Education and Training in Autism and Developmental Disabilities

The purpose of this study was to further address the “for whom” in the question of the effectiveness of modified schema-based instruction (MSBI) to teach mathematical problem solving to students with intellectual and developmental disability by evaluating whether positive outcomes from prior research would be replicated with elementary students in a different context. We aimed to analyze the “under what conditions” variable and assess feasibility of teacher-implemented MSBI in a small group. This study evaluated the effect of teacherimplemented MSBI in a small-group setting on level of independence in and maintenance of mathematical problem solving for elementary students with extensive support needs in semi-rural Australia. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

The global Covid-19 pandemic forced teachers to support students online in multiple academic subjects, including mathematics, including students with disabilities and those at-risk. And yet, to date, limited research exists examining teaching mathematics to students with disabilities online. The current study explored the use of the virtual-representational-abstract (VRA) instructional sequence paired with the system of least prompts (SLP) to support three elementary students with either a developmental disability or at-risk in mathematics to solve division with remainder problems. All three students learned to solve the targeted division with remainder problems with at least 75% accuracy and 85% independence across virtual, representational, and abstract sessions. Further, all three students maintained their accuracy for up to two weeks following the completion of intervention. The study holds implications for virtual manipulative-based instructional sequences, which to date focused on secondary students, and for teaching mathematics to students with disabilities online.

Conceptual model-based problem solving (COMPS) was tested for its efficacy in teaching a student diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder to solve word problems involving multiplication and division. A single-case, multiple-baseline across behaviors design was conducted. The ability to solve each of three types of multiplication problems examined (equal groups, multiplicative comparison and Cartesian product) was addressed separately. The student's performance improved in all three, and it was maintained five weeks after the intervention. The student also generalized the effects of instruction to two-step (addition and multiplication) word problems. Knowledge transfer to an everyday situation was also assessed. The implications of these findings for teaching multiplicative word problems to students diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder are discussed.

This paper presents information from a comprehensive review of 28 experimental studies that investigated the effectiveness and efficiency of the simultaneous prompting procedure with individuals with autism. Twenty of the 25 variables examined across the 28 studies are reported on in this paper. The results reported across the studies indicated that the procedure was effective with all but one of the 71 participants with autism who were included in the investigations. A particular emphasis of this comprehensive review was information about the variants involved in the use of simultaneous prompting. An analysis of this information resulted in the identification of seven guidelines for teachers' use of simultaneous prompting with students with autism, which are presented at the end of this paper.

The author thanks Michelle Huff for her contributions to this article, which consisted of a visual analysis of the data reported in the studies included in this review and proofreading a draft of this manuscript.

This quality review is an analysis of the methodological quality of social communication intervention research identifying which social communication interventions for this population could be considered evidence-based practices (EBPs). The purpose of the quality review was to apply the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) guidelines to the literature of social communication interventions for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The findings of this study found important issues that need to be considered in this field of social communication interventions for adolescents and adults with ASD in relation to the quality of the single-case experimental design (SCED). In addition, video modeling interventions have been established as an EBP of social communication intervention for this population.

To cope with students' problem behaviors, which is a frequently encountered problem within inclusive education implementations, classroom teachers often require some form of in-service training. In considering this issue, the current study aimed to determine the effectiveness of an online problem behavior professional development program (e-ITPDPB) that was explicitly designed for teachers of inclusive education. The study model was the experimental model employing a pretest-posttest control and experimental group design. The study's participants included 60 primary school teachers who were randomly assigned to the experimental (N = 30) and control (N = 30) groups. The obtained study data were analyzed using independent samples t-test and ANOVA. The e-ITPDPB was found to be effective in decreasing the number of problem behavior reports raised by teachers and the diversity of causes attributed to problem behavior and the increase in the employment of positive coping ways by the teachers. Furthermore, the teachers' perceptions of professional competence improved, as did their positive views regarding inclusive education.

The ability to communicate is the most fundamental educational outcome leading to academic success (Kearns et al., 2015). This is no different for students with disabilities. Students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), however, demonstrate difficulty with spontaneous communication and use of functional language throughout a variety of settings (Centers for Disease Control; [CDC], 2020), including academic contexts. Embedded instruction (Jimenez & Kamei, 2015) and systematic prompting (Doyle et al.,1988) have been used as strategies to improve skill acquisition for students with ASD. This study provides support to the existing literature by combining two previously evidence-based practices to increase the verbal behavior of students with autism during reading instruction. A single-subject multiple probe design across three elementary school students with ASD was used to analyze the outcomes of the use of embedded trials and systematic prompting on tacted and intraverbal responses to story questions. In addition, the content and accuracy of the responses were recorded. All students increased their ability to accurately respond and provide verbalizations about a text at the completion of the study. Limitations and future research were discussed regarding implementation of technology, distance learning, and implications due to COVID-19.

The purpose of this study was to increase the duration of treadmill walking to reach moderate exercise intensity level for a 26-year-old male diagnosed with moderate autism spectrum disorder (ASD) accompanying an intellectual disability. We used a structured system including token reward system of visual representation of progress. A changing criterion single case research design was used and was consisted of the baseline phase, three sub-criteria intervention phase, and follow-up phase. Results showed that a functional relationship was established by demonstrating and replicating effects throughout the three sub-intervention phases. In addition, there was an increase of 173% (>2 standard deviations) from the original base-line duration and 93% of duration were at the moderate exercise intensity. This study may be of importance that the intervention may built up the health behavior and lifestyle of the participant with ASD. Further replicating studies are suggested.