Query: Teaching multiply-controlled tacting to children with autism

title: Teaching multiply controlled tacting to children with autism
abstract: Responding accurately to questions is a fundamental skill, currently under researched in the applied field. The present paper reports the results of a multiple baseline design across stimulus sets

title: Teaching multiply controlled intraverbals to children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders.
abstract: Reciprocal conversations, instructional activities, and other social interactions are replete with multiply controlled intraverbals, examples of which have been conceptualized in terms of conditional discriminations. Although the acquisition of conditional discriminations has been examined extensively in the behavior analytic literature, little research has evaluated procedures to establish multiply controlled intraverbals. Thus, the purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the effects of procedures based on conditional discrimination training on the acquisition of multiply controlled intraverbals with 7 participants who had been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders. We evaluated the effects of prompt delay with error correction, a differential observing response (DOR) and a DOR plus blocked trials on the acquisition of intraverbals using a multiple baseline design. Accuracy of intraverbal performance increased for at least 1 set of stimuli for all participants under prompt delay with error correction conditions; however, 4 participants required additional teaching (i.e. DOR, modified DOR, modified prompt delay with error correction) Based on these findings, when prompt delay with error correction is not sufficient to establish multiply controlled intraverbals, prompted DORs may be an effective alternative.

title: Evaluation of an Omnibus Mand in the Treatment of Multiply Controlled Destructive Behavior.
abstract: Functional communication training is a commonly used and effective treatment for socially reinforced destructive behavior. However, when a functional analysis suggests that destructive behavior is multiply controlled (e.g. by attention, tangibles, and escape) teaching and evaluating separate functional communication responses (FCRs) can be time consuming or only partially effective when failing to address multiple establishing operations that may occur simultaneously. We evaluated the use of an omnibus FCR or mand that produced access to attention, tangibles, and escape within each functional analysis test condition for two boys with autism spectrum disorder who displayed multiply controlled destructive behavior. The omnibus FCR treatment produced low rates of destructive behavior and high percentages of independent FCRs within each condition for both children, suggesting that such a treatment option may reduce destructive behavior and teach communication skills quickly prior to introducing other treatment components, such as teaching individual FCRs to address each unique function of destructive behavior.

title: Effectiveness of Social Stories in Teaching Abduction Prevention Skills to Children with Autism
abstract: The purpose of the present study was to examine the effectiveness of social stories in teaching abduction prevention skills to children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) Three male participants with ASD, aged 4 12 years, participated in the study, which was conducted using a multiple probe across participants design. Thirty nine voluntary adults participated in the study as strangers who presented lures to the participants. The findings of the study showed that social stories were effective on promoting acquisition for all students with ASD. All the participants were able to learn the target skill and maintain their learning. Social validity data were also collected from participants and their parents. Social validity findings revealed that the opinions of the participants and their parents were positive overall.

title: Teaching "Imaginary Objects" Symbolic Play to Young Children with Autism
abstract: Symbolic play skills are important in language acquisition and child development. Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often have difficulties demonstrating such play behaviors. Imaginary objects symbolic play refers to play behavior in which children perform play actions without actual objects. Three boys with ASD (3 7 years) participated in this study. A multiple probe across three participants and two settings design was employed to evaluate the effects of intraverbal training on the acquisition and generalization of imaginary objects symbolic play. Results indicated that all children acquired and maintained target imaginary objects play activities. Generalization to untaught activities occurred in one child. All three children' symbolic play emerged or increased in free play after the instruction.

title: Enhanced milieu teaching for children with autism spectrum disorder in South Africa
abstract: Efficient and effective interventions are required to meet the communication needs of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) However, most children with ASD living in South Africa do not receive individualised interventions.  This multiple baseline study examined the effects of therapist implemented enhanced milieu teaching (EMT) on the diversity and frequency of spoken language of three children with ASD in South Africa.  A moderate functional relation was demonstrated between the introduction of EMT and increases in (1) the number of different words and (2) the number of spontaneous utterances used by each participant. Some evidence of generalisation to novel partners and contexts was observed.  Results indicated that EMT may be effective for improving communication in South African children with ASD. Implications for clinical practice and cultural and linguistic adaptations are discussed.

title: Teaching children with autism spectrum disorder to tact auditory stimuli.
abstract: Studies on teaching tacts to individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have primarily focused on visual stimuli, despite published clinical recommendations to teach tacts of stimuli in other sensory domains as well. In the current study, two children with ASD were taught to tact auditory stimuli under two stimulus presentation arrangements: isolated (auditory stimuli presented without visual cues) and compound (auditory stimuli presented with visual cues) Results indicate that compound stimulus presentation was a more effective teaching procedure, but that it interfered with prior object name tacts. A modified compound arrangement in which object name tact trials were interspersed with auditory stimulus trials mitigated this interference.

title: Outcomes of children receiving Group Early Start Denver Model in an inclusive versus autism specific setting: A pilot randomized controlled trial
abstract: A major topic of debate is whether children with autism spectrum disorder should be educated in inclusive or specialized settings. We examined the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of delivering the Group Early Start Denver Model to children with autism spectrum disorder in inclusive versus specialized classrooms. We randomly assigned 44 preschoolers with autism spectrum disorder to receive the Group Early Start Denver Model across one school calendar year in classrooms that included only children with autism spectrum disorder or mostly children who were typically developing. Blind rated indicators of teaching quality showed similar results across settings, which were above the local benchmark. Children showed improvements across blinded proximal measures of spontaneous vocalization, social interaction, and imitation and across distal measures of verbal cognition, adaptive behavior, and autism symptoms irrespective of intervention setting. Mothers of participants experienced a reduction in stress irrespective of child intervention setting. Across both settings, age at intervention start was negatively associated with gains in verbal cognition. Delivery of Group Early Start Denver Model in an inclusive setting appeared to be feasible, with no significant differences in teaching quality and child improvements when the program was implemented in inclusive versus specialized classrooms.

title: Lights, Camera, Action! Teaching Play and Social Skills to Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder Through Video Modeling
abstract: Video modeling is an evidence based treatment procedure that has been used to teach a wide variety of skills to children with autism spectrum disorder. In this chapter, after the background literature of video modeling is presented, and why it works so well is discussed, a thorough description of procedures to do your own video modeling and apply it to play and/or social skills is provided. Specifically, everything you need to know to make your own videos, including how to write your own scripts, how to get good actors, how to film your sequences, scene setup, and filming technique, is provided in this chapter. Samples are provided that can be used as guides for your own inventions. Finally, exactly how to do the video modeling procedure, based on past successful research experience, is presented. This chapter includes details you need to know to do successful video modeling for play and/or social skills.

title: Comparing Continuous and Discontinuous Data Collection during Discrete Trial Teaching of Tacting by Children with Autism
abstract: The present study compared continuous and discontinuous data collection systems on acquisition, generalization, and maintenance of tacts, and on task behavior, during discrete trial teaching with three children with autism. A constant prompt delay procedure was used to teach tacts. Performance across data collection systems was compared using continuous measurement collected daily in the presence of teaching, discontinuous measurement of the first trial only, and discontinuous measurement collected weekly in the absence of teaching (i.e. probe data) An adapted alternating treatments design was used. For two of the three participants, tacts were acquired most rapidly in the continuous measurement condition, although the differences were small. For the third participant, no systematic differences were found in skill acquisition across the three data collection systems. For all three participants, minimal to no differences were found across data collection systems with regard to generalization and maintenance of tacting, and on task behavior. Additionally, procedural integrity was high and comparable across all data collection procedures. Overall, these results suggest the use of continuous data collection for teaching tacts to children with autism, as it provides the most sensitive measure of change in performance.