Background Staff with varying backgrounds and educational qualifications can be effectively trained to implement procedures in line with evidence‐based practice. Behavioural skills training (BST) is a competency‐based training model used to effectively educate a broad selection of professionals, including front line staff, in a range of work‐related skills. However, BST has yet to be evaluated in a large group‐based experiment. Methods This study involved a parallel cluster randomised control trial. Six service sites, with a total of 54 participants, were randomised to the intervention condition using the ‘coin toss’ method. The intervention condition used BST to coach intellectual disability staff in reinforcement, systematic prompting, functional communication training and task analysis. Six service sites, with a total of 50 participants, were also randomised to a control condition in which generalised training in behavioural interventions was restricted. Recruited service sites were randomly assigned to the intervention condition (N = 6, n = 54) or the control condition (N = 6, n = 50) at one point in time, immediately after recruitment and before baseline testing took place. Allocations were stratified by service type (residential or day) and geographical region. One member of the research team allocated service sites using the ‘coin toss’ method, and another member, blind to the allocations, decided which experimental arm would receive the intervention and which would be designated as control. It was not possible to mask the intervention from participants, but they were recruited prior to randomisation. Results Participants in the intervention condition demonstrated statistically significant improvements in their knowledge scores over the study period. Participants in the control condition showed no change or a statistically significant decrease in their knowledge scores. No statistically significant changes to well‐being were observed for either group. There was clear evidence of knowledge maintenance, as well as skill acquisition and subsequent generalisation to the workplace environment, among participants in the intervention condition. Participants also evaluated the BST intervention positively. Conclusions Results support BST as a method for disseminating evidence‐based practice to front line staff working with adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

No abstract

We evaluated the effects of systematic prompting plus reinforcement on listeners' independent responses to peer mands and on speakers' peer-directed mands using the picture exchange communication system (PECS) in two studies. In Study 1, three PECS users with a diagnosis of autism were trained to direct PECS exchanges toward peers, whereas in Study 2, three peers with autism were taught to accept a PECS card, select the requested item from an array of three items, and place it in front of their peer. Study 1 showed an increase in peer PECS mands that generalized to novel trained peers for all participants. Results of Study 2 demonstrated an increase in correct independent responses to PECS exchange for all participants, a response that readily generalized across peers and settings for two out of three participants. These results suggest that this intervention protocol may be an effective way to increase interactions between peers with autism.

Improving quality of life (QOL) is often provided as a rationale for the provision of behavioral interventions designed to reduce a person with disabilities' dependence on others (e.g., teach daily-living skills) and improve their autonomy (e.g., increase communication and choicemaking). Although QOL can be conceptualized in myriad ways, a person's emotional state (e.g., happiness), can also influences their QOL. The current review provides an original examination of the literature involving mood as a dependent variable in behavioral interventions for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). specify SSRD?. Twenty-nine SSED* studies were identified through systematic searches and evaluated in relation to the following variables: (a) participant and setting characteristics; (b) experimental design; (c) approach to mood assessment; (d) intervention procedures, and; (e) intervention effects on mood. Included studies were also evaluated on the National Autism Center's Scientific Merit Rating Scale (2009), which to determined the experimental rigor of the procedures. ?????. Results suggest that behavioral interventions can be successfully used to improve the mood of individuals with ASD, and that observable indices of mood should be more often measured in behavioral intervention research, particularly when improved QOL is a stated goal of intervention. Limitations of the current research base are discussed and suggestions for future studies incorporating measures of mood in ASD populations are offered.