GENERALIZED EFFECTS OF A PEER-DELIVERED FIRST AID PROGRAM FOR STUDENTS WITH MODERATE INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES

Peers with mild intellectual disabilities taught first aid skills to 4 students with moderate intellectual disabilities. A multiple probe design across participants was used to examine the effects of the peer teaching program during an acquisition and a partial sequential withdrawal phase. Generalization assessments were conducted in the participants' homes using novel, randomized simulated injuries. Results suggested that the peer teaching program resulted in acquisition of first aid skills, and the participants' skills generalized to the home, to novel simulated-injury locations, and to new trainers. Additionally, a more detailed analysis of the generalized responding suggested that when given a choice among first aid materials, participants treated burns using large adhesive bandages rather than the materials used in training. Participants also successfully treated injuries when novel instructional cues were used. The findings are discussed with respect to training issues, generalization and maintenance of the acquired skills, and the use of peer tutors with disabilities.     

Evaluation of a Sexual Abuse Prevention Program for Children with Intellectual Disabilities

The present study evaluated the effectiveness of a sexual abuse prevention program for children with intellectual disabilities. Three children with mild to moderate intellectual disabilities participated in the study. They were taught skills relative to identifying body parts and discrimination between appropriate and inappropriate situations, refusal skills (verbal refusing and leaving situations), and reporting skills through this program. A multiple probe across participants design was used to determine the effects of the program. Results demonstrated that the program was effective for teaching the skills to all three children with intellectual disabilities. In addition, these skills generalized in probes conducted in real‐life settings and maintained at 10‐week follow‐up probes. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Promoting social initiation in children with autism using video modeling

A large number of studies have shown that children and youths with autism can improve their social skills when provided with appropriate and well planned treatment strategies. Here, a video modeling procedure was implemented with seven developmentally delayed children, using a multiple‐treatment design. Each child watched a videotape showing a model and the experimenter engaged in a simple social interactive play in an adapted play setting. Afterwards each child's behavior was assessed in this setting, while the experimenter's behavior remained the same as that shown in the videotape. The video modeling training enhanced the social initiation skills of four children. It also facilitated appropriate play engagement, which generalized across settings, peers, and toys. These changes maintained after a 1‐ and 2‐month follow‐up period. The intervention was evaluated as a time‐efficient teaching tool as well as a means of enhancing appropriate play skills. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

TRAINED,GENERALIZED, AND COLLATERAL BEHAVIOR CHANGES OF PRESCHOOL CHILDREN RECEIVING GROSS-MOTOR SKILLS TRAINING

Three preschool children participated in a behavioral training program to improve their gross-motor skills. Ten target behaviors were measured in the training setting to assess direct effects of the program. Generalization probes for two gross-motor behaviors, one fine-motor skill, and two social behaviors were conducted in other settings. Results indicated that the training program improved the gross-motor skills trained and that improvements sometimes generalized to other settings. Contrary to suggestions in educational literature, the gross-motor training program did not produce changes in fine-motor skills or social behaviors. Implications for educators and for the development of the technology of generalization are outlined.     

Evaluation of a class wide teaching program for developing preschool life skills

Recently, nonmaternal center-based child care has been linked to problem behavior in young children (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 2003). In response, a comprehensive program to promote prosocial skills was evaluated in a classroom of 16 children between the ages of 3 and 5 years. Classroom observations were conducted during evocative situations to determine the likelihood of problem behavior (noncompliance, vocal or motor disruptions, aggression) and preschool life skills. A classwide teaching program was then implemented in a staggered manner across instruction following, functional communication, delay tolerance, and friendship skills. These four categories of preschool life skills, which included two to four related skills, were selected for classwide teaching because they were either identified by educators as important for early school success, have often been taught following functional assessments of more severe problem behavior, or both. Skills were taught on a classwide basis during typically scheduled activities (circle, free play, transitions, meals) via instructions, modeling, role play, and feedback. A multiple probe design showed that the program resulted in an 74% reduction in problem behavior and a more than four-fold increase in preschool life skills. Similar beneficial effects of the program were evident in questionnaire data gathered prior to and at the close of the evaluation. Finally, the teachers who implemented the program reported overall high levels of satisfaction with the classwide teaching program, the target skills, and the results. Implications for the design of early childhood experiences for preempting the development of serious problem behavior are discussed.     

TRAINING AND GENERALIZATION OF AFFECTIVE BEHAVIOR DISPLAYED BY YOUTH WITH AUTISM

The purpose of this study was to teach contextually appropriate affective behavior to 4 youths with autism. Treatment consisted of modeling, prompting, and reinforcement introduced in a multiple baseline design across response categories of affective behavior. During treatment, verbal praise and tokens were delivered contingent on appropriate affective responding during training trials. Modeling and verbal prompting were used as correction procedures. Each youth received treatment in either three or four response categories. Treatment systematically increased responding within the response categories for all 4 participants, with effects being specific to the affective response categories under treatment. Treatment effects occurred across untrained scenarios, therapists, time, and settings, suggesting that generalization had occurred.     

THE TRAINING AND GENERALIZATION OF SOCIAL INTERACTION SKILLS WITH AUTISTIC YOUTH

Two experiments were conducted to increase the initiations and duration of social interactions between autistic and nonhandicapped youths. Experiment 1 taught two autistic youths to initiate and elaborate social interactions with three age-appropriate and commonly used leisure objects; a radio, a video game, and gum. The students were first taught to use the objects and subsequently instructed in the related social skills. The youths generalized these social responses to other nonhandicapped peers in the same leisure setting. A second experiment trained a third autistic youth to emit similar social leisure skills. The use of the leisure objects and the related social skills were taught at the same time. The autistic youth learned these skills and generalized them to other handicapped peers in the same leisure setting. The importance of teaching generalized social responding in particular subenvironments was emphasized.     

TEACHING MENDING SKILLS TO MENTALLY RETARDED ADOLESCENTS

This experiment presents a model for analyzing community living skills and teaching them to mentally retarded adolescents. A task analysis of three mending skills was developed and validated, aided by consultation with persons having expertise in home economics and mental retardation. The task analysis was modified to compensate for the constraints imposed by the trainees' disabilities. Five moderately retarded youths received training on sewing hems, buttons, and seams. Sewing skills were acquired rapidly and maintained. The behavior generalized from trained to untrained tasks on their common components for all subjects. A multiple baseline across participants combined with a multiple baseline across responses demonstrated the combined effectiveness of an objectively validated, detailed task analysis; graduated sequence of prompts; and response consequences in training and maintaining community living skills with mentally retarded adolescents.     

LEISURE-DANCE INSTRUCTION FOR SEVERELY AND PROFOUNDLY RETARDED PERSONS: TEACHING AN INTERMEDIATE COMMUNITY-LIVING SKILL

We evaluated an approach for teaching an intermediate community living skill via a leisure-dance activity to institutionalized severely and profoundly retarded persons. The targeted skill was considered as intermediate in contrast to a community living skill per se because it was based on successful performances of higher functioning, noninstitutionalized retarded persons as opposed to nonhandicapped individuals. Definitions for appropriate dancing were established and then validated through observations of the performance of retarded persons living in the local community. The dance skills were then taught to four participants through serial training in leg movements, arm movements, and coordinated leg and arm movements, plus follow-up trainer supervision. Generalization was also programmed by way of multiple trainers and training settings. Results during structured assessments showed that all four residents acquired the dance skills and that both serial training and follow-up supervision were necessary for skill acquisition. Generalized increases in appropriate dancing at dances attended by the participants and retarded persons from the community were also demonstrated. However, in most cases some active supervision by caregivers was needed to enhance the generalized improvements. Results are discussed in terms of the applicability of this approach for validating goals when training other community-related skills to low-functioning populations.     

Teaching preschoolers with disabilities to seek adult assistance in response to simulated injuries

Four preschool-aged children with disabilities received training to seek adult assistance in response to simulated injuries. The children first watched while the instructor modeled and verbalized a first-aid procedure for obtaining adult assistance when injured, and then they practiced the skill with instructor praise or correction. Following this practice with feedback, the children demonstrated their skill without instructor feedback. Generalization probes were conducted before and after training on the school playground and at the children's homes. A multiple baseline design across children was used to evaluate the effects of the program. Rapid increases in the children 's performances of this skill was demonstrated. Further, the posttraining generalization data indicated that the children's performance had generalized across the two settings (school playground and children's homes). More importantly, this skill maintained at 100% at a 1-month follow-up generalization probe.     

EVALUATION OF A COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE PROGRAM AND IN SITU TRAINING BY PARENTS TO TEACH ABDUCTION‐PREVENTION SKILLS TO CHILDREN

Child abduction is a serious problem; therefore, it is essential that researchers evaluate the efficacy of commercially available abduction‐prevention programs. A multiple baseline design across participants (ages 6 to 8 years) was used to evaluate the effects of a training program, The Safe Side. Experimenters assessed safety responses in situ in two different situations (knock on the door and interaction by a stranger in public). Results revealed that participants did not demonstrate the safety skills following Safe Side training. All participants subsequently received in situ training (IST) implemented by the parent. Additional assessments and IST were conducted until each participant performed the skills to criterion. All participants demonstrated criterion performance following IST and maintained the skills over time.     

Life skills instruction for children with developmental disabilities

The Preschool Life Skills program is an intervention package designed to teach functional skills to prevent problem behavior in typically developing children. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the effects of the instructional package (renamed “Life Skills”) with children with developmental disabilities. The program involved teaching 12 life skills to nine participants across four instructional units. The units were instruction following, functional communication, tolerance of denial and delay, and friendship skills. Teachers provided instruction through a three-tiered instructional approach, starting with class-wide instruction followed by small group and one-to-one instruction as necessary. We extended previous research by using visual prompts during all three tiers and progressively increasing intertrial intervals during one-to-one instruction. Results indicated that the intervention led to skill acquisition with all nine participants. The skills maintained 4 weeks after instruction ended.     

TEACHING YOUTHS WITH AUTISM TO OFFER ASSISTANCE

Three adolescent boys with autism were taught to offer assistance to a person stating inability to complete a task. The study used a multiple baseline across the 3 youths and a multiple baseline across three tasks for each student. Both designs provided clear support for the ability of the youths to discriminate those settings in which offers of assistance were desired. All 3 participants showed relatively rapid acquisition of responding. Generalization was assessed to a new person in the training setting, to a familiar person in a new room at the center, to the mother in the youth's home, and to three novel tasks. Generalization to a new person in the familiar setting was most likely to occur, with very high levels of responding for all 3 youths. Generalization to the other conditions varied across youths, although all 3 boys showed some transfer of skills to all conditions.     

Functional analysis and treatment of problem behavior evoked by noise.

We conducted a four‐part investigation to develop methods for assessing and treating problem behavior evoked by noise. In Phase 1, 7 participants with developmental disabilities who were described as being hypersensitive to specific noises were exposed to a series of noises under controlled conditions. Results for 2 of the participants verified that noise was apparently an aversive event. In Phase 2, results of functional analyses indicated that these 2 participants' problem behaviors were maintained by escape from noise. In Phase 3, preference assessments were conducted to identify reinforcers that might be used during treatment. Finally, in Phase 4, the 2 participants' problem behaviors were successfully treated with extinction, stimulus fading, and a differential‐reinforcement‐of‐other‐behavior (DRO) contingency (only 1 participant required DRO). Treatment effects for both participants generalized to their home environments and were maintained during a follow‐up assessment. Procedures and results were discussed in terms of their relevance to the systematic assessment of noise as an establishing operation (EO) and, more generally, to the identification of idiosyncratic EO influences on behavior.     

TEACHING THE HANDICAPPED TO EAT IN PUBLIC PLACES: ACQUISITION,GENERALIZATION AND MAINTENANCE OF RESTAURANT SKILLS

This study examined classroom-based instruction in restauranting skills for handicapped persons. Three male students were taught each of four skill components in sequential order: locating, ordering, paying, and eating and exiting. Training was implemented in a multiple baseline design across subjects and consisted of modeling and role playing in conjunction with photo slide sequences and a simulated ordering counter. The use of a menu containing general item classes and a finger matching procedure for identifying errors in the delivery of change greatly reduced the reading and math skills necessary to enter and complete the program. Periodic probes were conducted in a McDonald's restaurant prior to, during, and up to one-year following the termination of training. In addition, two probes (overt and covert observation) were conducted in a Burger King restaurant to assess further generalization to a location different from the one depicted throughout training. Results showed that students' performance on restaurant probes improved as a result of training, generalized to novel settings, maintained over an extended period of time, and was comparable to that of a normative sample of nonretarded persons.     

A component analysis of behavioral skills training with volunteers teaching motor skills to individuals with developmental disabilities

This study included a component analysis of behavioral skills training (BST) for teaching volunteers how to use this training method to support individuals with developmental disabilities in a physical education program. In an alternating treatment design embedded within a multiple baseline design across five participants, the number of BST steps that volunteers completed correctly while teaching four motor skills was measured. In the initial training phase, each motor skill was taught to volunteers using a specific component of BST (i.e., instructions, modeling, rehearsal, or feedback). In subsequent training phases, BST components were combined to teach the volunteers the motor skills for which they did not reach a predetermined mastery criterion (a score of four correct responses across two consecutive trials). Maintenance was assessed. Results indicated that individual components of BST alone were sufficient for volunteers to meet the mastery criterion; however, the full BST framework was necessary for skill maintenance. Strengths, limitations, and recommendations for future research are discussed.     

Improving the interview skills of college students using behavioral skills training

Obtaining a job as a college graduate is partly dependent on interview performance. We used a multiple baseline design across skills to evaluate the effects of behavioral skills training with self‐evaluation for five college students. Training effects were evaluated using simulated interviews as baseline and posttraining assessments. All participants acquired targeted skills, but we observed some individual differences. Participants were satisfied with training outcomes and rated the procedures as acceptable. Furthermore, ratings from university staff who provide interview training indicated that training improved performance across several skills for the majority of participants.     

REPLACING MALADAPTIVE SPEECH WITH VERBAL LABELING RESPONSES: AN ANALYSIS OF GENERALIZED RESPONDING

We taught three mentally handicapped students to answer questions with verbal labels and evaluated the generalized effects of this training on their maladaptive speech (e.g., echolalia) and correct responding to untrained questions. The students received cues-pause-point training on an initial question set followed by generalization assessments on a different set in another setting. Probes were conducted on novel questions in three other settings to determine the strength and spread of the generalization effect. A multiple baseline across subjects design revealed that maladaptive speech was replaced with correct labels (answers) to questions in the training and all generalization settings. These results replicate and extend previous research that suggested that cues-pause-point procedures may be useful in replacing maladaptive speech patterns by teaching students to use their verbal labeling repertoires.     

Training self-advocacy skills to adults with mild handicaps.

We developed and empirically evaluated an instructional program to teach self-advocacy skills to eight young adults with mild handicaps. Participants were taught to discriminate whether or not possible violations of legal rights occurred in socially validated scenarios and, if so, to role-play how to redress rights violations. Experimental control was demonstrated with a multiple probe design across four general legal rights categories for the discrimination component of training, and a multiple probe across groups of subjects for the redressing legal rights component of training. Participants'' behavior was probed in simulations and deceptions of legal rights violations in natural settings. There were marked increases in dependent measures after instruction. Difficulties in assessing generalization and maintenance of low-rate behaviors and suggestions for future research are presented.