This chapter provides evidence-based supports for communication, social skills, and for using restricted patterns of interests and activities educationally for students with autism. Supports for receptive language, expressive language, Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS), visual supports, social narratives, and augmentative and…

"Autism at-a-Glance" is designed for high school staff members supporting students on the autism spectrum, as well as family members of adolescents on the autism spectrum. This issue was designed to support high school staff and family members in understanding and improving the communication skills of adolescents on the autism spectrum.…

Play is a complex phenomenon that occurs naturally for most children; they move through the various stages of play development and are able to add complexity, imagination, and creativity to their thought processes and actions. However, for many children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), the various stages of play never truly develop, or occur…

Cognitive and language skills of 39 siblings of children with autism (SIBS-A) and 39 siblings of typically developing children (SIBS-TD) at ages 4, 14, 24, 36, and 54 months were compared. Twelve of the 39 SIBS-A revealed a delay in cognition and/or language (including one child diagnosed with autism) compared to only two SIBS-TD. Developmental…

Analyzes the key components of the Precision Teaching technique: pinpointing (identifying learning channels and defining correct and incorrect responses), counting behavior in real time, and charting the pace of learning. Includes a case study describing the Precision Teaching of receptive object identification with a 3-year-old with autistic…

The monograph describes a systematic attempt to develop language behavior in a nonverbal autistic 4.5-year-old boy who was essentially unresponsive to environmental stimuli of any kind. The 45-session intervention focused on teaching him to attend, increasing his responsiveness to people, effecting discriminative responses to a variety of…

The article describes language development techniques used with a 5-year-old autistic boy to increase his verbal behavior. Intervention consisted of 1.5 hour sessions four times a week over an 8-month period. The intervention focused on increasing nonvocal imitation, vocal imitation, verbal labeling, and verbal discrimination. Development of…