Association for Behavior Analysis International

Self-monitoring is a core strategy nested within the evidence-based collection of self-management strategies. Self-monitoring can be used across a variety of targeted behaviors to improve meaningful outcomes such as improved academic performance, independent functioning, use of replacement behaviors and use of social skills. This session will provide an overview of self-monitoring and key components of setting up effective self-monitoring interventions. Self-monitoring studies will be presented including the effects of technology based self-monitoring on the on-task behavior of students in educational settings and on the community engagement of young adults with autism. Studies utilizing self-monitoring will be presented. The first study included a control-wait list study with 10 adults with autism. The adults increased social communication and engagement following a package of training including self-monitoring. A second set of studies utilized withdrawal designs to demonstrate functional relationships between the implementation of a technology based self-monitoring application and student engagement and academic performance. Implications for practice will be discussed.

In a study of 235 adolescents and adults with autism, only 8% were reported to have friendships (Orsmond, Krauss, & Seltzer, 2004), indicating lack of a supportive social network. Yet, there is a paucity of effective interventions to support and strengthen post-secondary outcomes and minimize risk for this population. I-Connect Plus, a combination of online instructional modules coaching, and self-monitoring seeks to fill this gap in our evidence base. Utilizing technology, I-Connect Plus provides an efficient mechanism to provide explicit training, modeling, practice in context, and systematic feedback to adolescents and adults with ASD. This preliminary wait-list control trial with 10 adults, ages 18-32, with autism evaluated the impact of I-Connect Plus on planning and increasing engagement in social activities with peers. Results indicate 8 out of 10 participants made increases in activities with friends, calling a friend, and/or texting a friend while participating in the I-Connect Plus module and coaching training. Implications for practice and future directions will be discussed.

Self-monitoring interventions (SM) have been shown to improve behaviors that contribute to progressing in school such as lesson and task completion (Foley & Epstein, 1993; Seabaugh & Schumaker, 1994). Technological innovations provide the opportunity to improve data collection procedures while reducing teacher effort in implementing and maintaining SM interventions Two studies were employed with a self-monitoring application (ICONNECT) with five students with disabilities. A single-subject ABAB withdrawal design replicated across the five students was utilized to demonstrate a functional relationship between the intervention and on task behavior as well as academic performance. In Study One: Participant one increased on-task behavior from a baseline average of 33% to 95% during intervention. Participant two increased on-task behavior from an average of 9% to 91.2% during intervention. In Study Two: Participant One increased his on-task behavior from an average of 45% to 92% during intervention. Participant Two increased his on-task behavior from an average of 58% to 97% during intervention. Participant Three increased her on-task behavior from 35% to an average of 97% during intervention. This presentation will discuss the application of this intervention and the results that occurred with these students in their school settings. Implications for future research will be discussed.