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| Improving Social Interactions for Children with Autism Through the Use of Scripts and Script-fading Procedures |
| Sunday, May 24, 2009 |
| 1:30 PM–2:50 PM |
| North 125 |
| Area: AUT/DDA; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Brian J. Joergens (The Graduate Center/CUNY at Queens College) |
| Discussant: Sue Vener (New York Child Learning Institute) |
| Abstract: Autism is a disorder characterized by a deficit in social interaction skills. Scripts and script-fading procedures have been used to increase verbal interactions among individuals with autism. This symposium will present three studies in which scripts and script-fading procedures are used to improve the social interaction skills of children with autism. The first study used a multiple-baseline-across-participants design to evaluate the effects of scripts and a script-fading procedure on verbal interactions during a lunch period for children with autism. The second study examined the effects of a script-fading procedure on peer interactions for four-to-six year old children with autism in a multiple-baseline across-participants design. In both studies, introduction of scripts resulted in a systematic increase in social initiations. The third study examined the effects of a video-script-fading procedure on appropriate-affective components (head movement, facial expression, and vocal intonation) of social initiations for children with autism in a multiple-baseline-across-response-categories design. Results of this study indicate that introduction of a video-script resulted in a systematic increase of initiations with appropriate-affective components. These studies demonstrate that script and script-fading procedures can be tailored to address various social skill deficits of children with autism. |
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| Using Scripts and Script-Fading Procedures to Increase Peer Interactions during Lunch |
| TIFFANI HEWLIN (New York Child Learning Institute), Sue Vener (New York Child Learning Institute) |
| Abstract: Scripts and script-fading procedures have been shown to successfully increase verbal interactions among individuals with autism. In the present study, a multiple baseline experimental design across three youths with autism was used to evaluate the effects of scripts and script fading on the number of verbal interactions during lunch at school. This study also investigated the effects of scripts and script fading at school on the number of interactions in different locations (e.g. a diner; McDonalds; an Italian restaurant). During teaching written scripts were provided to each participant. Throughout teaching, scripts were faded from end to beginning, until all written cues were removed. The results show that prior to teaching, the participants did not engage in verbal exchanges in the school lunchroom or in different locations. Following the introduction of teaching, there was a systematic increase in the number of scripted and unscripted interactions across participants in the lunchroom. In addition, there was an increase in the number on interactions in the local diner, McDonalds, and an Italian restaurant. |
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| The Effect of a Script-Fading Procedure on Social Initiation and Novel Utterances among Young Children with Autism |
| ALISON WICHNICK (The Graduate Center/CUNY, New York Child Learning Institute), Colleen Keating (The New York Child Learning Institute), Sue Vener (New York Child Learning Institute), Claire L. Poulson (Queens College/CUNY) |
| Abstract: Autism is a disorder characterized by a deficit in social interaction skills. Initiation of social behavior is the focus of this study. Several studies provide evidence for the effectiveness of the script-fading procedure on improving the social initiation skills of those with autism. Nevertheless, there is little focus on peer initiation among young children with autism and on the production of novel utterances. The purpose of this study was to use toys with audiotaped scripts to evoke peer initiations among three young children with autism and to measure novel utterances. The three participants, ages 4, 5, and 6 years, showed deficits in peer initiation and tended to initiate to adults only. During baseline, the three participants emitted few, if any, initiations to one another. When toys with scripts were introduced, initiations systematically increased across the participants. Furthermore, as scripts were faded, novel initiations were emitted, thus demonstrating response generalization. Therefore, the script-fading procedure was an effective method for increasing and for producing novel peer initiations among young children with autism. This technology can improve the social skills of those with autism and can provide more opportunities to integrate with society, thus attenuating the characteristic social-skill deficit of this disorder. |
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| Using a Video-Script Fading Procedure to Teach Affective-Social Initiations to Children with Autism |
| BRIAN J. JOERGENS (The Graduate Center/CUNY at Queens College), Sue Vener (New York Child Learning Institute), Claire L. Poulson (Queens College/CUNY) |
| Abstract: A video-script-fading procedure embedded in a written activity schedule is being used to teach affective-social initiations to children with autism. The study is being conducted in a typical classroom setting for children with autism. Two male students are participating in this study. Measured dimensions of appropriate-affective initiations include: voice intonation, head movement, and facial expression in accordance with the category of the initiation. Three categories of affective-social initiations are being taught: excitement, commiserations, and compliments. A multiple-baseline-across-response-categories experimental design is being used in this study. During baseline, social scripts are presented on a pocket pc as written text and a picture of the instructor using an appropriate facial expression for the response category. During treatment, social scripts are resented on a pocket pc as written text with a video model depicting the instructor engaging in the social initiation while using appropriate facial expression, vocal intonation, and head movement. The results indicate that implementation of treatment has produced a systematic increase in the percent of initiations with appropriate affect components. Video-script fading is a promising treatment package for teaching complex social initiations to children with autism. |
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