Onur Kurt

A Comparison of Constant Time Delay and Simultaneous Prompting Within Embedded Instruction on Teaching Leisure Skills to Children With Autism

An adapted alternating-treatments design was used to compare the effectiveness and efficiency of constant time delay and simultaneous prompting procedures within an embedded instruction format on the acquisition of various leisure skills by four preschool students with autism. The results showed that both procedures were effective in promoting the acquisition of the skills and maintaining them over time by three students. Although the impacts of the procedures were evident for these three students, the results were not replicated with the fourth student. Furthermore, mixed results were obtained regarding the efficiency measures. However, the social validity findings of the study were positive overall. On the basis of an evaluation of the findings, implications and future research needs are discussed.

The Effects of Simultaneous Prompting on Teaching Expressive Identification of Objects: An instructive feedback study

The present study examined whether the use of a simultaneous prompting procedure would result in an increase in the percentage of correct responses when expressively identifying first aid materials. A multiple probe design across behaviours and replicated across students was used. Three training sets with a total of nine first aid materials were presented to three students. Also, instructive feedback stimuli were presented during consequent events to increase the efficiency of instruction. The instructive feedback con tained the functions of the instructional materials. Maintenance effects were assessed 1, 2, and 4 weeks after training. The results showed that all students learned expressive identification of first aid materials and maintained them after training. Furthermore, all students acquired and maintained some of the instructive feedback stimuli presented to them during instruction.

Teaching multi-step requesting to children with autism spectrum disorder using systematic instruction and a speech-generating device

Abstract The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of an iPad-based speech-generating device (SGD) and an intervention package in teaching multi-step requesting to children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The intervention package comprised discrete trial teaching, time delay, graduated guidance, and reinforcement. Social validity data were also collected from parents and teachers. Three male participants with ASD, aged 4–5 years, participated in the study, which was conducted using a multiple-probe-across-participants design. Findings of the study showed that the SGD and the intervention package were effective in teaching multi-step requesting to all participants. Furthermore, the target skill was maintained and generalized to different materials and individuals. Social validity findings indicated that opinions of the mothers and teachers were positive. On the other hand, the father of one participant stated that he was concerned with possible negative effects of using tablet computers. The findings are discussed with regard to the parents’ opinions, and implications for practice and research.