Derived emergence of WH question–answers in children with autism

Children with autism spectrum disorder often struggle to respond to conversational questions involving words such as “who,” “what,” and “where.” One reason for this may be that answering these types of questions requires a repertoire of relational responding in which the individual must select an answer based on the class memberships of stimuli found in the question. For example, answering the question, “Who do you see at the hospital?” requires identifying a potential response that is in coordination with both “who” and “hospital,” e.g., a doctor. The present study sought to examine this premise by providing training designed to promote relational responding to community associations, associations of noun types, and associations between wh- words and noun types. Three participants diagnosed with autism, between the ages of 10 and 12, were exposed to a multi-phase relational training sequence designed to establish equivalence class membership between community helper stimuli, noun-class stimuli, and wh- word relations using protocols from the PEAK Relational Training System (Dixon, 2015. PEAK relational training system: Equivalence module. Shawnee Scientific Press: Carbondale, IL; Dixon, in press. PEAK relational training system: Transformation module. Shawnee Scientific Press: Carbondale, IL). A concurrent multiple baseline across skills and participants design was used to evaluate the functional relationship between the establishment of these relations and the emergence of correct responding to wh- questions. Results indicated that for two of the three participants, mastery of these relations was functionally related to the emergence of accurate responding to untrained intraverbal wh- questions.     

Establishing metaphorical reasoning in children with autism

Researchers have shown that children with autism have difficulty with non-literal language, such as irony, sarcasm, deception, humor, and metaphors. To date, few studies have attempted to remediate these deficits, and no studies of which we are aware have attempted to teach children with autism to understand metaphors. Metaphorical reasoning consists of complex verbal behavior, involving relations of coordination, hierarchy, and distinction, at a minimum. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate multiple exemplar training for teaching children with autism to attend to relevant features of the context in which a metaphor is used and to engage in the required relational responding in order to respond correctly to metaphorical questions. Participants included three children, ages 5-7. Results suggest that multiple exemplar training is effective for teaching children with autism to understand metaphors. Furthermore, generalization to untrained metaphors was found for all participants.     

Contextual control over derived relational responding in a teenager with autism

The derived relational repertoire of a teenager with autism spectrum disorder was tested in two slightly different contexts using a multiple treatments reversal design. Both contexts involved match-to-sample training and testing with abstract stimuli, but one involved referring to the stimuli as the names and sounds of “animals.” In the latter context, training of baseline relations was more efficient and derivation was shown to be more likely. This demonstrates the importance of contextual control over derived relational responding and suggests that the animal context may be a useful one for assessing and training derived relations for individuals in which the derived relational repertoire is not as robustly established across contexts.     

Games that "work": using computer games to teach alcohol-affected children about fire and street safety

Unintentional injuries are a leading cause of death and disability for children. Those with developmental disabilities, including children affected by prenatal alcohol exposure, are at highest risk for injuries. Although teaching safety skills is recommended to prevent injury, cognitive limitations and behavioral problems characteristic of children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder make teaching these skills challenging for parents and teachers. In the current study, 32 children, ages 4-10, diagnosed with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) and partial FAS, learned fire and street safety through computer games that employed "virtual worlds" to teach recommended safety skills. Children were pretested on verbal knowledge of four safety elements for both fire and street safety conditions and then randomly assigned to one condition. After playing the game until mastery, children were retested verbally and asked to "generalize" their newly acquired skills in a behavioral context. They were retested after 1 week follow-up. Children showed significantly better knowledge of the game to which they were exposed, immediately and at follow-up, and the majority (72%) was able to generalize all four steps within a behavioral setting. Results suggested that this is a highly effective method for teaching safety skills to high-risk children who have learning difficulties.     

Training children with autism spectrum disorders to be compliant with an oral assessment

Little research has been conducted on teaching children with autism spectrum disorders to be compliant with dental procedures. This study evaluated a behavioral package to train children with autism spectrum disorders to be compliant with an 8 component oral assessment. After a dental hygienist performed an assessment pretest, noncompliance on steps of the assessment was targeted for training. A package of training procedures was implemented, including a preference assessment, priming DVD, various prompts, stimulus fading (i.e., fading in aversive stimuli), distracting stimuli, escape extinction, and differential reinforcement. Results showed the efficacy of the intervention procedures, maintenance of responding, and stimulus generalization of responses across examiners and from analog to in vivo settings. The study extends the generality of a model for the assessment and intervention of noncompliance to health care procedures by children with autism spectrum disorders.     

A Randomized Clinical Trial Comparison Between Pivotal Response Treatment (PRT) and Structured Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) Intervention for Children with Autism

Accumulating studies are documenting specific motivational variables that, when combined into a naturalistic teaching paradigm, can positively influence the effectiveness of interventions for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The purpose of this study was to compare two applied behavior analysis (ABA) intervention procedures, a naturalistic approach, pivotal response treatment (PRT) with a structured ABA approach in a school setting. A randomized clinical trial design using two groups of children, matched according to age, sex and mean length of utterance was used to compare the interventions. The data showed that the PRT approach was significantly more effective in improving targeted and untargeted areas after 3 months of intervention. The results are discussed in terms of variables that produce more rapid improvements in communication for children with ASD.     

Promoting generalization of mands for information used by young children with autism

We investigated the extent to which mands for information taught using structured teaching trials (i.e., verbal discriminative stimulus, verbal prompts, and programmed consequences) while contriving the establishing operations to young children with autism generalized to novel stimuli and settings. Three students with autism participated in this study and were taught to mand for information using “where” during structured teaching trials. We conducted generalization probes in a hierarchical fashion to determine the extent to which generalization occurred. Manding for information did not completely generalize to natural settings when specific verbal cues were removed and that training in the natural setting in the absence of verbal cues was required for all three participants before generalized responding occurred.     

Thematic matching as remedial teaching for symbolic matching for individuals with autism spectrum disorder

Matching-to-sample (MTS) is often used to teach symbolic relationships between spoken or printed words and their referents to children with intellectual and developmental disabilities. However, many children have difficulty learning symbolic matching, even though they may demonstrate generalized identity matching. The current study investigated whether training on symbolic MTS tasks in which the stimuli are physically dissimilar but members of familiar categories (i.e., thematic matching) can remediate an individual's difficulty learning symbolic MTS tasks involving non-representative stimuli. Three adolescent males diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder were first trained on symbolic MTS tasks with unfamiliar, non-representative form stimuli. Thematic matching was introduced after the participants failed to learn 0, 2 or 4 symbolic MTS tasks and before additional symbolic MTS tasks were introduced. After exposure to thematic matching, accuracy on symbolic MTS tasks with novel stimuli increased to above chance for all participants. For two participants, high accuracy (>90%) was achieved on a majority of these sessions. Thus, thematic matching may be an effective intervention for students with limited verbal repertoires and who have difficulty learning symbolic MTS tasks. Possible explanations for the facilitative effect of thematic matching are considered and warrant further investigation.     

Acquisition of peer manding and listener responding in young children with autism

Individuals diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder demonstrate impairments in communication and social interaction. The importance of acquiring those skills, especially as young children, has been well established in the literature. Peer-mediated interventions have recently received much attention; however, its use is contingent upon access to typically developing peers, which is not always the case in all educational settings. Thus, it is often necessary for specific instruction to occur for matched peers when conducting instruction for peer-mediated communication. However, strategies for teaching these skills have not adequately addressed the role of the listener, especially that of a matched peer, within the instructional setting. Listener responding is a required component for teaching this type of behavior, for without it these emerging skills may not produce reinforcement. Once taught, the communicative skills will require reinforcement from peer-listeners if those skills are to be maintained beyond the instructional setting. The current study arranged for young children with autism to play both the speaking and listening roles in the acquisition of peer-mediated communication (i.e., mand) skills, within a multiple baseline design. The study resulted in increases in independent peer manding and listener responding in all three children.     

An Evaluation of Behavioral Skills Training for Teaching Caregivers How to Support Social Skill Development in Their Child with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Limited research has explored how to best train caregivers to support their child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) despite caregivers being well suited to promote generalization and maintenance of their child’s skills in the natural environment. Children with ASD have been shown to benefit from social skill training, which is not always conducted in the natural context. This research examined the efficacy of behavioral skills training (BST) with, and without in situ training (IST), for teaching caregivers how to also use BST to support their child’s context-specific social skills. Although caregivers met mastery criterion within BST sessions, their skills did not generalize to the natural environment until IST was introduced. The implications of the findings are discussed.     

The effectiveness of a group discrete trial instructional approach for preschoolers with developmental disabilities

Group behavioral classroom instruction for children with developmental disabilities has been shown to allow for increased efficiency, approximation to naturalistic arrangements, and enhanced opportunity for interaction, social teaching and observational learning. This study examines the effectiveness of a group instructional extension of one to one discrete trial teaching, which involves the overlapping of trials between students along with the use of sequential and choral group teaching. A multiple baseline design across tasks was employed to examine the effectiveness of the group instructional approach in promoting acquisition of educational skills among preschoolers with autism and other developmental disabilities. A time sample interval assessment of components of the group instruction was also conducted. The approach was demonstrated to consistently increase correct responding across the task areas. Results are discussed in terms of the advantages of the group instructional approach as an adjunct to one to one discrete trial instruction.     

Facilitating derived requesting skills with a touchscreen tablet computer for children with autism spectrum disorder

Two experiments were conducted employing derived relational responding and conditioned motivating operations to establish untaught mands with 11 children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who lacked a vocal repertoire. Following formal language assessments and preference assessments, a multi-stage automated protocol was implemented on touchscreen tablet computers. Children were first taught to mand by picture exchange for missing items necessary to play with a toy and then learned to conditionally relate the dictated names of the items to the corresponding pictures of the items (A-B training) and to relate the dictated names to the corresponding printed words (A-C training). Test probes, in the absence of reinforcement, were presented to determine whether or not participants would mand for the missing items using text exchange (hence demonstrating derived manding/requesting). Probes for spontaneous matching (B-C and C-B) and labeling (B-A and C-A) were also presented in both experiments, one of which employed a pretest/posttest design and the other a multiple probe across participants design. Across both experiments, all but one of the participants showed evidence of derived requesting and derived stimulus relations. Implications for research on high-tech devices for facilitating independent communication skills of children with ASD and for derived relational responding approaches to verbal operants are discussed.     

Using video modeling to teach children with PDD-NOS to respond to facial expressions

Children with autism spectrum disorders often exhibit delays in responding to facial expressions, and few studies have examined teaching responding to subtle facial expressions to this population. We used video modeling to train 3 participants with PDD-NOS (age 5) to respond to eight facial expressions: approval, bored, calming, disapproval, disgusted, impatient, pain, and pleased. Probes consisted of showing an adult performing these facial expressions in a video, and we conducted generalization probes across people and settings. Training was showing a video of an adult modeling a response to each facial expression. In the context of a multiple probe across behaviors design, two participants correctly responded to all facial expressions across people and settings after viewing the video models one or two times. Experimental control was achieved with the other participant though he required more training sessions and was less consistent with responding. Future researchers should evaluate ways to teach and test responding to facial expressions under naturalistic conditions.     

Comparing the Teaching Interaction Procedure to Social Stories: A Replication Study

This study compared the teaching interaction procedure to social stories implemented in a group setting to teach social skills to three children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. The researchers taught each participant one social skill with the teaching interaction procedure, one social skill with the social story procedure, and one social skill was assigned to a no intervention condition. The teaching interaction procedure consisted of didactic questions, teacher demonstration, and role-play; the social story procedure consisted of reading a book and answering comprehension questions. The researchers measured participants’ performances during probes, responses to comprehension questions, and responding during role-plays. The results indicated that the teaching interaction procedure was more efficacious than the social story procedure across all three participants.     

The effectiveness of a group teaching interaction procedure for teaching social skills to young children with a pervasive developmental disorder

Deficits in social skills are characteristic of children with autism. Clinicians often include teaching these skills as part of comprehensive curriculum. One method of developing social skills for children with autism is the teaching interaction procedure. This procedure involves describing the behavior, providing a rational and cues when to use the behavior, dividing the skill into smaller steps, demonstrating the behavior, having the learner role play the behavior, and providing feedback. This study implemented a teaching interaction procedure as part of group social-skills instruction for five children diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. A multiple-probe design across behaviors and replicated across participants was used. All five participants acquired the social skills taught to them and generalization was promoted.     

Brief Report: Question-Asking and Collateral Language Acquisition in Children with Autism

The literature suggests children with autism use communication primarily for requests and protests, and almost never for information-seeking. This study investigated whether teaching “Where” questions using intrinsic reinforcement procedures would produce the generalized use of the question, and whether concomitant improvements in related language structures, provided as answers to the children’s questions, would occur. In the context of a multiple baseline across participants design, data showed that the children could rapidly acquire and generalize the query, and that there were collateral improvements in the children’s use of language structures corresponding to the answers to the questions the children asked. The results are discussed in the context of teaching child initiations to improve linguistic competence in children with autism.     

Behavioral assessment of joint attention: a methodological report

This paper describes a highly structured assessment protocol with objective behavioral measures for joint attention responding and initiation. The assessment was given to 26 children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders and 21 typically developing children, aged two to four years. Interobserver agreement was high for all behavioral measures. Children with autism had relatively minor deficits in joint attention responding and more severe deficits in joint attention initiation, relative to typically developing children. These results replicate those reported in previous research. The protocol can be used reliably to assess behavior indicative of joint attention responding and initiation in typically developing children and children with autism.     

Social Competence Intervention Program (SCIP): A pilot study of a creative drama program for youth with social difficulties

This study explored the effects of participation in the Social Competence Intervention Program (SCIP), an innovative creative drama-based group intervention, of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), nonverbal learning disability (NLD) and/or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Eighteen participants in SCIP were compared to a clinical control group of 16 on changes in measures of social perception, social competence, and naturalistic observed social behavior. Hierarchical multiple regression model was used for all primary quantitative analyses. Interviews were conducted post-treatment to provide qualitative data. The treatment group showed significant improvement in key domains of observed social behavior in a natural setting compared to the clinical control group. Parents and children in the SCIP condition reported multiple positive changes in social functioning. These findings provide preliminary support for the use of a creative drama program for children with social competence deficits related to social perception problems.     

Effects of computer-assisted instruction on correct responding and procedural integrity during early intensive behavioral intervention

Computer-assisted instruction (CAI) is used to teach a variety of skills to children with developmental disabilities. However, it remains unclear whether CAI or direct instruction from a therapist produces better learning outcomes. In addition, no studies have evaluated the ease of training therapists to implement CAI versus direct instruction. In the first experiment, the current study compared acquisition of mastered and unmastered targets during generalization training with CAI or one-on-one instruction with a child diagnosed with autism. Although correct responding was similar across CAI and one-on-one instruction, independent responding was higher during CAI. In the second experiment, we compared procedural integrity during teaching trials conducted either via CAI or one-on-one instruction by three inexperienced therapists. The therapists read a protocol and asked questions prior to implementation of the instructional trials. Results indicated that each therapist implemented CAI with 90–100% accuracy by the second session, whereas procedural integrity levels were 60% or lower during one-on-one instruction. The advantages of using CAI to promote independent responding during generalization training and procedural integrity for inexperience therapists are discussed.