Individuals with autism spectrum disorder display impairments in social interactions and communication that appear at early ages and result in short- and long-term negative outcomes. As such, there is a need for effective social skills training programs for young children with autism spectrum disorder--particularly interventions capable of being…

Deficits in question-asking are common in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Furthermore, their opportunities to self-initiate questions are often hindered by directive behavior of their conversation partners. This study assessed the effectiveness of staff training in pivotal response treatment (PRT) on staff member-created…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of a behavioral art program in improving social skills for two children with autism in group settings. A multiple probe design across behaviors was used. The results indicated that for both children, the program increased the percentages of spontaneous verbal communications,…

Recent studies have suggested that skill acquisition rates for children with autism spectrum disorders receiving early interventions can be predicted by child motivation. We examined whether level of interest during an Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule assessment at 2?years predicts subsequent rates of verbal, nonverbal, and adaptive skill…

Daily living skills (DLS), such as personal hygiene, meal preparation, and money management, are important to independent living. Research suggests that many individuals with autism spectrum disorder exhibit impairments in daily living skills relative to their cognitive skills. This study examined predictors of daily living skills attainment and…

Teaching critical treatment-related skills to behavior change agents is an important task. One such treatment-related skill is the ability to observe and specifically describe ongoing appropriate and inappropriate behaviors. In this study, the effectiveness of a training package in teaching behavior specificity was demonstrated in two experiments.…

This check list provides a method for observing and recording the development of children aged 1 to 6 and handicapped children in six categories of skills: gross motor development, fine motor development, social, self help, cognitive, and language. The scoring system is designed to provide information on the rate of development in each category;…

This manual describes the Learning Accomplishment Profile (LAP), a check list, and tells how it is administered, scored, and used to evaluate children's skill development and rate of development. The items were drawn from a number of well-known assessment tools, and measure skills appropriate for normal children aged 1-6 and handicapped children.…