ASA's 37th National Conference on Autism Spectrum Disorders (July 13-15, 2006)

According to the National Research Council 2001 report, there is little evidence concerning the effectiveness of discipline-specific therapies, and there are no adequate comparisons of different comprehensive treatments. There is also great variability among professionals in the school setting regarding instructional approaches and program models. Given these differences, training and technical support for teachers, professionals and others who impact the educational experience for a student with ASD is critical. The need to tailor instruction to the individual learning styles and needs of each child requires that educators and therapists of children with ASD be skilled in a wide range of educational strategies.

This presentation focuses on supporting students with ASD in the educational setting using basic principles of applied behavior analysis such as, task analysis, chaining, shaping, prompting, and positive behavior supports. If those who interact with the student on a regular basis such as, educators, parents, therapists, paraprofessionals, and peers, are trained to reinforce skill acquisition, help the student generalize and encourage maintenance of skills, it increases the student's capacity to engage and benefit throughout school. Discrete trial teaching can be implemented to establish a foundation for learning compliance and other core skills such as, imitation, attention, task completion and impulse control. Because development is a dynamic process the instructional supports must also be responsive to the moment to moment changes experienced by the student. A range of instructional approaches such as, pivotal response teaching, naturalistic and incidental teaching, TEACCH and PECS should also be available in response to the student's strengths, challenges, the activity and setting.

The Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center (SARRC) school training model begins with a lecture and discussion of applied behavior analysis, discrete trial teaching and positive behavior support. This week long training includes hands-on activities, direct training with children already participating in home behavioral intervention programs, guided observation and video review. There are opportunities during the training to speak with parents who are currently running ABA based home programs. This opportunity reinforces the value of a positive home-school collaboration. All trainings are accompanied by a pre-training “homework” activity. After the training, participants are to video tape their work with a student to demonstrate the teaching techniques. Telephone meetings are scheduled to exchange feedback and respond to questions.

Within the school setting an educational community is established. The quality of a student's participation in that community is dependent on the appropriate educational supports for academics, functional skill development and social relationships. The depth of the school's ability to understand an individual with ASD and support them enhances a student's capacity to engage, participate, contribute and benefit throughout the school day and every day after.

Learning Objectives:

• Develop an understanding of the basic principles of a behavioral approach and discrete trial teaching. • Understand how to expand on learning opportunities in a one-to-one direct teaching format to practice in the natural setting. • Increased opportunities to provide appropriate supports for the integration and generalization of skills across all school settings. • Understand the effectiveness of a strong home and school partnership that supports student success.