The Zones of Regulation is a widely implemented program for social-emotional regulation, including for students with autism. To date, there is very little empirical evidence to show efficacy for the Zones of Regulation. According to standards published by the American Psychological Association, National Standards Project, and National…

Background: Building 'key skills' may help prevent the development of challenging behaviour in children with an intellectual disability. The aim of this paper was to extend the current limited evidence in this area. Method: We undertook two studies with children with an intellectual disability in school settings: (1) a cross-sectional replication…

Social communication deficits are one of the defining features of autism spectrum disorder. In schools, social communication deficits are assumed to be due to a skill acquisition issue and remediated through social skills instruction; however, social skills instruction has been fairly criticized, particularly by those in the autistic community, as…

Physical restraint is a restrictive practice used in schools across the UK and there have been recent concerns around the appropriateness and frequency of using this intervention with pupils. Current data suggest that pupils with Special Educational Needs (SEN), a vulnerable and diverse group, are experiencing the majority of physical restraint…

Children with autism often display differences in functional and symbolic play and may experience barriers to social inclusion with peers in preschool settings. Therefore, interventions supporting social play between children with autism and their peers that can be feasibly implemented by teachers in inclusive settings are needed. A…

University students with dyslexia have greater anxiety than their peers without dyslexia, especially related to their academic studies. Most universities focus on mitigating the learning needs of these students, for example, providing more time during exams. Relatively little attention is paid to the psychological impact of having dyslexia. In…

Performing newly acquired skills over time (i.e., maintenance) and across settings and stimuli (i.e., generalization) is central to what students need to accomplish in preparation for life beyond the classroom. Students, including those with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD), need opportunities to practice for the purposes of maintaining…

Challenging behavior tends to increase in levels during adolescence for individuals with developmental disabilities (DD). If not addressed, this can lead to negative post-school outcomes for adolescents with DD. The purposes of this meta-analysis were to examine the effects of behavioral intervention in reducing challenging behaviors of…

This study aimed to examine and compare the teaching efficacy of paraprofessionals in the four desired domains identified in prior research about teaching special education: academic instruction, behavioral management, assessment, and professional ethics; and to identify what demographic or background factors predicted paraprofessional efficacy in…

In the Spring of 2020, COVID-19 forced school buildings to close across the United States. As a result, many early learning programs and elementary schools moved their services online. Families of young children with challenging behaviors receiving complex educational and behavioral services in traditional brick-and-mortar classrooms were suddenly…

Intensive academic interventions help address the learning difficulties of students with specific learning disabilities (SLDs). Challenging behaviors exhibited during instruction can have a negative impact on the overall effectiveness of an academic intervention. In addition to academic interventions, students with SLD may benefit from behavioral…

While we argue that difference and diversity are essential elements of the education process, we keep one area an utterly separate area: Special education. This area is left as a mysterious closed box with many undiscovered differences. While it is clear that there is behavioral pressure on special education, there are also opinions that claim the…

Special education researchers have for decades emphasized the importance of intervention effectiveness and procedural fidelity, but relatively little attention has been directed toward understanding intervention intensity. This review focused on extracting details of intervention intensity as reported in peer-reviewed studies of scripting and…

Research has demonstrated positive impacts of behavioral interventions on various educational outcomes for autistic youth, and implementation of these interventions in education settings has been widely advocated. However, recent studies have identified methodological shortcomings in the behavioral intervention evidence base, including lack of…

Functional communication training (FCT) provides an efficient means for reducing a variety of challenging behaviors while increasing social communication. After establishing a functional communication response (FCR), interventionists may need to design a program to thin the schedule of reinforcement to provide more durable effects and maintenance…