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| Facilitating Social Interactions Between Children With Autism and Typically Developing Peers Using Pivotal Response Training |
| Monday, May 31, 2004 |
| 10:00 AM–11:20 AM |
| Back Bay C |
| Area: AUT/DDA; Domain: Applied Research |
| Chair: Mendy Boettcher Minjarez (University of California, Santa Barbara) |
| Discussant: Mendy Boettcher (Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry) |
| Abstract: . |
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| Facilitating Initiations between Preschool-Age Children with Autism, their Siblings, and Typically Developing Peers Using Pivotal Response Training |
| ROSY FREDEEN (University of California, Santa Barbara), Robert L. Koegel (University of California, Santa Barbara), Lynn Kern Koegel (University of California, Santa Barbara) |
| Abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine whether young preschool-age children with autism could be taught to use social-communicative initiations with their siblings and typically developing peers using the motivational procedures of Pivotal Response Treatment (PRT). Generalization to untrained peers was also assessed. Results, assessed within a multiple baseline design, revealed dramatic improvements in the children’s social-communicative initiations towards their siblings and peers, generalization to untrained peers, increased responsivity from untrained peers toward the children, and improved ratings of typicality in comparison to typical developing peers as rated by naïve untrained observers. Future lines of research are discussed, including the incorporation of general case programming and the use of younger vs. older siblings and peers in social interventions. |
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| Training Paraprofessionals to Facilitate Social Interactions Between Children with Autism and Their Peers in an Inclusive Summer Camp Setting |
| EILEEN KLEIN (University of California, Santa Barbara), Robert L. Koegel (University of California, Santa Barbara), Lynn Kern Koegel (University of California, Santa Barbara), Mendy Boettcher Minjarez (University of California, Santa Barbara), Lauren I. Brookman-Frazee (University of California, Santa Barbara), Daniel Adam Openden (University of California, Santa Barbara) |
| Abstract: The literature suggests that paraprofessional support personnel frequently engage in hovering behavior, which is impeding the social development of children with autism in inclusive settings. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to assess, within a multiple baseline design, whether paraprofessionals could be trained to facilitate social interactions between children with autism and their typically developing peers. The results showed: a) at baseline, the paraprofessionals engaged in high levels of hovering and low levels of social facilitation; b) at baseline, the campers with autism engaged in low levels of social behaviors; c) the paraprofessionals could easily learn to decrease hovering behavior and increase their social facilitation behaviors; d) concurrent with the change in the paraprofessionals’ support behaviors, the social behavior of the children with autism with their nondisabled peers increased. Generalization measures indicate that the paraprofessionals continued to use their skills when they worked with new children. The results are discussed in relation to their implication for social development for children with autism and a model for training paraprofessionals in inclusive settings. |
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| Teaching Social Conversation Skills to Children with Autism through Self-Management: An Analysis of Treatment Gains and Meaningful Outcomes |
| MENDY BOETTCHER MINJAREZ (University of California, Santa Barbara) |
| Abstract: Deficits in social functioning and pragmatics are universally recognized as primary symptoms of autism. Ability to successfully participate in reciprocal social conversation is one area that has not been extensively addressed in the literature. The purpose of this study was to demonstrate through the use of a multiple baseline design that children with autism could be taught to engage appropriately in social conversation through the use of a self-management intervention. Further, the study addressed whether these improvements constituted a meaningful outcome. The following variables were investigated: 1) whether self-management could be successfully used to teach social conversation skills, 2) whether these treatment gains would generalize and maintain over time once intervention was faded, 3) whether the children would use their newly acquired skills spontaneously in a novel setting, and 4) whether the children would appear subjectively more confident and interested in their social interactions after intervention. Data indicate that self-management was an effective means of teaching social conversations skills, that skills maintained and generalized to new settings and partners, and that acquired social skills were used spontaneously once intervention was faded. Subjective confidence and interest ratings also appeared to improve with intervention. Results are discussed in terms of social skills interventions, self-management literature, and the notion of meaningful outcomes. |
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| Developmental Trajectories and Longitudinal Intervention Outcomes for Young Nonverbal Children with Autism |
| YVONNE BRUINSMA (University of California, Santa Barbara), Robert L. Koegel (University of California, Santa Barbara), Lynn Kern Koegel (University of California, Santa Barbara) |
| Abstract: Researchers and practitioners alike agree that early intensive intervention is crucial to the development and prognosis of young nonverbal children diagnosed with autism (Dawson & Osterling, 1997; Fenske, Zalenski, Krantz, & McClannahan, 1985; Anderson, Avery, DiPietro, National Research Council, 2001) However, relatively few studies have been published that document outcomes for this group. The current two-part study investigated outcomes for eight young nonverbal children (average age prior to intervention: 27.9 months). The intervention consisted of intensive in-home parent education in Pivotal Response Training (Koegel, Koegel, Harrower, & Carter, 1999). The first study assessed changes in number of words and word diversity exhibited prior to intervention and at the latest intervention point for eight children. Results indicated that all children demonstrated substantial gains in both the number of words and word diversity. The second study assessed the developmental trajectories prior to and during intervention for five children in greater detail using a multiple baseline design across participants. Dependent measures included number of words, word diversity, age equivalence scores on the Communication Domain of the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales, and speech type. Data suggested improvements for all children, with three children accelerating their development trajectories towards the normal range on the Communication Domain of the VABS. Results are discussed in terms of prognosis, hope, and quality of life for very young children with autism and their families. |
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