Background: Building 'key skills' may help prevent the development of challenging behaviour in children with an intellectual disability. The aim of this paper was to extend the current limited evidence in this area. Method: We undertook two studies with children with an intellectual disability in school settings: (1) a cross-sectional replication…

This study was designed to determine the effectiveness of a computer assisted instruction to deliver discrete trial training of academic skills to students with significant intellectual disabilities. Based upon the principles of Applied Behavioral Analysis, discrete trial training was identified as an evidence-based practice in teaching skills to…

This study provides the results of a meta-analysis of 31 single-case design studies on safety skills interventions for individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID). Results indicate that individuals who have mild to moderate ID, in particular school-age children, have benefited most from the safety skills interventions. In addition, the…

Online shopping is a common feature of modern adult life and is made easy with targeted advertisements, a large buy now button, and pre-entered credit card information. However, these features do not support making purchasing decisions based on what is best for the individual. Decision making about buying items requires an understanding of basic…

While abduction remains a rare occurrence in the United States, many parents and caregivers have concerns about children's reactions to strangers and other safety-related behaviors. Abduction is a risk for all children, but may be of specific concern for people with disabilities due to social skill and communication deficits. Behavior analytic…

This study evaluated the effects of behavior skills training (BST) as a means to acquire and generalize self-instruction behaviors using video activity schedules (VidAS) loaded on an iPod Touch for four U.S. high school students with intellectual disabilities. Behavior skills training procedures were implemented in two different vocational…

Several researchers have suggested that safety skill instruction has been neglected amongst individuals with intellectual disabilities even though injuries occur at an exceedingly higher rate than the general population. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness, generality, and maintenance of the use of behavior skills training…

Adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) may engage in challenging behavior. These behaviors present challenges to support staff who often lack training in effective behavior management procedures. Behavioral skills training (BST) is an empirically supported method of staff training and has been used to teach support staff a…

Research demonstrates that combining video modeling and visual activity schedules into video activity schedules has been effective in increasing independence for students with disabilities. However, the instructional procedures used to teach students to acquire the necessary skills to navigate those tools vary among existent research. In this…

People with intellectual or developmental disabilities (IDDs) face lifelong challenges in areas such as self-care, learning and socializing abilities. Having such individuals at home brings family caregivers extra stress, especially when support is insufficient. Because of the inadequacy of professional support available globally, the need to…

A single subject multiple probe design across participants was used to examine the effects of distributing trials in shared stories on listening comprehension and skill acquisition with students with significant cognitive disability (SCD). The results suggest a functional relationship between the independent and each of the dependent variables. In…

Teaching students with intellectual and development disabilities (IDD) can often be a difficult and complex job. Teachers frequently rely on educational support staff or paraprofessionals to assist in the classroom in a variety of ways. However, paraprofessionals are unlikely to come into the classroom with the knowledge and skills needed to…

The purpose of this study was to determine an effective training method of improving direct support professionals' (DSPs) ability to accurately and descriptively report antecedent, behavior, and function. A training method, multiple exemplar training (MET), which is not typically applied to this population, was utilized to determine its…

Children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) frequently engage in escape-maintained problem behavior, which can limit their access to academic instruction and lead to placement in more restrictive educational settings. While there are function-based interventions to treat escape-maintained problem behavior, these interventions…

There is a current and growing need for evidence-based practices aimed at improving the social skills of adults with intellectual disabilities (ID). Despite an abundance of research on strategies to improve the social skills of young children with ID, there is limited research on interventions aimed at improving prosocial behaviors of adults with…