Early and intensive behavioral intervention has been shown to result in favorable outcomes for children with autism spectrum disorder. Procedures and practices based on and influenced by B. F. Skinner's Verbal Behavior (VB) have been increasingly integrated into EIBI curricula in recent years. In this article, I give an overview of some basic…

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may encounter difficulties in various aspects of play, including successful entrance into playgroups. This article describes the practical and applied use of an empirically validated strategy that uses graphic symbols to teach young children with ASD to request entrance into playgroups.

Twenty years ago Michael (1993) refined and extended the concept of the conditioned establishing operation (CEO). With this paper he updated his previous treatment of the topic (Michael, 1982) by providing terminological refinements and conceptually clear descriptions of the reflexive and transitive CEOs. In the 20 years since the publication of…

"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 focuses on understanding and improving the communication skills of adolescents on the autism spectrum. The content specifically targets the needs of…

The purpose of this paper is to describe effective methods of developing pretend play that is intrinsically motivating for young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) using the topic of circumscribed interests. Children with ASD often develop very specialized interests, known as Circumscribed Interests (CI). However, their limited and…

His name is Brett Schmidt, and he is a college student with Autism. His greatest challenge of having autism is communication. When he first applied to Briarcliffe College, he was given an e-mail address to the Campus Portal. He had to train himself to look at the portal frequently for communication and information. On the start of the semester, he…

It's easy to imagine that a deep silence hangs over people with autism, but nothing could be further from the truth, at least in the author's case. His son Cameron has always been a noisy, histrionic person. He speaks most volubly with his body, and over the years the author and his wife Leslie have learned to interpret his gleeful…

Autism is a profoundly rhetorical phenomenon. And all--parents, educators, caregivers, policymakers, the public, and autistic people themselves--would be significantly empowered to understand and respond to it as such. In the continuing absence of stable scientific or medical knowledge about autism, one needs to shine a bright and insistent light…

This article narrates how the use of video camera has transformed the life of Jack Williams, a 10-year-old boy from Colorado Springs, Colorado, who has autism. The way autism affected Jack was unique. For the first nine years of his life, Jack remained in his world, alone. Functionally non-verbal and with motor skill problems that affected his…

The purpose of this article was to describe a taxonomy of pretend play for children with disabilities based on a systematic review of the literature to characterize pretend play. Thirty-seven studies were identified as measuring pretend play in children with disabilities. Several inconsistencies were found in the measurement of pretend play across…

Pivotal response teaching (PRT) is an empirically supported naturalistic behavioral intervention proven to be efficacious in the education of children with autism. This intervention involves loosely structured learning environments, teaching during ongoing interactions between student and teacher, child initiation of teaching episodes, child…

Michael is a 6-year-old boy with an autistic spectrum disorder (ASD). He and the other children in his class have delays in their verbal and nonverbal communication skills and difficulty with social interactions. Higgins and Eliza are two lovable cockapoos who help young children with ASD learn new words, expand the length of their sentences, try…

The year 2007 marked the 50th anniversary of the publication of B. F. Skinner's "Verbal Behavior", a book that by Skinner's own account was his most important. The received view, however, is that a devastating review by a young linguist not only rendered Skinner's interpretation of language moot but was also a major factor in ending the hegemony…

Children with autism may sometimes appear to be living in their own world and show very little interest in others. They may be socially unaware, avoiding eye contact and showing limited attachment to others. But when a child is able to express and communicate thoughts, desires, and needs, they are much more likely to seek out social interactions.…

Many adults come up short on social skills. Some of these may be co-workers, friends, or family members who make occasional blunders. Some of these individuals may experience marked social skills deficits throughout life, as is the case with young adults who are diagnosed with High Functioning Autism or Asperger Syndrome (HFA/AS). Following years…