The present study examined the effectiveness of Social Stories[TM], and Social Stories paired with a differential reinforcement procedure on disruptive behaviors of two elementary school children diagnosed with pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). We implemented a…

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) are characterized by pervasive impairments in repetitive behaviors or interests, communication, and socialization. As the onset of these features occurs at a very young age, early detection is of the utmost importance. In an attempt to better clarify the behavioral presentation of communication and socialization…

Autism has become one of the most heavily researched topics in the field of mental health and education. While genetics has been the most studied of all topics, applied behavior analysis (ABA) has also received a great deal of attention, and has arguably yielded the most promising results of any research area to date. The current paper provides a…

Since Kanner's first account of children with autism, there has been extensive research into the presentation of and interventions for Autistic Disorder. However, only a small proportion of this literature has focused on the progress of individuals with autism as they move from childhood and adolescence into adulthood. This paper is a critical…

Children with autism spectrum disorder show deficits in social skills such as initiating conversation, responding in social situations, social problem-solving, and others. These deficits are targeted through the use of social skills interventions, some of which use a technology-based approach as a resource-efficient alternative to common forms of…

The absence of the fundamental skill of "initiating joint attention" reflects the social-communicative impairment characterizing autism. Initiating joint attention is related to social and communication development as well as intervention outcomes for children with autism. A behaviorally based intervention was used to teach an expanded class of…

Although early recognition of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is important, the age of children at diagnosis is variable. Forty-five participants diagnosed with ASD were divided into groups based on age at diagnosis and compared on age when parents first became concerned about various aspects of their development. Results demonstrated no…

The current studies investigated whether using the Preschool Inventory of Repertoires for Kindergarten (PIRK[R] [Greer, R. D, & McKorkle. (2003). "Preschool Inventory of Repertoire for Kindergarten." Unpublished manuscript]) as a teaching curriculum had an impact on outcomes for children with ASD in special schools (Study 1), and on the ability of…