This research investigated the impact popular novels have on knowledge about and attitudes towards Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), compared to that of traditional college textbooks. Study 1 found that participants in the novel condition chose fewer correct and fewer incorrect responses to questions about ASD. Participants did not differ in their…

We explored whether children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) learn new nouns from overheard speech. Thirteen children (4-5 years) with ASD participated in an Addressed condition, in which they were directly taught a novel label (e.g., "toma") for one of three novel objects, and an Overheard condition, in which the objects and label…

With Latent Class Analysis applied on data of 98 children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) (9-12 years; 17 girls) participating in social skills training (SST) in a randomized controlled trial (Dekker et al. 2019), four subgroups were detected, based on social-communicative skills before, and response patterns to training. Two subgroups…

Social competence training for adults with ASD were limited in comparison to intervention for children or adolescents. CBT-CSCA is a culturally-sensitive social competence training specially developed for adolescents in Hong Kong. With its demonstrated effectiveness, the current study outlined the adaptions of its adult version, CBT-CSCA (Adult)…

This study investigated whether children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) can learn vocabulary from linguistic context. Thirty-five children with ASD (18 with age-appropriate structural language; 17 with language impairment [ALI]) and 29 typically developing peers were taught 20 Science words. Half were presented in linguistic context from…

This study examined the effect of using an iPad for students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) on self-monitoring their behaviors in class. Four students with ASD were taught on-task behaviors by watching self-modeled video saved in the application "Choiceworks" on their iPads, and collected data on their own behaviors. A single…

This study compared the teaching interaction procedure to social stories implemented in a group setting to teach social skills to three children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. The researchers taught each participant one social skill with the teaching interaction procedure, one social skill with the social story procedure, and one social…

Social skills training is a common treatment method for adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), yet very few evidence-based interventions exist to improve social skills for high-functioning adolescents on the spectrum, and even fewer studies have examined the effectiveness of teaching social skills in the classroom. This study examines…

We examined whether "discrete trial training" (DTT) could be used to identify learning impairments in mathematical reasoning in boys with fragile X syndrome (FXS). Boys with FXS, aged 10-23 years, and age and IQ-matched controls, were trained to match fractions to pie-charts and pie-charts to decimals either on a computer or with a…

This study examined the effectiveness of the Picture Me Playing intervention for increasing the play dialogue of preschool children with ASD during pretend play opportunities with typical peers. Picture Me Playing is a pictorially enhanced, script based intervention targeting character role play through a narrative vignette. A single-treatment…

An increasing body of literature has indicated that social stories are an effective way to teach individuals diagnosed with autism appropriate social behavior. This study compared two formats of a social story targeting the improvement of social skills during game play using a pretest posttest repeated measures randomized control group design. A…

A social skills group intervention was developed and evaluated for young children with autism. Twenty-five 4- to 6-year-old (diagnosed) children were assigned to one of two kinds of social skills groups: the direct teaching group or the play activities group. The direct teaching group used a video-modeling format to teach play and social skills…

This study describes a longitudinal design (following subjects described in Rutherford & Rogers [2003, "Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorder", 33, 289-302]) to test for predictors of pretend play competence in a group of children with autism. We tested the hypothesis that developmental change in pretend play performance can be predicted by…