Ilene S. Schwartz

The Picture Exchange Communication System Communicative Outcomes for Young Children with Disabilities

The Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) has become a widely known and used augmentative system for teaching functional communication skills and potentially providing a bridge to speech acquisition. Unfortunately, although there is a great deal of anecdotal clinical evidence about the PECS, there is little empirical information about its efficacy. We present two studies documenting the use of PECS for preschool children with severe disabilities. The first study analyzed the PECS acquisition data for 31 preschool children and demonstrated that young children with severe communication delays and disorders can learn to use PECS quickly and efficiently. The second study followed 18 preschool PECS users for a year. The results of language samples taken at snack time and during free-choice activities indicated that PECS use generalizes to untrained settings and may have concomitant effects on untrained language functions. Directions for future research are discussed.

Effects of Video Modeling Alone and with Self-Management on Compliment-Giving Behaviors of Children with High-Functioning ASD.

Children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorders (ASD) typically exhibit a lack of social reciprocity skills. They often struggle to maintain conversations, especially with topics of little or no interest to them, and to create meaningful relationships. By giving compliments to others, children with ASD have a means by which to show approval for issues of interest to others. Video modeling has been shown to be effective in teaching social behaviors, particularly when it is followed by additional practice, prompts, and role playing. This study, involving two experiments, focused on teaching compliment-giving responses and initiations through video modeling with embedded, explicit rules for giving compliments in the place of additional procedures following video viewing. A multiple-baseline design across participants revealed that video modeling with explicit rules served to produce and maintain compliments of the “response” type. Video modeling with the addition of contrived reinforcement contingencies served to produce compliment-giving initiations in the presence of a teacher who monitored the childrens behavior. The results of Experiment 2 showed that the inclusion of self-management strategies increased the childrens independence in the monitoring of their compliment-giving initiations. Experimental results pointed to the use of self-management as a means by which to produce social initiations when video modeling alone fails.

Peer Imitation: Increasing Social Interactions in Children with Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities in Inclusive Preschool Classrooms.

A single subject research design was conducted across four participants to evaluate the effectiveness of a peer imitation intervention. Three of the participants were preschool children with autism, and one of the participants was a preschooler with developmental delays. The intervention was implemented as part of the integrated classroom regular small-group activity. Data were collected at small-group time to assess the implementation and effectiveness of the intervention. Data were collected at free play, the generalization setting, to assess any changes in peer imitation behaviors, nonimitative social behavior, and nonsocial engagement. Results of the intervention indicate that the participants increased peer imitation behaviors in small-group and in free-play settings. Increases were also seen in social behavior (both in proximity to peers and in number of interactions) as well as in levels of nonsocial engagement. The results are discussed in terms of the importance of how interventions are planned, the importance of measuring the effects of interventions broadly, and the importance of developing interventions that teachers are likely to use.

Developmentally Appropriate Practice Appraising Its Usefulness for Young Children with Disabilities

Recently, many educators have advocated the use of the Developmentally Appropriate Practice approach in preschool programs for young children who are developing normally, as well as for young children with special needs. This article reviews the rationales and basic premises of both the Developmentally Appropriate Practice approach and early childhood special education. We highlight areas in which developmentally appropriate practice guidelines overlap those of early childhood special education. We also point out the insufficiencies of these guidelines for planning, carrying out, and evaluating early childhood special education programs. We provide a selective literature review to clarify issues that still separate the two areas and discuss the implications of these divisions for future integration efforts. Finally, we offer suggestions for standards that should guide the evaluation of all programs that serve young children with disabilities.

ABA and the Development of Meaningful Social Relations for Young Children with Autism

Meaningful social relations should be a primary outcome of educational programs for young children with autism. A number of instructional strategies derived from applied behavior analysis are reviewed, with particular attention paid to the social validity and sustainability of behavior change. More intensive, comprehensive, and ecologically valid intervention methods must be used in order to produce the level of behavior change desired by consumers and demanded by the complexity of the social world.

Perspectives on the Transition from Preschool to Kindergarten for Children with Disabilities and Their Families

This article addresses the transition of young children from preschool programs that provide special education services to kindergarten or alternative elementary school placements. The roles of the child, family, and service providers in transition preparation, planning, implementation, and evaluation are described. Successful transitions include assessments of childrens skills in meeting the demands of kindergarten programs, teaching these skills to children, and actively encouraging parent participation in plans and programs. Barriers to successful transitions include lack of time and funding to coordinate both parent activities and between-school arrangements. A critical area for future research is the long-term evaluation of the procedures described as “best practice,” i>as well as the definition of what constitutes a successful transition.

Four Portraits of Friendship at an Inclusive School

The movement toward creating inclusive schools has accelerated rapidly over the past several years. As they learn more about the effects of inclusion on students with disabilities, consumers, practitioners, and researchers are becoming more interested in the effects of inclusion on students without disabilities. One area of great interest is the social relationships between students with disabilities and students without disabilities. The purpose of this study is to present case studies of four students without disabilities who are friends of students with moderate and severe disabilities in their classroom. Data for the case studies were collected through observations, videotaped samples, and interviews. The case studies illustrate the uniqueness of each friendship and highlight some similarities across relationships. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for promoting relationships in inclusive educational settings.

Effects of Teaching Early Interventionists to Use Discrete Trials During Ongoing Classroom Activities

This study evaluated the effects of a teacher-training package that included sequential components (activity-based intervention [ABI] and ABI with discrete trials) on the rate of instructional opportunities presented to young children with disabilities. Three teachers and three children participated. A multiple-probe design was used with four conditions: classroom baseline, ABI, ABI with discrete trials, and generalization. Although the rate of instruction increased during the ABI condition, substantial increases were not seen until teachers received instruction on how to organize and conduct instructional trials using a discrete trials format. Concurrent observations revealed that the percentage of intervals in which teachers engaged in obligatory interactions (those that required a response) and nonobligatory interactions (those that did not require a response) increased as the rate of instruction increased and that the amount of time teachers engaged children in interactions that were nondirective remained unchanged following the introduction of the discrete trials format. As the rate of instruction increased, child engagement either increased or stayed the same, and all three children showed a higher rate of independent correct responses to target learning objectives in the ABI with discrete trials condition. These findings suggest that an important ingredient in the successful application of systematic instructional procedures in classroom settings may be related to how proficient early interventionists are at organizing and conducting an instructional trial.

On the Forms of Inclusion: Organizational Context and Individualized Service Models.

This paper describes multiple forms of inclusion for preschool children with and without disabilities. Researchers used a range of qualitative and quantitative methods to create case studies and summaries of 16 inclusive programs from 4 regional locations in the U.S. These programs varied on the 2 dimensions of organizational context and individualized service delivery models. Organizational contexts included community-based child care, Head Start, 3 public school contexts, and dual enrollment. The individualized service models that programs followed were itinerant-direct service, itinerant-collaborative consultative, team teaching, early childhood, early childhood special education, and integrative or inclusive activities.

Key Influences on the Initiation and Implementation of Inclusive Preschool Programs

Inclusion is a challenging educational practice to implement at the preschool level. We interviewed early childhood teachers, related services providers, program directors, and state-level administrators in 18 public schools, Head Start, and community-based programs in four geographical regions across the United States. Interviews were analyzed to determine factors that were facilitators of or barriers to the development of inclusive preschool programs and to describe where inclusion began for each of the programs. Key personnel was the strongest facilitator of inclusion across all programs. Other important influences were the provision of training and external support, holding a shared vision, and the impact of national and state policies.