Although much research has documented the benefits to children with autism of early intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI), little has focused on the impact of EIBI on families. Using a semi-structured format, we interviewed 53 parents whose children had received 2 years of EIBI to obtain detailed first person accounts of the perceived benefits and pitfalls of running a home program, and the impact of EIBI on family life and support systems. In general, parents were positive about EIBI, its benefits for them, their child, and the broader family. Interviews also, however, revealed some of the more challenging aspects of managing home-based EIBI. The implications of these findings for more supportive interventions for families on home programs are discussed.

The authors report 1-year outcomes for 11 children (3-7 years) with autism who attended an "Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) classroom" educational intervention in a mainstream school setting. The children learned new skills by the end of 1 year and learned additional skills during a 2nd year. Group analysis of standardized test outcomes (IQ and adaptive behavior) showed moderate to large effect size changes over 1 year, with further changes during a 2nd year. Standardized test outcomes for nine children after 2 years were also analyzed against a comparison group (n = 18) of children with autism receiving "education as usual." These controlled comparisons were associated with statistically significant large effects in favor of the ABA group for adaptive skills. Exploratory analysis also showed that increases in language and learning skills in the ABA class group were generally associated with positive changes in standardized test scores. A comprehensive behavioral intervention model can be successfully implemented in a mainstream school setting.

A number of studies have demonstrated positive outcomes for typical learners from the internet-based reading program, MimioSprout W Early Reading (MER). In the present study, a preliminary evaluation of MER was conducted with four children with autism who attended an applied behavior analysis educational program in a school setting. The primary aim was to investigate whether it would be feasible to use MER with children with autism and whether any adaptations to the standard teaching procedure would be needed. A secondary aim was to investigate whether completing MER would improve early reading skills. When additional discrete-trial table top activities were designed to supplement each child's progress, every child was able to complete all 80 lessons and showed similar correct performance to that reported for typically developing learners. Results from a standardized test of reading ability showed an improvement in word recognition reading age for all children from 14 months to more than three years over the 14 weeks of teaching. A follow-up test showed that gains were maintained eight weeks after the end of the intervention. MER can be successfully used with children with autism and can improve their early reading skills.There has been considerable interest in the use of applied behavior analysis (ABA) methods as a comprehensive early intervention model for children with autism in home and center-based or school-based settings. Recent systematic reviews and meta-analyses suggest positive outcome data, especially for cognitive, language, and adaptive skills (e.g., Eldevik et al., 2009Eldevik et al., , 2010Reichow, 2012). In addition to a focus on social, language and other adaptive skills, ameliorating academic skill deficits is often a component of ABA programs. A total of 67% of children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have been classified as learning disabled due largely to deficits in the acquisition of specific academic skills (e.g., Dickerson Mayes &

No abstract

No abstract

Research evaluating phonics reading programs for children with severe intellectual disabilities (ID) is limited. The current study investigated whether using an online reading program (Headsprout â Early Reading; HER) as supplementary reading instruction for children with a severe ID leads to improvements in reading skills as compared to children not receiving this additional instruction. Fifty-five children from a special school were randomly allocated into the HER group or a waiting list control group. For six months, children in the intervention group received HER as supplementary instruction, whereas children in the control group received only reading as usual' teaching. Pre-and post-intervention tests on standardised reading measures were conducted. Analysis of data from outcome measures indicated that the HER group made improvements at post-intervention in comparison with the control group, with medium effect sizes on two domains from the main outcome measure. These results support the case for a larger research trial of HER for children with severe ID.This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

A comprehensive review of the literature was conducted to identify current practice on teaching science to students with intellectual disability (ID) and/or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in relation to two review questions—students' science outcomes and students' and teachers' experiences of the interventions. Six databases related to education, psychology, and science were systematically searched. A detailed protocol can be viewed on PROSPERO (registration number: CRD42017057323). Thirty studies were identified that reported on science interventions and 20 on student/teacher experiences of the interventions. The majority of the studies targeted science vocabulary and concepts. Other targets included inquiry skills and comprehension skills. The majority of the interventions used components of systematic instruction (n = 23). Five studies focused on self‐directed learning and two on comprehension‐based instruction. Students and teachers reported positive experiences of the interventions. The findings suggest that components of systematic instruction in particular might be effective in teaching science content to students with ID and/or ASD. Further research is needed to explore the effectiveness of identified interventions on teaching more complex science skills and with students with severe disabilities. Some limitations related to the search strategy are highlighted.

Teaching mathematics to children with autism is an area with limited research evidence. In this study we developed a teaching manual based on Maths Recovery, a numeracy programme designed for typically developing children. Six children with autism participated in the study and received daily numeracy teaching over a 20-week period. Our aims were to explore whether Maths Recovery can be used as a numeracy curriculum for children with autism and to evaluate the progress the children make after a period of intensive teaching. Using a pre-test post-test design we found that the adapted Maths Recovery numeracy curriculum was successfully incorporated within each child's individualised teaching programme, and that all six children improved their mathematical ability over the course of the intervention. Our data show promising results and support the rationale for larger evaluation studies.