Robert C. Pennington

Computer-Assisted Instruction for Teaching Academic Skills to Students With Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of Literature:

Although legislation mandates that students with autism receive instruction linked to the general education core content, there is limited research supporting the effectiveness of interventions for teaching core content to these students. In this study, the author reviewed research conducted between the years 1997 and 2008 using computer-assisted instruction (CAI) to teach academic skills to students with autism. The author concluded that CAI was effective for teaching a limited set of academic skills to individuals with autism; however, functional relations were found in few of the single-case designs and none of the group designs included a control group. Future researchers should explore the use of CAI in various instructional arrangements, identify critical technology components, and evaluate commercially available software.

Using Desktop Videoconferencing to Deliver Interventions to a Preschool Student With Autism

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact of functional communication training on elopement when consultation support is delivered via desktop videoconferencing. An ABAB design was used to evaluate the effectiveness of functional communication training to reduce the elopement of a preschool student with autism. Intervention development, teacher training, and data collection were conducted at a distance using technology. Results show that the teaching staff was able to implement the intervention with a high degree of fidelity and that elopement was significantly reduced during intervention phases. The authors discuss the implications of using desktop videoconferencing to deliver consultation support, along with future applications in early childhood settings.

Leave the Running Shoes at Home: Addressing Elopement in the Classroom

S tudents’ leaving a designated area without permission or supervision is referred to as elopement (Bodfish, 1992), and such behavior clearly presents a unique set of challenges for educational professionals. Elopement is seen in children and youth with a variety of developmental disabilities, including those with intellectual disabilities or autism, as well as those identified with or at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). In milder forms, elopement may be simply disruptive and annoying (e.g., students leaving their seats without permission, or students who do not wait, line up, or gather at the appropriate spots when transitioning from one location to another). In more serious forms, students may run, literally leaving their classrooms, school buildings, and even school grounds, which creates potentially serious safety concerns. Elopement often requires teachers to react immediately to prevent students from leaving instructional contexts and entering potentially dangerous situations (e.g., running into traffic, encountering strangers, becoming lost). This may result in teachers leaving other students unsupervised while moving to block or retrieve the eloping student, which ultimately interrupts instruction for all students in the classroom. Not surprisingly, elopement may have long-term consequences for students as they continually miss critical instruction and time in the classroom. Students who leave designated areas are likely to miss instructional stimuli and opportunities to practice valuable skills alongside their peers. The resulting skill deficits, coupled with the staff support required to address serious elopement, may result in students being moved to more restrictive educational placements (Garner, 1991). Though it appears logical that elopement may be associated with an escape function, researchers have demonstrated that elopement may be maintained by access to attention (Kodak, Grow, & Northup, 2004), tangibles (Gibson, Pennington, Stenhoff, & Hopper, 2009), and automatic reinforcement (Falcomata, Roane, Feeney, & Stephenson, 2010), as well as escape from aversive contexts (Rapp, Vollmer, & Hovanetz, 2006). This adds to the difficulty in treating elopement in that sometimes teachers’ responses may actually increase students’ elopement. For example, if a teacher uses physical assistance to guide a student back to the classroom and the function of the student’s behavior was to gain attention, the teacher may inadvertently reinforce the student’s problem behavior. Fortunately, researchers have demonstrated that the function of elopement can be determined through behavioral assessment, and that the use of function-based strategies can result in favorable outcomes. The majority of research teams have used function-based strategies to address elopement. That is, strategies are selected that teach conventional responses (e.g., asking for a break, following a directive) that help students access reinforcement more effectively while weakening students’ effect on the environment through elopement. Several research teams have evaluated functional communication training (FCT) to reduce elopement. Following functional behavior assessments, researchers taught students to make conventional requests for reinforcing stimuli in lieu of eloping (Falcomata, Roane, Feeny, & Stephenson; Gibson et al., 2009; Tarbox, Wallace, & Williams, 2003). Researchers also have applied a variety of other reinforcement strategies. For example, Piazza and colleagues (1997) conducted functional analyses to determine the function of three children’s elopement. For each child they implemented a different reinforcement procedure that resulted in decreases in elopement. These procedures included differential reinforcement of other behavior (i.e., reinforcement contingent on the nonoccurrence of elopement), noncontingent reinforcement (i.e., free access to a preferred item), and differential reinforcement of alternative behavior (i.e., access to running for appropriate walking). Lang and colleagues (2010) conducted separate functional analyses in two settings (i.e., classroom, resource room) for a child with Asperger’s syndrome (AS). They provided noncontingent access to preferred stimuli (i.e., attention, DVD) in each setting, which resulted in decreases in elopement across both instructional areas. Some researchers have combined reinforcement and punishment strategies. For example, Kodak, Grow, and Northup (2004) used noncontingent reinforcement, but also applied time-out procedures LEAVE THE RUNNING SHOES AT HOME

Using Simultaneous Prompting to Teach Computer-based Story Writing to a Student with Autism

Writing is a critical skill because it is used to access reinforcement in a variety of contexts. Unfortunately, there has been little research on writing skills instruction for students with intellectual disabilities and autism spectrum disorders. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects simultaneous prompting and computer-assisted instruction on story writing responses of a 7-year-old male with autism. Data indicated that the intervention was effective in teaching the participant to construct stories related to three different topics. Additionally, the student maintained responding at 2 and 4 weeks following intervention and increased responding across different topographies (i.e., handwriting, vocal).

Writing Instruction for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of Literature.

Historically, learners with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have not had access to the general education curriculum. Current legislation mandates that all children, including children with ASD, have access to and make progress in the general education curriculum. This article contains a review of the literature on writing instruction for children with ASD. Investigation yielded 15 studies with 29 participants with ASD ages 4 to 21 years. Based on the studies reviewed, we concluded that students with ASD benefit from explicit writing instruction, but more research is needed to establish an evidence-based set of practices to guide educators in the development of effective writing programs for this population of students. Strategies that are particularly promising and suggestions for future research are given.

Improving Cover-Letter Writing Skills of Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities.

We evaluated a multicomponent intervention for improving the cover-letter writing skills of individuals with intellectual disabilities. An intervention that included modeling, self-monitoring, prompting, and feedback increased correct performance for all participants. In addition, the skill was demonstrated across audiences.

Using Robot-Assisted Instruction to Teach Students with Intellectual Disabilities to Use Personal Narrative in Text Messages

In the current investigation, we evaluated the effectiveness of a multi-component package (i.e., robot, simultaneous prompting, self-graphing) for teaching three students, ages 19–21, with intellectual disabilities (ID) to write text messages that included a greeting, personal narrative, and closing. Data suggest that the package was effective in increasing correct performance for all participants. In addition, participants demonstrated their newly acquired texting skills across different communicative partners.

The Use of an Autonomous Pedagogical Agent and Automatic Speech Recognition for Teaching Sight Words to Students With Autism Spectrum Disorder

In the current study, we examined the effects of an instructional package comprised of an autonomous pedagogical agent, automatic speech recognition, and constant time delay during the instruction of reading sight words aloud to young adults with autism spectrum disorder. We used a concurrent multiple baseline across participants design to evaluate the efficacy of intervention and conducted post-treatment probes to assess maintenance and generalization. Our findings suggest that all three participants acquired and maintained new sight words and demonstrated generalized responding.

An Examination of Teacher and Student Behaviors in Classrooms for Students with Moderate and Severe Intellectual Disability.

Students with moderate and severe intellectual disability require intensive instruction to develop academic skills. A majority of instruction for these students takes place in self-contained classrooms. Unfortunately, there are little data describing common instructional practices within these classrooms. This pilot investigation aimed to explore classrooms for students with moderate and severe intellectual disability to determine the levels at which teachers typically present opportunities to respond and provide feedback in classrooms for these students, the degree to which students are engaged with academic instruction in these classrooms, and if there is a difference in teaching practices and student engagement in different school settings (separate school vs. separate classroom in a general education school). Findings, limitations, and ideas for future research are discussed.

The Use of Response Prompting and Frames for Teaching Sentence Writing to Students With Moderate Intellectual Disability

In the current study, we examined the effects of response prompting strategies (i.e., constant time delay, system of least prompts) and frames on sentence writing for three participants, ages 7 to 12, with moderate intellectual disability. We used a concurrent multiple probe across behaviors design to evaluate the efficacy of the intervention package and posttest probes to assess generalized responding to untrained stimulation. During intervention, the teacher taught two students to construct sentences using selection-based software and another to generate handwritten responses across three different writing frames (i.e., I want _________, I see _____, The _____ is ______). Our findings suggest that the package was effective and produced variable levels of maintenance and generalized responding for all three participants.