We reviewed twelve studies that used the constant time delay (CTD) procedure to teach chained tasks to individuals with developmental disabilities from years 1996-2006. Variables analyzed include types of tasks that have been taught with the procedure, how effective CTD has been in teaching participants, and whether researchers have investigated…

Several researchers have employed milieu therapy to address the communication needs of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Thus, the purpose of this review is to examine milieu therapy, particularly, the environments and individuals involved in the training and the effectiveness of milieu therapy with children who have a diagnosis of ASD…

Neural network technology was compared with simultaneous and stepwise linear discriminant analysis in terms of their ability to classify and predict persons (n=138) as having autism or mental retardation. The neural network methodology was superior in both classifying groups and in generalizing to new cases that were not part of the training…

An experimental analysis of imitation was conducted to examine the influence of response topography on generalization of imitation across three response types with four children (ages two to four) with autism. The study found that imitation generalized from reinforced training models to nonreinforced probe models within a response type but did not…

A script fading procedure was effectively used to teach 4 children (ages 9 and 12) with autism to initiate interactions with peers. Increased initiations (to within normal levels) generalized to a different setting, and for three of the children were maintained at two-month follow-up. (Author/DB)

Incidental teaching and traditional discrete-trial procedures were used to teach two children (ages 10 and 12) with autism the expressive use of two color adjectives. Results demonstrated that traditional discrete-trial teaching was more efficient and produced faster acquisition but incidental teaching resulted in greater generalization and equal…

A brief functional analysis indicated that the object mouthing of a young girl diagnosed with autism was maintained independent of social consequences. Separate and combined effects of response blocking and non-contingent reinforcement were then evaluated as treatments. Although both interventions were unsuccessful when implemented separately,…

The meta analysis examined the ecological validity of 241 research studies concerned with changes in targeted behaviors in the moderately or profoundly retarded or autistic. Analysis of setting (least restrictive or not), maintenance, generalization, and social validity of procedures and outcomes indicated only a slight trend toward increased…

This review of research discusses how children with autism may acquire equivalence classes after learning to supply a common oral name to each stimulus in a potential class. A proposed methodology for researching referent naming and class formation, analysis of stimulus classes, and generalization is offered. (CR)

Results of a study with four autistic students (ages five-nine) showed that a picture training procedure was effective in teaching a generalized response to questions for which the relevant cue was visible, whereas specific generalization programing was required for situations in which the relevant cue was not visible. (Author/DB)

A time delay procedure was used to teach three children (ages 5-9) with autism to ask the question "What's that?" when novel stimuli were presented, and generalization of the skill was assessed. Results suggest that children with autism can be taught to ask questions that lead to acquisition of new information. (Author/DB)

This study used a self-management treatment package to teach three children with autism to play appropriately in the absence of a treatment provider. Results indicated appropriate play skills were learned and generalized to new settings, and two of the children maintained gains at one-month followup. In addition, self-stimulatory behaviors…

This study, involving 4 children (ages 6 and 11) with autism, demonstrated that a self-management technique was effective in improving responsiveness to verbal initiations from others and in extending responsiveness to settings (community, home, and school) without the presence of a treatment provider. Concomitant reductions in disruptive behavior…

A social interactive training program that focused on eye contact, joint attention, and motor imitation was implemented during regular classroom activities with three preverbal preschool children with autism. Increases in target behaviors and generalization of eye contact and motor imitation behaviors were observed. Social validation measures by…

A study of 4 youths (ages 11-18) with autism examined the effectiveness of teaching appropriate affective behavioral responses. Participants were described by teachers as having flat and inappropriate affect. Treatment consisted of modeling, prompting, and reinforcement. The combination of an error-correction procedure and contingent delivery of…