Dysfunction in the mirror neuron system has been proposed to underlie sociocognitive deficits of autism--such as imitation, empathy, and Theory of Mind, and has been linked with a deficient level of mu (8-13 Hz) suppression over the sensorimotor cortex during observed but not executed actions. Previous research has found that Neurofeedback…

The use of operant procedures was extended to decrease immediate echolalia and increase appropriate responding to questions of a 21-year-old autistic man. Multiple baseline designs demonstrated that echolalia was rapidly replaced with correct stimulus-specific responses. A variety of generalized improvements were observed in verbal responses to…

In a study of behavior modification two Down's syndrome preschool children, the first a 5-year-old boy with autistic behavior patterns and the second a 4-year-old girl whose behavior problem was to reject other children, were examined. The first S was engaged in ball catching activities with a teacher with positive reinforcement (playing the S's…

The study guide accompanies a series of 28 videotaped programs designed to provide teachers, teacher aides and parents with an understanding of children with autistic tendencies and of how behavior modification techniques might be used to train such children. Synopses of each program and each program segment and a few questions intended to…

Focusing on the education of the autistic child as an awakening process, the book discusses the role of meaningful human communication and reports a research program which applied a therapeutic educational technique. The development of language in children, the diagnosis of an autistic child, autistic behavior and sensory and emotional…

A description of the Social Exchange Laboratory's work with autistic children is presented. The laboratory's philosophy of the exchange theory of autism, seen as a set of habitual response patterns maintained and intensified by exchanges which are inadvertantly structured by others in the child's environment, is set forth with characteristics,…

The report describes a 3-year project which utilized the techniques of experimental psychology and the principles of operant conditioning to gain in the understanding and treatment of autistic and schizophrenic children. Included are discussions of the autistic child, the project itself, arbitrary and natural reinforcement, the setting and…