Background: Adolescents and young adults on the autism spectrum are attending university in rapid... more Background: Adolescents and young adults on the autism spectrum are attending university in rapidly increasing numbers. While academically many excel, social and executive functioning challenges, as well as severe anxiety can impede their success. Preparing high school students in advance for the realities of university life, the academic expectations, the social challenges, and the many ways in which university differs from high school is crucial preparation for this transition. Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of a college preparation mentoring program for high school students with autism spectrum disorders. Methods: Forty-seven adolescents (39 Males, 8 females) between the ages of 16 and 22 years (average age: 18 years) participated in a 6-week college preparation mentoring program. Nine cohorts completed the program over a four year period. Program sessions were an hour once a week and participants met on a university campus with a current university student...
ABSTRACT Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) experience high levels of anxiety and d... more ABSTRACT Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) experience high levels of anxiety and difficulty with emotion regulation and self-control. Music has been shown to modulate moods and emotions and may be useful in mediating individuals’ physiological state. This study investigated whether listening to preferred self-selected music would have a significant physiological effect with regard to skin conductance responses, and also psychologically as measured by a self-report anxiety tool, among persons with ASD as compared to a matched control group. Results showed that participants with ASD were more responsive physiologically to their preferred music than those in the comparison group. They did not differ from controls in their responses to a piece of music previously demonstrated to induce feelings of relaxation among typical populations. Our findings indicate that persons with ASD are particularly responsive to the influence of music with regard to modulating their physiological state and this could potentially be a useful non-pharmacological tool for self-regulating emotional responses to stressors in their environment.
Background: Adolescents and young adults on the autism spectrum are attending university in rapid... more Background: Adolescents and young adults on the autism spectrum are attending university in rapidly increasing numbers. While academically many excel, social and executive functioning challenges, as well as severe anxiety can impede their success. Preparing high school students in advance for the realities of university life, the academic expectations, the social challenges, and the many ways in which university differs from high school is crucial preparation for this transition. Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of a college preparation mentoring program for high school students with autism spectrum disorders. Methods: Forty-seven adolescents (39 Males, 8 females) between the ages of 16 and 22 years (average age: 18 years) participated in a 6-week college preparation mentoring program. Nine cohorts completed the program over a four year period. Program sessions were an hour once a week and participants met on a university campus with a current university student...
ABSTRACT Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) experience high levels of anxiety and d... more ABSTRACT Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) experience high levels of anxiety and difficulty with emotion regulation and self-control. Music has been shown to modulate moods and emotions and may be useful in mediating individuals’ physiological state. This study investigated whether listening to preferred self-selected music would have a significant physiological effect with regard to skin conductance responses, and also psychologically as measured by a self-report anxiety tool, among persons with ASD as compared to a matched control group. Results showed that participants with ASD were more responsive physiologically to their preferred music than those in the comparison group. They did not differ from controls in their responses to a piece of music previously demonstrated to induce feelings of relaxation among typical populations. Our findings indicate that persons with ASD are particularly responsive to the influence of music with regard to modulating their physiological state and this could potentially be a useful non-pharmacological tool for self-regulating emotional responses to stressors in their environment.
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