Browsing by Subject "autismin kirjo"

Aim. Animal-assisted activities are continually increasing as one of the alternative interventions, but the research on this subject has been relatively limited. The purpose of the study was to find out what kind of animal-assisted activity could support the child's autism spectrum in contact ability and communication skills, and whether animal aided activities could be one of the support measures needed for special children, especially children with autism spectrum. The purpose was to analyze what possible means of communication and contact had arisen in everyday life. In addition, the aim was to consider which methods of animal assisted activities could be activities that support communication and interaction. From the symptoms of autism spectrum the study emphasizes particularly the challenges of communication and social relationships. Methods. The study was conducted as a qualitative study and the study material was collected by interviewing parents whose children of autism had participated in animal assisted activities. There were three interviews and interviews were conducted in theme interviews in January and February 2018. The theme interview was aimed at making the interview situation open for discussion. The research product was a phenomenological approach. The aim of the interview was to find out the experiences of the parents. The material was transcribed and analyzed by substance-driven content analysis. Results. The study found that child contact and interaction skills had increased at the same time as the initiation of animal assisted activities. The development had been partly slow, and children needed time for construct the bond with the animal. There weren’t animal-assisted activities that supported children more than another animal-assisted activities because the different children had benefited from different activities. While the research material was small, no generalizable conclusions could be drawn, but the material referred to the fact that animal-assisted activities had supported the child in communication skills and contact ability. In the future, it would be useful to continue research with a larger study material and, for example, by observing the child.

Pictures are used quite commonly in early education to support interaction and learning. However, my personal experiences about using pictures have been very variable. Moreover, there is just a little scientific knowledge about the subject. The aim of this research was to find out how pictures are used in part of a learning environment, a structured daily routine and an individual executive functions in integrated groups. Additionally, special needs kindergarten teachers’ interpretations of using pictures, the importance of using pictures in their work, and possibilities and challenges that they might see about the subject, were charted. The integrated groups were selected to my research because it is likely that pictures are used in groups that have children who have special needs. This research was qualitative. The research frame was a descriptive case study, and the data were gathered in three integrated groups that were located in the same area in Espoo. The methods that were chosen to gather the data were interviewing the special needs kindergarten teachers and observing the groups. In the data analysis, I used content analysis, where the data of the transcribed interviews and observation forms were divided and sorted by themes. Uppermost in the research results came up variety, quality and richness in using pictures in integrated groups and special needs kindergarten teachers’ positive attitude towards using pictures. Additionally, there also came up some challenges that had been experienced. It was interesting to see how consistent the teachers’ answers were. It came up that the same subjects were repeated in the issues concerning pictures. Naturally, there came up also some divergent opinions. Pictures were a big part of the learning environments, daily routines and executive functions in every group. Pictures were seen to benefit everyone, not just children who have special needs. The challenges in the future concern using pictures in part of daily routine in every kindergarten group, and supporting children’s social skills using pictures, especially when a child has problems in communication.