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Publications by Amy Harbison
Evidence-Based Communication Assessment and Intervention, 2014
ABSTRACT This review provides a summary and appraisal commentary on the treatment review by Kasar... more ABSTRACT This review provides a summary and appraisal commentary on the treatment review by Kasari, C., Kaiser, A., Goods, K., Nietfeld, J., Mathy, P., Landa, R., Murphy, S., & Almirall, D. (2014). Communication interventions for minimally-verbal children with autism: A sequential multiple assignment randomization trial. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 53, 635-646.
Evidence-Based Communication Assessment and Intervention, 2014
ABSTRACT This review provides a summary and appraisal commentary on the treatment review by Chen,... more ABSTRACT This review provides a summary and appraisal commentary on the treatment review by Chen, G. M., Yoder, K. J., Ganzel, B. L., Goodwin, M. S., & Belmonte, M. K. (2012). Harnessing repetitive behaviors to engage attention and learning in a novel therapy for autism: an exploratory analysis. Frontiers in Psychology, 3, 1–16.
Developmental Neurorehabilitation, 2013
Developmental Neurorehabilitation, 2013
This study compares intervention delivered by a therapist to intervention delivered using an iPad... more This study compares intervention delivered by a therapist to intervention delivered using an iPad for two children with autism. Further, this study evaluates the influence of choice between the conditions. Time on-task, challenging behaviour, session duration and correct responses were compared across conditions in an alternating treatment design. The effect of choice was evaluated in an ABAB design. The iPad was associated with shorter intervention sessions, more time on-task and less challenging behaviour for one participant. There was no difference between conditions for the second participant. Both participants selected the iPad when given the choice and, although the effect of choice was modest, choosing was associated with more time on-task and less challenging behaviour. These data suggest that iPad-assisted intervention can be as effective as therapist-implemented intervention. Further, even for children for whom no differences between the interventions exist, offering a choice may be beneficial.
Book Chapters by Amy Harbison
Conference Presentations by Amy Harbison
For children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the ability to use speech to communicate by age... more For children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the ability to use speech to communicate by age 6 predicts a number of desirable outcomes in adulthood, including employment, social relationships, and behavioral health. We conducted this study to examine the utility of a novel measure – child vocal contingency – to predict spoken language in children with ASD. Child vocal contingency refers to the degree to which children’s speech-like vocalizations are contingent on the immediately preceding event being adult speech. The automated data collection and analysis made possible by Language ENvironment Analysis (LENA) lends particular value to child vocal contingency as a putative predictor variable by minimizing the resources required to use large quantities of audio data. Our hypotheses were that child vocal contingency would positively correlate with later expressive vocabulary, as well as with speech-likeness of vocalizations, response to joint attention, consonant inventory, attention to child-directed speech, and parental responsivity, all of which have been linked to language abilities in children with ASD. We analyzed daylong audio recordings obtained with LENA’s wearable recording equipment for 33 preschool-age minimally verbal participants with ASD, and used sequential analysis to quantify the contingency between adult and following child vocalizations in a way that ist independent from their base -rates. This process yielded an index of child vocal contingency for each participant. We conducted a generalizability study on the child vocal contingency index, showing that this variable reached a stable estimate within two daylong recording sessions. The audio data we analyzed included two daylong recordings per participant for 88% (n = 29) of participants; the remaining participants had only one recording available.
There were no significant simple correlations between child vocal contingency and its hypothesized correlates. However, subsequent exploratory analysis revealed a significant concurrent correlation between child vocal contingency and speech-likeness of vocalizations that was moderated by motor imitation skills (R2-change = .325, p < .001). This might indicate that children with ASD who tend to both respond vocally to adult speech and imitate adult actions are able to use more speech-like vocalizations, a necessary component of communicative speech. Replication of this finding is needed.
• Important to spoken communication between two people • Deficit in reciprocity is a criterion fo... more • Important to spoken communication between two people • Deficit in reciprocity is a criterion for diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) • Little research available on vocal responsiveness of children with ASD 3/10/16
Papers by Amy Harbison
Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 2013
Evidence-Based Communication Assessment and Intervention, 2014
ABSTRACT This review provides a summary and appraisal commentary on the treatment review by Kasar... more ABSTRACT This review provides a summary and appraisal commentary on the treatment review by Kasari, C., Kaiser, A., Goods, K., Nietfeld, J., Mathy, P., Landa, R., Murphy, S., & Almirall, D. (2014). Communication interventions for minimally-verbal children with autism: A sequential multiple assignment randomization trial. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 53, 635-646.
Evidence-Based Communication Assessment and Intervention, 2014
ABSTRACT This review provides a summary and appraisal commentary on the treatment review by Chen,... more ABSTRACT This review provides a summary and appraisal commentary on the treatment review by Chen, G. M., Yoder, K. J., Ganzel, B. L., Goodwin, M. S., &amp; Belmonte, M. K. (2012). Harnessing repetitive behaviors to engage attention and learning in a novel therapy for autism: an exploratory analysis. Frontiers in Psychology, 3, 1–16.
Developmental Neurorehabilitation, 2013
Developmental Neurorehabilitation, 2013
This study compares intervention delivered by a therapist to intervention delivered using an iPad... more This study compares intervention delivered by a therapist to intervention delivered using an iPad for two children with autism. Further, this study evaluates the influence of choice between the conditions. Time on-task, challenging behaviour, session duration and correct responses were compared across conditions in an alternating treatment design. The effect of choice was evaluated in an ABAB design. The iPad was associated with shorter intervention sessions, more time on-task and less challenging behaviour for one participant. There was no difference between conditions for the second participant. Both participants selected the iPad when given the choice and, although the effect of choice was modest, choosing was associated with more time on-task and less challenging behaviour. These data suggest that iPad-assisted intervention can be as effective as therapist-implemented intervention. Further, even for children for whom no differences between the interventions exist, offering a choice may be beneficial.
For children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the ability to use speech to communicate by age... more For children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the ability to use speech to communicate by age 6 predicts a number of desirable outcomes in adulthood, including employment, social relationships, and behavioral health. We conducted this study to examine the utility of a novel measure – child vocal contingency – to predict spoken language in children with ASD. Child vocal contingency refers to the degree to which children’s speech-like vocalizations are contingent on the immediately preceding event being adult speech. The automated data collection and analysis made possible by Language ENvironment Analysis (LENA) lends particular value to child vocal contingency as a putative predictor variable by minimizing the resources required to use large quantities of audio data. Our hypotheses were that child vocal contingency would positively correlate with later expressive vocabulary, as well as with speech-likeness of vocalizations, response to joint attention, consonant inventory, attention to child-directed speech, and parental responsivity, all of which have been linked to language abilities in children with ASD. We analyzed daylong audio recordings obtained with LENA’s wearable recording equipment for 33 preschool-age minimally verbal participants with ASD, and used sequential analysis to quantify the contingency between adult and following child vocalizations in a way that ist independent from their base -rates. This process yielded an index of child vocal contingency for each participant. We conducted a generalizability study on the child vocal contingency index, showing that this variable reached a stable estimate within two daylong recording sessions. The audio data we analyzed included two daylong recordings per participant for 88% (n = 29) of participants; the remaining participants had only one recording available.
There were no significant simple correlations between child vocal contingency and its hypothesized correlates. However, subsequent exploratory analysis revealed a significant concurrent correlation between child vocal contingency and speech-likeness of vocalizations that was moderated by motor imitation skills (R2-change = .325, p < .001). This might indicate that children with ASD who tend to both respond vocally to adult speech and imitate adult actions are able to use more speech-like vocalizations, a necessary component of communicative speech. Replication of this finding is needed.
• Important to spoken communication between two people • Deficit in reciprocity is a criterion fo... more • Important to spoken communication between two people • Deficit in reciprocity is a criterion for diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) • Little research available on vocal responsiveness of children with ASD 3/10/16
Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 2013