Increasing Functional Leisure Engagement for Children With Autism Using Backward Chaining

2017 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chelsea K. Edwards ◽  
Robin K. Landa ◽  
Sarah E. Frampton ◽  
M. Alice Shillingsburg
Keyword(s):  
Children With Autism ◽  
Probe Design ◽  
Free Access ◽  
Classroom Implementation ◽  
Backward Chaining ◽  
Classroom Effects ◽  
Toy Play ◽  
Leisure Engagement ◽  
Treatment Package ◽  
Multiple Probe

Research with individuals with disabilities has demonstrated the utility of intervention approaches to address toy play, also referred to as functional leisure engagement (FLE). Examples include prompting FLE, blocking stereotypy, and differentially reinforcing appropriate FLE with social or automatic (i.e., access to stereotypy) reinforcers. Backward chaining has yet to be evaluated, but may be useful for establishing more complex FLE. The current study employed a treatment package consisting of these components with three school-aged children with autism in a therapeutic classroom. Effects were evaluated during pretest and posttest sessions, which consisted of free access to toys in a novel setting. The percentage of session with FLE was evaluated using a multiple probe design across participants. Results showed all participants demonstrated an increase in FLE and two participants showed decreased stereotypy. Feasibility for classroom implementation is discussed.

scholarly journals Comparison of Tablet-Delivered and Instructor-Delivered Teaching on Receptive Identification in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders

2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-67
Author(s):  
Sabine Saade Chebli ◽  
Marc J. Lanovaz ◽  
Marie-Michèle Dufour
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Probe Design ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Receptive Identification ◽  
Multielement Design ◽  
Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Multiple Probe ◽  
Multiple Probe Design

The purpose of our study was to compare the effectiveness of tablet- and instructor-delivered teaching (i.e., prompting and reinforcement) on the receptive identification of one-word concepts in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). To this end, we embedded a multielement design within a multiple probe design to compare the effectiveness of the two instructional modalities in seven participants. Two of the seven participants showed generalization on all concepts in fewer instructional trials following instructor-delivered teaching, whereas the remaining five participants had mixed results depending on the concept. In total, the participants showed more rapid generalization with the instructor for 14 of the 19 concepts taught. Our results suggest that tablets should not systematically replace instructor-delivered prompting and reinforcement, but that they may be used to provide supplementary teaching to children with ASD.

Using a Token Economy to Treat Escape-Maintained Problem Behavior Without Extinction

2020 ◽  
pp. 014544552096676
Author(s):  
Natalie R. Andzik ◽  
Elle M. Smith ◽  
Nancy A. Neef
Keyword(s):  
Problem Behavior ◽  
Problem Behaviors ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Token Economy ◽  
Delayed Reinforcement ◽  
Probe Design ◽  
Escape Extinction ◽  
Students With Autism ◽  
Multiple Probe

The use of extinction procedures when treating escape-maintained problem behavior can be undesirable and impractical for practitioners to use. To mitigate the risks associated with escape extinction, we explored the effectiveness of a delayed reinforcement token system without the use of extinction in school and home settings to treat escape-maintained problem behavior of students with autism spectrum disorder. In lieu of escape extinction (e.g., blocking), the researchers implemented a 30 s break contingent on problem behaviors and a token (to be exchanged at the end of the session) contingent on compliance. The results of a multiple probe design indicated substantial increases in compliance and reductions in problem behavior for all four participants. These findings suggest that extinction is not necessary to eliminate escape-maintained problem behavior in children with autism.

Increasing Play Complexity in a Young Child With Autism

2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 81-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin E. Barton ◽  
Stephanie Gossett ◽  
M. Caroline Waters ◽  
Rebecca Murray ◽  
Rachel Francis
Keyword(s):  
Single Case ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Probe Design ◽  
Contingent Reinforcement ◽  
Single Case Design ◽  
System Of Least Prompts ◽  
Play Behaviors ◽  
Multiple Probe ◽  
Case Design

Young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) demonstrate fewer and less varied play behaviors than children with typical development. This article describes two studies designed to increase two aspects of play complexity—diverse play actions and sequential play actions—in a child with ASD. In Study 1, we use a multitreatment single-case design to compare the use of the system of least prompts with contingent reinforcement for diverse play or all play. In Study 2, we used a multiple probe design to examine the relation between the system of least prompts with contingent reinforcement and the child’s use of play sequences. Across both studies, the complexity of play increased when specific aspects—diversity or sequences—were prompted and reinforced; however, the maintenance of effects were variable.

Building Professionals’ Capacity: The Cascading Coaching Model

2021 ◽  
pp. 109830072110392
Author(s):  
Moon Y. Chung ◽  
James D. Lee ◽  
Hedda Meadan ◽  
Michelle M. Sands ◽  
Ban Sleiman Haidar
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Family Engagement ◽  
Functional Relation ◽  
Professional Organizations ◽  
Probe Design ◽  
Intervention Package ◽  
Coaching Model ◽  
Behavior Analysts ◽  
Multiple Probe

The importance of family engagement in their children’s education and treatment is emphasized by researchers, professional organizations, and legislatures. Providing services with caregivers via telepractice has gained more support and is becoming especially timely due to the current pandemic and social distancing requirements. Professionals, such as board-certified behavior analysts (BCBAs), who work with caregivers with children with disabilities may benefit from receiving professional development on strategies for building better rapport with caregivers and coaching them to bring about maximum clinical efficacy. The current pilot study replicated an earlier study by Meadan et al. to examine the effects of the Coaching Caregiver Professional Development (CoCarePD) intervention package, in which BCBAs received training and coaching from researchers via telepractice, on their caregiver coaching practices. A single-case, multiple-probe design study across three BCBAs was conducted, and findings support a functional relation between the CoCarePD and BCBAs’ use of coaching practices.

Apraxia of Speech

1988 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 280-294 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Paul Dworkin ◽  
G. G. Abkarian ◽  
Donnell F. Johns
Keyword(s):  
Treatment Program ◽  
Specific Treatment ◽  
Probe Design ◽  
Apraxia Of Speech ◽  
Actual Number ◽  
Test Program ◽  
Performance Suggestions ◽  
Carry Over ◽  
Time Required ◽  
Multiple Probe

This investigation describes a treatment program for an adult patient with apraxia of speech. The program was composed of a series of physiologic (nonspeech) and phonetic (articulatory) tasks that began with oroneuromotor control activities and progressed to consonant-vowel (CV) syllable, word, and sentence drills. All activities were paced by a metronome. Detailed descriptions are provided about the (a) nature of the specific treatment steps,(b) sequence of steps followed, (c) criteria used for progression within and between steps, (d) actual number of trials and time required to reach criteria for each step, and (e) steps that were especially easy or difficult to master. A multiple probe design employed to test program efficacy revealed that (a) all tasks in the treatment program were successfully acquired, (b) control of all treatment behaviors was maintained, and (c) carry-over from treated to nontreated behaviors did not occur. Results confirmed that the program positively affected the patient's performance. Suggestions are offered outlining possible modification of the treatment steps so as to yield similar results with greater clinical efficiency.

Online Communication Training for Parents of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

2017 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 415-425 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah N. Douglas ◽  
Rebecca Kammes ◽  
Erica Nordquist
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Parent Training ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Online Training ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Communication Strategy ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Probe Design ◽  
Single Subject ◽  
The Impact

Parent training is an essential part of quality programming for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, limited research exists exploring online training approaches to support parents of children with both ASD and complex communication needs (CCN; e.g., limited verbal ability), despite the many benefits that online training might have for these parents and the overall sustainability and scalability of such approaches. This study utilized a single-subject multiple probe design with three parents and their children to explore the impact of online parent training for parents and their children with ASD and CCN. Training included online interactive components to teach parents a communication strategy, as well as live practice sessions during which parents implemented the strategy, had an opportunity to ask questions, and engaged in self-reflection. Results indicated that training increased communication opportunities and responses provided by parents, and communication by the child. Limitations and future research directions are discussed.

Teaching a Child With Autism to Request Breaks While Concurrently Increasing Task Engagement

2015 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 256-265 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shelley R. Kreibich ◽  
Mo Chen ◽  
Joe Reichle
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Task Engagement ◽  
Probe Design ◽  
Individual Education Program ◽  
Intervention Package ◽  
Task Behavior ◽  
Work Completion ◽  
Multiple Probe ◽  
Individual Education ◽  
Tolerance For Delay

Purpose An intervention package, including teaching break requests and tolerance for delay in reinforcement delivery to increase task engagement, was implemented with a 4-year-old child with an autism spectrum disorder who did not engage for a duration commensurate with individual education program team expectations. Method A multiple-probe design across tasks was implemented. Dependent measures taken included engagement duration and the production of spoken break requests after work completion. Intervention was implemented with tasks involving short periods of engagement prior to the learner's disengagement. The possibility of the learner's overgeneralized production of break requests with tasks originally associated with longer engagement was also examined. Results The participant learned to request breaks in short engagement tasks. In addition, engagement increased dramatically without off-task behavior. Overgeneralized use of break requests with long engagement tasks did not occur. Generalization of break requests to untrained short engagement tasks that were not the focus of intervention (but were associated with escape and short engagement) did not occur until the intervention package was implemented. Conclusions The combination of teaching break requests and tolerance for delay in reinforcement delivery was effective in addressing problem behavior. Implications for enhancing properly generalized and moderated use of break requests across different tasks or contexts are discussed.

Efficacy of Tiered Training on Paraeducator Implementation of Systematic Instructional Practices for Students With Severe Disabilities

2020 ◽  
pp. 001440292094764
Author(s):  
Matthew E. Brock ◽  
Mary A. Barczak ◽  
Eric J. Anderson ◽  
Nichole M. Bordner-Williams
Keyword(s):  
Functional Relation ◽  
Implementation Fidelity ◽  
Training Model ◽  
Severe Disabilities ◽  
Performance Criterion ◽  
Performance Criteria ◽  
Probe Design ◽  
Group Training ◽  
Students With Severe Disabilities ◽  
Multiple Probe

Existing approaches for training paraeducators rely heavily on intensive one-to-one coaching and may not be feasible in practice. In this study, we test a tiered training model in which all paraeducators first received group training, and then coaching was provided only for the subset who did not meet performance criteria after group training. Using a concurrent multiple-probe design staggered across classrooms, we demonstrated a functional relation between the tiered model and implementation fidelity of two systematic prompting strategies across 13 paraeducators in five schools. Nine paraeducators achieved the performance criterion for both practices with group training alone, and the remaining four met the criterion after teacher-delivered coaching. In addition, paraeducators generalized implementation to new situations, and students with severe disabilities who received instruction made progress on individualized goals. Based on these findings, a tiered training model is a feasible and promising means to train paraeducators.

scholarly journals Evaluation of a Treatment Package to Increase Mean Length of Utterances for Children with Autism

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 659-673
Author(s):  
M. Alice Shillingsburg ◽  
Sarah E. Frampton ◽  
Yannick A. Schenk ◽  
Brittany L. Bartlett ◽  
Taylor M. Thompson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Children With Autism ◽  
Treatment Package

scholarly journals Effects of pivotal response treatment on reciprocal vocal contingency in a randomized controlled trial of children with autism spectrum disorder

Autism ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (6) ◽  
pp. 1566-1571
Author(s):  
Jena McDaniel ◽  
Paul Yoder ◽  
Madison Crandall ◽  
Maria Estefania Millan ◽  
Christina Mich Ardel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Parent Report ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Pivotal Response Treatment ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Child Interaction ◽  
Parent Child Interaction ◽  
Treatment Package

A pivotal response treatment package consisting of clinician-delivered and parent-implemented strategies was recently found to be effective in improving language and social communication deficits in children with autism spectrum disorder. Reciprocal vocal contingency, an automated measure of vocal reciprocity, may provide stronger and complementary evidence of the effects of the pivotal response treatment package. Reciprocal vocal contingency is derived through an automated process from daylong audio samples from the child’s natural environment. Therefore, reciprocal vocal contingency is at lower risk for detection bias than parent report and brief parent–child interaction measures. Although differences were non-significant at baseline and after 12 weeks of intervention for the 48 children with autism spectrum disorder who were randomly assigned to the pivotal response treatment package or a delayed treatment control group, the pivotal response treatment package group had higher ranked reciprocal vocal contingency scores than the control group after 24 weeks ( U = 125, p = .04). These findings are consistent with results from parent report and parent–child interaction measures obtained during the trial. The participants in the pivotal response treatment package exhibited greater vocal responsiveness to adult vocal responses to their vocalizations than the control group. Findings support the effectiveness of the pivotal response treatment package on vocal reciprocity of children with autism spectrum disorder, which may be a pivotal skill for language development. Lay abstract A recent randomized controlled trial found that children with autism spectrum disorder who received a pivotal response treatment package showed improved language and social communication skills following the intervention. The pivotal response treatment package includes clinician-delivered and parent-implemented strategies. Reciprocal vocal contingency is an automated measure of vocal reciprocity derived from daylong audio samples from the child’s natural environment. It may provide stronger and complementary evidence of the effects of the pivotal response treatment package because it is at lower risk for detection bias than parent report and brief parent–child interaction measures. The current study compared reciprocal vocal contingency for 24 children with autism spectrum disorder in the pivotal response treatment package group and 24 children with autism spectrum disorder in the control group. The pivotal response treatment package group received 24 weeks of the pivotal response treatment package intervention. The control group received their usual intervention services during that time. The groups did not differ in reciprocal vocal contingency when the intervention started or after 12 weeks of intervention. However, after 24 weeks the pivotal response treatment package group had higher ranked reciprocal vocal contingency scores than the control group. These findings are consistent with results from parent report and parent–child interaction measures obtained during the trial. The participants in the pivotal response treatment package exhibited greater vocal responsiveness to adult vocal responses to their vocalizations than the control group. Findings support the effectiveness of the pivotal response treatment package on vocal reciprocity of children with autism spectrum disorder, which may be a pivotal skill for language development.

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