Devender R. Banda

Picture Exchange Communication System With Individuals With Developmental Disabilities: A Meta-Analysis of Single Subject Studies

Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) is a picture-based communication strategy used to teach communication skills to persons with developmental disabilities including autism. This article systematically reviews 13 published single-subject studies to examine the effectiveness of PECS, the effects of PECS on speech and problem behaviors, generalization beyond training conditions, and social validity of the intervention. The authors also calculated percentage of nonoverlapping data points for all participants to quantify, compare, and analyze results. Results indicate that PECS yielded increases in functional communication in all but 1 participant. Additionally, PECS decreased problem behaviors and increased speech in some individuals. A theoretical framework, analyses of methodologies, and implications for researchers and practitioners are discussed.

Video Modeling Strategies to Enhance Appropriate Behaviors in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders.

cator, had been working on communication and socialization skills with John, one of her students who was diagnosed with autism. Suzan recognized that John had made little progress over the first 3 months of school participating in interventions such as peer modeling and verbal explanations of effective communication and socialization skills. She decided to seek suggestions from her colleagues about possible other evidence-based interventions that might be more effective for students with autism. Luckily, Suzan found one colleague who had recently attended a workshop on video modeling. Her colleague shared with her that the intervention was evidence-based and effective for teaching various skills to students with autism. Suzan was grateful for the information and was especially excited about its potential because John particularly enjoys watching television and videos.

Activity Schedules: Helping Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders in General Education Classrooms Manage Transition Issues.

teacher, has a new student with Asperger’s syndrome in her classroom. John has a very difficult time moving from one activity to the next. Often he will simply refuse to transition to the next activity by sitting down on the floor and not moving. Other times he will scream and physically lash out at his peers and the teacher. Kate noticed that the problem behaviors usually occur during a change in his anticipated daily routines. These outbursts are very disruptive to the rest of the class, and some of the other students have begun to avoid John during classroom activities. John’s parents report similar difficulties at home during transitions or changes in his schedule. Kate needs to find some research-based strategies to help John more readily accept changes in his schedule and daily activities. Refusing to transition from one activity to the next or between steps in a single activity can impact a student’s academic progress, socialization, and independence. Problem behaviors during transitions can impact the effectiveness of teacher instruction and disrupt other students’ activities. As a result, the child with the behavior problem may be excluded from peer social circles. Difficulty with transitions can significantly limit a student’s ability to independently complete activities across environments throughout the school day (e.g., Forest, Horner, Lewis-Palmer, & Todd, 2004; Scheuermann & Webber, 2002; Schreibman, Whalen, & Stahmer, 2000). Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by a qualitative impairment in at least two of the three following areas: social interaction; communication; and restricted repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior, interests, and activities. In addition, individuals diagnosed with autism demonstrate delays or abnormal functioning with onset before age 3 in social interaction, language used for social communication, and/or symbolic or imaginative play (American Psychiatric Association, APA, 2000). Students diagnosed with ASD often struggle

Video modelling interventions to teach spontaneous requesting using AAC devices to individuals with autism: a preliminary investigation

This multiple baseline study investigated to what extent individuals with autism would learn to operate a speech generating device (SGD) to request a preferred object by observing a video model. The intervention consisted of each participant viewing a 10- to15-s video model that demonstrated the requesting of a preferred object using a SGD. Baseline, intervention and generalisation were all implemented within a public school, special education classroom. After viewing the video model, two participants displayed the ability to request preferred items using the SGD without prompting or cues. However, the participants did not generalise requesting using the SGD to a second preferred object. The study provides preliminary evidence that video modelling can be used to teach individuals with autism and severe cognitive disabilities requesting skills using an SGD.

A Teacher's Guide to Meta-Analysis.

tor, convened her monthly meeting with the district’s special education teachers. The theme of Ms. Quinn’s discussion was the implementation of evidence-based practices required by the No Child Left Behind Act. During this discussion she brought up the term meta-analysis in reference to research studies, stressing that this type of literature review may be helpful when selecting effective practices for students with special needs. The term was a new one for many of the teachers and even the ones who were aware of the term were perplexed how meta-analysis could possibly impact their day-to-day classroom teaching.

Increasing Academic Compliance with Mathematics Tasks Using the High-Preference Strategy with a Student with Autism

ABSTRACT The authors investigated the effectiveness of using high-preference (high-p) mathematics tasks for increasing task initiation of low-preference (low-p) mathematics tasks with a 13-year-old middle school student with autism. They used an ABAB design to determine the effectiveness of high-p tasks with to comply with low-p tasks. Results indicated that the student took less time to initiate low-p mathematics problems that were preceded by high-p mathematics problems. This study extends the literature on high-p techniques to enhance academic compliance behaviors for students with autism. The authors discuss the results and future implications.

Decreasing Disruptive Vocalizations of a Student With High-Functioning Autism Across Three General Education Classrooms

The authors conducted this study to decrease disruptive vocalizations in a 3rd-grade student with high-functioning autism across 3 general education classrooms. They used direct and indirect approaches of functional behavior assessment to determine the function of the disruptive behavior. Results indicated that the behavior was maintained by attention from the teachers. To reduce the disruptive vocalizations, the teachers implemented noncontingent attention, which was tracked across 3 content areas with 3 different teachers in 3 settings using an AB design. Results showed decreased disruptive vocalizations across all 3 environments. Results and implications for practice and research are discussed.

Enhancing Motivation to Complete Math Tasks Using the High-Preference Strategy

Designed to enhance the completion of math tasks, high-preference strategy consists of presenting math tasks that students prefer, to enhance their interest in completing difficult math tasks. In this article, a brief review of the literature related to the use of the high-preference strategy is provided along with directions on how to implement the strategy with students with learning and behavior disabilities.

Effectiveness of Noncontingent Attention to Decrease Attention-Maintained Disruptive Behaviors in the General Education Classroom

This study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of noncontingent attention (NCA) on disruptive talking-out behavior in a student diagnosed with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder in the general education classroom. Functional analysis indicated that the talking-out behavior was maintained by teacher attention. We used an ABAB design in which the teacher implemented NCA. Results indicated that the strategy decreased the participants talking-out behavior. Furthermore, social validity data indicated that the participant was able to spend more time on-task. Results and implications for research and practice are discussed.

Decreasing Self-Injurious Behavior in a Student with Autism and Tourette Syndrome through Positive Attention and Extinction

This case study was conducted with a student diagnosed with autism and Tourette syndrome who displayed severe self-injurious behavior (SIB). We conducted a functional behavioral assessment which indicated that SIB was maintained by multiple functions using an ABAC design to determine the effect of positive social attention and extinction. Results show a considerable decrease in SIB incidents, particularly when session duration was reduced from 10 minutes to 5 minutes during the second intervention phase. Thus, the combination of contingent social attention formulated from the functional assessment and extinction was successful in bringing about significant decreases in SIB. This combination holds great promise as a nonintrusive positive strategy for SIB.