{"id":1741,"date":"2022-08-30T00:15:30","date_gmt":"2022-08-30T00:15:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/idsc.miami.edu\/magazine\/?p=1741"},"modified":"2023-01-03T20:36:14","modified_gmt":"2023-01-03T20:36:14","slug":"researchers-collaborate-with-idsc-on-innovative-study-on-autism-spectrum-disorder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/idsc.miami.edu\/magazine\/researchers-collaborate-with-idsc-on-innovative-study-on-autism-spectrum-disorder\/","title":{"rendered":"Researchers Collaborate with IDSC on Innovative Study on Autism Spectrum Disorder"},"content":{"rendered":"

How do young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) interact with their peers and teachers in a preschool classroom? Do they stand around in isolation on the playground or spend time with their friends? What strategies can teachers use to provide support for children with language or social developmental issues in an inclusive classroom?<\/p>\n

\"DanielA new study led by two psychology professors in the College of Arts & Sciences<\/a><\/span>\u2014in collaboration with the Institute for Data Science and Computing (IDSC)\u2014aims to shed light on these important questions.<\/p>\n

\u201cChildren\u2019s social and language development is shaped by real-time interactions with peers and adults,\u201d said Daniel Messinger<\/strong>, PhD, Professor of Psychology<\/a><\/span>, Pediatrics<\/span><\/a>, Electrical & Computer Engineering<\/a><\/span>, and Music Engineering Technology<\/a><\/span>; IDSC Social and Behavioral Data Science<\/a><\/span> Director; Coordinator, Developmental Psychology<\/a><\/span> program; and Research Director, Linda Ray Intervention Center<\/a><\/span>. \u201cYet we have little understanding of the interactive processes in the preschool classroom and playground. Likewise, it is not clear how variation in children\u2019s social interaction and language abilities\u2014such as the deficits associated with ASD\u2014affect these interactions.\u201d<\/p>\n

An NSF-Funded Study<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Messinger is the principal investigator (PI) for the three-year study, \u201cObjective Measurement of Naturalistic Interaction and Early Social Networks<\/strong>,\u201d<\/strong> funded by a $799,000 grant from the National Science Foundation<\/a><\/span> (NSF). \u201cOur project uses computational modeling of real-time-continuous observations of child and teacher interactions to illustrate the development of social networks and their role in shaping children\u2019s language abilities,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"LynnLynn K. Perry<\/strong>, PhD, Associate Professor of Psychology, is the co-PI for the study, which will begin this fall in 12 Miami-Dade County School District preschool classrooms<\/a><\/span>. \u201cOur study will capitalize on our community\u2019s multi-ethnic and multi-racial population, providing insights into developmental processes in a diverse sample of 150 children age 3 to 5,\u201d said Perry. \u201cOur research team will go into each classroom one day per month, record the interactions and see how they change over the school year. We will also meet regularly with teachers, parents, and administrators at project preschools to present the research and receive feedback.\u201d<\/p>\n

Data Collection and Computational Models<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Messinger and Perry will take an innovative approach to observing and recording the interactions of preschool children and their teachers. \u201cTechnological advances now allow for the objective mapping of children\u2019s and teachers\u2019 movements,\u201d said Messinger, who has been fitting preschool students and teachers with vests containing RFID sensors<\/strong> in a wide range of studies over the past five years. The recorders will also capture the frequency of child and adult speech and index its complexity to provide clues to language development.<\/p>\n

\u201cNeither teachers nor observers can see or hear all the children in the classroom at the same time,\u201d Messinger said. \u201cThis automated approach allows us to determine how close the kids are to each other and which direction they are oriented, telling us a great deal about their social interactions in general.\u201d<\/p>\n

The audio-visual recording and location tracking will produce enormous quantities of digital data, which will be stored on IDSC servers, said Messinger. \u201cWe will use machine learning algorithms and open source software to identify speakers and quantify their vocalizations,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Drawing on IDSC\u2019s Advanced Computing<\/a><\/span> resources, Messinger and Perry will develop models of location and interpersonal orientation to indicate when children with ASD and their peers are in social contact with other children and teachers. They will also build multilevel predictive models to illustrate the interactive flow of classroom speech.<\/p>\n

To better understand how interactive deficits and language difficulties affect interaction in different settings, the social networks of children with and without ASD will be compared in both classroom and<\/em> playground contexts, added Perry. As part of the study, the team will complete standardized assessments of receptive (understanding) and expressive (speaking) language for all students, including preschoolers who meet Federal criteria for ASD services<\/a><\/span>, Perry said.<\/p>\n

Making an Impact<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Messinger and Perry are looking forward to advancing understanding of preschoolers\u2019 language and social development. \u201cEducating children with ASD in inclusive classrooms is a national standard,\u201d said Perry. \u201cWe hope that our findings suggest clear and simple strategies, such as fostering peer social contact and conversations, that teachers can use in real time to support children\u2019s social and language development.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How do young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) interact with their peers and teachers in a preschool classroom? Do they stand around in isolation on the playground or spend time with their friends? What strategies can teachers use to provide support for children with language or social developmental issues in an inclusive classroom?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1504,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[502,685],"tags":[686,597,595,690,408,688,689,687],"class_list":["post-1741","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-grants","category-social-and-behavioral-data-science","tag-autism-spectrum-disorder","tag-daniel-messinger","tag-lynn-k-perry","tag-miami-dade-county-school-district","tag-national-science-foundation","tag-preschool-children","tag-rfid-sensors","tag-social-and-behavioral-data-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/idsc.miami.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1741","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/idsc.miami.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/idsc.miami.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idsc.miami.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idsc.miami.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1741"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/idsc.miami.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1741\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1765,"href":"https:\/\/idsc.miami.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1741\/revisions\/1765"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/idsc.miami.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1741"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idsc.miami.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1741"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idsc.miami.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1741"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}