Graduation Year
2021
Date of Submission
5-2021
Document Type
Open Access Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Biology
Reader 1
Sarah Budischak
Reader 2
Sadie Otte
Abstract
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is an increasingly common developmental disorder that changes how people experience the world and affects individuals’ social interactions and often leads to many adverse behaviors. Current literature dictates that a primary contributor to these adverse behaviors is that those with ASD have difficulty determining their own emotional states and determining the physiological signals that their body sends them. A study by Dr. Sarabadani et al. determined that it was possible to monitor the physiology of an individual with ASD and correlate certain signals to emotions, such as stress. These findings indicate the feasibility of establishing a physiologically based approach to emotion recognition and could entail a technological solution to the problems that individuals with autism face. It is the goal of this project to determine the efficacy of utilizing a physiological approach to minimize the impact of the adverse behaviors through the implementation of relaxation techniques at key points when stress levels are rising. If the interventions are successful, we would expect to see a decrease in the amount of reported emotional outbursts which would be reflected by fewer spikes in the measured physiological responses. If the interventions are not successful, we would see little impact on the amount of outbursts and the number would remain relatively similar to before the study.
Recommended Citation
Mendez, Nicholas, "Viability of Physiologically Timed Relaxation Interventions in Children with ASD" (2021). CMC Senior Theses. 2613.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/2613
Included in
Applied Behavior Analysis Commons, Biological Psychology Commons, Child Psychology Commons, Medical Physiology Commons, Mental Disorders Commons
