Date of Award

6-2016

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Dr. R. Wayne Fuqua

Second Advisor

Dr. Stephanie Peterson

Third Advisor

Dr. Richard Malott

Keywords

Autism, transitions, descriptive analysis, problem behavior, activity transitions

Access Setting

Masters Thesis-Open Access

Abstract

Children with autism often display challenging behaviors (e.g., tantrums, aggression, etc.) when transitioning between activities. Most of the current literature focuses on antecedent interventions for increasing compliance during transitions (e.g., visual schedules, two minute transition warnings, etc.). There is a minimal number of studies examining how environmental variables may affect transitions. This study was a descriptive analysis that examined different environmental variables and their effects on transitions. Observations were conducted with four children diagnosed with autism. A transition-tracking sheet was used to gather specific descriptive data during transitions. Results suggest that two-minute warnings were not correlated with more successful transitions, and that other variables besides a structured environment potentially impact the success of transitions.

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