Background: Active Support is a staff practice that aims to increase engagement of people with intellectual disabilities. This study seeks to: (1) identify the outcomes of staff using Active Support and how these are measured; (2) identify how the views of people with intellectual disabilities have been included in Active Support research. Method:…

This study investigated the potential influences of administration context on the measurement of child skills. The Brief Observation of Social-Communication Change (BOSCC) was administered at two time points to preschool-aged children with autism in two contexts: (1) at school by trained research staff and (2) at home by the parent. Participants…

The sex difference in the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may be magnified by sex differences on diagnostic measures. The current study compared autistic males and females on items on the gold-standard diagnostic measure, the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, Second Edition (ADOS-2). In a sample of 8-to-17-year old autistic…

Emotional and behavioral problems (EBPs) frequently occur in young autistic children. Discrepancies between parents and other informants are common but can lead to uncertainty in formulation, diagnosis and care planning. This study aimed to explore child and informant characteristics are associated with reported child EBPs across settings.…

Failure to implement Tier 1 behavioral intervention strategies in the classroom leads to inappropriate special education and disciplinary referrals for Black students resulting in a loss of instructional opportunities. This project took place in an urban K-8 school with a culturally and linguistically diverse student population. In consultation…

Individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are more likely to have suicidal thoughts and behaviors. However, little research delineates the temporal and mechanistic associations between potential risk factors and suicidality in autistic individuals. We assessed 129 autistic and 121 age-matched and sex-assigned-at-birth-matched…

Early identification of social, emotional, and behavioral difficulties (SEBDs) in children is essential to provide support and reduce the risk of negative outcomes. Schools are considered ideal settings to identify SEBDs, and in many countries special educational needs coordinators (SENCOs) play a pivotal role in this respect. Although SENCOs may…

Reliable and valid assessment of parenting and child behaviors is critical for clinicians and researchers alike, and observational measures of parenting behaviors are often considered the gold standard for assessing parenting and parent-child interaction quality. The current study sought to evaluate the reliability and validity of the Coder…

This article presents a structured blueprint for school psychologists to assess and intervene in cases of automatically maintained self-injurious behavior (SIB) while adhering to the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) mandate. We outline a six-step process for conducting Functional Behavior Assessments (FBAs) of automatically maintained SIB,…

A foundational strategy to promote implementation of evidence-based interventions (EBIs) is providing EBI training to therapists. This study tested an online training system in which therapists practiced observational coding of mock video vignettes demonstrating family therapy techniques for adolescent behavior problems. The study compared…

The current study evaluated whether a computer-based training program could improve observers' accuracy in scoring discrete instances of problem behavior at 5x normal speed using a multiple-baseline design across subjects. During pretraining and posttraining, observers attempted to score multiple examples of problem behavior at 5.0x without…

In this study, the psychometric properties of the Classroom Observation of Engagement, Disrespectful and Disruptive Behavior (COEDD), a systematic direct observation coding protocol designed to assess common school-based behavioral targets, were examined. Interobserver agreement and criterion-related validity were evaluated in a sample of 155…

Despite extensive research examining self-management interventions for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), researchers have failed to evaluate self-management procedures for on-task behavior in the home environment or with parents as interventionists. Using an ABAB design, the present study examined the effectiveness of a…

Co-occurring emotional and behavioral problems (EBPs) frequently exist in young autistic children. There is evidence based on parental report that parenting interventions reduce child EBPs. More objective measures of child EBPs should supplement parent reported outcomes in trials. We describe the development of a new measure of child and parenting…

Emotional and behavioral problems (EBPs), such as anxiety, overactivity, and aggression, can influence the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The gold standard diagnostic tool for ASD, the "Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule--Second Edition," includes three items ("E-codes") for EBPs that are frequently associated…