Diane M. Sainato

Increasing Academic Responding of Handicapped Preschool Children During Group Instruction

In an experimental assessment of a choral responding procedure for increasing childrens response to teacher commands, decreased levels of off-task behavior, as well as increased levels of correct responding, resulted from the procedures for three handicapped preschool children during large group instruction.

Using High-Probability Request Sequences to Increase Social Interactions in Young Children With Autism

We investigated the effects of an intervention using high-probability request sequences with embedded peer modeling to increase social interactions of children with autism in a classroom. The effects of the intervention on compliant responding to social requests and social behaviors were monitored using a single-subject multiple baseline design across children. Additionally, social validity regarding the intervention goals, procedures, and outcomes was measured by relevant consumers. The results of this study indicate that all three childrens compliant responding to low-probability requests and social behaviors increased with the intervention and were maintained. Furthermore, the target childrens social behaviors generalized to untrained peers and nontraining settings. The social validity results indicated a high level of consumer acceptability and usability among relevant consumers.

Effects of Self-Evaluation on the Independent Work Skills of Preschool Children with Disabilities

This study examined the effects of a self-evaluation treatment package on the independent work skills of preschool children with disabilities. Children learned to conduct self-assessments and to compare their ratings with those of the teacher. Data were collected on childrens percentages of appropriate behavior, the level of teacher prompting, and the match between child and teacher ratings. Results indicated that the treatment produced immediate and substantial improvements in child behavior and that it was possible to systematically withdraw each component while maintaining a high level of appropriate child behavior.

Teaching Play Skills to Young Children with Autism.

Abstract Background Play is critical for the development of young children and is an important part of their daily routine. However, children with autism often exhibit deficits in play skills and engage in stereotypic behaviour. We reviewed studies to identify effective instructional strategies for teaching play skills to young children with autism. Method Empirical studies on teaching play skills to young children with autism published from 1990 to 2011 were located. These studies included single subject and group designs. Results Twenty-six studies were reviewed. The majority of studies on teaching play skills used combined interventions. Children with autism improved their play skills, with direct intervention embedding their interests during play. Improvements in play skills increased positive social interactions and decreased inappropriate behaviour as collateral effects. Conclusions Further research is needed to develop more effective play skill interventions that assess the functional use of play and are implemented in the natural environment.

The Interpretation of Social Interactions By Mildly Handicapped and Nondisabled Children

Clinical observations of mildly handicapped children—learning disabled (LD), socially/emotionally disturbed (SED), and educable mentally retarded (EMR)—often indicate deficiencies in accurately perceiving and interpreting certain aspects of nonverbal communication. The present investigation was undertaken to empirically evaluate these observations. The Social Interpretation Task (SIT) was presented to groups of 24 LD, SED, EMR, and nondisabled (ND) males at two age levels (younger CA 7-0 to 11-11 years of age; older CA 13-0 to 17-11). Teacher behavior ratings were also computed on each subject. Two two-way analyses of variance performed on the accuracy scores on the SIT and on total behavior ratings indicated a significant difference for group membership on the SIT, and significant differences for group membership, age level, as well as interaction between the two independent variables on behavior ratings. Correlational analysis revealed no significant relationship between performance on the SIT and behavior rating scores. The results do not support many of the clinical observations made by leading professionals in special education. Implications of these findings and directions for future research are discussed.

MATRIX TRAINING OF PRELITERACY SKILLS WITH PRESCHOOLERS WITH AUTISM

Matrix training is a generative approach to instruction in which words are arranged in a matrix so that some multiword phrases are taught and others emerge without direct teaching. We taught 4 preschoolers with autism to follow instructions to perform action-picture combinations (e.g., circle the pepper, underline the deer). Each matrix contained 6 actions on 1 axis and 6 pictures on the other axis. We used most-to-least prompting to train the instructions along the diagonal of each matrix and probed the untrained combinations. For 2 participants, untrained responding emerged after the minimum amount of training. The other 2 participants required further training before untrained combinations emerged. At the end of the study, 3 of the 4 participants performed the trained actions with previously known pictures, letters, and numbers. This study demonstrated that matrix training is an efficient approach to teaching language and literacy skills to children with autism.

Social Status and Initiations of Interaction by Learning Disabled Students in a Regular Education Setting.

Abstract A number of major findings were derved from a sociometric and observational analysis of the social environment of seven learning disabled and 80 regular class peers. First, an analysis of the status scores indicated that nonhandicapped and learning disabled students were accepted at an equal level by class peers. With regard to social initiations exhibited in a lunchroom setting, learning disabled children differed from their regular class peers only in the frequency with which they initiated negative interactions and were responded to positively by the peer group. No other significant differences were found in the quality and quantity of initiations exhibited by learning disabled and regular class peers. Correlations were also performed to examine the relationship between status ratings and social initiations. Using status scores based upon total class ratings, the following significant relationships were found: (1) a negative correlation between status and frequency with which negative target initiations were responded to negatively for the total group of students as well as for regular class students alone; (2) a positive relationship between status and the proportion of positive target initiations that were responded to positively for the total group and for regular class students alone; and (3) a negative correlation between status and frequency of positive initiations by learning disabled subjects only.

Effects of High-Probability Request Sequences on Preschoolers' Compliance and Disruptive Behavior

A high-probability request sequence was implemented with three preschool children with developmental delays within their classroom during typical activities. A multiple baseline design across subjects was used to evaluate the effects of the high-probability request sequence on compliant responding to low-probability requests and the occurrence of disruptive behavior. Results of the study indicate that the use of the high-probability request sequence was effective in increasing compliant responding to low-probability requests delivered by two different trainers for all children. No increases in disruptive behavior were noted as a result of using the high-probability request sequence. When the high-probability request sequence was withdrawn, compliant responding to low-probability requests was maintained for all children across time and in different settings.

A Comprehensive Inclusion Program for Kindergarten Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

To date, reports of empirically validated comprehensive intervention programs for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have been limited to preschool-age children. We examined the effects of a model inclusive kindergarten program for children with ASD. Forty-one children received instruction in an inclusive kindergarten program with their peers for 28 hrs a week. A comparison group (n = 21) received an eclectic intervention in public, general education, kindergarten classrooms. Examiners administered standardized tests of cognitive, language, and adaptive behavior skills to children in both groups at the beginning and end of the school year. There were no differences in test scores between the two groups at baseline. Following intervention, the model program group had higher mean standard scores in all skill domains. The differences were statistically significant for all domains except adaptive behavior and spoken language. These findings are consistent with reports of success for inclusive programs for preschool children with ASD.

Teaching games to young children with autism spectrum disorder using special interests and video modelling

Abstract Background Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may exhibit delayed play skills or repetitive play and have difficulty engaging in spontaneous play with peers. Method A multiple-probe design across participants was used to investigate the effectiveness of a video modelling intervention and the use of childrens special interests on their engagement with games and with peers for kindergarten children with ASD. Results Results indicated that all three children with ASD demonstrated increased engagement with the games and social engagement with their peers. Inappropriate behaviour decreased with the intervention. The effects were maintained during the follow-up and generalised to a novel game. Social validity data indicated that the study was meaningful and the intervention was feasible and effective. Conclusion Future research should focus on designing play skills interventions that serve to motivate both children with ASD and their typically developing peers in order to promote more spontaneous and interactive play among them.