Caregiver-Implemented Digital Activity Schedules With Virtual Coaching.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many insurance companies approved the funding of telehealth-based behavior analytic services for both training and direct-care purposes. Activity schedules are a simple and effective intervention that can be used in the home environment to improve independence for children with ASD. Recent efforts have shifted the format of activity schedules from paper-based schedules to digital platforms that make the schedules more portable and provide easier access for both the caregiver and the Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA). Google Slides® is a readily available web-based platform that has been used to design and deliver behavior analytic instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic. A non-concurrent multiple baseline design across three child-caregiver dyads was used to evaluate the effectiveness of a caregiver-implemented digital activity schedule intervention on the independent play behaviors of children with ASD. The activity schedule was created and shared on the Google Slides® platform and caregivers received bug-in-ear (BIE) coaching from practitioners to implement the intervention. Regardless of some minor treatment implementation difficulties attributed to the remote service delivery and the digital format, the digital platform and coaching intervention were effective in increasing independent schedule following with minimal training on the part of the caregiver. We hope that the results of this study provide BCBAs with additional guidance on effective interventions and procedures for remote service delivery.

Creating Digital Activity Schedules to Promote Independence and Engagement.

Photographic activity schedules have been demonstrated to be effective in helping individuals with autism and other developmental disabilities learn how to complete both simple and complex sequences of activities without prompting from adults. Although the majority of research studies demonstrating the effectiveness of activity schedules have used schedule books composed of static printed pictures attached to physical pages, recently researchers have begun to demonstrate the effectiveness of technology-based activity schedules. In the current article, we provide a task analysis for creating both simple and complex digital activity schedules using Google Slides, a freely available, web-based technology that operates on a variety of digital platforms. We also provide suggestions for how behavior analysts can train parents to use this technology with their children using telehealth procedures.

Creating and Sharing Digital ABA Instructional Activities: A Practical Tutorial.

Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs) may encounter situations, such as the current COVID-19 pandemic, that preclude them from providing traditional in-person applied behavior-analytic services to clients. When conditions prevent BCBAs and behavior technicians from working directly with clients, digital instructional activities designed by BCBAs and delivered via a computer or tablet may be a viable substitute. Google applications, including Google Slides, Google Forms, and Google Classroom, can be particularly useful for creating and sharing digital instructional activities. In the current article, we provide task analyses for utilizing basic Google Slides functions, developing independent instructional activities, developing caregiver-supported instructional activities, and sharing activities with clients and caregivers. We also provide practical recommendations for implementing digital instructional activities with clients and caregivers.

Sibling-Implemented Script Fading to Promote Play-Based Statements of Children with Autism.

We trained three typically developing children to implement a script-fading procedure with their younger siblings with autism. The number of contextually appropriate statements made by the children with autism increased once treatment was initiated. Participants continued to emit higher levels of contextually appropriate statements after the scripts were completely faded and at a 4- or 11-week follow-up. The typically developing siblings were able to implement the script-fading procedure with high levels of fidelity.