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| Advances in the Classroom: Assessment and Treatment of Skills Deficits |
| Sunday, May 30, 2010 |
| 1:30 PM–2:50 PM |
| 217D (CC) |
| Area: DDA/EDC; Domain: Applied Behavior Analysis |
| Chair: Brenda J. Bassingthwaite (University of Iowa Children's Hospital) |
| Discussant: Stephanie M. Peterson (Western Michigan University) |
| Abstract: Social skills, play skills, and attending skills are common areas of concern in the classroom setting among children with developmental disabilities. The focus of this symposium will be on highlighting assessment methodologies and intervention procedures aimed at increasing children's skills at school in these three critical areas. In the first talk, Berenice de la Cruz will present a study in which the authors examined the effects of a self-monitoring intervention package on sitting behaviors. In the second talk, Anuradha Dutt will describe a study in which she and colleagues evaluated factors influencing toy preference and toy manipulation among children with severe developmental disabilities. In the final talk, Christina Roantree will describe the novel use of functional analysis methodology to evaluate the inappropriate social-communicative interactions displayed by children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder. Stephanie Peterson will discuss the papers in terms of their strengths and limitations as well as directions for future work. |
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| Use of a Self-Monitoring Treatment Package to Support Teachers in Developing and Implementing Self-Monitoring Interventions |
| BERENICE DE LA CRUZ (PACED Behavior, LLC), Jeffrey S. Sigafoos (Victoria University of Wellington), David P. Wacker (University of Iowa) |
| Abstract: This study investigaged the effects of a self-monitoring intervention package on both teacher and student behavior in the classroom. The self-monitoring intervention package consisted of training teachers to use self-monitoring, providing feedback on the self-monitoring intervention developmed by the teacher, providing feedback to teachers while training the student to self-monitor, and providing feedback to teachers while they implemented the self-monitoring intervention in the classroom. During intervention, the researchers provided feedback to teachers to ensure that teachers were correctly instructing the students to self-monitor. Teachers then implemented the self-monitoring intervention without researcher feedback (monitoring). Teachers required very little to no feedback after the self-monitoring training, feedback on the self-monitoring intervention they developed, and student self-monitoring training. Rates of inappropriate sitting decreased for all students after the self-monitoring intervention was introduced, and the percentage of non-overlapping data metric values that the self-monitoring interventions were highly effective for three participants and effective for one participant. Some teachers and some students generalized the use of self-monitoring interventions to other activities, students, and target behaviors. Socially valid measures indicate that self-monitoring interventions for young children with developmental disabilities are socially important. |
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| The Effect of Skill Training on Preference With Children With Severe to Profound Multiple Disabilities |
| ANURADHA SALIL KUMAR DUTT (University of Iowa), Wendy K. Berg (University of Iowa), David P. Wacker (University of Iowa), Joel Eric Ringdahl (University of Iowa) |
| Abstract: A considerable amount of behavioral research has investigated means of identifying leisure and related preferences among individuals with varying degrees of developmental disabilities. However studies in this area have also reported difficulties in identifying preferred items for persons with severe to profound disabilities. One limitation of current preference assessment methodologies is that some individuals with severe to profound disabilities may not possess the skills to manipulate items during the assessment. The purpose of the current study is to evaluate two research questions. First, would differences in preferences be observed if children with severe to profound multiple disabilities were provided with items that required simple motor responses (i.e. pressing a button) as compared to more complex motor responses (i.e., twisting a dial, sliding a knob etc)? Second, would teaching children to perform more complex responses or skills required to play with items (e.g., twist dials, slide knobs) result in increased toy play during subsequent preference assessments? Graphic displays of data for two participants will be presented indicating changes in trends of preferences during preference assessments conducted before and after skill-training. |
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| An Analysis of Social-Communicative Interactions by Students With Autism Spectrum Disorder |
| CHRISTINA F. ROANTREE (Vanderbilt University), Craig H. Kennedy (Vanderbilt University) |
| Abstract: Analogue functional analysis methods were extended to identify the function of social-communicative interactions. Three participants with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) who also had inappropriate social-communicative interactions participated in the study. Five test conditions (escape-social, escape-task, attention-social requiring a social response, attention-social requiring a nonverbal response, and control condition) were conducted with each student with ASD and a previously unknown typically-developing peer. Results showed some instances of social-communicative behavior occurred to occasion or extend social interactions, while other instances served to avoid or terminate social interactions. Results suggest that analogue functional analysis methods may be useful in identifying the reinforcement contingencies maintaining social-communicative interactions for students with ASD. |
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