The 2-year grant, titled Working with Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities: Injuries and Challenging Behaviour, aims to understand how workplace injury occurrence relates to staff education and training about challenging behaviour, to staff perspectives about their use of information from the training sessions, and to the factors most commonly associated with injuries.

For more information, please contact:

Toby Martin
Manager, St.Amant Research Centre
256.4301 x5481
tmartin@stamant.mb.ca

Project Title: Effects of Intensive Behavioral Intervention on Brain Plasticity in Children with Autism
Investigators: Dr. Javier Virués-Ortega
Affiliations: St.Amant Research Centre and Department of Psychology, University of Manitoba

Introduction

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a well-established technique that uses strong magnetic fields to make pictures of the inside of the human body non-invasively. Measuring brain activity while the subject performs a simple task is known as functional MRI, or fMRI.

Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) intervention is the most evidence-supported treatment for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs). Although ABA can produce dramatic improvements in behaviour, little is known about how the developing brain changes as a consequence of treatment.

Purpose

Our goal is to identify brain activity patterns that change during learning, both in children with ASDs and also in typically-developing children (control group). In this study will use fMRI to measure activity patterns:

A. before and after an important skill (imitation) is taught; and
B. before and after a neutral item has been established as an effective reward.

Significance of Study

This approach may help us understand how Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) intervention produces beneficial effects, which in turn could help to predict long-term outcomes of ABA intervention, and may help to indicate which components of the intervention will be most beneficial for individual children.

Ongoing Recruitment

We will be recruiting children with and without ASDs, aged 6 to 14 years. To receive more information, please contact:

Toby Martin
tmartin@stamant.mb.ca
204.256.4301 ext. 5481

We look forward to seeing you there.

Project Title: A Screening Procedure for Problem Behavior Maintained by Automatic Reinforcement
Investigators: Drs. Javier Virués-Ortega and Toby L. Martin
Affiliations: St.Amant Research Centre and Department of Psychology, University of Manitoba

Introduction

Some individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities engage in problem behaviours to experience various forms of sensory stimulation. For instance, a child with autism may repeat persistently a particular arm movement, may switch on and off a light, or rock the upper part of his body. However, it can be hard to distinguish the influence of this motivation from that of other motivational sources (e.g., social attention).

Purpose

In the present study we will evaluate a brief assessment procedure that would determine as quickly as possible if problem behaviour were sensory-motivated. We’ll compare the results of this assessment with a more thorough procedure called functional analysis that considers a wider range of motivations.

Significance of Study

Finding the cause of problem behaviour is crucial for developing effective intervention plans to reduce the behaviour. If the results of our brief assessment and the full functional analysis are consistent, then the use of the brief procedure as a cost-effective method will be supported.

Ongoing Recruitment

We’re currently recruiting individuals of any age and an intellectual/developmental disability or autism who exhibit problem behaviour of unclear motivation. To receive more information, please contact:

Toby Martin
Manager, St.Amant Research Centre
256.4301 x5481
tmartin@stamant.mb.ca

Introduction

Our daily interactions require us to think about the thoughts and beliefs of other people. Researchers call this ability a “theory of mind” and have shown that it is linked to the development of social skills. We are currently conducting a study that examines theory of mind understanding in children with ASDs.

Researchers have traditionally tested theory of mind understanding in this population by asking the children to respond verbally to complex questions. New research, however, shows that typically-developing children demonstrate an improved theory of mind understanding when they are not required to verbally respond to questions but rather when their eye gaze is recorded.

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine whether children with ASDs can similarly show theory of mind understanding in a task where eye gaze is measured and verbal responses are not required.

In this study we assess children’s theory of mind understanding by recording their eye movements while they listen to a 2-minute story read by an experimenter and watch her turn pages in a picture book. The picture book depicts a situation where one character moves the other character’s apple. The experimenter simply reads the story without asking any questions of children. Two small video cameras record children’s attention to the pages in the story book while the experimenter reads the story aloud.

Next, we administer the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test to each child. Children are asked to point to one of four pictures that corresponds with each word from the test. While the vocabulary test is administered to the child, we ask parents to complete a short checklist concerning their child’s communication skills. The entire session takes 30 minutes to complete. Children can be seated on their parent’s lap during the entire session if they would like.

Significance of Study

The goal of this study is to obtain information relevant for helping children with ASDs to develop a theory of mind, and ultimately improve their social skills. Age-appropriate methods for measuring theory of mind in children with ASDs are a first step toward effective teaching.

Ongoing Recruitment

We are currently recruiting:

• Children who are between the ages of 2 and 7 years and who have a diagnosis of an ASD.
• Participating involves one 30-minute session and this session can be scheduled at a time of your choice. We can conduct your session either in your home (if you live in Winnipeg) or in our child-friendly lab at the University of Manitoba.

To receive more information, please contact:

Dr. Melanie Glenwright
Department of Psychology, University of Manitoba
glenwrig@cc.umanitoba.ca
204.474.9726