Alliance for Scientific Autism Intervention: System Components and Outcome Data from High-Quality Service Delivery Organizations.

Promoting excellence in autism intervention is arguably more urgent than ever for the field of applied behavior analysis. To fulfill this objective, autism agencies must operate from validated program systems and do so with fidelity. Program components include, but are not limited to, staff training and evaluation of clinical skills, functional personnel roles designed to promote positive outcomes for those served, and professional staff-communication-skill repertoires. Data on client outcomes must be tied to implementation of core program variables; and, contingencies between the data on client outcomes and staff performance must exist. Furthermore, these contingencies must be yoked across members of the organization to ensure a sustainable and effective program model. Finally, data on consumer satisfaction must be collected and used to evaluate program components and agency practices. Members of the Alliance for Scientific Autism Intervention have implemented key program-wide systems based upon the work of McClannahan and Krantz Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 26, 589-596 (1993) for decades and across various agency cultures. Data collected by six independent educational agencies on client outcomes, program implementation, and consumer feedback for a 10-year time span demonstrate the sustainability of the model and support the importance of key organizational systems and the relationship between implementation of the model and high-quality outcomes for individuals with autism.

A Comparison of Video Modeling and Video Prompting by Adolescents with ASD.

Video-based instruction has been effective in teaching a range of skills, including functional living skills, to individuals with autism spectrum disorder. Few studies have compared the efficacy and efficiency across video modality-specifically, comparing video modeling to video prompting. Consequently, practitioners have little empirical guidance when selecting between procedural variations of video-based instruction. Using an adaptive alternating-treatments design with a baseline, we evaluated the comparative effectiveness of point-of-view video modeling and video prompting on the percentage of meal preparation tasks completed correctly and on-task behavior with 4 adolescents with autism spectrum disorder. We found video modeling to be effective and efficient in the acquisition of meal preparation skills across 3 of the 4 participants. Across participants, video prompting resulted in more errors than video modeling did. Skills generalized to an untrained location and were maintained at a 3-week follow-up. Stakeholders reported procedures, goals, and outcomes as socially valid.

Using video modeling to teach play comments to dyads with ASD.

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often display deficits in social and conversational skills. One method used to improve social deficits includes video modeling. When targeting conversational skills, few studies have included individuals with ASD as conversational partners. We evaluated the effects of video modeling on commenting (i.e., scripted statements) during leisure activities with dyads of children with ASD using a multiple-probe-across-activities design. Video modeling alone was found to be effective in increasing scripted statements for 3 of 6 participants. Video modeling, tangible reinforcement, and additional prompts were necessary for the remaining participants. Results maintained 1 and 3 weeks after mastery. Procedures, goals and outcomes were reported as socially valid. Limitations and areas of future research are discussed.

Acquisition and Generalization of Complex Empathetic Responses Among Children with Autism.

Empathy can be defined as a social interaction skill that consists of four components: (1) a statement voiced in the (2) appropriate intonation, accompanied by a (3) facial expression and (4) gesture that correspond to the affect of another individual. A multiple-baseline across response categories experimental design was used to evaluate the effectiveness of a prompt sequence (video modeling, in vivo modeling, manual and verbal prompting) and reinforcement to increase the frequency of complex empathetic responding by four children with autism. The number of complex empathetic responses increased systematically with the successive introduction of the treatment package. Additionally, generalization was demonstrated to untaught stimuli and a novel adult. Responding maintained over time to varying degrees for all participants. The data illustrate that children with autism can be taught using modeling, prompting, and reinforcement to discriminate between categories of affective stimuli and differentially respond with complex empathetic responses.

Teaching empathy skills to children with autism.

The purpose of this study was to teach empathetic responding to 4 children with autism. Instructors presented vignettes with dolls and puppets demonstrating various types of affect and used prompt delay, modeling, manual prompts, behavioral rehearsals, and reinforcement to teach participants to perform empathy responses. Increases in empathetic responding occurred systematically with the introduction of treatment across all participants and response categories. Furthermore, responding generalized from training to nontraining probe stimuli for all participants. Generalization occurred from dolls and puppets to actual people in a nontraining setting for 2 participants. Generalization was observed initially to the nontraining people and setting for the other participants, but responding subsequently decreased to baseline levels. Introduction of treatment in this setting produced rapid acquisition of target skills.

Establishing a generalized repertoire of helping behavior in children with autism.

The present study used a multiple baseline across participants design to assess whether 4 children with autism could learn a generalized repertoire of helping adults with different tasks through the use of a multicomponent teaching package. Different helping responses were taught in the presence of multiple exemplars of discriminative stimuli drawn from experimenter-defined categories of helping behavior (e.g., locating objects, putting away items, setting up an activity). During the training condition, video models, prompting, and reinforcement were used. The results showed that all 4 children learned to emit appropriate helping responses in the presence of discriminative stimuli from the helping categories used during training. Generalization of helping responses was observed in the presence of untrained discriminative stimuli during additional probe conditions. Additional pre- and postintervention generalization trials showed that the frequency of helping responses also increased in the presence of novel stimuli, in a novel setting, and with a novel instructor.

Generalized imitation of facial models by children with autism.

Imitation is an essential skill in the acquisition of language and communication skills. An initial phase in teaching young children with autism to engage in appropriate affective responding may be to teach the imitation of facial models. Using a multiple baseline across participants design, imitation training (consisting of modeling, prompting, differential reinforcement, and error correction) was introduced successively across 3 participants. Low and inconsistent rates of imitation of facial models were observed in baseline. All of the participants learned to imitate some of the facial models presented during imitation training, but only 2 of the 3 participants demonstrated generalized responding across stimuli.