Having a measurable way to analyze how staff members describe teaching interactions is important for staff training and building a community of effective and caring practice. The purpose of this project, part of a larger program, is to develop a measurement system that captures descriptions of connected events (narratives) during teaching interactions. This project involved development of a reliable measurement system that discriminates between experienced and novice narratives of teaching interactions (contingency arrangements) across multiple cases of instruction. The participants were employees of a non-profit agency serving children with autism and their families. They volunteered to participate in the study. The development of the code included the systematic selection of high quality autism intervention video clips and asking participants to view the clips and describe events, and then coding responses. The participant narratives were then categorized by themes and analyzed. The results are described in the context of usefulness and limitations of the measurement systems. A mutielement design comparing responses across stimulus conditions was used to evaluate the sensitivity of the measurement system in discriminating between novice and experienced interventionists.

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

Examines and rationalizes the instructional strategies used to teach young children with autism early literacy skills using a balanced, multilevel approach to reading. Explores the five domains of reading in a way that brings light to the areas of reading deficits in young children diagnosed with autism. Additionally, attempts to bring the concept of best reading practices to the attention of educators who serve children with autism. The project provides a handbook of literacy activities geared towards children with autism and other developmental disabilities.

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Educational Psychology / Master / Master of Social Sciences

Children with autism often exhibit deficits in question-asking. This study replicated and extended Williams, Donley, and Keller.s (2000) training package: a modeling and reinforcement procedure to teach the use of 3 different questions about hidden objects. Two boys, aged 13 and 12, with primary diagnoses of autism, participated. A multiple baseline design across questions was used. Both children learned to ask all three questions: .What.s that?. .Can I see (item name)?. and .Can I have (item name)?. Question-asking generalized to novel locations, people, and stimulus materials with minimal additional training. These results support the efficacy of this training package as an efficient way to teach children with autism to ask questions about objects in their environment.

Teachers providing treatment to children with autism are responsible for implementing numerous procedures. Teacher training has not been addressed extensively in the literature. This study employed a multiple baseline design to evaluate the effects of a training package incorporating modeling, roleplaying and feedback on teacher performance. Results indicated that the teacher implemented correct teaching episodes following training. Changes in teacher performance were only observed when the training package was applied to each setting and skill area. As a result of changes in teacher behavior, the child demonstrated an increase in the number of desired responses. Results are discussed in the context of generalization, training package components, cost-benefit of single-subject designs, and limitations of the study.

Over the past two decades reported rates of autism have steadily risen. The current incidence is 1 in 68 children. While autism can be reliably diagnosed at 18 months in most children with the condition, specialized autism treatment rarely begins before a child's third or fourth birthday. As screening and diagnosis procedures improve so does the need for effective early interventions for autism. Researchers and professionals have expressed a growing concern over the need for effective early interventions for infants and toddlers with autism. At the same time, there is a dearth of qualitative research exploring the needs and experiences of parents with a very young child with autism. Employing a phenomenological framework, the purpose of this study was to investigate the lived experiences of parents of a young child with autism receiving early special education services. Unstructured interviews and photo elicitation were used to generate rich, detailed descriptions of the phenomenon. Data analysis from photographic images and narrative dialogues illuminated six essential themes across participants: (a) parents as pioneers: forging the way for future families; (b) making the journey as a family; (c) navigating uncharted service systems; (d) overcoming challenges and obstacles; (e) resilience, ingenuity and hope; and (f) reflecting on the first three years and looking forward. Participants expressed that they felt this study gave them a "voice" in the research literature. This study is one of the first to investigate the lived experiences of parents as they seek and secure autism services for their child under five with autism.

Educational legislation requires the implementation of a functional assessment for students with disabilities who engage in challenging behavior that could lead to a change in their educational placement (IDEA Amendments, 1997; IDEA, 1990; IDEA Improvement Act, 2004). Research has shown that teachers can implement functional assessments with intensive instruction and performance feedback, yet this training can be difficult to carry out in educational settings with limited resources to provide such supervision. In the health care field, video teleconferencing (VTC) is used to overcome specialist shortages and provide supervision. Such technology might be used to deliver training and performance feedback to teachers learning to assess challenging behavior, but few studies have reported the use of VTC in educational settings. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of performance feedback delivered via VTC on the acquisition and maintenance of functional analysis procedures by 6 teachers. Concurrent multiple baseline designs across teacher-student dyads with embedded multi-element designs were used to evaluate the effects of performance feedback delivered via VTC on the percentage of functional analysis procedures implemented correctly. Performance feedback via VTC was provided once per week over an average of 6 weeks until each teacher implemented the procedures of each functional analysis condition (i.e., escape, attention, and play) at 100% accuracy over three consecutive sessions. Results indicated that performance feedback delivered via VTC was effective to train the teachers to independently implement functional analysis conditions. These results were maintained at or near criterion performance four weeks following the termination of performance feedback for 4 teachers. Each teacher rated performance feedback delivered via VTC positively with respect to the training procedures and the outcomes of training. The results and limitations of this study, and relevant areas for future research are discussed. / text

The effects of a gymnastic unit on stereotypic, on-task, and off task behaviors of two children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), and two children with Down syndrome were examined using structured teaching, based on adaptations by the TEACCH model. Structured teaching consisted of individual pictorial activity schedules and work systems. The stereotypic, on-task, and off task behaviors were observed during three phases: baseline, treatment, and post-treatment. / Inter-rater reliability of stereotypic, on-task, and off task behaviors was 82.2%. The results indicated reductions on the levels of stereotypic behaviors of both participants with ASD, while no significant changes were observed in the levels of on-task behaviors for these participants. This was probably due to the fact that the gymnastic unit was fairly structured even before the implementation of the treatment. No effects were found on the levels of on-task behaviors of both participants with Down syndrome.

M.Ed. / The difficulties experienced by children with Asperger syndrome are complex and pervasive and the resultant impact on the successful accommodation of such children in classes of mixed abilities is considerable. Teachers who teach children with Asperger syndrome within a specialised school require formal training and ongoing support so that they can provide the specific and often individualized interventions to cater for the diverse needs of these learners. This study was informed by a critical theory perspective and used a qualitative research design that focused on the emic or insider’s point of view. A participatory action research approach was chosen as it suited small-scale research conducted within a school setting where teachers experienced specific problems. The aim of this enquiry was to identify the support required for teachers to effectively teach children with Asperger syndrome within classes of mixed abilities from Grade R to Grade 3 at a specialised school. The study incorporated qualitative methods of data collection that gave voice to the participants. These inductive methods included open-ended interviews, observations and written documents in the form of a researcher’s and a teacher’s journal.