We used a script-fading package to teach children with autism to initiate social interactions across various activities in the school setting, and we programmed for generalization in the untrained home setting with a sibling. The three participants, ages 8 to 10 years, demonstrated deficits in social initiations with their peers. During baseline,…

Better conversational skills correspond to a higher quality of life for adults diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In this study, we taught vocal--verbal responses discriminated by compound arrangements of concealed conversation partner mands to two college students with ASD. Participants learned to engage in self-questioning about…

Parental involvement in intervention can support intervention efficacy, improve generalization, and increase accessibility. The Preschool Life Skills (PLS) program is designed to teach 13 preschool life skills and prevent problem behavior. The current study explores the utility of the PLS program as delivered by parents. In Experiment 1, 6 parents…

Echoic, tact, and textual transfer procedures have been proven successful in establishing simple intraverbals (Braam and Poling "Applied Research in Mental Retardation," 4, 279-302, 1983; Luciano "Applied Research in Mental Retardation," 102, 346-357, 1986; Watkins et al. "The Analysis of Verbal Behavior," 7, 69-81,…

Noncontingent reinforcement (NCR) is an effective technique for reducing a variety of behaviors in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD); however, prior researchers have not investigated the effects of NCR to reduce perseverative speech in children with ASD in naturalistic educational contexts. The current investigation evaluated the…

To close the performance gap for students with disabilities, teacher and student-focused interventions have been implemented through the Houston Independent School District (HISD) Autism and Behavior Services. The teacher-focused intervention entails support and professional development opportunities to improve teacher efficacy to close the…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a theatrical play programme on social skills development for young children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Six children with ASD were selected by purposive sampling (M=10.6 years), and their typically developing peers (N=132) (M=10.3 years), attending general primary schools in Greece…

Previous research has demonstrated that the way adults interact with children with autism can have a great impact on their spontaneous communication. However, to date, few studies have focused on modifying adults' behaviour and even fewer have been conducted in school settings which actively involve teaching staff in designing the intervention.…

Social stories are a commonly empirically evaluated and implemented procedure to increase pro-social behaviors and decrease aberrant behaviors for individuals diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. Despite their widespread use there have been questions raised to the soundness of the research methodology and the results which have been…

Background: Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may exhibit delayed play skills or repetitive play and have difficulty engaging in spontaneous play with peers. Method: A multiple-probe design across participants was used to investigate the effectiveness of a video modelling intervention and the use of children's special interests on their…

Coaching parents to implement evidence-based strategies is one method for increasing the number of hours young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) access intervention services. The purpose of this study was to teach parents of young children with ASD to implement naturalistic strategies during play in a clinic setting. Results indicate a…

A critical component of teaching social skills to people with autism is the generalization of behavior change across a variety of untrained situations during which social skills are appropriate. The script-fading procedure is an effective technology for teaching social skills to people with autism, but few researchers have established cues in the…

Video self-modeling demonstrates promise as an intervention strategy to improve outcomes in individuals with autism spectrum disorders. This article summarizes the empirical evidence supporting the use of video self-modeling with individuals with autism spectrum disorders to increase language and communication, increase social skills, modify…

Individuals with High Functioning ASD's (HFA) often have difficulties with adaptive functioning. Due to these deficits in independent functioning, many individuals with High-Functioning ASD's have limitations in adulthood. This study investigated if individuals with HFA would have a greater likelihood of learning independent adaptive daily living…

The effectiveness of home-based early behavioral interventions for children (2:6-4:0 years old) with autistic spectrum disorders was studied over 9-10 months. Measures of autistic severity, intellectual, educational, and adaptive behavioral functioning were taken. There was no evidence of recovery from autism. High-intensity behavioral approaches…