Little is known about outcomes for individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) into adulthood. Several characteristics of individuals with ASD predict long-term outcomes, and the family environment may also play a role. The present study uses a prospective, longitudinal design to describe and predict trajectories of autism symptoms and…

Background: Positive behaviour support emphasises the impact of contextual variables to enhance participation, choice, and quality of life. This study evaluates a sequence for implementing changes to key contextual variables for 4 individuals. Interventions were maintained and data collection continued over a 3-year period. Method: Functional…

Recent mandates related to the implementation of evidence-based practices for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) require that autism professionals both understand and are able to implement practices based on the science of applied behavior analysis (ABA). The use of the term "applied behavior analysis" and its related concepts…

Negative reinforcement plus edibles and praise produced about 90 percent correct responding for four severely retarded/autistic children (six to eight years old), while edibles and praise alone were much less effective. Use of negative reinforcement with noncompliant or difficult- to-motivate behaviorally disordered children appeared to be an…

Two studies involving five students (ages 9-17) with autism found that stereotypy was multiply determined or occurred across all assessment conditions (attention, demand, no-attention, and recreation conditions) and that the presumed association between response topography and behavioral function may be less important than previously realized.…

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…

After a brief review of the literature the research proposal focuses on the comparative effectiveness of non-verbal positive reinforcement vs. verbal negative reinforcement in the reduction of self-inflicted injury on 23 elementary age autistic children. In the two phase study each child would be paired by age, sex, length of time in school,…

This study of the outcomes of treatment of three children with autism, to reduce fear of dental examinations, found that the children could be trained through a combined desensitization, symbolic modeling, and reinforcement treatment package to undergo a dental exam in an analog setting, and the training could generalize somewhat to a clinical…

This source book focuses on helping people with autism manage their behavior by analyzing the learning environment and the purpose of the behavior and then teaching new skills and behaviors. Introductory material covers the approach's philosophy and the importance of a longitudinal program plan. A section on creating a physical environment for…

This training manual, designed for teaching parents of young children with autism, contains nine modules on behavior modification techniques. The modules address: (1) the ABC's of behavior, which discusses discriminating among words that describe feelings and words that describe behaviors, identifying examples of learned behavior, and defining and…

This self-study training manual for parents of children with autism contains nine modules on behavior modification techniques. The modules address: (1) the ABC's of behavior, which discusses discriminating among words that describe feelings and words that describe behaviors, identifying examples of learned behavior, and defining and identifying…

This self-study training manual for teachers of young children with autism contains nine modules on behavior modification techniques. The modules address: (1) the ABC's of behavior, which discusses discriminating among words that describe feelings and words that describe behaviors, identification of examples of learned behavior, and defining and…

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,…