RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Unusual sensory responses were included in the diagnostic criteria for autism spectrum disorder (ASD), yet they are also common among individuals with other neurodevelopmental disorders, including Williams syndrome (WS). Cross-syndrome comparisons of sensory atypicalities and the evaluation of their syndrome specificity however have rarely been undertaken. We aimed to (1) examine and compare the sensory profiles in ASD and WS groups and (2) investigate whether autistic symptoms, including sensory processing scores, can predict a group membership. METHODS: Parents of 26 children with ASD and intellectual disability, 30 parents of children with ASD (no intellectual disability) and 26 with WS aged between 4 and 16 years were recruited. Parents completed the Sensory Profile to provide information about their children's sensory experiences and the Social Responsiveness Scale - Second Edition (SRS-2) to assess the degree of social impairment in their children. RESULTS: No significant differences were found in sensory processing scores between the three groups. Binary logistic regression analyses were undertaken with sensory quadrants and SRS-2 total score as factors. Models significantly predicted group membership, with Low Registration, Sensory Sensitivity and SRS-2 total score being significant predictors. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that high rates of sensory atypicalities are a common neurodevelopmental characteristic that do not reliably distinguish between WS and ASD groups. Low Registration and Sensory Sensitivity-related behaviours might, however, be more specific to ASD. Further work is needed to explore what behaviours within sensory profiles can discriminate between neurodevelopmental disorders and should be included in diagnostic classifications.
Asunto(s)
Trastorno del Espectro Autista/fisiopatología , Discapacidad Intelectual/fisiopatología , Trastornos de la Sensación/fisiopatología , Síndrome de Williams/fisiopatología , Adolescente , Trastorno del Espectro Autista/complicaciones , Trastorno del Espectro Autista/diagnóstico , Trastorno del Espectro Autista/epidemiología , Niño , Preescolar , Comorbilidad , Femenino , Humanos , Discapacidad Intelectual/complicaciones , Discapacidad Intelectual/diagnóstico , Discapacidad Intelectual/epidemiología , Masculino , Trastornos de la Sensación/diagnóstico , Trastornos de la Sensación/etiología , Síndrome de Williams/complicaciones , Síndrome de Williams/diagnósticoRESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Children with a significant cognitive and motor developmental delay are pre-symbolic communicators. The primary aim of this study was to reveal the variability within the communicative functioning of this group of children in terms of communication level, the reasons to communicate and behavioural expressions. METHODS: Twenty-six children between 14 and 58 months with a significant cognitive and motor developmental delay were recruited. The Communication Matrix of Rowland (2011, Communication Disorders Quarterly, 32, 190) was used to integrate different sources of information on the children's communicative functioning. RESULTS: These children primarily communicated at the level of pre-intentional and intentional behaviour, aimed at refusing, obtaining and, to a lesser extent, social purposes. CONCLUSIONS: To develop or adapt early intervention strategies, and to monitor progress in communicative development, an even more nuanced view on these children's communicative utterances in terms of frequency, duration, idiosyncrasy and context relatedness is needed.
Asunto(s)
Conducta Infantil/fisiología , Trastornos de la Comunicación/fisiopatología , Discapacidades del Desarrollo/fisiopatología , Discapacidad Intelectual/fisiopatología , Trastornos Motores/fisiopatología , Preescolar , Trastornos de la Comunicación/etiología , Discapacidades del Desarrollo/complicaciones , Femenino , Humanos , Lactante , Discapacidad Intelectual/complicaciones , Intención , Masculino , Trastornos Motores/complicacionesRESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Music therapy (MT) interventions are aimed at creating and developing a relationship between patient and therapist. However, there is a lack of validated observational instruments to consistently evaluate the MT process. AIM: The purpose of this study was the validation of Music Therapy Session Assessment Scale (MT-SAS), designed to assess the relationship between therapist and patient during active MT sessions. METHODS: Videotapes of a single 30-min session per patient were considered. A pilot study on the videotapes of 10 patients was carried out to help refine the items, define the scoring system and improve inter-rater reliability among the five raters. Then, a validation study on 100 patients with different clinical conditions was carried out. The Italian MT-SAS was used throughout the process, although we also provide an English translation. RESULTS: The final scale consisted of 7 binary items accounting for eye contact, countenance, and nonverbal and sound-music communication. In the pilot study, raters were found to share an acceptable level of agreement in their assessments. Explorative factorial analysis disclosed a single homogeneous factor including 6 items (thus supporting an ordinal total score), with only the item about eye contact being unrelated to the others. Moreover, the existence of 2 different archetypal profiles of attuned and disattuned behaviours was highlighted through multiple correspondence analysis. CONCLUSIONS: As suggested by the consistent results of 2 different analyses, MT-SAS is a reliable tool that globally evaluates sonorous-musical and nonverbal behaviours related to emotional attunement and empathetic relationship between patient and therapist during active MT sessions.
Asunto(s)
Musicoterapia/métodos , Musicoterapia/estadística & datos numéricos , Relaciones Profesional-Paciente , Adulto , Anciano , Anciano de 80 o más Años , Emociones , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , Persona de Mediana Edad , Comunicación no Verbal , Proyectos Piloto , Psicometría , Reproducibilidad de los Resultados , Resultado del TratamientoRESUMEN
The ability to share and direct attention is a pre-requisite to later language development and has been predominantly studied through infant pointing. Precursors to pointing, such as showing and giving gestures, may display similar communication skills, yet these gestures are often overlooked. This may be due to difficulty in discerning these gestures in interaction. The current study had two aims; firstly, to identify the micro-behaviours associated with showing and giving gestures in infants under 12 months, in order to ascertain whether these form two discrete communicative behaviours. Secondly, to examine whether these micro-behaviours predicted caregiver responses to these gestures. Fine-grained coding of show and give gestures, their micro-behaviours and caregiver responses was conducted through secondary analysis of naturalistic, triadic interactions between 24 infants, caregivers and a selection of toys. Findings suggested that the micro-behaviours arm position, hand orientation and eye-gaze, were significant predictors of infant gesture type, however only arm positioning was a significant predictor of caregiver response. This suggests that early showing and giving gestures can be classified based on some associated micro-behaviours, however caregiver's responses may not be contingent on these same cues, potentially resulting in difficulty understanding infant gestures. Our findings enhance our understanding of infant communication before 12 months, provide guidance to both researchers and caregivers in the identification of infants' early shows and gives, and highlight the need for greater study of these early pre-linguistic behaviours.