No abstract

Repetitive behavior and delays in communication are core deficits of autism spectrum disorder. As a result, individuals with autism often engage in repetitive verbal behavior, and they may not vary their verbal behavior, even when the situation demands it. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a script training and discrimination training procedure on mand variability in preschoolers with autism.Participants were taught to vary their vocal mands in the presence of written scripts, a green placemat, and Lag schedule of reinforcement. They were also taught to not vary their vocal mands in the presence of the same written scripts and a red placemat. When the scripts were removed, all three participants continued to engage in varied manding in the presence of the Lag schedule of reinforcement and the green placemat. All three participants also did not vary their mands in the presence of the red placemat. When the Lag schedule of reinforcement was removed, two participants continued to engage in varied responding in the presence of the green placemat and unvaried responding in the iv presence of the red placemat. One participant did not engage in varied responding when the Lag schedule of reinforcement was removed. However, when the Lag schedule of reinforcement was re-introduced, varied responding re-emerged. Finally, all three participants demonstrated mand variability during snack sessions when their peers were present, and they maintained their varied manding after a 2-week follow-up. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine whether or not three preschoolers with autism would engage in varied or repetitive requests, depending on the situation.Participants were taught to respond in varied or repetitive requests in the presence of green and red placemats, respectively. Written sentences were also available on each placemat to help participants engage in independent requests. When the written sentences were removed, all three participants continued to engage in varied requests in the presence of the green placemat and when reinforcement was provided for response variability; repetitive requests continued in the presence of the red placemat. Two out of three participants continued to engage in varied requests in the presence of the green placemat when reinforcement was provided for all responses, regardless of whether or not they were varied. Finally, all three participants engaged in varied requests during their typical preschool snack session, and they also continue to vary their requests after a 2-week follow-up. Our results indicate that preschoolers with autism can vary the way they make requests, depending on the context.

We used photographic activity schedules to increase the number of play activities completed by children with autism during unstructured time on the playground. All 3 participants engaged in more playground activities during and after training, and they continued to complete activities when novel photographs were introduced.

Linked activity schedules were used to establish appropriate game play in children with autism during a game of hide-and-seek. All 6 participants demonstrated acquisition of appropriate play skills in the presence of the activity schedules and maintained responding during subsequent phases. When the schedules were removed, responding decreased to baseline levels, demonstrating that the schedules controlled responding. Implications for future research on the use of activity schedules to teach social behavior are discussed.

Training parents of children with autism spectrum disorder can be a challenge due to limited resources, time, and money. Interactive computerized training (ICT)-a self-paced program that incorporates instructions, videos, and interactive questions-is one method professionals can use to disseminate trainings to broader populations. This study extends previous research on ICT by assessing the effect of ICT to teach three parents how to implement a photographic activity schedule using a systematic prompting procedure with their child. Following ICT, all parents increased their fidelity to implementation of an activity schedule during role-play sessions with an adult. Fidelity remained high during implementation with their child and maintained during a 2-week follow-up.

No abstract

Efficient and effective training strategies for paraprofessionals in special education settings face many challenges. Interactive computerized training (ICT)-a selfpaced program that incorporates audio narration, video models, interactive activities, and competency checks-is one potential solution. ICT has been successful in training college students and special education teachers to implement discrete trial instruction (DTI), but its effectiveness to train paraprofessionals is unknown. Using a multiple-baseline design, we evaluated the feasibility of ICT, to train six paraprofessionals to implement DTI with an errorless learning procedure. Following ICT, the fidelity of implementation of DTI increased for all participants when implemented with a student in their classroom; however, competency varied. We added additional training components that progressed from low to more intensive feedback delivered remotely in attempt to increase fidelity to 90% or higher implementation. We also evaluated generalization to novel instructional programs and maintenance of instruction in the absence of feedback.

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often have deficits in social skills and may avoid engaging in play activities with typically developing peers. The purpose of this study was to identify the utility of activity schedules, with embedded scripts, to teach three children with ASD to play a complex social game. Specifically, children with ASD were taught to play hide-and-seek with typically developing peers. Once the activity schedules were introduced, participants began engaging in independent hide-and-seek behaviors. A secondary purpose of this study was to systematically fade the activity schedules to the least intrusive version. We faded all of the scripts and the majority of activity schedule components for the three participants. Participants continued to play hide-and-seek with the faded versions of the schedules in a novel environment and 2 weeks after treatment concluded.