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| Generalized Visual Antecedents and Dynamic Visual Feedback Mechanisms in Parent and Staff Training |
| Tuesday, June 1, 2004 |
| 10:30 AM–11:50 AM |
| Berkeley |
| Area: EDC/AUT; Domain: Applied Research |
| Chair: Eric V. Larsson (LIFE Midwest) |
| Abstract: . |
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| Training Parents to Generalize Skills from Highly Structured Learning Environments to the Natural Home and Community Environments |
| CHARRYSE FOQUETTE (St. Cloud State University), Kimberly A. Schulze (St. Cloud State University), Eric V. Larsson (LIFE Midwest) |
| Abstract: This presentation is a review of recent results of staff and parent training research. Efficient staff and parent training are needed within the realm of intensive early behavioral intervention for children with autism. There are only a few studies in which the parents of children with autism were trained to generalize behavioral procedures from a highly structured training environment to the everyday natural home and community environment. Interventions have included treatment packages containing direct instruction, role - play, modeling, video-modeling, written quizzes, classroom-based didactic instruction, prompting and performance-based feedback. In addition, there are few studies in which maintenance of such generalized gains were measured over time. Various designs have been employed to demonstrate generalization and maintenance, and this presentation will include recommendations for experimental design. Generalization to the community has been problematic due to overly structured parenting goals. The most effective techniques will be highlighted through a review of recent findings. |
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| Visual Antecedents and Visual Feedback Mechanisms for Dynamic Parent Training |
| KARA L. RIEDESEL (LIFE Midwest), Eric V. Larsson (LIFE Midwest) |
| Abstract: This presentation reviews recent research in parent training establishing the effectiveness of two visual procedures for parent training in intensive early intervention for young children with autism. The effectiveness of such interventions may well rely upon the effectiveness of parent training. However, parents typically require significant resources in order to master natural maintenance of behavioral skill with their children with autism. Therefore the present review examines visual mechanisms for increasing the speed of acquisition and establishing maintenance of gains. In one method, the use of picture scheduling for the parents (rather than for the child) has been used to establish and maintain effective structure in the home. The impact on the parents’ behavior is validated through the increase in measures of target child behavior. In another method, the use of video-taped self-feedback has resulted in dynamic active learning by the parents of previously challenging skills, and has resulted in generalization and maintenance in natural environments, when parent trainers are not present. In this case, the indirect impact on child acquisition rates can be documented. In this method, the parents’ skills are found to result in growth in quality and quantity in the absence of direct parent training interventions. |
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| Evaluation of Procedures for Generating Greeting Responses of Preschool Teachers |
| EINAR T. INGVARSSON (University of Kansas), Gregory P. Hanley (University of Kansas) |
| Abstract: Baseline measures revealed that 11 preschool teachers never (5 participants) or rarely (6 participants) greeted parents by name during the morning check-in of children. The effects of a computerized (fully automated) programmed instruction (CPI) intervention were evaluated in a multiple baseline design. The CPI intervention involved an assessment and training of relations among 4 sets of stimuli: parents' pictures, parents' names, children's pictures, and childrens' names, and produced rapid learning of parents' names while allowing for the detection of emergent (untrained) relations among pictures and names. The CPI intervention resulted in improvements in the use of parents' names for seven participants. However, the classroom performance of 4 teachers did not reach acceptable levels until additional training consisting of instructions, differential reinforcement, and error correction was arranged. For 7 teachers, measures of conversations with parents during check-in were collected and suggest that increased use of parent names did not lead to systematic increases in the number of conversational turns between teachers and parents. Interobserver agreement (IOA) data for the naming response were collected during 35% of observations and averaged 88.7%, and IOA for conversations was obtained for 29% of sessions and averaged 72.6%. |
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| An Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Parent Training Using Recommendations, Graphic Feedback and Data Collection on Parent and Child Behavior |
| MELISSA J. GARD (LIFE Midwest), Glen W. White (University of Kansas), Eric V. Larsson (LIFE Midwest) |
| Abstract: Parents of children with autism are often responsible for creating or maintaining the behavior changes of their children. Parent training is commonly used to help parents become more effective in this role using applied behavior analysis. The purpose of the current study was to determine (a) the effect of the parents' behavior on their child's behavior (b) the effect of the treatment package which included recommendations, and graphic feedback based upon data collection on parent behavior and (c) how the complexity of the response affected parent behavior. The participants were the mother, father, and 6-year-old child with autism. A reversal design was used concurrently across 3 behaviors. The behaviors targeted were increasing catching and throwing skills, increasing appropriate and varied leisure activities, and reducing chair tipping. Results varied depending on the behavior. Both ball play and appropriate play increased and chair tipping decreased from baseline levels. The effects of recommendations were less clear than the effects of feedback. The reliability of measurement was based upon interobserver agreement on a combination of whole-interval and partial interval observations. |
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