Teaching Joint Attention to Children with Autism Through A Sibling‐Mediated Behavioral Intervention

Abstract

Joint attention is pivotal to the development of complex social skills and language, and many individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders display deficits in this domain. Behavioral interventions targeting joint attention are evidenced to be effective in teaching these skills to young children with autism, but these treatments have traditionally been implemented by adults in structured settings. Concerns regarding the generalizability of skills acquired under such conditions have been raised. Four typically developing children were trained to implement a joint attention intervention to their siblings with autism in the home. Joint attention was measured pre-treatment and post-treatment during play sessions and during a structured, adult-mediated assessment to evaluate maintenance and generalization. Gains in responding to joint attention were observed for all four participants; gains in initiations were observed in three participants. Rates of imitation and behavioral requests also increased in structured and naturalistic settings. This study supports the efficacy of siblings as interventionists to target complex social skills in the natural environment. The implications of these findings for treatments targeting joint attention and for siblings as interventionists are discussed.

Effectiveness of Siblings-Delivered iPad Game Activities in Teaching Social Interaction Skills to Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

“…In the study, the social validity findings collected from the mothers for subjective evaluation revealed that their opinions regarding the social interaction skills were positive. The findings of this study show consistency with the findings of the previous studies in which behavior modification techniques (Celiberti & Harris, 1993), social interaction behaviors (Oppenheim-Leaf et al, 2012;Tsao & Odom, 2006), imitation skills (Walton & Ingersoll, 2012), and joint-attention skills in home environments (Ferraioli & Harris, 2011) were taught.…”

“…Taking into account the game choices of the participants and using iPad game stories as games made this study different from other studies. Game sets were used as teaching materials in other studies (Ferraioli & Harris, 2011;Oppenheim-Leaf et al, 2012;Walton & Ingersoll, 2012). Moreover, feedback in this study regarding the performance displayed by the participants has been presented differently when compared to other studies.…”

“…However, siblings have been intervention agents in only a few studies (Walton & Ingersoll, 2012). One of the main findings of many studies examining the quality of life for families of children with ASD has revealed that the social bonds between children with ASD and their siblings are inadequate (Ferraioli, & Harris, 2011;Walton, & Ingersoll, 2012). Children with ASD communicate less with their typically developing siblings.…”

“…Also, it was observed that there had been an increase in focusing attention and learning imitation skills in three of the four children with ASD who had participated in the study. A recent study on this subject has been carried out by Ferraioli and Harris (2011). It was training for an intervention program developed in regards to four typically developing children on how to teach their siblings with ASD how to respond to joint attention.…”

Voices from the past: Comparing the rapid prompting method and facilitated communication

“…Chen et al provide insufficient evidence to draw such a radical conclusion. Although unusual eye gaze behavior is well-documented in individuals with autism [22,23], a tremendous amount of research has demonstrated that joint attention, eye contact, and eye gaze abnormalities can be ameliorated with existing research-based interventions and improvements in these behaviors are, in fact, associated with improvements in communication, social skills, and other desirable outcomes [24][25][26].…”