Hello friends! Glad to see you back to view my weekly post about my first encounter with my SRP site! I had quite an interesting and knowledgeable time that I can't just keep it to myself, so prepare yourselves to get educated (or basically learn more about what happened on my first few days).
My first day, which was this Wednesday, was spent touring the SARRC facility. At first it seemed kind of small on the outside, but upon entering, the room seemed to widen and the amount of rooms filled each hallway. (Additionally, sorry for the lack of pictures of the building. I will find the time get all of them to provide some visual aid of the facility.)
Upon entering, I met no one initially (being a half an hour early to my site may have influenced that problem). My on-site mentor had previously emailed me to meet with a man by the name of Stephen James, in order to have a little tour and background of the area. Unknowingly, we both acknowledged each other at the front of the door and moved on, clueless of each other's presence. After the hilarious exchange, Dr. James showed me around the building, where I saw training rooms and offices around each hallway.
One of the coolest areas outside the facility is the garden and mini chicken farm behind the main building. Not only was it cool to witness such a bountiful array of greens, but it was neat to learn that these gardens were used to help people with autism develop social skills (and gardening skills of course) to adapt in the real world. SARRC does this by hiring some people with autism as interns to help grow the garden, which they later use as produce to support local farmers.
After the tour, Dr. James gave me instructions on one of my main duties that I can help with at SARRC. In my neat new "personal" office (I'm unsure if it's truly mine, but I'll assume it is.), he showed me the screening forms used to help diagnose whether a child was having problems in certain areas of cognitive development. This was called the CSBS DP Infant-Toddle Checklist (which is the Communication and Symbolic Behavior Scales and Development Profile), and was used to give an indication of a child's mental development. For my job, I had to input certain information of each child on an Excel spreadsheet so that we can keep a database of all the patients that come in and out of our building as well as contact their parents if necessary. Additionally, I had some real-world experience by contacting some of the parents and confirming appointments via telephones, which was very scary at first (and i failed the first few time) but I moved pass my phone anxiety eventually.
Here is my super cool office (maybe):
On my second day at my site, as I continued my intern duties at SARRC, Dr. James kindly allowed me to watch a session with a child, where they monitored the eye movement of a little girl to indicate where her focus draws to. This is important because, on a case study done at UC San Diego, scientists observed that children with autism tend to center their focus on repetitive patterns, like a ceiling fan rotating, which may be used to help indicate early signs of autism. By displaying two videos, one with a symmetrical pattern and one with children playing, the eye sensors can monitor where the child's eyes are focused on. As I stood and watch the events unfold, I became increasingly fascinated in the ways SARRC attempts to find quicker ways to diagnose their patients.
As the two days progressed so quickly, I became increasingly motivated to continue the rest of my project. Though I may have to tweak some of my proposal's methodology, I'm glad to add some new knowledge into my SRP blog. Thank you guys for tuning into my first week on my site! I hope you follow me more in my adventure in figuring out the puzzle that is autism. Bye!
That sounds like an eventful week. Getting to watch kids and knowing how they test is probably going to help you when you apply your own proposals. I found it interesting with the garden because that sounds like a productive and useful way to teach. I would have never considered it. Will you just be observing or will you interact with one of the kids? Do you already have specifics about your proposal methodologies? When will you be able to try one of your methods? I think you have a great background already and I can't wait to hear more about your experience.
ReplyDeleteHi Olivia! Yes, it was quite an eventful week if I do say so myself. I did really find the implementation of a garden for the autistic adults was a fantastic idea to help teach them to become more social with other peers.
DeleteAs for your question, the overlying issue is that I won't be able to interact with the kids personally during their training sessions. The most I can do is observe these sessions or video recordings of them. The reason I might need to change my methodology a bit is because tracking a child's improvement over time takes a course of years to show any indication of success, which I don't have. I will have to ask my advisers and teachers of what generally works, and ask for access to older cases where certain methods worker better than others. So once I get this information, I will be able to try them out as soon as possible.
Thanks for commenting again Olivia! Hope you stay tuned for my next post. Bye!
Hi Robert. Did you see any dinosaurs on your journey to the center of SARRC? Anyways, using the symmetrical pattern and the children playing as a diagnostic tool is really interesting, but isn't it possible that a child without autism watches the symmetrical video? Is this just the uncertainty inherently part of diagnosing autism?
ReplyDeleteHi Maurice! I'm glad you asked because there were a lot of dinosaurs at the play area for the kids. It was quite overwhelming actually.
DeleteFor your question, this was SARRC's implementation of a study done at UC San Diego, which proved to have some correlation with eye movement and potential cognitive development. But yes, it is true that a child may just want to look at the symmetrical shapes more than the children playing, but as I said before, this only gives us a slight indication if they may have low mental development, which can lead to autism. There will always be this uncertainty with diagnosing autism but that always come with diseases that have no known cure, so the diagnosis may not be definitive.
Thanks for the comment Maurice! I hope you stay tuned for more on my research in the future. Bye!
Wow, Robert, it sounds like you've had a great first week! I can't wait to see more pictures of the place (especially the mini chicken farm!). I loved reading about your first exchange with Dr. James as that probably would've been me as well had I been in your shoes. I also find it so cool that SARRC hires autistic interns to help work the farm! Piggybacking slightly on Maurice's question, are there other ways to test for early signs of autism? How has the accuracy of these tests been proven (by just seeing whether a child develops autism after being tested)? Happy SRP-ing!
ReplyDeleteHi Kiri! Yes, I will always be this awkward when meeting strangers, and that's just a fact. And SARRC's mini farm was quite a surprise when I first found it. I will make sure to take more pictures (mostly of the chickens).
DeleteAs for your question, one of the most common tests (not really a test but a survey) is the CSBS DP questionnaire answered by the parents. It's a survey that the parents answer about their children, which give early indication of whether your child may be at risk of autism. This survey has questions that ask parents about certain developmental stages that they should have been hit a certain ages of their lives, and if they don't meet the scoring criteria, they might be referred to SARRC if wanted.
One actual test, other than the survey, was one that I saw on the videos I had to transfer in a computer for storage (because they document their sessions at times). My advisers called it the "Mullen Scales of Early Learning." This is a test that that monitors a child's level of engagement with certain cognitive tasks. I haven't seen the whole video because most of it took forever to download into the computer, and I was afraid to access it because the computer might crash, which apparently happens on occasion. If it takes about a hour and a half to download about ten videos, I rather not risk watching the video, but I'll be sure to refer back to this question in my next post.
Thanks Kiri for the questions! Hope you stay tuned for more in the future. Bye!
Robert, it is interesting to read about the beginning of your project. I am curious about what areas appear on the cognitive development checklist. I would also like to know what might be changed about your methodology.
ReplyDeleteHi Mr. Witz! Thank you for commenting on my post! I am happy to see that you're interested in my project.
DeleteFor the CSCBS DP checklist, there are three distinct categories that the survey is trying to test: the Communication Composite, Expressive Speech, and Symbolic Composite. In each section, depending on a child's age, the scoring criteria may be different for each category. There is a separate paper that has the scoring criteria for the different ages, so if, for example, the patient is 6 months old, a concerning score would be 0 to 7 in Social, 0 to 1 in Speech, and 0 to 2 in Symbolic. If in the future I can post the checklist online on my next post, I will, but I need confirmation from my advisers first.
My methodology might change because mental growth in a child will not occur in a matter of a few months. I talked to my advisers and they told me that it requires 6 months to a year to notice any actual changes, but small changes may occur in between. I might have to refer back to early tests in their SARRC database for old clients in order to get the information I need. So most my research will be based on the observations I see during the sessions, the questions I ask the experienced teachers, and the many previous cases of mental improvement among children in their database.
I hope I answered your questions fully! Thanks for commenting Mr. Witz. I hope you stay tuned for more information in the future. Bye!
Robert, the focusing on patterns method is really interesting...is there a psychological reasoning behind why kids are drawn to patterns? I look forward to finding out what other methods can be used to detect autism in its early stages.
ReplyDeleteHi Fajr! I found the idea of repetitive patterns a very interesting early indication for autism. But that is where your question may be answered.
DeleteIn many case studies, even the one done in UC San Diego, say that children with autism often engage in repetitive behaviors like the movement of a ceiling fan or the spinning of car wheel. Though in the case study I was given about this topic had some positive correlation between autism and the child's preferable focus, the study described it as a "novel and easily detectable early signature" for autism, but not one that is definitive.
Thanks for the question Fajr! I hope you stay tuned for more in the future. Bye!
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ReplyDeleteHey Robert!
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to hear that SARRC hires some people with autism as interns to help with their gardens, but I was wondering, does SARRC provide more jobs other than that? Also, with the information of early signs of autism that you mentioned could be found with the person's tendency to look at repetitious patterns, how is that information being used, besides as a way to diagnose one with autism?
Thank you for your time, and I'm looking forward to read more into your project!
Hi Sachin! Welcome to my blog! I'm glad you're taking interest in my project, and I hope you obtain some valuable knowledge for the future.
DeleteAt SARRC, other than the garden, they also allow autistic adults to work at cafes called Beneficial Beans Café, which is an organization set on giving work experience and valuable social skills to these adults with autism. Since I'm relatively new here, I'm unsure of the other potential programs at SARRC, but I will make sure to go and provide more information to your question.
Thanks again Sachin for your question! I hope you stay for more in the future. Bye!
Hi Robert. Your project has gotten off to a really interesting start! I swear the senior project is just teaching us that office buildings are basically TARDISes (eww haven't tried to write the plural of that before) because my site was way bigger than it looked from the outside also. This may be a little off topic, but the garden section really intrigued me. How does the gardening help facilitate social skills and have they had much success with that? Looking forward to the rest of your posts!
ReplyDeleteHi Sarah! Glad your back! I've never used the word TARDIS before in any form of writing, so this a first for that. Additionally, your question is not off topic at all; it's something that interested me as well.
DeleteDuring these gardening sessions, these interns with autism are surrounded by peers that share similar drawbacks as they do as well as people their age that don't have autism. This is kind of like the Peer Network System that is used for kids in order to facilitate normal social behaviors from other children. Through this big social group, they can collectively learn from each other and develop a better social awareness to others. Whether they had success in this project, I'm not exactly sure, but from what I can tell by how proud they are of this project it must be a success.
Thank you Sarah for commenting on my post! Hope you stay to hear more from my project. Bye!
Hello! This sounds like a cool project. How do you think schools might be able to make use of the techniques SARRC is using (like the garden) to help children with autism gain social skills? I realize this may be kind of a hard question to throw at you in your second week of the project, I am just curious if they mentioned how their techniques can be used by others!
ReplyDeleteHave fun!
Hi Serena! I'm glad you think that my project is interesting.
DeleteAs for your question, schools don't really have to use a garden to help children gain these social skills . Basically, the most important aspect of what makes the garden effective is the social group it creates for these people with autism. It is important that in schools we create a support group (or club) with children with autism, and provide fun events (or activities) that promote social awareness like drawing club or film club(idk).
I don't know if that answered your question, but I'm glad that you commented on my post. I hope you stay tuned for more information in the future. Bye!
Hi Robert!
ReplyDeleteYour project seems like it is off to a great start. You talked a bit they ways that SARRC tries to find quicker ways to diagnose their patients. What are the ways the use? Also is SARRC a diagnosis or a treatment center?
Hi Mary! Thank you for commenting on my post!
DeleteI'm a little unsure about your first question, but I think you want to know more about the methods used to get a faster diagnosis. Well, it's important to get a background of the child's mental development and behavior, which the CSBS checklist is good for, marking the stages of development that a child may lack or not. Afterwards, a child can be tested via the Mullen test that I saw on video when I was transferring the data into their computers. This is a series of little tests that challenge a child's particular cognitive and mental skills, which is important in determining if a child has deficiency in some sort of development, which may constitute in autism. SARRC is both meant for research and treatment, which makes early diagnosis important as well as resources to help the patients in the future.
Thanks for the questions Mary! Hope you stay tuned for more in the future. Bye!
Hey Robert. It is very interesting to hear how these new early diagnoses are being developed and tested. My cousin, who is 22, has severe autism and I was curious if SARRC uses others who have autism for research into how to reach earlier diagnoses. Also, how specific is the checklist? Is it a general checklist for warning signs or more definitive?
ReplyDeleteHello friend! Thanks for commenting on my blog!
DeleteSARRC primarily uses children to find earlier diagnosis for autism because it allows them to detect the early signs during their mental and behavioral development, which can be used as a resource for other parents that worry about their children. But, adults or teenagers are welcome at SARRC. There are a lot of programs and training sessions built to help the clients with autism to better assimilate into the world, and feel more confident with who they are.
As for the CSBS checklist, it's basically a list of the major stepping stones in a child's development. If you've taken AP Psychology or plan to take the class, you will learn about the stages of cognitive development in children and the indications of those changes. I will make sure to post one up for everyone to see in the future.
Thanks for looking at my blog! I hope you stay tuned for more in the future. Bye!
Hey Robert you project is very good so far. I though it was interesting that kids with autism center their attention to repetitive patterns. I can't wait to hear about your new methodology.
ReplyDeleteThanks Joanna! I definitely though the study they did at UC San Diego was really interesting. I want to read more on it later to better understand the experiment. I'm working on my methodology as of now, but will post it in the future. Thanks again for the comment!
DeleteHey Robert. Your week looks quite eventful, and already studying children on the second day is awesome. I am, however, left wondering what most of your day is occupied by, even though it has only been two days.
ReplyDeleteHi William! My week was quite eventful. I never thought I would be doing so many things already in my first week. But I'm not complaining because it's actually fun.
DeleteSince I've been an intern at SARRC, I've had the privilege to view diagnostic sessions and actually take food from the staff lounge. But, I've also done the labor intensive part of being an intern. In the morning, I organize the CSBS forms full of clients as well as input the children that are referred to SARRC on a spreadsheet. I make calls to parents to confirm appointments and provide instructions on what the should bring on their first meeting. I can give you a list of more, but that would seem too overwhelming.
Thanks for commenting again William! I hope you stay tuned for more in the future. Bye!
Wow - your own office! Now that is exciting. I am also very excited to hear that you are getting over your phone anxiety. I remember at one of my first jobs when I had to cold call and I was extremely nervous as well. Thankfully, with time, it gets easier. What is your interaction with the patients going to be like and what is the primary age group you will be interacting with?
ReplyDeleteI look forward to seeing more pictures of your project.
Hi Ms. Conner! Glad to finally talk to you again! But yes, the whole calling parents on the phone makes me nervous, but I can pull through (eventually).
DeleteAs for your question, I've so far observed the eye tracking diagnosis multiple times already, watching the sensors track where the child's eyes tend to focus on. I haven't gone into any sessions yet until I've gotten notarized because I haven't gotten that done. But I will be able to in the future I believe. And for the targeted age group, it seems the patients coming in are primarily children between 0-4 years, but that's only for now.
Thanks again for replying Ms. Conner! Hope you stay for more information on my project in the future. Bye!