A Case Study On The Development Of Social Ability Promoted By Self-consciousness Training In Children With Autism

Autism spectrum disorder is a kind of congenital mental development disorder(Autism for short),whose core symptoms are some defects in social interaction,communication and behavior(ritual or compulsive stereotyped action,narrow interests).The incidence of autism is increasing year by year,and the prognosis is not optimistic.Building up of self-consciousness is of positive significance to the individual’s social ability,and without doubt it is an important element for children to understand the outside world.The formation of autistic children’s self-awareness is impaired,which has a certain impact on their social intercourse,daily life and learning.Participants: Four autistic children(mean age 61.5 months,3 males and 1female)were selected from Chongqing Children’s Autism Rehabilitation treatment Center.Objective:Through self-consciousness training to improve the development of their social ability and help them better integrate into social life.Methods: This study was a cross-subject case study,using the experimental design of A-B-M.The research process was divided into three periods: baseline period,intervention period and maintenance period.In different period,PEP-3,CARS,theory of mind assessment and parents’ interviews were conducted among the four children.During the intervention period,the four children received systematic self-consciousness training for 3 months,4 months,4 months and 7 months respectively.The intervention included two major aspects: distinguishing physiological self and psychological self.The following contents were designed in thetraining: distinguishing self from other people’s body,distinguishing self from other people’s belongings,self-introduction,my wishes,my belongings and what am I doing.The intervention were conducted mainly through animation demonstration,human-computer interaction,one-to-one mentoring,peer participation,home training and so forth.During the maintenance period,the children were given three months of routine intervention,including music therapy,language ability training,social skills training,sensory integration function training and so on.Result: The scores of SRS scale of the 4 children declined in five dimensions at last: social consciousness,social cognition,social communication,social initiative,limited interests and repetitive behaviors.The total score of CARS scale decreased,and the number of task pass in theory of mind assessment increased.The PEP-3evaluation showed that there was an improvement in the dimension of mimicry,communication and language.At the same time,the symptoms of the 4 children were improved.Conclusion: Through systematic self-consciousness training,children’s communication skills,interaction skills and theory of mind abilities can be improved,which promotes the development of autistic children’s social communication ability effectively.