1. Anxiety and Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder By: Casey Briggs EDU 7202

2. Table of Contents Abstract Statement of the Problem Review of the Related Literature Statement of the Hypothesis Research Design Threats to Internal Validity Threats to External Validity Survey Questions Data Analysis Methods: Participants, Instruments, Experimental Design, Procedure Discussion and Implications References

3. Abstract This research was performed on one autistic 2 nd grade male student eight (8) years old. He was chosen because he exhibits poor emotional, cognitive and social skills. He attends a charter school in the East New York section of Brooklyn. He also resides in East New York, Brooklyn with his parents and his sister who is fourteen (14). During the research, the participant was exposed to physical activity to observe whether it would decrease his level of anxiety. He was observed three (3) times a week over a period of three (3) months. This observation was administered using a Self Attitude Rating Scale (SARS), Event Recording Sheet and an ABAB Design graph. The results of the research showed that the student’s anxiety level was high if no physical activity was involved. However, he had a lower anxiety rate whenever he did any kind of physical activity, such as play sports, participate in gym classes, running around at recess and karate classes.

4. Statement of the Problem Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are vulnerable to anxiety. Repetitive behaviors are a core feature of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and have been associated with anxiety. Children with ASD and high anxiety have more repetitive behaviors than those without anxiety. Therefore anxiety is a significant problem for many individuals with ASD. Parents, teachers and clinicians are increasingly seeking advice on ways to manage the distress that anxiety brings. Anxiety impacts on educational success, friendships and social participation, as well as on other members of the family. Anxiety can cause restricted and repetitive behaviors (RRB). This is one of the most observable aspects of ASD in many children and are likely to inform early identification. The term “repetitive behavior” is used to refer to the broad and often disparate class of behaviors linked by repetition, rigidity, invariance, and inappropriateness such as rigid routines, repetitive language and resistance to change. Repetitive behaviors can pose a significant challenge to parents and careers and can often interfere with social functioning and learning. However, until recently repetitive behaviors have been the subject of far less attention than the social and communication deficits that constitute the other two major domains of ASD. (Rodgers, Glod, Connolly, McConachie, 2012).

5. Review of the Literature Autism Spectrum Disorder refers to a group of pervasive neurodevelopmental disorders that involve moderately to severely disrupted functioning in regard to social skills and socialization, expressive and receptive communication, and repetitive or stereotyped behaviors and interests. Autism means a developmental disability significantly affecting verbal and non-verbal communication and social interaction, generally evident before the age of three that adversely affects a child’s educational performance. Other characteristics often associated with autism are engagement in repetitive activities and stereotyped movements, resistance to environmental change or change in daily routines, and unusual responses to sensory experiences. (Pennington, Cullinan, Southern, 2014) Traditional approaches to diagnosing autism emphasize delays in communication and socialization. Traditional diagnostic schemes typically list symptoms (e.g., lack of eye contact), but provide little guidance on how to incorporate information about the developmental level in making a diagnosis. Because standardized measures of adaptive behavior can provide information about children’s communication, socialization, and other behavior relative to their age, they may be useful tools for diagnosing autism. Socialization alone accounted for forty eight per cent of the variance in diagnosis. (Gillham, Carter, Volkmar, Sparrow, 2000).

6. Statement of the Hypothesis Using strategies that the student enjoys such as gym, exercises in the classroom and computer related work to reduce anxiety for one autistic 2 nd grade male student in a charter school in Brooklyn, New York for fifty (50) minutes every morning three times a week over a three month period will help him adapt to change, such as taking a new route, having a substitute teacher, learning a new skills as measured by checklist.

7. Research Design Experimental Design: One shot case study design ABAB Design – to observe whether the behavior (anxiety) changes on introduction of the treatment (physical activities). Reverses when the treatment is withdrawn, and improves again when the treatment is re-introduced.

8. Threats to Internal Validity History – History can have an effect on autism research because the history of the disease shows how it originated and what approaches or theories were used. This can be a threat because of the different encounters that the participant may encounter on a daily basis. Maturation – The participant with autism can lose interest and their emotional and physical appearance can change over time. Testing/pre-test sensitization – If the participant knows that a test will be administered, it may affect their results. Caused by nervousness and anxiety. Selection Maturation Interaction – Participant with autism may mature slower than children without autism. Also, boys and girls mature at different ages.

9. Threats to External Validity Pre-test Treatment – Participant with autism will be likely to react differently to treatment if they have been pretested. Selection – Treatment Interaction – Participant with autism is not randomly selected or volunteer for treatment. Therefore this may be a possible threat. Multiple Treatment – Participant with autism receive several treatments to see which one works best. This will be done by administering several different instruments. Experimenter Effects – People who conduct research on autism can develop a bias because of they own work or experience with children who has autism. Reactive Arrangements/Participants Effects – Many factors can contribute to the attitudes of a participant with autism, such as their environment. For example autistic children do not like a strange or new environment and it can lead to an increase in anxiety. So, this can definitely be a threat to the research.

10. Survey Questions Demographics 1. Gender 1) Boy2)Girl 2. Number of Siblings 1) One 2)Two 3. Number of parents 1) One 2) Two 4. What is your age 1) Seven 2) Eight 5. What grade are you in 1) First 2) Second Self Attitude Rating Scale 1. Strongly Disagree 2. Disagree 3. Agree 4. Strongly Agree 1. Do you enjoy going to school? 2. Do you have any friends at school? 3. Do you enjoy recess? 4. Do you enjoy playing sports? 5. Do you like your teachers? 6. Is reading and writing your favorite subjects?

11. Survey Questions(Cont.) Frequencies 1) Not at all 2) Sometimes 3) Usually 4) Always 1. How often do you play with friends? 2. How often do you play alone? 3. Do you enjoy gym? 4. Do you participate in any extra-curricular activities, such as sports or karate? 5. How often do you watch television? 6. How often do you read and practice your writing?

12. Event Recording Sheet DateOBS PeriodFrequency Behavior 2.8.1650 mins10 =.20 2.9.1650 mins10.5 =.21 2.10.1650 mins11 =.22 2.15.1650 mins11.5 =.23 2.16.1650 mins12.5 =.25 2.17.1650 mins13 =.26 2.22.1650 mins14 =.28 2.23.1650 mins15 =.30 2.24.1650 mins16 =.32 2.29.1650 mins15 =.30 3.01.1650 mins14 =.28 3.02.1650 mins13 =.26 3.03.1650 mins12.5 =.25 3.07.1650 mins11.5 =.23 3.08.1650 mins11 =.22 3.09.1650 mins10 =.20 3.14.1650 mins8 =.16 3.15.1650 mins6 =.12 3.16.1650 mins2.5 =.5 3.21.1650 mins50 =.10 3.22.1650 mins6.5 =.13 3.23.1650 mins7.5 =.15 3.28.1650 mins7.5 =.15 3.29.1650 mins10 =.20 3.30.1650 mins10 =.20 4.4.1650 mins12.5 =.25 4.5.1650 mins13.5 =.27 4.6.1650 mins17.5 =.35 4.11.1650 mins17.5 =.35 4.12.1650 mins16.5 =.33 4.13.1650 mins15.5 =.31 4.18.1650 mins14 =.28 4.19.1650 mins13 =.26 4.20.1650 mins10 =.20 5.2.1650 mins9 =.18 5.3.1650 mins8 =.16 5.4.1650 mins6 =.12

13. Baseline (A) Intervention (B) Treatment Baseline (A) Treatment withdrawn Intervention (B) Treatment re- introduced

14. Methods Participant: One (1) autistic second grade eight (8) year old who attends a charter school in East New York, Brooklyn. Instruments: Self Attitude Rating Scale (SARS), Event Recording/Frequency of the Behavior, consent forms, ABAB Design Graph. Experimental Design: One Shot Case Study Design, ABAB Design. Procedure: Introduced and observed student’s anxiety level after he participated in any type of physical activity. Observation was done for fifty (50) minutes a day, three (3) times a week over a three (3) month period.

15. Discussion and Implications Results from the Self Attitude Rating Scale (SARS) indicated that the student strongly agrees that he enjoys recess, playing sports and gym. Most of the time he prefers to play alone but would play with friends sometimes. He enjoys participating in extra curricular activities such as sports and karate. Results of the ABAB Design showed that the student’s anxiety level decreased on the introduction of treatment (physical activity). When the treatment was withdrawn, his anxiety level increased. Then his anxiety level reversed upon the re-introduction of the treatment. Baseline was stable. Results compared to the hypothesis and review of the literature indicated that physical activity was used as the intervention to decrease the behavior and that it was effective and helped the student to decrease his anxiety level. Further Research is needed.

16. References O’ Connor-Petruso, S. (2016). Descriptive Statistics Threats to Validity (PowerPoint slides). Retrieved from http://bbhosted.cuny.edu/webapps/portal/