Video technology and persons with autism and other developmental
disabilities: An emerging technology of positive behavioral
support
Peter Sturmey
Teaching Complex Play Sequences To A PreschoolerWith
Autism Using Video Modeling
Patricia D’Ateno, Kathleen Mangiapanello, Bridget
A. Taylor
The identification of efficient teaching procedures to
address imaginative play skills deficits commonly seen in
children with autism is a challenge for those designing
treatment programs. In the present study video modeling
was used to teach play skills to a preschool child with
autism. Videotaped play sequences included both verbal and
motor responses. A multiple baseline across three response
categories (tea party, shopping, and baking) was implemented
to demonstrate experimental control. No experimenter implemented
reinforcement or correction procedures were used during
the intervention. Results showed that the video modeling
intervention led to the rapid acquisition of both verbal
and motor responses for all play sequences. The video modeling
teaching procedure was shown to be an efficient technique
for teaching relatively long sequences of responses in the
absence of chaining procedures in relatively few teaching
sessions. Additionally, the complex sequences of verbal
and motor responses were acquired without the use of error
correction procedures or explicit, experimenter implemented
reinforcement contingencies.
Using Video Modeling to Teach Perspective Taking to Children
with Autism
Marjorie Charlop-Christy, Ph.D. and Sabrina Daneshvar
Perspective taking refers to the ability to attribute mental
states of others in order to explain or predict behavior.
In typically developing children, this skill develops around
age 4 (Baron-Cohen, Leslie & Frith, 1985), but is delayed
or absent in children with autism (Happe, 1994). In the
present study, video modeling was used to teach perspective
taking to 3 children with autism. A multiple baseline design
across children and within child across tasks was used to
assess learning. Generalization across un-trained similar
stimuli was also assessed. Video modeling was a fast and
effective tool for teaching perspective taking tasks to
children with autism, resulting in both stimulus and response
generalization. These results concurred with previous research
that perspective taking can be taught. However, unlike other
studies, wider ranges of generalization were found.
Computer Presented Video Models to Teach Generative Spelling
to a Child with an Autism Spectrum Disorder
Elisabeth M. Kinney, Joseph Vedora, Robert Stromer
We examined the use of computer video models and video
rewards to teach generative spelling to a child with an
autism spectrum disorder. In Phase 1, Ana viewed video models
of her teacher writing target words. After Ana wrote correctly,
she watched videos of play routines unique to each training
word. Ana rapidly learned to spell three five-word sets
to pictures and dictation. In Phase 2, Ana learned to spell
four novel words (e.g., lore and tock) based on the elements
of five words learned in Phase 1 (e.g., tore and lock) and
arranged into a teaching matrix of three beginning consonants
and three word endings. In Phases 3 and 4, Ana learned to
spell subsets of four three-by-three matrices, then immediately
proved capable of spelling the remaining words in each matrix.
Ana also succeeded on generalization and maintenance tests
at home and school throughout the study. Thus, generative
spelling may derive from a teaching package that involves
video models and rewards, and that arranges opportunities
to learn to recombine initial consonants and word endings.
Ana’s proficiency in spelling helped her acquire literacy
skills commensurate with her regular school placement.
Effects of Video Self-Modeling on Spontaneous Requesting
in Children with Autism
Barbara Yingling Wert and John T. Neisworth
Video self monitoring (VSM) is a promising intervention
to teach new skills and improve the use of existing skills
in young children with autism. VSM includes observation
and imitation of oneself on videotape that records specific
desirable child behaviors. The purpose of this study was
to test the effectiveness of VSM for training young children
with autism to make spontaneous requests in school settings.
Four young children with autism participated. Experimental
control was demonstrated using a multiple baseline design
across subjects. Introduction of VSM led to a large increase
in requesting behavior in all four children. VSM was effective
in causing an increase in spontaneous requesting in young
children with autism.
Training Human Service Supervisors in Aspects of Positive
Behavior Support: Evaluation of a State-Wide, Performance-Based
Program
Dennis H. Reid, David A. Rotholz, Marsha B. Parsons,
LouAnn Morris, Bruce A. Braswell, Carolyn W. Green and Robert
M. Schell
If many people with disabilities are to experience the benefits
of positive behavior support, personnel in human service
settings must be well versed in the values and practices
of this approach. We describe a curriculum and methodology
used to train supervisors in aspects of positive behavior
support on a state-wide basis. The curriculum incorporated
values of person-centered planning, ecologically valid practices,
and principles of adult learning in conjunction with competency-
and performance-based training. Selected components of the
curriculum were initially evaluated experimentally with
12 supervisors. Observations during role-play activities
and on-the-job applications indicated that the supervisors
acquired the skills addressed in the training. Subsequently,
the entire curriculum, targeting 26 sets of skills related
to positive behavior support and involving 4 days of classroom
training and 1 day of on-the-job training, was implemented
with 386 supervisors across the state of South Carolina.
Eighty-five percent of the supervisors successfully completed
the training by demonstrating pre-established, mastery-level
performance for each set of skills. Acceptability measures
suggested that all trainees found the training useful, and
99.6% reported that they would recommend the training to
other personnel. Results of the project are discussed in
terms of the importance of training supervisors as one component
of a system-change process to enhance the practice of positive
behavior support on a large-scale basis.
Training reciprical socialinteractions between preschoolers
and a child with autism
Ann M. McGrath, Sebastian Bosch, Cristin L. Sullivan,
R. Wayne Fuqua
Previous research has suggested that children diagnosed
with autism have severe social deficits that require active
intervention. As such, the current study investigated the
effectiveness of peer and individual social skills training
of a preschooler diagnosed with autism at increasing the
rate of reciprocal social interactions. Results indicate
that frequency of appropriate initiations and responses
did increase, and that these changes were socially valid
as measured by expert ratings of change, and in comparison
to normal peer to peer social behavior. Results are discussed
in terms of their applicability to classrooms serving children
diagnosed with autism.
Forum
A Family-Centered Prevention Approach toPositive Behavior
Support in a Time of Crisis
Mendy Boettcher, Robert L. Koegel, Erin K. McNerney and
Lynn Kern Koegel
This article describes a family-wide prevention approach
to PBS interventions during a period of potential crisis
for a family with a child with autism. Specifically, the
mother in this family was to have major invasive surgery,
which would require extensive time for recovery. Past functional
assessment data and anecdotal evidence indicated that lack
of predictability, structure, supervision, and systematic
behavior supports all contributed to problem behavior in
this family. As a result, a multi-component intervention
plan was implemented to prevent such problems. The procedures
included the following elements: 1) priming intervention,
2) stakeholder meeting, 3) coordination of services and
schedules, 4) family-wide PBS plan, and 5) ongoing support.
The outcome of this intervention was that the child with
autism and her siblings showed decreases in their disruptive
behaviors (as opposed to the expected increases), and the
family experienced other family-wide collateral positive
effects from this proactive intervention approach to PBS.
