This article describes an empirical study that explored the cognitive and emotional effects of teaching through shadow theater as compared to traditional storytelling of the same texts and songs in children on the autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The rationale is based on broken mirror theory anchored in research on mirror neurons. Fifty-seven…

Naturalistic developmental behavioral intervention is an emerging class of interventions for young children with autism spectrum disorder. The present article is a meta-analysis of outcomes of group-design studies (n = 27) testing interventions using naturalistic developmental behavioral intervention strategies. Small, significant positive effects…

Social-cognitive and emotional factors as well as behavior problems contribute to the social difficulties experienced by many students with or at high risk for emotional and behavioral disorders (EBDs). The way that teachers and peers treat and respond to these students can either mitigate or exacerbate their challenges in establishing and…

The provision of reinforcement to increase desired behaviors is a crucial element of behavior analytic intervention for individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Formal preference assessments, like the multiple stimulus without replacement procedure (MSWO), are often used to determine reinforcers used during intervention. While…

Today, the use of formal preference assessments, including paired-stimulus preference assessments, is widely utilized to help determine which items to use as reinforcers during intervention. A second way to determine potential reinforcers is to analyze multiple dimensions of a stimulus in the moment, a procedure known as in-the-moment reinforcer…

Background: Children with autism spectrum disorder have impairments in social behaviours that require systematic intervention. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the cool versus not cool procedure implemented in a small group (dyad). Method: The cool versus not cool procedure consisted of the researcher demonstrating the targeted behaviour…

The goal of this study was to examine the extent to which preschoolers with externalizing behavior problems (EBP) can identify behaviors indicative of callous-unemotional (CU) traits among their peers. Participants for this study included 86 preschool children (69% boys; M[subscript age] = 5.07 years) with at-risk or clinically elevated levels of…

File review data were used to explore the impact of a large-scale publicly funded Intensive Behavioral Intervention (IBI) program for young children with autism. Outcomes were compared for 61 children who received IBI and 61 individually matched children from a waitlist comparison group. In addition, predictors of better cognitive outcomes were…

The current study evaluated the initial efficacy of three intervention programs aimed at improving school readiness in preschool children with externalizing behavior problems (EBP). Participants for this study included 45 preschool children (76% boys; M[subscript age] = 5.16 years; 84% Hispanic/Latino background) with at-risk or clinically…

For three decades after Leo Kanner's first clinical description, research progress in understanding and treating autism was minimal but since the late 1960s the growth of autism discoveries has been exponential, with a remarkable number of new findings published over the past two decades, in particular. These advances were made possible first by…

This article suggests five ways to help students with ADD/ADHD. These are: (1) Integrate the primitive reflexes; (2) Diet; (3) Visual attention; (4) Help for auditory attention; and (5) Cognitive training.

To assess whether a 5-month program involving attendance monitoring, sports participation, and a moral character class would reduce absenteeism, 40 students in a small transitional high school were randomly assigned to intervention and control groups and assessed pre- and postintervention on educational expectations, attitude toward education, and…

Aggression can present as a significant problem behavior in individuals with a diagnosis of developmental disability. Much research has focused on the prevalence of aggression in individuals with varying degrees of severity of intellectual disability (AD), autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and co-morbidity of ID and ASD. Research has also focused on…

An initial evaluation of the utility of designing an intervention to address neuroscience-based subtyping of children who have conduct problems was undertaken in this pilot study. Drawing on the literature on callous-unemotional traits, a novel intervention programme, "Let's Get Smart", was implemented in a school for children with…

Given the relationship between internalizing disorders and deficits in emotion regulation in youth, the emotion science literature has suggested several avenues for increasing the efficacy of interventions for youth presenting with anxiety and depression. These possibilities include the identification and addition of emotion-regulation skills to…