Association for Behavior Analysis International

Conference Program Committee Chair Travis Thompson will introduce Jennifer Zarcone, who will introduce the presenters of the workshops.

3. Use the Natural Language Paradigm as a procedure for parents to use.

The current study uses a multiple baseline single subject design to investigate the efficacy of a response restriction intervention paired with sensory exercises for reducing aggressive behavior in a 4-year-old boy diagnosed with autistic disorder. Baseline data, collected for three weeks, demonstrated that the participant engaged in significant aggressive behavior toward peers, therapists, and family members on a daily basis. These behaviors included pinching, hitting, and biting. The response restriction intervention consisted of using child-sized socks as "mittens" as a hand time-out after each incident of aggressive behavior to function as sensory extinction. The additional sensory intervention consisted of routine sensory exercises completed every 30-60 minutes (variable dependent on setting). The results indicated that these two interventions were effective at reducing aggressive behaviors for this child. Future research should focus on further investigation of the functions of aggressive behavior in children with autism, as well as the efficacy and ease of implementation of response restriction as a treatment for aggression.

This study investigated the effectiveness of video self-modeling (VSM) for eliminating the public undressing of two elementary-aged students with autism (Sota and Kohei) during urination. During baseline, Sota pulled his pants down to the ankles and Kohei pulled his pants down to the knees. After the VSM was implemented, Sota regulated the position of his pants on the knees or just below the buttocks in five out of 10 VSM sessions. However, he never put his buttocks in the pants during the four weeks. In contrast, Kohei put his buttocks in the pants during urination immediately after the VSM was implemented. For Sota, a modified VSM intervention was implemented. In this video, it looked as if Sota's hero, tyrannosaurus, stood next to him urinating with the buttocks covered by his pants. To develop the video, the researcher videotaped a realistic figure of tyrannosaurus with its buttocks covered by the pants with a blue background. The image was then placed on top of the original self-modeling video, removing the blue screen by the Chroma Key technique. Sota put his buttocks in the pants immediately after implementing the modified VSM.

iPads have lately received considerable attention in the media as "miracle devices" when they've been used to support the needs of children with autism. The iPad's portable nature and social acceptability have led to parents and teachers downloading and trying iPad-based apps by the thousands in hopes that one or more will help their children with autism. There is a relative lack of research, however, regarding the effectiveness of these types of supports. This study targeted one popular AAC iPad application for examination regarding any relevant difference in communicative behavior without versus with an iPad and the AAC application. Ten children with autism participated in this research from one school exclusively serving children with autism in the northeastern United States. While individual results varied, overall results indicated that instances of any and all communication did not significantly increase between baseline and iPad AAC use periods however instances of "manding" did increase significantly at the alpha<.05 level.

The purpose of this study was to replicate the work of Lucyshyn et al. (2011) and Binnendyk (2009) by investigating the survivability (i.e., effectiveness, acceptability, sustainability, and durability) of an intervention based upon an ecological, family-centered positive behavior support (PBS) approach to assessment and intervention. The approach integrates child behavior, parent-child interaction, and family activity settings into an ecological unit of analysis aimed at improving child behavior, parent-child relationships, and promoting meaningful changes in the functioning of the family. One family of a child with autism and problem behavior participated in the study. Two home-based family routines, eating dinner and drinking from a cup, were defined in collaboration with the family and and targeted for assessment and intervention. A quasi-experimental, multiple baseline design across two family routines was used to evaluate the association between implementation of the intervention and child behavior. Sequential analysis methods were used to examine the presence and transformation of coercive parent-child interaction into constructive parent-child interaction in the context of valued family routines across baseline and intervention conditions. Multiple baseline design results across the two family routines documented substantial improvements at the point of intervention in child problem behavior and routine steps successfully completed in both eating dinner and drinking from a cup. These improvements were maintained up to 8 months post-intervention. Sequential analysis results offer robust, categorical evidence of the transformation of coercive processes of parent-child interaction into constructive processes of interaction following implementation of the intervention. Social validity and goodness-of-fit results indicated that the intervention was acceptable and contextually appropriate within the ecology of the family. A high level of parent implementation fidelity was sustained across the intervention and follow-up phases. Despite positive outcomes, meaningful improvements in family functioning were not reported. Implications include the value of: (a) assessing coercive processes of parent-child interaction; (b) assessing and intervening within family activity settings; and (c) assessing family ecology and providing adjunctive, family-centered supports.

The use of tablet computers in schools has recently been proliferating due to affordable costs and ease of use. Applications for augmented communication have been particularly popular in the education of children with autism who present limited expressive communication skills. Teaching young children with autism to use the tablet device may be one challenge, but once this has been accomplished, learners need to learn how to use the device as their voice for both initiating communicative interactions with others as well as responding to communicative interactions from others. The present study describes the impact of using behavioral teaching methods including shaping and differential reinforcement to teach a 7-year-old boy with autism to use a tablet computer to utilize a voice-output communication application to spontaneously initiate requests and to label and respond verbally to others appropriately. Implications for using the tablet for additional noncommunicative functions will also be discussed. The study entails the use of archival data from an instructional intervention for a young child with autism that was conducted in an in-home program utilizing teaching methods consistent with applied behavior analysis to describe a method of instruction and the learner's response to that instruction.

School-wide positive behavior support (SWPBS) applies learning principles to entire student populations to prevent or reduce problems by focusing on clear definitions of positive behavior in various school settings and applying positive reinforcement to "catch kids being good". Though SWPBS research is a collection of clinical studies with few single subject or group design studies, it shows SWPBS can reduce overall office daily referrals/ODRs (e.g., Horner, Sugai, Smolkowski, Eber, Nakasato, Todd & Esperanza, 2009). The extent to which SWPBS can effect these changes in students having disabilities has yet to be clearly addressed. We first present an empirical review of SWPBS literature between 1997 and 2011. Few published studies have reported data for students with disabilities and none has specifically addressed students with autism. The second part presents pilot data from two rural school systems. Students with disabilities have increased risk for moderate to high ODR levels. Preliminary data from one school that has implemented SWPBS for four years shows inclusion of students in SWPBS reinforcement system is variable, though students with autism, intellectual disabilities, other health impairments and learning disabilities have received relatively high rates of positive reinforcement. Implications for future research and application of SWPBS are discussed.

The Illinois Autism Training and Technical Assistance Project (IATTAP) is a technical assistance center of the Illinois State Board of Education focused on supporting children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and their families. Throughout seven years, IATTAP provided support to more than 200 families with children with ASD throughout Illinois through its Focus Family Support for Autism Spectrum Disorders (FFSASD) process, a combination of positive behavior supports and family-centered planning. Families were enrolled in the SIMEO (Systematic Information Management of Educational Outcomes) online evaluation system for extensive tracking of demographic, educational and behavioral outcomes. This session will provide information and data to support the efficacy of FFSASD. This program employs an applied evaluation method emphasizing user friendly, data-driven decision-making to improve outcomes for families with children with ASD. Continued findings from the repeated measures applied evaluation process are presented and how these data are used to drive decision-making and change with families. Findings are presented for an 81-family cohort with complete baseline and at least two additional complete evaluation assessments over at least six months. FY 2012 IATTAP evaluation findings include: 1) Increase in classroom, home and community functioning, 2) Decrease in individual family stressors, and 3) Increase in family quality of life.

Lang et al. (2009) in their pilot study and again in their follow-up study (Lang et al., 2010) demonstrated that an abolishing operation reduced stereotypy and increased independent play in children with autism. The purpose of this study was to reduce engagement in stereotypy in a 17-year-old boy with autism by introducing an abolishing operation component (AOC)before a leisure activity period. The effect on leisure activity engagement also was evaluated. A multi-element design compared two conditions. In the first condition the participant was allowed to engage in stereotypy until no engagement in the behavior was observed for one minute, or the participant verbally expressed that he was "done", before the leisure activity period (AOC condition). The second condition did not allow time to engage in stereotypy before the leisure period (no AOC condition). Levels of stereotypy were lower in the AOC condition, but there was little difference between conditions for activity engagement. Interobserver reliability data was collected for 33% of sessions.

Many children with autism display externalizing behavior due to challenges they face in the areas of communication, social skills and repetitive behavior or restricted interests. Parents have reported that it is difficult to know how to address these behaviors. Parent training programs have been found to increase parents' skills and decrease children's externalizing behavior. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the core content of The Incredible Years parent training program with and without Visual Performance Feedback in: a) increasing parent skills and b) decreasing child externalizing behavior. Using a multiple baseline design across parent-child dyads, data were collected on parent behaviors (use of clear commands, unclear commands, descriptive play statements specific praise, and nonspecific praise) and child behaviors (compliance, prompted compliance, noncompliance, on-task/appropriate behavior and externalizing behaviors). Phases included baseline, parent training and feedback. Results indicated that when the parent variables of clear commands, praise and descriptive play statements were combined, parents made mild increases in their use of those skills. However, variability in specific variables across parents and phases was found. Also, variability in changes in child behavior was found. Recommendations for intervention and future research will be discussed.

Social competence deficits are considered one of the most distinguishable features of individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) (National Research Council, 2001). There is ample evidence that children with ASD display low rates of appropriate social behavior (Ozonoff & South, 2001; Sigman & Ruskin, 1999), especially when interacting with their peers. This poster will report findings from a systematic literature review conducted on interventions that facilitate the peer-related social competence of children with ASD. Electronic searches of the following databases were conducted: ERIC, PsychINFO (Ebsco), and Education Full Text, which generated a total of 283 articles. Additionally, an archival review of the reference list of 14 literature review articles related to ASD and social competence was conducted. Articles were screened for inclusion in the review using the following criteria: (1) an experimental intervention study designed to increase peer-related social competence; (2) participants included children (3-12 years of age) with a diagnosis of Autism, ASD, HFA, Asperger's Syndrome or PDD; (3) the study took place in a preschool or elementary school setting; and (4) the study occurred between 2000-present. A total of 46 articles met criteria and were included in the review.

Young adults with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) often have difficulty developing and maintaining meaningful relationships, yet few empirically supported social skills treatments exist for this population. The Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills (PEERS) is an evidence-based intervention targeting relationship skills for young adults with ASD. This study examines factors associated with treatment outcome among 27 young adults with ASD 18-28 years of age following completion of PEERS for Young Adults. Baseline scores on the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS; Constantino, 2005) and Empathy Quotient (EQ; Baron-Cohen & Wheelright, 2004) were examined to understand the relationship between pre-treatment caregiver-reported social responsiveness and young adult self-reported empathy with post-treatment outcome as measured by frequency of peer interactions on the Quality of Socialization Questionnaire (QSQ; Frankel & Mintz, 2008). Results indicate that baseline social responsiveness predicts increased frequency in total number of peer interactions (p<.002) following treatment with regard to young-adult initiated get-togethers (p<.014) and dates (p<.028), as well as invited dates (p<.026). Baseline empathy significantly predicts increased frequency of initiated dates (p<.01) and invited dates (p<.04) post-treatment. These findings suggest that social responsiveness and empathy may predict treatment outcome among young adults with ASD for both platonic and romantic relationships.

This poster discusses the aspects of language assessment and development of a language intervention program for 16 individual children in a pilot, eight-week summer applied behavior analysis program. Children participating in the program shared the commonality of the same diagnosis: Autism. Ages ranged from 2 to 8 years old and language and cognitive abilities were variable among the children. Skinner's (1957) functional analysis of verbal behavior suggests that the traditional method of assessing receptive and expressive language skills by using standardized assessment instruments, leads to an incomplete picture of a child's language ability because environmental variables responsible for language development are not considered (Sundberg & Partington, 1998). In order to get an accurate picture of a child's abilities "it is important to measure the strength of each type of language and the manner in which a child emits and acquires language" (Sundberg & Partington, 1998). The Behavioral Language Assessment, comprised of 12 environmental dimensions of language was selected as the assessment instrument for measurement of early language skills, both pretreatment and posttreatment and also provided the determination of where to begin the intervention program. A curriculum based assessment and parent interview of behavioral concerns completed the assessment package.

Relatively few studies have examined the social trajectory of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) beyond early childhood. This study investigates the developmental course of social functioning among adolescents and young adults with ASD. Data were collected from 244 adolescents and young adults with ASD seeking social skills treatment to examine differences in social functioning across three developmental time points (middle school, n = 120; high school, n = 60; post-secondary, n = 64). Adolescent and young adult social functioning was assessed via parent/caregiver reports on standardized measures including the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS; Constantino, 2005), Social Skills Rating System (SSRS; Gresham & Elliot, 1990), and Social Skills Improvement System (SSIS; Gresham & Elliot, 2008), as well as youth self-reports on the Social Anxiety Scale (SAS; La Greca, 1998), Quality of Socialization Questionnaire (QSQ; adapted from Laugeson & Frankel, 2010), and the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI; Kovacs, 1992) for adolescents or the Major Depression Inventory (MDI; Bech et al., 2001) for young adults. Results indicate several differences in social functioning across early adolescence, later adolescence, and early adulthood. Parent/caregiver reports on the SRS reveal greater impairment in social cognition for young adults at the post-secondary level compared to adolescents in middle school (p < .05) and greater impairment at a trend-level in overall social responsiveness and social motivation (ps < .10) for young adults at the post-secondary level than adolescents in middle school. Youth self-reports on the QSQ indicate that adolescents in high school experience more social isolation than those in middle school (p < .05). Young adults at the post-secondary level self-report more depression, more social anxiety (p < .001) within the context of greater fear of negative evaluation (p < .01), and more social avoidance and distress specific to new situations (p < .01) than adolescents in middle school and high school (ps < .001). Furthermore, young adults at the post-secondary level self-report more generalized social avoidance and distress (p < .001) than adolescents in middle school. These findings support the notion that social impairment and psychosocial functioning are likely to worsen with development for transitional youth with ASD.

Parents of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) report higher levels of stress and affective symptoms compared to those of typically developing children, parents of children with other disabilities and children with chronic illness (Abbeduto, et al. 2004; Bristol & Schopler 1984; Dumas, Wolf, Fisman, & Culligan 1991; Smith et al. 2010). The psychological well-being of parents is paramount considering the bidirectional effects between parent experiences and child outcomes that have been highlighted in families of children with developmental disabilities (Greenberg, Seltzer, Hong, & Orsmond 2006; Mahoney, Boyce, Fewell, Spiker, & Wheeden 1998; Siller & Sigman 2002). As such, the effects of parent-focused interventions on parent-child interactions warrant additional evaluation. Fifteen parents of children with ASD were randomly assigned to one of two parent training groups: a behavioral skills program or a mindfulness-based program. Parent-child interactions were assessed pre and post-treatment. Each assessment included 1) a five-minute sample of parents engaging in free-play with their children, and 2) a five-minute sample of parents presenting demands to their children. Interactions were coded with respect to behavioral strategies and interaction styles. Results showed significant increases in the behavioral skills group's use of reinforcement strategies post-treatment. Although no other changes met statistical significance, the small sample size may have affected our ability to detect meaningful change. As such, visual analysis was also conducted, and revealed trends with respect to 1) decreases in behavioral strategies used by the mindfulness group; 2) decreases in directiveness during play in the mindfulness group; and 3) increases in following the child's lead in play for the skills group. Although preliminary, these results suggest that parent training programs may have a meaningful impact on parent-child interactions, and that these effects may be generalized beyond the behaviors targeted in treatment.

The current study examined the efficiency of and preference for computer-assisted and one-on-one instruction. First, the number of sessions to mastery during computer-assisted (CAI) and one-on-one instruction (1:1) within an adapted alternating treatments design were compared. Also measured was participants attending during both instructional formats. Results showed that Brenna mastered tacts in fewer sessions during 1:1 instruction, although CAI required only two additional training sessions. Brenna also displayed higher levels of attending during 1:1 instruction. Eric mastered tacts in the CAI condition only, although he had high levels of attending in both conditions. Second, the participants' preference for a format of instruction, when given the option of selecting between 1:1 instruction and CAI was evaluated. Brenna's results showed that CAI was the most preferred form of instruction, but she displayed low levels of attending and did not master the tacts until she was required to consistently participate in 1:1 instruction. Eric's results suggested that 1:1 instruction was the most preferred form of instruction, but he displayed a response bias and did not master the target stimuli. The discussion will include the implications of the findings for clinical practice and suggest future areas of research.

Effects of early intensive behavioral entervention (EIBI) on children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have been widely documented. However, fewer studies have explored possible effects of EIBI offered in public settings on parents. This study aimed to describe parental stress before their children entered an EIBI program and one year after (before children start school). Participants were 56 fathers and 56 mothers, with children with ASD between 3 and 5 years. T-tests were performed to explore differences between mothers' and fathers' stress before the entry in the program and to compare stress of both parents after one year of intervention. Results revealed that at pre-intervention, fathers' stress was significantly higher than mothers' stress (t (55) =2.89, p < .01). At post intervention, both fathers' and mothers' stress had increased, significantly in mothers (t (55) = 4.73, p < .001), but not in fathers (t (55) = 1.3, p >.001). Explanatory analysis was conducted to explore to what extent variables such as socio-demographics information, children's intellectual functioning and intensity of autistic symptoms could influence mothers' and fathers' levels of stress. Findings will be discussed in terms of familial and clinical implications.

Adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) regularly face deficits in social behavior, and tend to suffer from low self-esteem and peer rejection. This study examines how youth-reported self-esteem predicts improvement in parent-reported autism spectrum behaviors related to social skills following a school-based, teacher-facilitated social skills intervention for middle and high school adolescents with ASD. Participants included 146 adolescents, ranging in age from 11-18 (M=15.08; SD=1.82). Participants received about 30 minutes of daily social skills instruction during a 14-week period. Students completed the Piers Harris Self-Concept Scale Second Edition (PHS2; Piers, Harris, and Herzberg, 2002) at post-test to measure self-esteem, while parents completed the Social Skills Improvement System (SSIS; Gresham & Elliot, 2008) at pre-test and post-test to evaluate social skills treatment outcome. Results reveal that higher youth-reported overall self-esteem on the PHS2 significantly predicts improvement in parent-reported autism spectrum behaviors on the SSIS (p< .02), particularly in the areas of behavioral adjustment (p< .05), physical appearance (p< .05), and happiness (p< .01). Intellectual status and freedom from anxiety on the PHS2 predicted treatment outcome at trend levels (Table 1). The PHS2 Popularity subscale did not predict improvement in autism spectrum behaviors on the SSIS. Results suggest that adolescents receiving the PEERS intervention in the classroom who endorse fewer problematic behaviors, greater confidence in personality attributes and physical appearance, and greater happiness and satisfaction post-treatment are more likely to decrease nonfunctional routines and rituals related to autism in their daily lives.

Adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) often have impaired friendship quality, more prone to conflict than typically developing youth (Bauminger and Kasari, 2000). Research supports the efficacy of the PEERS curriculum (Laugeson et al., 2009, 2012), in improving friendship quality for adolescents with ASD. However, correlations between friendship quality and conflict during social interactions post-treatment have not been evaluated. This study examines the relationship between adolescent-reported friendship quality and conflict during social engagements following the PEERS curriculum. Participants included 146 students with ASD between 11 and 18 (M=15.1; SD=.55) receiving daily social skills instruction in the classroom using the PEERS curriculum. Post-treatment measures included adolescent-reports on the Friendship Qualities Scale (FQS; Bukowski, Hoza, & Boivin, 1994) and adolescent- and parent-reports on the Quality of Socialization Questionnaire (QSQ; Frankel & Mintz, 2008). Results reveal higher post-treatment adolescent-reports on the FQS for companionship (p<.001), closeness (p<.05), and overall friendship quality (p<.05) predict less conflict on the adolescent QSQ. Higher scores on the FQS for companionship (p<.01), security (p<.05), and overall friendship quality (p<.05) predict less conflict on the parent QSQ, suggesting that friendship quality is related to decreased peer conflict during social interactions following the PEERS School-Based Curriculum.

A meta-analysis of self-management interventions for students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) (Carr, Moore & Anderson, 2012, in review) reported that the inclusion of goal setting techniques was associated with highly effect treatment outcomes. As goal setting was identified in only 9% of the studies included in the meta-analysis, an additional systematic review of goal-setting literature was conducted. Goal-setting studies for students with a diagnosis of ASD, or who exhibited classroom challenges typically associated with ASD were reviewed. Challenges included learning disabilities, behavioural or emotional disorder, attention-deficit disorder, and giftedness. Thirty-four studies met the inclusion criteria and were evaluated in terms of research methodology, participant characteristics, target behaviours, and student outcomes. The review investigated who was involved in setting student goals, and whether the participants were able to set their own goals to improve performance. Findings of this review indicate that the ability to independently set challenging, attainable, and appropriate goals is an important skill that can be successfully taught over time to students who face a variety of social or cognitive challenges typical of ASD. Quality research regarding how best to teach goal-setting skills to students across the autism spectrum to promote independent functioning appears warranted.

Although behaviorally based models are considered best practice for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), no specific behavioral approach has emerged as the standard of care for these children. Improved understanding of how to match specific treatments (e.g., Discrete Trial Training and Pivotal Response Training) to children exhibiting different behavioral characteristics may enhance the ability to tailor interventions to individual children and improve treatment effectiveness. This study used an adapted alternating treatments design to evaluate the relative effectiveness of DTT and PRT for teaching children with autism younger than 3 receptive and expressive language, play, and imitation skills. Data were collected on rate of learning, spontaneous skill use, as well as skill acquisition and generalization during weekly probes, and maintenance of gains at 3-month follow-up. Potential predictor variables were collected at pre-treatment. The results suggested that the strengths and weakness of DTT and PRT may vary depending on child variables, as well as curriculum area and dimension of focus. These findings confirm the importance of treatment individualization and begin to suggest specific methods for tailoring treatment programs to individual child needs.

This study was designed to investigate the effects of parent written and delivered social story in teaching social skills to children with autism. Moreover, maintenance and generalization effects of social stories were tested. Last, but not least, social validity of the study was examined through subjective evaluation and social comparison. Three youths with autism between 12 and 16 years old and their family members participated. The small group arrangement which took 6 hours was designed to teach family members about social stories. Mixed design was used in the study. The effects of social stories on teaching social skills to youths with autism was investigated by using multiple probe across parent-youth dyads. Social validity of the study was examined by using descriptive design. Findings showed that family members learned to write social stories with 100% accuracy and delivered social stories to their children with high reliability. Also, it is seen that family members were able to maintain the acquired skills and generalized it to the novel situations. The results of the study showed that youths with autism were able to acquire their target skills, and maintain and generalized the acquired target skills. Social validity findings of the study were positive.

The Behavior Problem Inventory (BPI) is an instrument to measure a child's self-injurious, stereotypic and aggressive behaviors, focusing on typographics (Sturmey, Fink, & Sevin, 1993). BPI has been frequently used to identify patterns of problem behaviors of children with pervasive developmental disorder (PDD). The purpose of this study was to examine the pattern of problem behaviors of children with PDD in Korea. Participants were 325 mothers of children with PDD, 79.7% (n=259) of the children were male and 20.3% (n=66) were female, and the mean age was 8.7 years (SD=4.7 years, range from 1 to 31). The result shows that 68.6% (n=223) of the children with PDD were associated with at least one self-injurious behavior, 85.2% (n=277) with stereotypic behavior, and 68% (n=221) with aggressive behavior. Mothers of children who are engaged in problem behaviors perceived their children's aggressive behaviors (M=7.39 out of 33 total, 22.39%, SD=5.36) as more severe than self-injurious (M= 5.75 out of 45 total, 12.78%, SD=5.17) and stereotypic behaviors (M=12.33 out of 75 total, 16.44%, SD=10.78). To evaluate the validity of BPI, convergent validity with CBCL was examined and showed good convergent between CBCL and BPI (n=125, r= .612) The results indicate that children with PDD in Korea are more engaged in stereotypic behaviors than self-injurious and aggressive behaviors. However, mothers perceived their children's aggressive behaviors as more severe than other problem behaviors.

Parents may benefit from learning to use behavior-analytic skills, including how to conduct discrete-trial teaching sessions. Learning behavior-analytic skills may be of particular importance for parents in rural areas, who may have difficulty attending training sessions in person or participating in remote trainings that require high-speed Internet. As an alternative, behavior analysts could adapt behavioral skills training for distance, mail-based delivery. One barrier to mail-based skills training is poor parental adherence. Adherence may be influenced by several variables, including the method through which training materials are delivered. The current study used a group design to compare parental adherence with a behavioral skills training procedure aimed at developing the skills necessary to conduct discrete-trial instruction sessions. Participants were rural parents of young children with autism, who were randomly assigned to receive training materials and feedback through written instructions or video-based instructions. Parents who received video-based instructions adhered to the training procedures to a greater extent than did parents who received written instructions, suggesting that instruction format could be a predictor of training success. Video instruction may allow rural parents to make a personal connection with therapists that is not as likely with written communication.

Empirical studies have long shown that the characteristics of language behavior of people with ASD have an unusual character. Indeed, children with autism have been shown to present an array of qualitative and quantitative language impairment as compared to other children be them with a typical development or developmental delay (Stone, Ousley, Yoder, Hogan and Hepburn, 1997). Skinner's functional approach to language (1953, 1957) built upon the assumption that language is behavior, changed our viewpoint from the traditional structural perspective of language to a functional one and treatment based on this has thrived and been of considerable help to children with developmental disabilities (Sundberg & Michael, 2001; Sundberg & Partington, 1998). Yet, some simple perplexing questions do perdure, namely, how does behavioral analysis explain the building of new language behavior, how does it explain the acquisition of grammatical structures prevalent in the language community seemingly without explicit instruction. This work aims at reviewing how behavior analytic procedures may be used to produce some generative aspects of verbal behavior (for example, identifying synonyms and parts of speech, and using syntax) in children with autism.

Early intervention is critical for children diagnosed with autism. Unfortunately, there is often a long gap of waiting, and wasting, time between a "formal" diagnosis and therapy. TOBY Playpad (www.tobyplaypad.com)strives to close this gap by empowering parents to help their children early. TOBY stands for Therapy Outcome by You and currently is an iPad application. It provides an adaptive syllabus of more than 320 activities developed by autism and machine learning experts to target key development areas which are known to be deficit for ASD children such as imitation, joint attention and language. TOBY delivers lessons, materials, instructions and interactions for both on-iPad and Natural Environment Tasks (NET) off-iPad activities. TOBY is highly adaptive and personalized, intelligently increasing its complexity, varying prompts and reinforcements as the child progresses over time. Prompting and reinforcing strategies are also recommended for parents to make the most of everyday opportunities to teach children. Essentially, TOBY removes the burden on parents from extensive preparation of materials and manual data recording. Three trials on 20, 50 and 36 children with AutismWest (www.autismwest.org.au) have been conducted since last year. The results are promising providing evidence of learning shown in skills that were not present previously in some children. NET activities are shown to be effective for children and popular with parents.

Communication is an essential element of transition for children with autism (Carter et al., 2009; Lindstrom et al., 2007; Zager & Alpern, 2010). Children with autism struggle with interpersonal relationships that impede social and peer interactions, independent living, employment, and transition into the community (Hughes et al, 2011). Researchers at the University of Central Florida are investigating the use of augmented virtual reality environments and avatars (TLE TeachLivE Lab and Physical Virtual Presence) to enhance social interaction education in the classroom. Children with autism have a restricted range of social skills that tend to reduce their on-task behavior and reciprocal interactions as noted by Parker and Camps, 2011; with TLE avatars researchers hope to reduce the communication gap and increase on-task behaviors. Students were presented a lesson on social skills by their classroom teacher in the natural learning environment. This lesson was then repeated and enhanced using the virtual avatars. For each lesson data were collected tracking on-task time. On-task was measured by duration recording and then compared between environments. A preliminary investigation demonstrated an increase in on-task behaviors as well as an increase in voluntary social engagements. The results of the current study are still being analyzed.

Assessing the social validity of behavior change procedures has become an increasingly important aspect of behavior analytic practice since such assessments often influence the adoption of a given intervention (Fox & McEvoy, 1993; Hanley, 2010; Schwartz & Baer, 1991). In this study, the social validity of two social skill interventions was rated by parents through observation and questionnaires. Parents viewed videotaped pre- and post-intervention behavior samples from two specific interventions to teach social skills--prompting and a narrative intervention. Parents rated the acceptability of the treatment, their preference for one of the two treatments, and ease of treatment implementation. Parents also rated the clinical significance of the target behavior and the outcome of the intervention. Parents consistently rated the procedures of the narrative intervention as being more preferable and acceptable than prompting; however, the outcomes of the prompting intervention were rated as more acceptable and preferable. We will discuss factors that influence parents' selection of an intervention and the potential implications of these factors on future research.

Some children with autism exhibit fear when engaging in daily living routines such as nail clipping, wearing certain types of clothing and footwear, going to the dentist, and eating certain foods. Effectively treating these fears not only improves the quality of life for children but it also improves that of their caregivers and families. There are few studies that focus on the treatment of these types of fears with children with disabilities. This presentation describes a study in which contact desensitization and positive reinforcement were used to increase a child with autism's acceptance to wear swim goggles while swimming. Inappropriate behaviors included screaming, yelling, elopement from the immediate area, throwing the goggles, and general resistance to wearing the goggles. Contact desensitization was successful in decreasing the inappropriate behaviors associated with the goggles as well as shaping goggle wearing. Maintenance probes indicated that the participant continued to wear the goggles after the study.

Various research groups have completed systematic reviews of treatment literature for individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Findings from the majority of reviews support the use of behavioral interventions for individuals with a ASD. However, there is a lack of research regarding the inclusion of racially and ethnically diverse populations in the treatment literature. A systematic review of educational and behavioral treatment literature was completed that included participants throughout the lifespan. More than 300 treatment studies published between 2007 and 2012 were analyzed. These studies included participants younger than 22. Data regarding participants older than 22 is forthcoming. Data extraction included whether or not researchers recorded the race and ethnicity of participants and if a description of race and ethnicity was provided in the study. The preliminary results of the systematic review suggest the majority of treatment studies for individuals with a ASD do not include data regarding race and ethnicity. Identification of race and ethnicity within the treatment literature is a basic first step in determining whether or not evidence-based treatments are accessible and acceptable to families from varying cultural and ethnic backgrounds.

Several studies have used cluster analyses to identify subtypes within various developmental and neurological disorders (Dewey & Kaplan, 1994; Macnab, Miller, & Polatajko, 2001; Morris, et al., 1998; Speece, McKinney, & Appelbaum, 1985). Previous studies using cluster analysis to identify subtypes of children with autism have identified variables for inclusion in the cluster analysis using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-III and DSM-IV criteria (Eaves, Ho, & Eaves; 1994; Prior, et al., 1998; Stevens, et al., 2000). The purpose of the current study was to further explore the use of cluster analyses with children with autism using the newly proposed DSM-V criteria for autism spectrum disorders. Additionally, direct assessment measures related to nonverbal IQ and expressive language skills were included in the analysis to distinguish clusters. Ward's Method was used to identify clusters from a sample of 181 preschool children with autism at four sites across the United States. Results of the analysis identified four distinct clusters of students with autism. Findings will be discussed in terms of cluster characteristics and how clusters may be conceptualized in terms of autism severity.

An important part of adult indepedence is the ability to find leisure activities and not rely on caregivers to schedule every moment of the day or prompt through every action. Dyads of adult college students were observed in a structured leisure activity where they were given a board game and asked to play it. The students either knew how to play the game or picked up the instructions and figured it out together. Adults with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) were given the same scenario and observed. One adult played the game alone without asking others to join. The others walked away, engaged in self-stimulatory activities such as bouncing on a ball in the corner, or lay down on a table or the floor. The observations were analyzed for social interactions, playing the games appropriately, peer prompting, communication, and inappropriate behaviors. The videos of the college students were then used as models, and the adults with ASD were taught to engage in similar behaviors to their peers for several sessions. Once progress was observed, college-aged peers were brought in to play the games with the individuals with ASD and a return to baseline was observed. Generalization probes with new games also were introduced at post-treatment to measure the generalization effects of the intervention. The effect of the peers in the video modeling and with in-person interaction will be analyzed and discussed for future development of peer-based interventions for developing leisure skills in individuals with ASD.

Sensory interventions are designed to address sensory processing difficulties in young children. In recent years, sensory interventions have gained popularity and are the most frequently requested intervention for children with autism, despite having limited empirical support. In fact, the use of sensory interventions is a common practice for children with autism (Green et al., 2006). The driving principle for the use of sensory interventions is to improve sensory processing and increase adaptive functioning in individuals with sensory dysfunction (Ayers, 1979). This principle is based on sensory integration theory, which purports that controlled sensory experiences will help children appropriately respond to sensory input (Ayers, 1972). A variety of sensory interventions have been developed to create these controlled sensory experiences for young children with autism. These include: weighted vests, massage therapy, brushing, therapy balls, and auditory interventions. Although their use is widespread, the research on sensory interventions is limited by a lack of controlled, rigorous studies and clear guidelines/procedures for their use (Reichow et al., 2010; Schaaf, 2011). The overarching purpose of this poster is to describe a comprehensive literature review of individual sensory interventions for children with autism. The four main objectives of the poster are: 1. Provide an overview of the issues surrounding sensory dysfunction in children with autism 2. Describe the different types of sensory treatments 3. Describe and synthesize the research on sensory interventions to help parents, teachers, and therapists make informed decisions 4. Outline implications for practice and future research regarding sensory interventions for children with autism. The literature review identified 19 studies that examined comprehensive sensory integration treatments, sensory diets, touch-based treatments, weighted/pressure vests, auditory interventions, and therapy balls. This poster will include a descriptive analysis of included studies and a systemic evaluation of study methods and results. The results indicated limited empirical support for sensory-based interventions for children with autism. Thus, this theory has been tested with multiple, replications and there is limited empirical support. It might be time to revisit this theory, rather than continue studying something with little promise.

State-mandated assessments have been used to measure district and individual school performance. For students with exceptional needs, the inability to access curriculum aligned to grade level academic achievement standards in the same manner as their peers has proven challenging. As a result, state educational practitioners have relied on varied and numerous approaches in the design, development, and administration of alternate assessments for analyzing the educational progress and status of students with exceptional needs. These assessments are knows as "Alternate Assessments based on Alternate Academic Achievement Standards" (AA-AAAS), but more commonly referred to as "Alternate Assessments". This poster will describe the application of behavior imaging as a tool for increasing inter-rater reliability while providing visual evidence of both progress and regression in the alternate assessment process. Applications of this process will be further highlighted within a specific case study where the technology is currently being utilized state-wide. This case thus provides further evidence and direction for applications of behavior imaging within the field of behavior analysis where data is used to direct programming and make ongoing decisions about treatment.

Behavior imaging (BI) provides a secure web-based platform for capturing and sharing behavior data via video. One of BI's components, behavior capture, was found to result in 43% less data collection errors within the functional behavior assessment process. Unique to this tool, is the ability to go "back in time" to capture antecedents on a video clip, leading to increased understanding of behavioral functions. This technology has been shown to be useful in a variety of settings including clinics, homes, and classrooms. In 2009, a multi-site study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of this tool and its role in educational settings. Results indicated potential use in behavior assessment, supporting teaching practices, collaboration with staff and parents, progress monitoring, alternate assessment data collection and scoring, and the ability to gain next-minute input from experts in the field. Based on these results and continued efforts to inform practice, research on this technology is currently under way via a National Institute of Mental Health grant to include new digital features aimed at improving assessment and Individuals with Disabilities Education Act qualification processes in the educational and home settings. This poster will highlight key areas where research has informed current educational practices and applications of behavior imaging technology. It also will present the next generation of mobile technology that will enable behavior imaging to help move both research and best practice forward.

Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) often exhibit social deficits that may negatively impact their psychosocial functioning and interpersonal relationships. While the majority of research literature in this area has focused on children on the spectrum, less research has examined the correlates of social functioning among adults with ASD (White & Roberson-Nay, 2009). This study examines the relationship between self-perceived social anxiety and feelings of loneliness in young adults with ASD without intellectual disabilities. Participants included 17 young adults with ASD who completed the Social Anxiety Scale (SAS; La Greca, 1999) and the Social and Emotional Loneliness Scale for Adults (SELSA; DiTomasso & Spinner, 1993). Preliminary results suggest that young adults experiencing greater social anxiety are also subject to greater loneliness in relation to their friendships (p<.04). Furthermore, young adults who endorse greater fear of negative evaluations from their peers are more likely to experience greater overall loneliness in relation to family, romantic relationships, and friendships (p<.03). This research represents the first study to investigate the relationship between self-perception of social anxiety and loneliness in young adults with ASD without intellectual disabilities and suggests the need for more targeted interventions to decrease social anxiety in this population.

The presenters analyzed kindergarten and special education preschool environments, including teacher and student behavior, to determine how to improve instruction for incoming children with ASD. For example, data was collected on the number of words per communication the teacher uses. In one case, the general education kindergarten teacher used an average of 9.4 words per communication (defined as the start of an instruction to point that a demonstration was made or a child was asked to respond). A preschool special education teacher used 3.5 words per communication. Information was also collected to determine the length of time kindergarten children worked independently on tasks defined as focused on the task with disruptions of 5 seconds or less. Thus, if a child looked away for more than 5 seconds at a time, the time was stopped. Kindergarten children worked for an average of 5.6 minutes while special education preschoolers worked for an average of 1.2 minutes. During free time, the number of initiations kindergartners made to other students ranged from 2 to 11 per minute while preschoolers ranged from 0-3. The information was used to help determine what skills should be taught to the children with ASD and how to work to close the gaps. Based on the analyses, it was determined that the children with ASD need intensive instruction in the following skills in order to succeed in inclusive environments: 1. Responding to lengthy and complex instructions. 2. Initiating and maintaining peer interactions. 3. Completing work independently. The information was also used to help determine what modifications and accommodations were necessary for children to succeed in general education classrooms.

To ensure the greatest rigor and push the science of research forward, single case design methodologists must constantly evaluate and revise their techniques for answering research questions. Examination of instructional methods suitable for instructing chained tasks provides a unique challenge. Assessment of baseline performance for a chained task is necessary to evaluate effects of intervention and two methods are commonly used, single and multiple opportunity probe (Cooper, Heron, & Heward, 2007). Although these practices have become accepted in the field, various threats to internal validity exist with both methods. This paper highlights the benefits, drawbacks, and threats to internal validity with each of these approaches, presents data on issues related to the use of multiple opportunity probes, and presents a possible solution to the problems associated with both approaches. Natural opportunity probes address most of the weaknesses in both single and multiple opportunity probes and may serve as a more valid measure of participants' performance in baseline without the same threats to internal validity. Additionally, other benefits of a natural opportunity probe including cost, time, and opportunities to observe in a more natural environment are discussed.

Children with autism often have deficits affecting both expressive and receptive language (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). These language deficits not only affect interpersonal language abilities but also other language-related skills such as reading comprehension. While many individuals with autism show progress using data-collection methods including frequency data on the number of words mispronounced in a paragraph, or ability to memorize word definitions; they do not perform well on reading comprehension measures (Lanter & Wilson, 2008). Currently, there is limited research on effective methods for teaching reading comprehension to children with autism. The current study involved implementing a shaping procedure using natural reinforcers to improve reading comprehension in two boys with autism. The goal of the study was to develop and test an intervention which used natural reinforcers that could be implemented in a typical classroom or group setting. The results showed that the participants were able to double their scores on a reading comprehension test after the treatment was completed.

The number of children being diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) has dramatically risen in recent years. Evidence has demonstrated that the outcomes of children with ASD are improved with early intervention based on applied behavior analysis. However, the growing number of ASD cases exceeds the services available for these children. Then training therapists who can practice evidence-based intervention for children with ASD is an urgent issue. Train-the-Trainer (TTT) is a widely acknowledged educational model for dissemination across a number of disciplines, however few studies have examined TTT in early intervention for children with ASD. The present analysis provides a case study with one trainee who received the TTT program, which included workshop, role-play, on-the-job training, and video feedback from a trainer who had finished therapist training from the authors. The TTT program provides materials of workshop, handouts, instructions of feedback, and evaluation forms. The primary goals of this preliminary study were to examine trainee's acquisition of the knowledge and intervention techniques as well as trainer's fidelity of implementation. Implications in relation to the efficacy and feasibility of the TTT program are provided.

Research raises the question of a sensitive period during which the majority of human babies discriminate social stimuli, and respond accurately to them, in terms of ocular responses (fixation time, tracks). Our assumption is that if these ocular responses are controlled by relevant stimuli, they contribute to the development of social skills such as joint attention, (for example). We focused our interest on the modeling of synthetic images (3-D and 2-D), to observe how the discrimination of social stimuli appears with children younger than 1 year. We seek to demonstrate the ability of computer tools to simulate social stimulation. These stimuli will be manipulated according to the properties of their graphic quality to understand what type of information the baby uses to successfully discriminate and if it does exist look at a pattern of specific responses in very young children compared to older children to acquire new social skills? Then, we are going to use these data to develop training tools for the development of social skills (e.g., joint attention) to to help individuals exhibiting impairment in discrimination skills.

The Oregon Association for Behavior Analysis (ORABA) is an organization for professionals, educators, researchers, parents, and advocates interested in promoting the field of behavior analysis in Oregon. ORABA is an affiliate chapter of the Association for Behavior Analysis International, as well as an affiliate of the Association for Professional Behavior Analysts and an approvedcontinuing educationprovider for the Behavior Analyst Certification Board. ORABA conducts quarterly meetings and is involved in statewide dissemination of behavior analysis. ORABA works to advance behavior analysis in Oregon through legislative action, encouragement of behavior analytic college programs, and sponsorship of networking and outreach activities.

The presentation of escape-maintained severe aggressive behavior poses a threat to the safety of the individual behaving aggressively, the safety of any staff or family member who is targeted or tries to manage the situation in attempts to prevent harm to others, and significantly impedes the ability of the individual behaving aggressively to engage in a significant number of learning opportunities related to all aspects of independent functioning. Previous studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of a variety of differential reinforcement programs for the treatment for a variety of socially inappropriate behaviors. However, few studies have looked specifically at the use of differential negative reinforcement (DNR) in the treatment of severe aggression in individuals with autism spectrum disorders. In the present investigation, an 11-year-old boy with autism presented with severe aggressive behavior toward staff and peers when demands were placed upon him in such a manner that differential positive reinforcement was not practically feasible. A DNR program was put in place with results indicating that DNR can be an effective treatment procedure for the decrease of escape-maintained aggressive behavior.