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| Behavioral Training for Siblings of Children With Autism |
| Saturday, May 29, 2010 |
| 8:00 AM–11:00 AM |
| Presidio B (Grand Hyatt) |
| Area: AUT/VBC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| CE Instructor: Michael Weinberg, Ph.D. |
| JAMIE HUGHES (Summit Autism Services), KAREN E. FLOTKOETTER (Summit Autism Services) |
| Description: Young children with autism spend the majority of their time in the home and community environments. Siblings in these environments might well be able to support the social development of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Several researchers have examined the feasibility of using typically developing siblings to promote the skills, development, and participation of children with autism, with siblings most often filling a “teacher” role.
The participants in this study were four sibling pairs, with one child in each pair diagnosed with autism. All sessions were conducted in the children’s homes and/or community settings. The typically developing siblings observed the behavior analyst and child with autism during training sessions, and then were active participants in structured training sessions. In addition to the structured training sessions, the siblings were involved in various sessions conducted in the natural environment to promote the generalization of skills acquired.
Results indicated that the siblings learned to use the behavioral procedures at a proficient level, they used the procedures in a generalization setting, and there were observed improvements in the behavior of the children with autism. |
| Learning Objectives: The workshop has the following objectives:
1. To teach professionals working with siblings of children with ASD how to develop positive instructional control.
2. To teach professionals working with siblings of children with ASD how to structure situations so as to encourage desired behavior and avoid unwanted behavior.
3. To teach professionals working with siblings of children with ASD how to capture and/or contrive language development during play activities. |
| Activities: Participants will review video segments of four sibling dyads (children diagnosed with ASD at varying developmental levels) involved in the training sessions. Participants will also develop teaching plans to promote sibling interaction during structured sessions and during play and social activities. |
| Audience: Practitioners (e.g., BCBA, BCaBA, SLP, OT, special education teachers) who work with children diagnosed with ASD in applied settings. |
| Content Area: Practice |
| Instruction Level: Basic |