

 

• mentors with Project SEARCH

or

• members of staff not involved within Project SEARCH

 

Participants will complete a 15-25 minutes online questionnaire, which will be sent via email. If you do not have access to email you can collect a self-addressed envelope from Project SEARCH.

If you wish to know more about the study click on the link below.

https://hass.eu.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_9vmQ0gPOcmYkVJH

Contact Information

Name: Cheryl Dalli

E-mail: [email protected]

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June 2015: Participants sought for research into the Perceived Impact of Postgraduate (Pg) Autism Training on Autism Trainers

Mr DN Maphosa is studying a Master’s degree in autism at the University of Strathclyde and in the context of these studies is conducting a research project into the perceptions of Postgraduate Autism training on Autism Trainers.

If you are a current or previous Pg Autism Student of the University of Strathclyde, who delivers Autism Training, Mr Maphosa is interested in your perceptions of the impact of your Pg Autism programme.

Your participation in this study will help to give an insight into the perceived impact of the Pg Autism programme, on practitioners who go on to design and deliver autism training.

If you wish to take part in this study you will be asked to answer an online questionnaire. Your consent will be deemed to be given when you submit the online questionnaire. It should take about 20 minutes to complete the whole questionnaire, but you may want to take longer by giving longer responses.

Information Sheet:

Before completing the questionnaire, please read the participant information sheet which includes details of the study. This includes details and reassurance about how the study will use the information you provide in a confidential manner.

Taking part in the Study:

If you are interested in finding out more about the study and may wish to take part, please email me on [email protected] or click on links to the information sheet and the questionnaire:

https://hass.eu.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_bgaQFaIUG4R9aFT

Thank you for considering this invitation to take part in this research project.

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May 2015: An Investigation of Early Indicators of Problem Behaviour in Preschool Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Carolyn Ritchey and Dr. Olive Healy

M.Sc. in Psychology (ABA) School of Psychology, Trinity College Dublin

Despite the large body of research on challenging behaviour in children with ASD, no research study has examined the relationship between the presence/absence of early indicators of problem behaviour and the presence/absence of core preschool life skills (as described by Hanley et al. 2007).  Problem behaviours such as aggression towards self and others, temper tantrums, and noncompliance are often prevalent in older children with autism, yet little is known about how these manifest at a younger age. Preschool life skills include functional communication, instruction following, tolerance of delay/denials in accessing rewards, and pro-social skills. This study will examine the variables that indicate early indicators of problem behaviour and the presence/absence of the core preschool life skills in children below the age of 5 years. Deficits in the preschool life skills as risk markers/predictors of early indicators of problem behaviour will also be investigated. The measures employed include:

• The Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire
• The Parental Concerns Questionnaire
• The Social Communication Questionnaire
• Assessment of Preschool Life Skills

These measures will be used to identify early indicators of problem behaviour and topographies, autism severity, and the presence/absence of the 13 preschool life skills described by Hanley et al., 2007.

Link to access questionnaire:

http://goo.gl/forms/HGpjDZIwwG

 

If you would like additional information please contact:

Carolyn Ritchey

Email: [email protected]

Phone: +353 89 452 5331

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May 2015: Individual accounts of food preferences and diet in individuals with Autistic Spectrum Disorder

Debbie McCulloch is currently carrying out an MSc study at the University of Strathclyde into food preferences and food selectivity in adults with Autism. The study is using an online questionnaire to ask about individual food preferences and possible selectivity in eating. It is hoped that the results of this study will help deepen our understanding of food selectivity in Autism and may also inform future supports if applicable.

 

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Action on Autism Seminar Series

This seminar series began in October 2013 and continued until June 2014. It will culminate in a Conference in autumn 2014. Its timing is strategic as it links with the Scottish Government Autism Strategy and is founded on the importance of looking holistically at the day-to-day lives of people with autism, their families and carers and the people that work with them, which has been emphasised in Scottish policy development at local and national levels. To find out more visit www.autismnetworkscotland.org.uk/action-on-autism-seminar-series/