Group‐based behavioral skills training to promote effective instruction delivery for children with autism spectrum disorder

Abstract

Children with autism spectrum disorder are at increased risk for noncompliance with parent instructions and subsequent disruptive behaviors. Effective instruction delivery is an antecedent‐based strategy designed to prevent noncompliance with parent instructions and given its components, may be especially useful for promoting compliance in children with autism. However, long wait times for behavioral parent training could lead to increased severity of behavioral difficulties prior to receiving services. The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of group‐based behavioral skills training for increasing effective instruction delivery with their children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. Results indicated improved use of effective instruction delivery with concomitant improvements in children's response to parent instructions. Results, implications, and future directions are discussed.

Generalization and maintenance of caregivers' effective instruction delivery following group behavioral skills training

“…Given the value of social validity, additional data about the acceptability of group-based BST for parents was also collected to inform future practices to best meet families' needs. This study served as a systematic replication and extension of LaBrot et al (2020bLaBrot et al ( , 2021 this study took place in a mid-sized conference room located at the clinic that was approximately 10 m by 12 m and contained one large table, approximately 10 chairs, a countertop with a computer, and a projector and screen. Direct behavioral observation data were collected in clinic rooms, which were approximately 8 m by 8 m with a small table, two to four chairs, and cupboards containing various play items.…”

“…(3) examples of each EID components (e.g., "Brad, look at me please" for requesting eye contact), and (4) one example and non-example of EID implementation (LaBrot et al, 2020b(LaBrot et al, , 2021.…”

“…A handout that outlined the steps of EID was created by the research team also served as written instructions to provide to caregivers. The handout included EID components with two examples of the correct use of EID (LaBrot et al, 2020b(LaBrot et al, , 2021.…”

“…Despite these studies demonstrating initial effectiveness of group-based BST for improving parents' use of EID, there are limitations that warrant discussion. First, although both studies collected data on parents' EID maintenance, length of data collection varied from 1 to 6 weeks (LaBrot et al, 2020b(LaBrot et al, , 2021. As such, future research is needed to continue to evaluate the extent to which parents' accurate use of EID maintain over greater and more consistent lengths of time.…”

“…As such, future research is needed to continue to evaluate the extent to which parents' accurate use of EID maintain over greater and more consistent lengths of time. Second, neither study collected data to determine the extent to which parents generalized their use of EID outside the clinic setting (LaBrot et al, 2020b(LaBrot et al, , 2021. Therefore, additional research is needed to determine if group-based BST facilitates generalization of parents' skills outside of the training setting.…”