Preschool children experience a variety of risk factors that could result in the development of more severe mental and behavioral health issues later in life. Simple, teacher-delivered interventions, such as behavior-specific praise, are effective for altering at-risk preschool children's behavioral trajectory. However, preschool teachers are…

Children on the autism spectrum often experience difficulty generalizing social skills across environments and contexts, which can make developing friendships challenging in early childhood. This means that, in addition to initial social skills instruction, children with autism may need specialized supports to promote the generalization of newly…

Verbal praise is frequently used as motivation by teachers in class and truly effective verbal praise plays an important role in maintaining classroom order and stimulating positive student behavior. In this study, students from three classes of X Primary School of Jiangxi Province were interviewed and 328 verbal praise expressions collected. The…

We observed three children with autism spectrum disorder during structured play dates in which play partners displayed interest or disinterest in the toys with which they were playing. We then taught subjects to identify play partners' preferences and to make appropriate toy offers using a multiple-exemplar training package consisting of rules,…

Novice teachers need to develop foundation teaching skills to effectively address student behavior and academics in the classroom. The TLE TeachLivE™ simulation laboratory (TLE) is a virtual classroom used to supplement traditional didactic instruction and field experiences in teacher preparation programs. In this study, repeated practice and…

Few studies have been conducted in Greece, which focus on the education of children with multiple disabilities (motor and intellectual disabilities, ID). Four children between the ages 9 and 15 with multiple disabilities (motor and ID) were selected to be taught social skills. The aim of this qualitative study was to provide training with regard…

In today's autistic-support classrooms, paraeducators are tasked with working with our neediest students yet report that they are unprepared for their roles despite attempts at training. The special education teachers who are tasked with coaching and supervising several paraeducators at a time in their classrooms report that they too are…

There are many benefits to engaging in regular physical activity such as increased quality of life and decreased levels of obesity. However, individuals with autism spectrum disorder often do not engage in healthy levels of physical activity. Low motivation, poor motor skills, and behavioral challenges combine to make engaging in regular physical…

Social skills training programs have increasingly enlisted same-age typical peers as instructors in the teaching of social skills to children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The inclusion of peers in the teaching process has been found to be a critical component in these programs. Despite strong support for incorporating…

Research suggests that school-aged individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID) tend to be less physically active than their typically developing peers (e.g., Shields, King, Corbett, & Imms, 2014). While these students can be successful in acquiring motor and sport-related skills during physical education, they tend not to use those skills…

Consultation is beneficial for increasing teachers' intervention use for target students. However, little is known about teachers' generalized intervention use. This study is a systematic replication of Riley-Tillman and Eckert ("J Educ Psychol Consult" 12:217-241, 2001) and Martens et al. ("Sch Psychol Q" 12:33-41,…

A multiple baseline design across participants was used to examine the effects of a portable video modeling intervention delivered in the natural environment on the verbal compliments and compliment gestures demonstrated by five children with autism. Participants were observed playing kickball with peers and adults. In baseline, participants…

The primary purpose of this study was to evaluate the generalization of mands during functional communication training (FCT) and sign language training across functional contexts (i.e., positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement). A secondary purpose was to evaluate a training procedure based on stimulus control to teach manual signs. During…

Research on the high-probability (high-p) request sequence shows that compliance with low-probability (low-p) requests generally increases when preceded by a series of high-p requests. Few studies have conducted formal preference assessments to identify the consequences used for compliance, which may partly explain treatment failures, and still…

In this study we examined the extent to which teachers implement and generalize a praise intervention learned during behavioral consultation. Four elementary teachers and 15 of their students (3-4 per teacher) participated in the study. In each classroom, 1 student was randomly assigned as the consultation target student, 1 as the generalization…