Editorial

Robert L. Koegel and Glen Dunlap

 

Supporting the Social Participation of Intermediate School Students with Severe Disabilities in General Education Classrooms Smita Shukla, Craig H. Kennedy, and Lisa Sharon Cushing 

We compared two approaches for supporting the social participation of students with severe disabilities in general education classrooms. Three students with severe disabilities were studied in four different general education classrooms. Dependent measures included the active engagement of students with severe disabilities and their nondisabled peers and the social interactions that peers had with the students. We compared direct assistance from a special education instructional aide with peer support supervised by a special education instructional aide. Our results indicate that the peer support program produced more frequent and longer social interactions for all three students. Also, peers without disabilities demonstrated a more frequent and greater variety of social support behaviors to students with disabilities. Some improvements in the active engagement of students with disabilities and their peers were observed in the peer support condition. Our results suggest that peer support may be preferred to direct support by an instructional aide for students with severe disabilities in general education classrooms.

 

Increasing Language Intelligibility of Children with Autism Within Regular Education Classroom Settings Using Teacher Implemented Instruction Annette Smith and Stephen Camarata 

This study examined the feasibility of an intervention using naturalistic language teaching procedures for communication problems of individuals with autism conducted by the child's general education teacher in collaboration with the child's language clinician. The results of a multiple baseline study across children indicate successful implementation of naturalistic language teaching procedures in the school settings by all general education teachers and improved intelligibility of the language skills of all the children with autism in generalized spontaneous language use. These results are discussed in terms of previous research demonstrating the effectiveness and benefits of naturalistic teaching procedures and in terms of the implications for educational practices involving children with autism.

 

Reducing Disruptive Behavior in a General Education Classroom Through the Use of Active Responding Fernando Armendariz and John Umbreit 

Active responding (in the form of response cards) was employed during a math lecture in a third-grade classroom to evaluate its effect on disruptive behavior. Two conditions, conventional lecture with hand raising and response cards, were alternated in a reversal (ABA) design. During baseline, the teacher used a conventional lecture with hand raising method, which consisted primarily of lecturing and then asking one child who had raised his or her hand to answer a question. During the active responding (response card) condition, all the students had to respond to the teacher's question by writing an answer on individual cards. Disruptive behavior decreased dramatically when the response cards were used and increased again when the conventional hand raising method was reinstated.

  

Training Responding Behaviors in Students with Autism Using Videotaped Self-Modeling Tom Buggey, Kristina Toombs, Pia Gardener, and Michele Cervetti 

Videotaped self-modeling (VSM) has been developed as a means to allow participants to view themselves in situations where they are performing at a more advanced level than they typically function. VSM has been effectively used to train positive behaviors and to reduce unwanted behaviors across a range of ages and behaviors; however, studies of VSM have not been conducted with students with autism Our study was designed to analyze the effects of VSM on the acquisition and maintenance of appropriate verbal responses to questions by children with autism. A multiple baseline design across students was used to evaluate performance. The results indicated that the three participants almost doubled their rates of appropriate responding to questions during play situations. The findings suggest that VSM may constitute a positive behavior change intervention worthy of consideration in a treatment regimen.

 

Using a Parent Problem Solving Intervention to Promote Augmentative Communication During Daily Routines Dara Steibel

 

The field of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) continues to struggle with issues relating to generalization and maintenance. Current methods of modifying instructional practices and teaching skills directly to the communication partner have contributed to developing successful treatment outcomes. However, few studies have examined AAC in the home setting during daily routines with parents. This study examined whether teaching parents a problem-solving intervention that considered the family's lifestyle would promote child spontaneous picture card use and parent-provided communication opportunities during daily routines. Data were collected in the context of a multiple baseline design across child and parent behavior. The results showed increases in the child's use of cards and in the parent's use of communication opportunities across multiple routines, parent and child behavior maintenance over time, and increases in the parent's perception of their child's communication skill and of their own ability to promote communication. The findings support the use of a problem-solving intervention that incorporates the family's lifestyle as a method to promote augmentative communication during daily routines. 

 

Research in Behavioral and Developmental Disabilities: A Descriptive Analysis of Articles in 10 Journals Between 1980 and 1997 Glen Dunlap, Shelly Clarke, and Miriam Streine

The purpose of this study was to examine the status of experimental research on interventions intended to improve the responding of children and youth with behavioral disorders and developmental disabilities. The data pool consisted of all the articles published between 1980 and 1997 in 10 selected journals. Articles that met the criteria for intervention research were identified and scored on a number of descriptive dimensions (e.g., participant characteristics, settings, dependent measures, independent variables, ecological validity). The data revealed few notable trends over the 18-year period; however, there seemed to be some tendencies toward younger participant populations, general education settings, and studies of interventions in more typical contexts. Moreover, an increasing proportion of interventions are based on preliminary assessments. The discussion considers the general status of intervention research and its value in understanding and helping to guide practice.

Positive Social Science

Martin E. P. Seligman

 

Comparing the Wraparound Process with Features of Positive Behavioral Support: What We Can Learn

Hewitt B. Clark and Meme Hieneman

 

My Sister is a Dinosaur

 

Stefoni Rossiter Burgi