Machine learning and deep learning methods are becoming increasingly used in the understanding, identification, and improvement of the diagnosis and treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorder. People with ASD often exemplify challenging behaviors that can put their safety, education, and general quality of life at risk. Challenging behaviors are driven by one of four functions. The combination of common occurrences of challenging behaviors and their respective behavioral functions are unique to the individual and circumstance, and the most successful therapies account for both challenging behaviors and their respective functions. Therefore, it is important that research is done on these concepts to lead to improvements in therapy and outcomes.
In this thesis, we apply a cluster analysis to a sample of 1,416 individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder. The aim is to find groupings of patients based on the relative frequency of each unique challenging behavior and function pair. As the first machine learning study to focus on combining the behavioral functions and challenging behaviors of ASD, we find that there are some patterns to be found based on eight identified clusters. The results of the study could impact the way that treatment and therapy plans are paved for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
","abstract_html":"<p>Machine learning and deep learning methods are becoming increasingly used in the understanding, identification, and improvement of the diagnosis and treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorder. People with ASD often exemplify challenging behaviors that can put their safety, education, and general quality of life at risk. Challenging behaviors are driven by one of four functions. The combination of common occurrences of challenging behaviors and their respective behavioral functions are unique to the individual and circumstance, and the most successful therapies account for both challenging behaviors and their respective functions. Therefore, it is important that research is done on these concepts to lead to improvements in therapy and outcomes.</p> <p>In this thesis, we apply a cluster analysis to a sample of 1,416 individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder. The aim is to find groupings of patients based on the relative frequency of each unique challenging behavior and function pair. As the first machine learning study to focus on combining the behavioral functions and challenging behaviors of ASD, we find that there are some patterns to be found based on eight identified clusters. The results of the study could impact the way that treatment and therapy plans are paved for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Daskas, Emily"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science (MS)","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Computational and Data Sciences","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Erik Linstead","Rene German","Dennis Dixon"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2021,"date_issued":"2021-12-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2021-12-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:38:24Z","subjects":["Machine Learning","Unsupervised Learning","Autism","ASD","Functional Analysis","ML","Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and Equipment","Mental and Social Health"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/cads_theses/11","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Erik Linstead","Rene German","Dennis Dixon"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Daskas, Emily"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Computational and Data Sciences"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science (MS)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Machine Learning","Unsupervised Learning","Autism","ASD","Functional Analysis","ML","Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and Equipment","Mental and Social Health"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/cads_theses/11"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Machine learning and deep learning methods are becoming increasingly used in the understanding, identification, and improvement of the diagnosis and treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorder. People with ASD often exemplify challenging behaviors that can put their safety, education, and general quality of life at risk. Challenging behaviors are driven by one of four functions. The combination of common occurrences of challenging behaviors and their respective behavioral functions are unique to the individual and circumstance, and the most successful therapies account for both challenging behaviors and their respective functions. Therefore, it is important that research is done on these concepts to lead to improvements in therapy and outcomes.
In this thesis, we apply a cluster analysis to a sample of 1,416 individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder. The aim is to find groupings of patients based on the relative frequency of each unique challenging behavior and function pair. As the first machine learning study to focus on combining the behavioral functions and challenging behaviors of ASD, we find that there are some patterns to be found based on eight identified clusters. The results of the study could impact the way that treatment and therapy plans are paved for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
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In this thesis, we apply a cluster analysis to a sample of 1,416 individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder. The aim is to find groupings of patients based on the relative frequency of each unique challenging behavior and function pair. As the first machine learning study to focus on combining the behavioral functions and challenging behaviors of ASD, we find that there are some patterns to be found based on eight identified clusters. The results of the study could impact the way that treatment and therapy plans are paved for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/cads_theses/11"],"dc:source":["E. Daskas \"Identifying functional profiles of challenging behaviors in Autism Spectrum Disorder with unsupervised machine learning,\" M. S. thesis, Chapman University, Orange, CA, Year. https://doi.org/10.36837/chapman.000330"],"dc:subject":["Machine Learning","Unsupervised Learning","Autism","ASD","Functional Analysis","ML","Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and Equipment","Mental and Social Health"],"dc:title":["Identifying Functional Profiles of Challenging Behaviors in Autism Spectrum Disorder with Unsupervised Machine Learning"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Computational and Data Sciences"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science (MS)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:38:24Z"}