E. Amanda Boutot, Ph.D., BCBA, Texas State University, Assistant Professor; Private Consultant
This poster session will present results from a single-subject study comparing the effectiveness of traditional flashcard instruction and a computer-based system for increasing the receptive vocabulary of four children with autism. Subjects are ages 3-7 with a diagnosis of autism; one student has Fragile X. All subjects were taught using a discrete trial training in a public school. Selection of vocabulary words unknown to the students resulted in a total of eight words each; these were randomly assigned to either the flashcard or the computer-based treatment so that four words were taught in each. An alternating treatments design was used to obtain 20 data points per child. Subjects were randomly assigned to each treatment on day one, and treatments were counter-balanced daily thereafter. A discrimination probe was done each day following intervention and frequency data as well as level of prompt data were taken on each vocabulary word. A full description of both treatments, graphed data depicting outcomes of the study, and anecdotal generalization information will be provided at this poster presentation.