SOCIAL COGNITION IN ADOLESCENTS WITH ASD
Study Sample
Parents have great influences in their children social cognition. For this reason, the eligible participants for this study include adolescents diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD), age 16- 23 years and together with their parents or the primary caregiver (Hartley, Schaidle, & Burnson, 2013; Loukas et al., 2015). The inclusion criteria for participants included the ability to communicate in English, and the adolescent is diagnosed with ASD.
Participant recruitment will take place at the community clinical settings. Emails requesting for participation will be sent to the adolescent’s parents/ caregivers diagnosed with ASD. The email will include the project’s description in detail, including the benefits and risks associated with their participation. The parents who are interested in participating will be requested respond to the email and will be contacted for official recruitment processes including the signing of the informed consent
Sample collection is an integral part of research design as it determines whether the research hypothesis will be appropriately tested. Therefore, it is important to establish a balance between an ideal sample and a convenient (Kandalaft et al., 2013). At the commencement of the study, the available study sample is estimated at ten pairs of participants, that is ten adolescents diagnosed with ASD and ten parents/caregivers of the adolescents diagnosed with ASD. However, due to unavoidable circumstances, the study sample may slightly less than the estimated number.
The study sample will be pretested using questionnaires to evaluate the adolescent’s social cognition ability at the baseline. This will be followed by the proposed intervention (training for adolescents and their parents for 15 weeks). After 15 weeks, a post-test and a focus group discussion will be performed to determine the impact of the intervention and to understand the challenges adolescent’s experiences during the transition.
References
Hartley, S. L., Schaidle, E. M., & Burnson, C. F. (2013). Parental Attributions for the Behavior Problems of Children and Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorders. Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics : JDBP, 34(9), 651–660. http://doi.org/10.1097/01.DBP.0000437725.39459.a0
Kandalaft, M. R., Didehbani, N., Krawczyk, D. C., Allen, T. T., & Chapman, S. B. (2013). Virtual Reality Social Cognition Training for Young Adults with High-Functioning Autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 43(1), 34–44. http://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-012-1544-6
Loukas, K. M., Raymond, L., Perron, A. R., McHarg, L. A., & LaCroix Doe, T. C. (2015). Occupational transformation: Parental influence and social cognition of young adults with autism. Work, 50(3), 457-463.
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