Association for Behavior Analysis International

The intervention demonstrates the use of a Motivaider during multiple settings to prompt on-task behavior. CW is a 12-year-old boy and is diagnosed with pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). During baseline, data was collected by the observer during a 30-minute time period. The observer wore the Motivaider to complete data using 3-minute momentary time sampling to track the presence or absence of on-task behavior at the end of each interval. During the intervention training, the Motivaider was present so that the trainer and the participant could hear the vibration. At the end of the interval, the trainer would prompt the participant by saying, Are you doing what youre supposed to be doing right now? The trainer then used least-to-most prompting to teach appropriate responding. During intervention, data was collected using a 3-minute momentary time sampling procedure. Data regarding on-task versus off task behavior was collected during this phase as well as whether CW successfully self-redirects at the end of the 3-minute interval if he was off-task. The percentage of self-redirects within 10s are demonstrated in the attached graph as well as overall on-task behavior. Interobserver agreement (IOA) data was collected during 1 session during the intervention in the home at 100% agreement. Further IOA data will be taken as this study continues. At the time of submission, CW demonstrates significant progress regarding on-task behavior in the home environment and some progress regarding on-task behavior in the social studies setting. The trainer hopes to implement the same intervention training present in the home environment at the school setting to promote high rates of on-task behavior in another environment. Further implementation will also occur in other settings to demonstrate generalization across multiple settings.

The present investigation examined the relationship between parenting stress and sleep problems in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in South Korea. Forty-six parents with children with autism spectrum disorder participated in this research, and diagnosis of their children is as follows: 24 with autism, 4 with Asperger syndrome and 18 with PDD-NOS. Participants completed the Childs Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ) and Korean-Parenting Stress Index-Short Form (K-PSI-SF). Results revealed the positive correlation obtained between overall parenting stress and overall child sleep disturbance scores of CSHQ. Overall scores of parenting stress are also related to bedtime resistance and daytime sleepiness subscales in CSHQ. In subscales, the score of difficult child in K-PSI-SF was associated with bedtime resistance and daytime sleepiness in CSHQ. These results showed clearly that sleep problems of children with ASD contribute to the stresses of parent in South Korea. Findings suggest that behavioral treatments to modify settling problems and improve daytime functions of children with ASD would be helpful to alleviate stress of caregivers.

A single-subject, ABAB withdrawal design was used to increase on-task behavior, decrease negative statements, and decrease inappropriate help requests in an third grade male diagnosed with Autism. Class Wide Function-Based Intervention Teams (CW-FIT) is an evidence-based classroom management strategy that has been proven to increase desired behaviors in students who engage in disruptive classroom behavior (Wills, Kamps, Hansen, Conklin, Bellinger & Neaderhiser, 2010; Kamps, 2012). The classroom management strategy Class Wide Function-Related Intervention Teams (CW-FIT) was employed to teach to the target students attention-seeking behavior in the special education resource room. CW-FIT taught to the function of the students inappropriate behavior by teaching the student how to appropriately obtain his teachers attention and reinforce the student when he engaged in the appropriate replacement behaviors. Results indicate a successful intervention, that increased the students on-task behavior by a mean of 52%, decreased the students negative statements from a mean of 26 to a mean of 1 per instructional period, and decreased the students inappropriate help requests by a mean of 20.2 to a mean of 0.8 per instructional period.

The HANDS in Autism Interdisciplinary Training and Resource Center initiated an intensive week-long training for school personnel in 2005 to support active learning and knowledge transfer through implementation in a simulated classroom environment. The HANDS in Autism Summer Training program represents the original foundation and delivery format for the HANDS Model. Summer training is offered in one-week sessions three times each summer utilizing the HANDS Model comprehensive curriculum. The HANDS Model combines information on Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and empirically-based practices presented using didactic instruction, observation, modeling, hands-on practice, and coaching. Through practical experimentation, the composition of the training has evolved while still focusing on main components of the HANDS in Autism Model training curriculum such as structure/choreography, assessment, planning/intervention, academic, and social skills. A number of evaluation tools have been developed to evaluate this training each summer with regards to increases in participant knowledge, application of knowledge as well as satisfaction and later use of the strategies taught. In this poster, we will provide a systematic evaluation of the training progression, assessment of knowledge, participant outcomes, and further transfer of skills to their workplace, consider potential improvements, as well as offer recommendations on transportability and training replication.

Script-fading procedures have been used to increase the communication skills of children with autism (Krantz &McClannahan, 1993 and 1998 ; Sarokoff, Taylor and Poulson, 2001) The study was completed to evaluate the effects of a scripted conversation with a scripted fading procedure to teach children with autism to engage in conversational exchanges. The scripted conversation and scripted fading procedure were facilitated by the use of a tablet. Two school-age students with Autism participated in the study. They were both readers and attended regular school 5 mornings a week with the assistance of a trained therapist. The present study was implemented in the treatment center (in Paris, France). Informed consent from the students family was obtained. A multiple baseline across 3 sets of stimuli was used to assess the effects of a script-fading procedure to teach 2 children with autism to engage in conversation statements about the stimuli. Scripts were elaborated based on the following stimuli: 1) set of edibles; 2) set of toys; 3) set of school materials. Each participant had his own script, with 5 statements to each participant. When each participant read his script for six sessions, a five-step script-fading procedure was introduced (based on Krantz & McClannahan study of 1993). In Step 1, 25% of the words were faded from back to front; in Step 2, half of each sentence was faded; in Step 3, the stimuli and first letter of each line remained; in Step 4, the tablet was presented with the stimuli; and in Step 5, only the stimuli was presented. Baseline data was collected on two behaviors: number of scripted and unscripted statements made by each participant. Scripted statements were verbalizations that were identical to the written script. It was not necessary for the textual script to be present for a statement to be scored as scripted. Unscripted statements were unprompted statements not present in the script but related to the stimuli. Data were collected once a day, during 2-min sessions. Both students stated all the scripted statements, and unscripted statements also increased. Generalization was assessed with novel conversational partners. In summary, this study supports the work of script-fading procedures to promote language in children with autism and presents a discussion in how the use of a digital tablet can facilitate the implementation of these procedures.

Research targeting social skills in children with autism typically includes initiating social interactions as one response in a large class of social responses such as play, greetings, sharing, etc. Few studies have focused on teaching conversational initiations alone and in the context of a social event (e.g., snack). The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of using a time delay visual cue (various pictures of activities) and prompt delay on the acquisition of social initiations made within a 5 minute group snack time. A multi-element design was used to compare the training condition in which the visual cue and prompts were used with a baseline condition. During baseline, participants sat at a table with peers and were told, Its time for snack. No instructions or prompts to initiate were provided. Conversational initiations were scored as any comment or question directed at a peer or group of peers and required the use of a peers name, a general introductory statement (e.g., Hey everybody, guess what?), eye contact, or gaining peer attention in any way (e.g., saying Hey! tapping shoulder, etc). During baseline, conversational initiations were low and stable ranging from 0-2 for both participants. During training, every 30 seconds the instructor provides a visual cue, verbal prompts, and manual guidance to assist the participants in engaging in the conversational initiation. Initially reinforcement was provided for these prompted responses but was shifted to independent responses. For both participants, conversational initiations were higher during the training condition than during the baseline condition. In subsequent phases, prompts will be faded in the training condition using a time delay procedure.