A review of 22 empirical studies examining the use of constant (CTD) and progressive (PTD) time delay procedures employed with children with autism frames an indirect analysis of the demographic, procedural, methodological, and outcome parameters of existing research. None of the previous manuscripts compared the two response prompting procedures. This review suggests that the effectiveness of the two procedures is similar on some variables. However, the CTD procedure resulted in more errors to criterion, a greater magnitude of procedural modifications, and in a delayed moment of transfer of stimulus control than in the PTD studies. Conclusions may influence clinical and educational practices and indicate a need for research.

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This manuscript briefly examines minority participation within the school population that is eligible for special education services -namely, African Americans in the United States and the Roma population in Romania. A large percentage of students from both minorities come to school unprepared to learn and they remain behind because of the simultaneous action of several factors, such as family values, material support for child education, evaluation team members' and teachers' perceptions and expectations, insufficient student and parent guidance, and institutional racial/ethnic discrimination. Children coming from minority groups, and from low-socio-economic-status families, are more likely to be identified as having special needs in both the United States and Romania.

Purpose Empathy is part of what makes us human and humane, and it has become a core component of the Social Awareness competency of Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) (CASEL, 2019). SEL fosters the understanding of others’ emotions, is the basis of Theory of Mind skills and frames the development of empathy. The purpose of this paper is to trace the links between empathy development and social and emotional learning when using real versus virtual environments. Empathy is a uniquely human emotion facilitated by abstract thinking and language. Virtual play is a teaching tool for acquiring prosocial behaviors. And finally, human-mediated (traditional and virtual) play is most favorable for SEL growth. Recognition of emotions such as empathy and other socio-communication skills have been taught to children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Therefore, technology can be a venue for acquiring empathy. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses a qualitative interpretive methodology to advocate for the use of technology with human mediation to teach Social and Emotional Learning skills, based on the premise that cognitive and social-emotional development occurs synergistically and mediated by speech and interaction with the environment. Findings Technology is best seen as an instrument of assessing and teaching socio-emotional skills, but not as the only means to an end, because what makes us human can only be taught within an ecology of human interaction in real-life situations. Originality/value This paper reviews previous research works (both empirical and theoretical) that bring to light the connection between socio-emotional development, specifically empathy development, and virtual environments.