Tony Brown

Coping strategies in mothers and fathers of preschool and school-age children with autism:

Despite the theoretical and demonstrated empirical significance of parental coping strategies for the wellbeing of families of children with disabilities, relatively little research has focused explicitly on coping in mothers and fathers of children with autism. In the present study, 89 parents of preschool children and 46 parents of school-age children completed a measure of the strategies they used to cope with the stresses of raising their child with autism. Factor analysis revealed four reliable coping dimensions: active avoidance coping, problem-focused coping, positive coping, and religious/denial coping. Further data analysis suggested gender differences on the first two of these dimensions but no reliable evidence that parental coping varied with the age of the child with autism. Associations were also found between coping strategies and parental stress and mental health. Practical implications are considered including reducing reliance on avoidance coping and increasing the use of positive coping strategies.

Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention: Outcomes for Children With Autism and their Parents after Two Years.

An intervention group (n=23) of preschool children with autism was identified on the basis of parent preference for early intensive behavioral intervention and a comparison group (n=21) identified as receiving treatment as usual. Prospective assessment was undertaken before treatment, after 1 year of treatment, and again after 2 years. Groups did not differ on assessments at baseline but after 2 years, robust differences favoring intensive behavioral intervention were observed on measures of intelligence, language, daily living skills, positive social behavior, and a statistical measure of best outcome for individual children. Measures of parental well-being, obtained at the same three time points, produced no evidence that behavioral intervention created increased problems for either mothers or fathers of children receiving it.

Coping Strategies and the Impact of Challenging Behaviors on Special Educators' Burnout

Although challenging behaviors have been identified as a source of staff stress, few researchers have directly addressed this relationship. In the present study, 55 teachers and support staff in special schools for children with mental retardation completed questionnaires assessing burnout, coping strategies for challenging behavior, and their exposure to challenging behavior. Results showed that (a) use of maladaptive coping strategies for challenging behaviors constitutes a risk for staff burnout, (b) this risk is in addition to that associated with exposure to challenging behavior, and (c) use of maladaptive coping strategies moderated the impact of exposure to challenging behaviors on emotional exhaustion burnout. Implications for future research and for the support of staff working with individuals who have challenging behaviors are discussed.

Functional Assessment and Challenging Behaviors: Some Future Directions.

Behavior analysts have had a significant impact on the analysis and intervention of challenging behaviors in persons with developmental disabilities. These successes are celebrated in the first part of this article. In the remainder of the article, we present a selective discussion of three issues that we hope will help to further stimulate work with challenging behaviors: (a) the development of challenging behaviors, (b) the role of rule-governance in challenging behavior, and (c) the behavior of persons (mediators) who directly apply functional assessment and intervention technologies. Each of these issues is discussed and implications are drawn for future reseach and practice in the field. In drawing some conclusions, we focus on the internal and external validity of functional assessment and interventions.

Exploration of Psychometric Properties of the Developmental Behavior Checklist

The Developmental Behavior Checklist (DBC; Einfeld & Tonge, 1995) is one of a very small number of psychopathology assessment instruments designed specifically for use with children and adolescents with mental retardation. In the present study, a factor analysis of the DBC was performed using a sample of 531 children and adolescents. This analysis revealed a factor structure sharing a good deal of overlap with the factor analyses of the DBCs developers. Furthermore, the high levels of internal consistency of the DBC subscales were replicated. Further research and development is needed on the DBC and other instruments for children and adolescents with mental retardation.

Divisions of floodplain space and sites on riverine 'islands': functional, ritual, social, or liminal places?

Abstract Studies of floodplain evolution in NW Europe have shown that multiple-channel systems, braided or anastomosing, were far more common in the past than today with riverine islands and islets being a frequent component of lowland landscapes. Archaeological studies on floodplains, such as the Nene and Thames, have revealed prehistoric, particularly Bronze Age sites, which appear to have been located on islands. This raises the question; is the association coincidental and hence without cultural meaning, functional, ritual and/or the manifestation of some social division of space. At first sight riverine islands would seem to be functionally disadvantageous - difficult or at least inconvenient for people to reach, and prone to flooding. It is also difficult to find many resource-based arguments (although there are some) which cannot be satisfied by more accessible riverside or even floodplain edge locations. However, islands have ritual or societal advantages for precisely these reasons; access is restricted and landuse can be controlled (i.e. grazing can be restricted). The land may also be free of proprietorial, familial, or other claims but still part of a socially constructed image of nature. Riverine islands easily fulfil the definition of liminal spaces - but liminal spaces within and defined by occupied space and thus central rather than peripheral. In the historical period they have continued to function as special places: locations for :treaty signing, illegal activities, monuments and high status burials. In the Late Bronze Age into the Iron Age the emergence of a water cult, which may be related to changes in flood magnitude and frequency, can be seen as an another aspect of the cultural importance of such special places. This paper argues that the location of a site on a riverine (or lake) island can never be coincidental, due to its functional disadvantages, and can rarely be explained by access to resources, instead such a location must have meaning in ritual and societal terms and have been conceived as being qualitatively different from the rest of the landscape.

Floodplain landscapes and archaeology: fluvial events and human agency

Abstract Floodplains and palaeochannels are constructed by a series of events, floods; archaeology can also be seen as a series of events and the large-scale processes of cultural change constituted by many small-scale or individual actions. Floodplains are generally narrow, dry and penetrate the landscape; they are rarely marginal and cannot be decontextualised from society. The ability to generate small-scale, and closely dated, data distinguishes floodplain wetlands from mires and lakes. Technological developments in geoprospection, dating and environmental indicators are pushing this high resolution approach. Examples of fluvial and archaeological events from East Midland floodplains will be used to explore this trend. In future, periods of environmental change or disjuncture should be targeted with questions of intentionality and human agency. Only by this approach can the bigger questions such as the role of fluvial change in cultural transformations be approached in a non-deterministic manner.

Hydrological Assessment of Star Carr and the Hertford Catchment, Yorkshire, UK

Abstract The survival of one of Europes most important Mesolithic sites, Star Carr, has been threatened owing to recent changes in its hydrology and associated changes in groundwater geochemistry. Before this study it was unclear what was controlling these changes, but possible causes were changes in precipitation regime (notably the frequency of drought), changes in groundwater abstraction, recent agricultural drainage or a combination of these factors. This paper evaluates the hydrology of Star Carr and its environs within the River Hertford sub-catchment of the River Derwent. Available hydrological data (precipitation, evapotranspiration, river flow and groundwater levels) were collated and used to characterise the River Hertford catchment and provide a hydrological and hydrogeological context for the site. The data were augmented by the insertion of 12 dipwells into the site which were used for both site monitoring and model testing. The monitoring included water abstraction for isotopic analyses (δ2H v δ18O). Two modelling approaches were undertaken: firstly, calculation of the Palmer Hydrological Drought Index (PHDI); and secondly, development of a three layer, finite difference groundwater model of the site using Modflow. The results strongly suggest that hydrological changes at Star Carr have not been caused by changes in precipitation patterns, although the water flowing through the site is largely of meteoric (rainfall) origin. Groundwater abstraction has also not had any impact upon the site. However, results from the groundwater model suggest that the dominant factor has been the insertion of under-drainage, which has lowered the water-table by >0.5 m into the archaeologically sensitive zone. The study reported here shows how high the sensitivity of a small wetland can be to local land management practices, and, significantly, illustrates how a hydrological assessment of wetland archaeological sites can be made even without a history of on-site monitoring.

A computer simulation paradigm for self-injurious behaviour

A relatively small number of people with intellectual disabilities appear to be at risk of offending (Murphy & Mason 1999). However, those who repeatedly break the law may attract the label of psychopathic personality disorder (PPD). A review of the literature revealed there has been little research investigating the diagnosis of PPD in people with an intellectual disability. The purpose of the present research was to develop our understanding of the disorder in people with intellectual disability. Using a structured interview, 20 consultant psychiatrists in intellectual disabilities in a region of south-east England were asked their opinions about psychopathic disorder in general and how it applies to people with an intellectual disability. In particular, they were asked about the prevalence and diagnosis of PPD in people with intellectual disabilities, difficulties associated with making the diagnosis, and how services currently managed people with an intellectual disability and a diagnosis of PPD. The findings and recommendations from this work are presented.The present paper reports on the evaluation of a UK project to provide employment support services for people with intellectual disabilities. The study involved 18 participants, and focused on individual and service outcomes. The investigation was concerned with assessing how such services contribute to the development of a supportive network in the workplace. Supported employees’ social networks were mapped in terms of structural properties (e.g. size and membership) as well as supportive behaviours (e.g. companionship and confiding). The evaluation gathered qualitative and quantitative data at two points in time: at the beginning of the placement and a year later. The data set was used to determine whether placements resulted in social integration and whether changes were moderated by individual standards of living. The implications for the planning and development of employment services for people with intellectual disabilities are examined.The present paper reports the methodology and findings of a 2-year collaborative study, led by the Tizard Centre, between the Universities of Kent and Durham, and the London School of Economics, and funded by the Department of Health. The research examined the outcomes and costs of community care for approximately 200 people with intellectual disabilities in 12 different services in England. Building on previous longitudinal evaluations at 1 (time 2) and 5 years (time 3) after discharge from a long-stay hospital, the paper reports 10-year (time 4) outcomes and costs, including different group characteristics, and their relationships with outcomes and costs. The key trends in outcomes and costs between times 1, 2, 3 and 4, and the relationships between costs and outcomes over time are also reported. Important issues for the planning and development of intellectual disability services, such as ageing, changing needs, and residential outcomes and types, are included in the analysis, along with opportunities to compare different models of community care.

Exploring the Role of Empathy in Understanding the Social-Cognitive Profile for Individuals Referred for Autism Spectrum Disorders Assessment in Adulthood

This study explored the social-cognitive profile of 173 adults referred for an autism assessment. We considered key dimensional traits (autism, empathy and systemising) to understand social cognition in adults diagnosed with an autism spectrum condition compared with those who were referred for, but did not receive a diagnosis. There were no significant social cognitive differences between groups on measures of emotion recognition and social inference. Adults with a confirmed diagnosis, however, reported fewer empathising traits which were positively associated with social-cognitive understanding. Empathising partially mediated the relationship between diagnostic group and social-cognition. Lower empathising traits in individuals diagnosed in adulthood may be important in understanding challenges with social adaptability. The findings have implications for assessment and highlight the role of empathy in developing social understanding in autism.