Training Adults With an Autism Spectrum Disorder to Conduct Discrete-Trial Training for Young Children With Autism: A Pilot Study

Abstract

We evaluated a behavioral skills training program for adults with autism spectrum disorder and mild or no intellectual disabilities who were interested in learning the skills used by behavior therapists to work with young children with autism and other developmental disabilities. Four adults, aged 21 to 30 years, participated. We trained each individually using verbal and written instructions, modeling, and role play with feedback to teach 2 basic skills to an adult who played the role of a young child with autism. We evaluated generalization of the discrete-trial training skills by having the participant (a) teach the adult confederate 2 additional targets that we had not included in training and (b) teach a new skill to a young child with autism. Results indicated that 3 of the 4 participants rapidly acquired discrete-trial training skills and that these skills generalized to new targets with the confederate adults and to teaching an actual child with autism.

Teaching social play skills to adults and children with autism as an approach to building rapport

“…These findings extend previous work on using BST to teach adults with ASD and no ID to implement behavioral procedures with children with ASD (Lerman et al, , ). Results demonstrated that BST was effective for teaching adults with ASD to implement a form of pivotal response training to improve social engagement of children with ASD within a play context.…”

“…Results demonstrated that BST was effective for teaching adults with ASD to implement a form of pivotal response training to improve social engagement of children with ASD within a play context. The format of the play sessions was less structured than that of the teaching sessions in Lerman et al (, 2015) and was intended to influence the quality of the interactions between the adult and the child (i.e., increase rapport). Results also suggested that training was responsible for changes in a potential simple measure of rapport (proximity of the child to the adult).…”

“…Immediately after the conclusion of the study, the adult participants were asked to complete a questionnaire that contained nine items. The questionnaire used a 6‐point rating scale that was correlated with how much they agreed or disagreed with nine statements (e.g., “I liked the methods used to train me,” “The feedback the trainer gave me was helpful,” “I would feel comfortable using these skills with children,” see Lerman et al, , for a complete list). The participants were told to fill out the questionnaire and provide additional comments at the end relating to training.…”

“…Recently, we evaluated the effectiveness of BST for individuals with ASD and no ID who expressed an interest in working as behavior technicians for children with ASD (Lerman, Hawkins, Hillman, Shireman, & Nissen, ; Lerman, Hawkins, Hoffman, & Caccavale, ). These initial studies demonstrated the efficacy of BST, which consisted of instructions, modeling, role play, and feedback, for teaching adults with ASD to implement discrete‐trial training (DTT) and a modified form of incidental teaching.…”

Training psychology interns to teach verbal and non-verbal repertoires in children with autism spectrum disorder

“…Barkaia, Stokes & Mikiashvili (2017) successfully trained psychologists to accurately implement the teaching of verbal operants to children with ASD, considering that the training of the professionals was conducted through videoconferences (internet-based training). Lerman et al (2013), Lerman et al (2015) and Shireman, Lerman & Hillman (2017) effectively taught university students with ASD, and without intellectual disabilities, to implement the teaching of basic skills, verbal repertoires, functional play behaviors and how to appropriately manage problem behaviors of children with ASD. Barboza et al (2015) assessed the effects of a variation of the modeling component of the BST.…”