Association for Behavior Analysis International

Wolf (1978) suggested that behavioral interventions should not only be evaluated on the basis of the behavior change associated with them, but also on the extent to which the consumers find the interventions to be acceptable. The treatment acceptability model (Kazdin, 1982) was developed to assess the acceptability of various behavioral interventions and has been explored in the research literature in various ways. The present study assessed the extent to which parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, residing in Saudi Arabia, found various behavioral interventions to be acceptable and preferred. Consistent with other studies, parents found interventions using positive reinforcement to be the most acceptable. Positive reinforcement was followed by response cost, time out, medication, and spanking. Generally speaking, less intrusive interventions were preferred to more intrusive interventions. Interestingly, treatment preference rankings corresponded to acceptability scores, suggesting that acceptability may be a valid reflection of preference. The present study is important as behavior analysts continue to work with various groups and cultures around the world, and better understand the extent to which interventions are found to be socially acceptable across different cultural groups. Implications for further research on social validity and treatment acceptability are provided. In addition, recommendations for practicing behavior analysts are reviewed.

The present study intended to verify the effects of a Functional Communication Training (FCT) plus a procedure to avoid escape of important activities (Fading Out Procedure), on disruptive behaviours, on the emission of verbal responses and non-verbal responses and to verify if there was a generalisation of the verbal and non verbal response to a naive experimenter. Participants were three children between three and six years old, diagnosed with autism. Initially, the results of the Functional Analysis showed that there was a considerably greater number of disruptive responses emitted by the three participants in the demand condition. In the Functional Communication Training (FCT) Phase, each participant was taught to request to stop a tasks through verbal responses. At the Fading Out Phase, the task execution response and a gradual decrease (most to least prompt): FP - total physical prompt, DL - partial physical prompt, DG - gestural prompt and I - independent response. The results showed that all three participants presented a decrease in the emission of disruptive responses after the acquisition of the verbal response to request a pause to perform tasks.The results from the Fading Out Fase indicated that the three participants acquired the response for the task execution, reducing the emission of verbal requests for execution and maintaining a low number of disruptive responses. At the Generalisation Test of the verbal response (mand) and the non-verbal response (to do the task) to a naive experimenter, it was verified that for all the participants there was generalisation of the verbal and non verbal responses.

Functional communication training (FCT) is a well-established treatment package used to reduce problem behavior by arranging extinction for undesirable responses and providing reinforcement for a separate, appropriate response. However, the utility of FCT in treating clients and families of different cultures has yet to be explored. The present evaluation replicated standard functional analysis and FCT procedures and subsequently introduced parent training implemented by English-speaking therapists to two Spanish-speaking caregivers of a young man with severe problem behavior through the assistance of an interpreter. After identifying attention as a functional reinforcer for problem behavior, FCT was completed with a manual motor response to recruit 30 s of therapist attention. Overall, we were able to assess and treat all referred problem behavior to near zero levels and subsequently train two parents of a different native language successfully on the implementation of our procedures through additional supports including a family translator. While small in scope, the successes of our treatment extension provide a possible avenue for future research on how to achieve significant clinical outcomes when working with non-English-speaking families, a growing, yet under-represented, population in the U.S.

In response to the growing needs to consider the cultural and contextual needs of stakeholders with disabilities in experiment, this study examined the effectiveness of video prompting using an iPad with a system of least prompts on three Korean American adolescents with autism. Through the replication of major procedures used in a study by Mechling, Gast and Fields (2008), researchers focused on teaching independent completions of cooking tasks to make their three preferred foods. Multiple probe designs across cooking recipes were utilized and replaced across the three participants. Results indicate that independent completion of multistep cooking tasks was increased with the use of video prompting using an iPad and maintained across all three participants.

The purpose of this experimental study is to evaluate the effects of Enhanced Milieu Teaching (EMT) in two Korean American (KA) children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), replicating a previous study of EMT in preschoolers at risk for language delay (McLeod, Hardy, & Kaiser, 2017). Despite the recent increase in culturally responsive intervention research (Aceves et al., 2015), KAs have been underserved for mental health services (Yamashiro & Matsuoka, 1997; see also Becerra et al., 2014), including EMT. Using a multiple probe design across play materials, the two KA children with ASD engaged in home-based book reading and free play with an interventionist, 3 times every week. EMT techniques were used to teach five target vocabularies for each child. Maintenance of learned skills was also evaluated. Pre- and post-intervention language was measured using the Preschool Language Scale, Fifth Edition (Zimmerman, Steiner, & Pond, 2011). The findings suggest that EMT was effective in improving the vocabulary use in KA children with ASD. Implications for practice and research are discussed.

This present study combined the use of differential reinforcement of other behaviors (DRO) with a response-based token economy system, response cost, and a multiple schedule to reduce the interfering behavior of a seven-year-old girl with autism. The combination of interval DRO and DRA procedures combined with a token economy system had previously proved ineffective in meaningfully reducing high rates of aggression, elopement, tantrums, spitting, oral stereotypy, nose-picking, and non-compliance. In addition, skill acquisition of current programming remained markedly stagnant due to the presence of these behaviors. A response-based DRO procedure combined with a motivational system, response cost, and multiple schedule was introduced. Correct responding to skill acquisition tasks in the absence of interfering behavior were reinforced on an VR2 schedule. Any instance of the previously mentioned behaviors resulted in the removal of all tokens. In addition, a multiple schedule was implemented in which controlling behavior was reinforced contingent on earning all of her tokens. Within several days of beginning the intervention, changes in rates of the interfering behaviors were seen followed by a reduction to near-zero levels. These data suggest the effectiveness of Response-Based procedures combined with response cost and multiple schedules in the reduction of interfering behavior.

Teaching children diagnosed with Autism to discriminate common objects is one of the imperative receptive language skills. Discrimination training helps to establish a discriminative stimulus control across various stimuli. Although there is an ample literature on teaching discrimination using transfer of stimulus control (e.g., matching-to-sample to listener responding), there is a need for different techniques that can be used to teach discrimination to children with limited receptive skills and poor stimulus control. Thus, the purpose of the current study was to evaluate the effect of 1) teaching the component steps necessary for selecting the discriminative stimulus separately and 2) teaching discrimination across the already established reinforcers using errorless training on the acquisition of discriminative stimulus control. This technique was used to teach discrimination to one boy with Autism and significant language delays. The result suggests that the analysis and training of component steps and teaching discrimination across various edible and tangible reinforcers was effective not only in increasing the discriminative control across the trained reinforcers, but also across untrained common objects.

The purpose of this literature and quality review is to synthesize the intervention literature focused on infants and toddlers identified as “at-risk” for autism spectrum disorder. Searches were conducted in PsycInfo (ProQuest), ERIC, and Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection and combined search terms to describe autism (e.g., “autis*”, “global delay”, “mental retardation”, “at-risk”, “high-risk”, and “autism siblings”). The results were limited to peer-reviewed literature. A total of 30 articles were included and summarized according to (a) age of the children, (b) population type, (c) description of parent involvement, (d) intervention, (e) dependent variables, (f) child outcomes, and (g) other outcomes. Implications for practice and future research will be discussed.

Functional communication training (FCT) is designed to decrease problem behavior while increasing a functionally equivalent alternative communicative response (FCR). Although effective, this procedure tends to produce high rates of the FCR that may not be manageable for parents or teachers. The purpose of this evaluation was to evaluate the effectiveness of two common strategies (multiple schedules and chained schedules) to thin the schedule of reinforcement for the FCR with a young child whose problem behavior was multiply controlled. The young child was a five-year-old boy diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. We used a multiple baseline across functions design and found that FCT plus extinction produced an immediate decrease in problem behavior in both contexts. This decrease in problem behavior was accompanied by an increase in overall rate of prompted and unprompted mands. The schedule thinning evaluation is ongoing across both functions. Results will be discussed within the context of future areas of research and suggestions for improving the practicality of this intervention for parents and teachers.

Research has shown video modeling to be an effective procedure for training adult service providers to administer evidence-based practices to children with autism spectrum disorder (Brock & Carter, 2013; Catania et al., 2009; Lipschultz, Vladescu, Reeve, Reeve, & Dipsey, 2015; Vladescu, Carroll, Paden, & Kodak, 2012; Weldy, Rapp, & Capocasa, 2014). The present study extends previous video modeling training (VMT) research by teaching typical adolescents to administer naturalistic evidence-based practices to adolescents and young adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This was accomplished by examining the effects of VMT on typical adolescents’ performance of peer mediated social interaction (PMSI), a 10-step procedure comprised of simplified behavioral practices, during roleplay with an adult actor. A multiple probe design across participants was used to evaluate the effects of VMT on delivery of PMSI by five typical adolescents. All participants demonstrated an immediate increase in PMSI as video modeling was systematically applied. Typical adolescents also generalized delivery to adolescents with ASD. Social interaction between two youths with ASD and typical adolescent participants was also evaluated within a peer mediated setting before and after VMT. Social interaction for both youths with ASD improved following VMT.

Fifty to 100% of individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) experience difficulties with motor skills. Motor skill deficits can affect children’s abilities to engage in tasks of daily living and physical activity and may reduce opportunities for social engagement. Previous reports have suggested that task-focused physical activity interventions, including engagement in yoga, may be effective for improving motor skills in children with ASD; however, instructional methods are infrequently or inadequately described. The present study used a multiple-baseline design to implement an in-home yoga intervention and to examine its effects on yoga pose performance and general motor skills in two children with ASD. Prompting was used to instruct yoga poses. Access to a visual cue (i.e., stopwatch) was provided for participants to self-monitor pose engagement. Differential performance of yoga poses was systematically measured through video-coding by trained, independent raters. Visual analysis of the data suggests increased sustained engagement in the yoga poses and some improvement in the performance of yoga poses. Yoga may offer a socially acceptable medium for improving motor skills and increasing physical engagement in children with ASD.

In Quebec, early intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI) programs are offered by community-based services. To date, available studies have identified some components of EIBI that may influence children’s outcomes, including training and supervision. Supervisors need to be competent in several areas and must carry out various professional activities. However, it may be difficult for community-based EIBI programs to access skilled supervisors and to offer intensive supervision of staff. The purpose of this article is to present data concerning the training and the supervision models offered by organizations in Quebec (Canada) as described by practitioners that are applying EIBI. Quantitative and qualitative analyses were conducted on data collected through a survey adaptation of Love & al. (2009) and of Gamache & al. (2010). This communication focuses on the nature of the EIBI supervision models (e.g. frequency of supervision, content of supervision) and training received as described by the participants (n = 115). The results show some variability in supervision models. These data are part of a larger research project concerning the implementation and outcomes of EIBI offered by organizations in Quebec.

Understanding how clinical services are accessed and utilized by children suspected to have Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and identifying factors associated with early ASD diagnosis can assist in developing effective models of ASD care delivery in Saudi Arabia. METHOD: This descriptive study is a retrospective chart review of a convenience sample of children (N= 126; mean age= 54.55 months; median=49.00; Min. = 19.00; Max= 121.00) presenting for assessment at an autism research center in Riyadh, KSA over a 20 month period. RESULTS: 68 children (54.0 %) were diagnosed with ASD at the clinic; mean age was 47.63 months (SD 19.43; median= 42.5; Min.19.00; Max. 98.00); mean age at first parental concern was 20.22 months (SD 9.61; Median 18.00); time from first concern to ASD diagnosis was 13.60 months (SD 9.11; Median 12.00); 63.20% were previously seen by a physician or specialist for parental concerns; 64.70% were previously diagnosed with ASD; 66.18 % had received intervention services before clinic presentation. Sociodemographic, clinical, diagnostic and intervention service utilization characteristics are described. CONCLUSION: The study findings suggest there is a delay between parental first concerns and accessing diagnostic and intervention services in Saudi Arabia. More research will help guide development of improved pathways to care for children showing early ASD concerns in Saudi Arabia.

Students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often require intensive support in schools. Unfortunately, educators seldom have the requisite training to adequately address such concerns. For effective implementation, school-based interventions must be feasible and flexible enough to accommodate the needs of students. Students with Autism Accessing General Education (SAAGE) is a comprehensive, modular intervention that uses a systems approach and active coaching to provide evidence-based interventions grounded in behavior analysis to address student behavioral goals and build school capacity. We review the results of a year-long randomized controlled trial that compared SAAGE to enhanced services-as-usual. Due to limited statistical power, a group-by-time analysis did not reveal significant interaction effects. However, students in the SAAGE condition progressed from “moderate” to “slight” impairment on the Clinical Global Assessment Scale (DD-CGAS; a global rating of functioning that is specific to developmental disabilities), demonstrating the promise of the SAAGE model. An analysis of DD-CGAS subdomains revealed an advantage for the SAAGE group on the school/academic, social behavior, and communication scales, and that in some cases, this advantage had emerged by the midpoint of the intervention. Additionally, teachers were able to implement the modules with adequate fidelity and rated SAAGE as socially valid.

Current methods to teach certain safety skills, such as street crossing or fire safety, present multiple problems for the practitioner as well as for the learner. The environmental conditions for these skills are difficult to recreate in clinical settings and are typically too dangerous to engage with in vivo. As such, methods for skill acquisition involving in vivo training, in situ training, video modeling, and instructional narratives tend to be effortful for the practitioner to implement and/or may present limited generalization to target settings upon assessment. These limitations may be more readily addressed by the capabilities of emerging technology. Virtual reality is one such technology that allows for the simulation of difficult-to-recreate environments in the safety of a clinical setting. The present is an examination of the usability and feasibility of incorporating virtual reality technology for the acquisition of safety skills in a clinical setting with children with autism.

The current study examines how the multisensory approach of the Touch Math program is used in a Learning Centre that educates students with Autism and learning difficulties to improve their basic operation addition skills. The students who participated in this study struggled with traditional teaching of basic operation skills, and they were having difficulty maintaining fact knowledge. The current study used baseline assessments, which the two single digit addends without touch points, to determine the student participant’s individual single digit addend knowledge. Then the students explicitly taught the multisensory approach of how to use touch points to count up and all to create a sum of two single digit addends. After being taught how to use the touch points to help add two single digit addends, students were given post-intervention assessments, with touch points on the two single digit addends to determine their individual progress and possible improvement in basic operation addition skills. Although an individual’s results varied, all students showed improvement in their basic operation addition facts, by using the multisensory approach from the Touch Math program to add two single digit addend. Keywords –Touch math, Touch points,Autism, Addition meera@behaviourenrichment.com,rajashree@behaviourenrichment.com,girishhv11@gmail.com

Some individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) manifest hyper- or hypo-reactivity to sensory input (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition [DSM-V], 2013). Due to this, physiological measures that require contact with the skin may present problems for individuals with atypical responses to tactile stimulation. In order to address this concern, a habituation protocol was used to assess participants’ tolerance to wearing a vest for the collection of physiological measures. Specifically, a repeated presentation procedure was conducted to decrease possible sensitivity to a vest (Thompson & Spencer, 1966). The results indicated that all five participants in this study successfully completed the habituation protocol and none required a lengthy fade in protocol for wearing the vest. Based on these results, apparatus using these types of physiological measures are feasible for conducting research. These findings should encourage other researchers interested in assessing physiological responses with individuals with possible sensory sensitivities.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a modeling and self-monitoring intervention on the play skills and social initiations of two young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). A multiple baseline design across play settings was employed. The experimental conditions included baseline, modeling and self-monitoring, self-monitoring only, and maintenance. The children were taught the appropriate play skills and social initiations related to the play context using the modeling and self-monitoring intervention, and then they used only self-monitoring after the modeling was removed. The results indicated that the modeling and self-monitoring intervention was effective in increasing the play skills and play-related social initiations of both participants. In addition, the participants maintained the increased play skills after removing the intervention. The social validity assessment data indicated that the intervention was meaningful and effective, and the procedures were acceptable. In each experimental procedure, an average of 25% of the sessions was randomly selected to measure inter-observer agreements, and the mean agreements were 97.5% for Child 1 and 96.7% for Child 2. This study supports that the modeling and self-monitoring intervention may be effective for teaching play skills and play related social initiations and maintaining the learned skills.

Establishing a relationship with a young child with ASD is an important variable in the course of successful behavioral treatment. The quality of relationship between two individuals is usually referred as rapport. In behavior analytic literature rapport is measured by its behavioral correlates: proximity, body orientation, eye contact, smiling, physical contact, manding, compliance to demands, etc. Most of the behavioral studies have implemented multicomponent interventions to establish rapport with individuals with disabilities, all of which involved delivery of highly preferred stimuli non-contingently on a time-based schedule (NCR). The current study examined the effect of the non-contingent delivery of reinforcement versus response-contingent delivery of reinforcement on building a relationship with young children with ASD. Multiple baseline design across participants with the alternating treatments component was used as an experimental design. The independent variables were: NCR with preferred edibles, NCR with preferred social stimuli, response contingent delivery of edibles, response-contingent delivery of social. Child-initiated proximity was a primary dependent variable; looking, smiling, physical contact and manding were the secondary dependent variables. The majority of the participants showed increase in proximity after the implementation of the interventions, but there was no clear differentiation between the treatments, which indicates that contingency or the lack of contingency was not a factor for improving rapport as long as highly preferred stimuli were delivered.

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) often have difficulty understanding social expectations and communicating with others. They may have a difficult time making social comments to peers that are on topic to the activity independently. These learners need additional assistance in order to participate in gameplay and commenting about the game being played to others. Visual prompts are a strategy that research has shown to decrease the number of prompts needed to independently make positive social comments during gameplay. Research has also shown that incorporating special interests with visual prompts are used together, the target skill or behavior quickly increases and prompts are able to be faded. Special interests can be characters, people, or things that the child really enjoys. The Power Card strategy is an antecedent strategy, which incorporates the child’s special interest into a script and steps to show how to engage in the appropriate target behavior. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of the Power Card strategy on the frequency of comments three children with ASD made to peers during a game. Results can be interpreted to support the Power Card strategy as effective in increasing the frequency of independent comments made to peers while playing a game. Additionally, novel responses and generalization occurred across all three participants.

Relational Frame Theory is a contemporary behavior analytic account of complex language and cognition which proposes that language is the result of Arbitrarily Applicable Relational Responding (RFT; Hayes, Barnes-Holmes, & Roche, 2001). Over the past decade, several assessments have been developed in an attempt to provide a quantifiable measure of an individual’s ability to engage in relational responding. One recently developed assessment, the PEAK-Screener (Dixon, 2018), was designed to provide a measure of an individual’s performance prior to the implementation of programs targeted at building derived relational responding skills. To date, no research has been conducted on the utility of this assessment. The current investigation sought to assess the relationship between scores on the PEAK-Screener and PEAK-T pre-assessment scores in individuals with ASD. Assessments were conducted across 35 individuals with ASD. The results indicated a positive correlation between PEAK-Screener scores and PEAK-T pre-assessment scores (r = .843, p = .017). These results provide some preliminary evidence of the utility of the Screener as measure of skills for individuals with ASD. Additionally, the brevity of the PEAK-Screener may provide a cost effective and time sensitive method to evaluate skills prior to the implementation of behavior analytic programming.

The PEAK Relational Training System Autism Screening and Behavioral Observation Summary (PAS-BOS) is a recently developed assessment tool developed to assist clinicians in planning treatment for skill acquisition, challenging behavior reduction, and potential dosage of treatment based on severity of behavioral deficits. Currently, no published research exists on the PAS-BOS, or the extent to which the measure produces valid results. The current study aimed to address this limitation by assessing the convergent validity of the PAS-BOS by comparing it with results obtained from the Social and Communication Questionnaire, a previously validated autism screening tool. To evaluate the convergent validity of the two measures, both assessments were administered to individuals with autism, and then the scores for each were compared to determine the extent to which similar results were obtained. Preliminary evidence showed a strong, significant relationship between the two measures, which suggest the PAS-BOS is a valid measure. Implications include potential use of the PAS-BOS to help justify quantity and intensity of ABA services for clients.

Study objective:The purpose of this study was to allow ASD children with intellectual disabilities to be able to the assessment and training of three relationships by discrimination training based on stimulus equivalence. Setting: This experiment was conducted individually in a laboratory of university. Participant: A 14 years old child diagnosed with ASD and intellectual disabilities participated. Procedures: The multipurpose Matching to Sample Task (MMTS) that was an application for PC was used the assessment and training of three relationships of feeling temperature(cold or hot), clothes (upper: 4 types of photos, bottom: 2 types of photos) , number of room temperature gauge(24°or 40°). Concretely, the MMTS was used to train the distinction of number of suitable room temperature gauge corresponding to feeling temperature . Then I trained distinction of clothes corresponding to number of room temperature gauge Results: It became possible to choose a suitable clothes corresponding to feeling temperature, and the three relations became equivalent.

Safety skills for individuals with autism is mostly in pamphlet form from organizational websites which target school-aged children rather than adults. University settings pose increased safety concerns for adults with disabilities as many more vulnerable situations can be presented. Participants who filled out the Juvenile Victimization Questionnaire in Pfeffer’s 2012 study reported being a victim of property theft. If these individuals had adequate safety skills, these incidents may not have happened. The intervention had three teaching pieces: teaching the different types of relationships using the PEERS program, teaching which types of relationships are okay to give money to and using skills during scenarios to practice skills in situations. When teaching which types of relationships can have money, photos were used. The participant had to place red or green paper over photos to indicate who could or could not have their money. The participant was provided with a decision tree to guide responses during the second and third teaching pieces. All three steps used an ABAB design. Data demonstrates an immediate increase in trend for all three portions. Data during intervention for all intervention phases is above baseline data suggesting an effective intervention.

Stimulus preference assessments are used to identify a stimulus hierarchy in which stimuli are ranked according to their relative reinforcing efficacy. Paired-stimulus preference assessments (PSPA; Fisher et al., 1992) are a common method used in clinical practice. A PSPA functionally arranges experimental control in a multielement design across trials, controlling for the presentation of stimulus position. However, little research has analyzed reliability of selection within PSPAs. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the reliability of PSPA data within each administration across participants. We found that, on average, there was a moderate degree of replication across three PSPA data sets (mean percentage of selections that were replicated: 67%, 68%, 80%). We also found that the higher ranked a stimulus is within an individual PSPA, the higher probability the selection of that stimulus would be replicated (mean probability of replication by stimulus rank: 1) 85%, 2) 69%, 3) 68%, 4) 53%, 5) 27%, and 6) 0%).

Arm immobilizers have been used in order to prevent and limit injury in individuals who engage in severe self-injurious behavior (Griffin, Williams, Stark, Altmeyer, & Mason, 1984). However, once stability has been maintained fading arm immobilizers can pose challenges if they have taken on reinforcing properties (Sungwoo, Leak, Vu, & Mishler, 2008). The current study expanded the current literature by increasing of systematically fading arm immobilizers. This study utilized a multi-element design to identify competing stimuli and latency to head directed self-injury and then a changing criterion design to systematically increase the duration of the removal of arm immobilizers (Fisher, Piazza, Bowman, Hanley, & Adelinis, 1997; Sungwoo, K., Leak, J.M., Vu, C., & Mishler, B., 2008). Latency to challenging behavior was first obtained through a multi-element design in order to determine phase lengths across various potentially competing activities. Latency to the first instance of head direct self-injury was assessed across activities of daily living (ADLs), chores, leisure, and meals. The changing criterion design will increase the time this individual is independently engaged in functional competing activities and decrease the time spent in restrictive mechanical arm restraints.

The re-emergence of extinguished behavior following treatment poses significant threats to the long-term efficacy of interventions designed to reduce and maintain reductions in problem behavior. Renewal is a type of relapse observed in both basic and applied literature and refers to the return of previously extinguished behavior following a change in context. Parameters observed within the basic literature on renewal include those suggesting that higher rates of reinforcement during baseline procedures lead to larger ABA and ABC renewal effects (Berry, Sweeney, & Odum, 2014). We conducted a consecutive case series analysis of 29 participants whose treatment data indicated renewal and 38 participants whose data did not indicate renewal. As an estimate of reinforcement levels during baseline, we defined high rates of reinforcement as participants with an average rate of problem behavior more than two per minute and low reinforcement rates as participants with an average less than two. We then calculated the percentage of individuals in each group who exhibited renewal during later context changes. Preliminary findings suggest that higher levels of problem behavior did not equate to more renewal (see Table 1).

Skill-Based Treatment (SBT) uses synthesized contingencies to teach alternative responses that will compete with problem behavior (Hanley et al., 2014). When manual guidance is prohibited, unsafe, or non-preferred by caregivers, the Enhanced Choice Model of SBT (ECM-SBT; Rajaraman et al., 2018) may be employed to mitigate collateral effects of extinction. Within ECM-SBT, trained responses (e.g., functional communicative responses [FCR]) and two additional alternatives to problem behavior operate concurrently. These two alternatives include (a) entering a ‘hangout’ area, in which evocative conditions are suspended and the client may access all preferred items and activities as well as low-quality attention from the therapist and (b) leaving the session entirely. We replicated ECM-SBT procedures with three elementary students in a public special day school for children who engage in severe and persistent problem behavior, in which manual guidance by non-district personnel was prohibited. We present procedures, including methodological deviations from the Rajaraman study, results of Interview-Informed Synthesized Contingency Analyses, SBT, and generalization protocols, as well as client response allocation among alternatives within the ECM-SBT model.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a toilet training package on the successful voids of young children with autism spectrum disorder. This study used a multiple probe across three participants to evaluate the toilet training package in a preschool classroom setting in northeast Georgia. The participants included in the study were four years of age, diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, and demonstrated incontinence prior to the implementation of the toilet training procedures. The toilet training package consisted of multiple components such as putting the participants in regular underwear, increasing their fluid intake, scheduled toilet trips, dry checks, neutral experiences for accidents, and reinforcement for successful voids. Following the use of this toilet training package the data indicated a decrease in accidents and an increase in successful voids for each participant during the school day when taken to the restroom on a schedule consistent with other preschool classrooms. Two participants reached criteria after the implementation of the toilet training procedures; however, one participant required additional components during the “off-toilet” times. Maintenance data was also collected, and results indicated that these skills have maintained despite reinforcement for successful voids being faded out.

Abstract: Treatment of automatically maintained behavior can be challenging at times do limited ability to complete with the quality of reinforcement that is generated by engagement in the challenging behavior. In addition, research is limited in relation to treatment of operant spitting, particularly when it is automatically maintained. This study utilized a non-matched form of idiosyncratic reinforcement, and its contingent removal, to treat automatically maintained spitting behavior in one individual with Autism. Specifically, access to environmental manipulation, such as requesting staff to change the placement of items or the phrasing of communication, served as reinforcement within this individuals repertoire. Accordingly, if the participant was following a given rule, to have a healthy mouth (i.e., abstain from spitting), FR1 reinforcement was delivered in the form of honoring such requests. When honoring of such requests was removed contingent on the target behavior, spitting, a punishment effect was observed. Results were replicated across additional topographies of challenging behavior from multiple functional response classes. Statement of Reliability: Interobserver agreement data were collected throughout this study, with agreement near 100%.

There is limited research evaluating academic interventions to improve oral reading fluency (ORF) in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the use of a brief experimental analysis (BEA) for selecting interventions to improve ORF in students with ASD. Two elementary school students with ASD participated in the study. Both participants had an educational classification of ASD and ORF scores at least one grade below their current grade level. The primary outcome measure was correct words per minute (CWPM). A direct skills assessment was conducted to identify instructional and frustrational ORF levels. Next, a BEA was conducted to identify the most effective intervention components for each student. Reading interventions included components of repeated readings, listening passage preview, and/or error correction and were selected using a brief multielement design. CWPM on an instructional probe was compared to scores on high content overlap probes. Based on the BEA, repeated reading was selected for Participant 1 and listening passage preview with error correction was selected for Participant 2. The intervention was implemented for both students and progress monitoring data at the grade level and instructional level were collected on a weekly basis.

Children with autism may engage in stereotypy. Stereotypy may interfere with learning skills such as engagement in appropriate social play, attending to task and other related skills. Response interruption and redirection (RIRD) alone has shown to be an effective treatment for stereotypy (Ahrens, et. Al. 2011) however, according to Laprime, 2014, “the combination of punishment procedures with differential reinforcement has been demonstrated to be more effective at reducing problematic behavior than differential reinforcement alone.” This study used a DRO plus a visual and motor focus punishment procedure to increase on-task behavior with a 5-year-old student who displayed high rates of stereotypy during discrete trials. Using a changing criterion design, duration of on-task was increased by 15 seconds when student met criterion. During baselines, student’s on-task behavior ranged between 5-15 seconds. When DRO and punishment procedure was implemented, student’s on-task behavior increased from 10 seconds to 3 minutes during discrete trials. Results from the study indicate that a combination of a DRO plus a punishment procedure is effective at increasing on-task behavior and is considered more practical than a punishment procedure alone. This procedure was later transferred to the classroom setting, where on-task also increased from 0 seconds to 2 minutes.

Development of independent toileting skills is a critical goal for pre-school and kindergarten students. The acquisition of independent toileting skills can lead to an increase in sanitation and comforts, substantial monetary gain, and access to various services and settings. Operant conditioning procedures have been used to successfully train toileting skills. Within the LeBlanc et al. (2005) procedure, participants were exposed to 6-15 instances of positive practice with no schedule modifications reported and no procedures specified for excessive accidents. Frequent exposures of positive practice increase the probability of evoking problem behaviors, which in turn, can decrease the effectiveness of intensive toilet training. Thus, the purpose of this manuscript is two-fold. First, it describes a replication of the LeBlanc et al. (2005) procedures using a nonconcurrent multiple baseline across participant design to evaluate the success of the intervention. Second, it evaluates the effects of schedule modifications on accidents for children who were previously nonresponsive to toilet training.

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may demonstrate problem behavior around changes in schedules of activities (Jamieson, 2004). Although implementing a structured schedule is one recommendation for addressing this issue, unanticipated schedule changes may occur at times. Therefore, it may be beneficial to incorporate schedule interruptions and skills related to flexible schedule-following during treatment for problem behavior occasioned by schedule changes. The participant for this study was a 16 -year-old male diagnosed with ASD, Intellectual Disability, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, and Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder. He was admitted to an outpatient clinic for the assessment and treatment of problem behavior. A functional analysis (FA) confirmed that problem behavior was occasioned by a variable time (VT) schedule of activity interruptions. Problem behavior was maintained by regained access to the interrupted activity. Treatment to reduce problem behavior was evaluated within an ABAB withdrawal design and included functional communication training, extinction, and a multiple schedule of reinforcement. The VT schedule of interruptions was faded-in until variability in interruptions resembled the FA baseline, while problem behavior remained minimal. Treatment resulted in clinically significant reductions in problem behavior and high levels of compliance with demands during activity interruptions. Implications for clinical application will be discussed.

Minimally-verbal individuals with autism who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) often do not surpass single-word responses for requesting and labeling. A mobile AAC application was developed for matrix training to systematically build up vocabulary and teach longer word combinations. Linguistic elements were presented in systematic combination matrices, arranged to induce generalized rule-like behavior. Multiple probe designs were implemented to assess acquisition of action-object combinations. Generalization probes were taken during intervention to assess performance on combinations not taught before. Participants included five individuals, 8-15 years old, with an official diagnosis of severe autism and no more than 10 spoken words. Performance was measured as the percentage of correct symbol combinations. Magnitude of effect was quantified by calculating the Non-overlap of All Pairs index (NAP). Three learner profiles emerged: “High Performance” participants scored above the mastery level of 80% along with strong effect sizes (average NAP=97%). “Medium Performance” participants needed more time to mastery but steadily increased their performance on generalization (average NAP=93%). One “Low Performance” participant was shifted from a 6x6 to a 4x4 matrix showing low-medium effects (average NAP=64%). Findings suggest matrix training can enhance learning and generalization of semantic relationships in learners with varying levels of language delay.