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BACKGROUND Behavioural skills training (BST) has demonstrated effectiveness in training teachers in evidence-based interventions to increase communication for children with limited repertoires. However, research has yet to extend to youth with developmental disabilities who are learning to communicate using speech-generating devices. The emergent use of telehealth technology in applied behaviour analysis has been associated with greater access to therapeutic services. Although the use of telehealth has been extended as an avenue for parents to access behavioural intervention services for their child, fewer studies have evaluated the use of telehealth for teacher behavioural consultation or with adolescents and young adults with complex communication needs. METHOD In the present study, four teaching staff were trained via telehealth to implement communication facilitation strategies with augmentative and alterative communication users in a high school functional skills classroom. During the coaching sessions, the staff were provided BST on the basic behaviour analytic teaching strategies (e.g. assessing preference, environmental arrangement, and reinforcement strategies). Independent adapted ABAB designs were used to evaluate the effectiveness of modified BST delivered via telehealth on increased teaching staff-implemented communication opportunities within the functional skills classroom and the effectiveness of staff-implemented communication intervention on increased speech-generating device mands for four adolescents/young adults with developmental disabilities. RESULTS The results indicated that the improved staff fidelity of the communication interventions was associated with the increased level of independent student mands for each dyad. Lastly, social validity data suggest that the procedures were acceptable and feasible. These data indicate that the use of telehealth may be a viable model for specialised classroom consultation. CONCLUSION The use of a telehealth delivery model to train classroom staff may be a viable option when specialised support is necessary, but access is limited.

Instructive feedback (IF) is a strategy for increasing the efficiency of targeted instruction. Previous research has demonstrated the success of IF with learners with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), but limited research exists regarding the efficacy of the intervention with individuals with ASD who engage in vocal stereotypy. The effects of 2 forms of IF were examined with a learner with ASD who engaged in vocal stereotypy. In Study 1, no intervention for vocal stereotypy was implemented. In Study 2, response interruption and redirection (RIRD) was implemented contingent on vocal stereotypy. IF before the praise statement resulted in faster acquisition of secondary targets, but only when RIRD was implemented. These results extend the IF literature by providing evidence that individuals who engage in vocal stereotypy may require concurrent intervention to increase the opportunity for indiscriminable contingencies to be established and the acquisition of secondary targets via IF.

An increasing number of investigations have described various interventions to promote the emergence of derived responding within the relation of sameness for individuals with autism and other intellectual and developmental disabilities. Systematic searches identified 53 studies published since 2013 that met inclusion criteria. These studies were analyzed according to their participants, assessment methods, experimental design, content taught, setting, teaching procedures, emergent responses, outcomes, and reliability measures. The quality of the studies was measured using the single-case analysis and research framework (SCARF). While the results of this review indicate that many individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities can demonstrate the emergence of untrained relations across a wide range of instructional content and teaching methodologies, the quality and rigor of the literature limits the conclusions that can be made, leading to recommendations for future research.

The current study combined equivalence-based instruction and instructive feedback (IF) with two groups of children with autism spectrum disorder. For group 1, three sets of three targets were tested, and for group 2, two sets of three targets were tested. For each target stimulus, the following verbal operants were evaluated: (1) tact name, (2) tact feature, (3) name-feature intraverbal, and (4) feature-name intraverbal. Following individual across set probes (ASP) sessions evaluating all targets in all sets, group treatment was conducted with set 1. During group treatment, tact training was provided to each participant relating to his/her assigned target and IF relating to a feature of the target was provided. Once daily probe data indicated all targets were mastered by the assigned participant, ASP were repeated. This process was repeated across all evaluated sets in the form of a multiple probe design. Results indicated robust responding for three participants, with evidence of responding to observational targets, secondary targets (related to the IF), and emergence of intraverbal responses. A fourth participant showed moderate levels of correct responding, particularly with observational targets. Overall, results suggest that group IF and stimulus equivalence are viable interventions for some children with ASD.

Instructive feedback (IF) is an effective strategy for increasing the efficiency of targeted instruction. Although effective, the mechanisms underlying the acquisition of secondary targets via IF are unknown. In the current investigation, two forms of IF were compared to determine if indiscriminable contingencies were responsible, in part, for the acquisition of secondary targets during IF procedures. During teaching, IF stimuli were presented either before or after the praise statement for mastered tacts to two learners with autism spectrum disorders. Across both participants, IF before the praise statement resulted in faster acquisition of secondary targets that were maintained for 16–18 weeks post intervention. These results extend the IF literature by providing evidence that acquisition of secondary targets via IF may at least partially attributed to the occurrence of indiscriminable contingencies.

Vocal stereotypy is a commonly occurring challenging behavior in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) that is frequently maintained by automatic reinforcement and often interferes with skill acquisition. Matched stimulation (MS), and response interruption and redirection (RIRD) are two interventions that have been demonstrated to be effective in reducing the occurrence of vocal stereotypy with participants with ASD. The current study sought to determine if the combination of MS (noncontingent music) and RIRD was more effective at reducing vocal stereotypy than RIRD alone and if the parents of children with ASD found the combination of MS and RIRD more socially valid than RIRD alone. The results suggested that the combined intervention resulted in greater suppression of vocal stereotypy and increased occurrences of on-task behavior in both participants. Additionally, RIRD required fewer implementations and had a shorter duration when combined with MS. Results suggest that the combination of MS and RIRD may be an effective intervention outside of highly controlled settings.

Several early social communication skills are theorized to be important for later more complex social behaviors. These skills, such as joint attention, social referencing, and social engagement, emerge very early in young children who are typically developing. For children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and other developmental delays, these skills may not emerge naturally and may need specialized interventions. Luckily, early social communication skills are a growing area of research and there is a developing library of potentially effective practices for intervention on these skills. Across these studies, however, there is considerable variability in the terminology, topographies, and categorizations of these skills that can lead to under or over identification of evidence-based practices to address these skills. This systematic review of the literature presents 29 single-case and group design studies that target an early social communication skill and highlight the range of definitions of these pivotal skills. Results suggest that there are overlapping definitions of these early social communication skills that may leave specific skills unaddressed. Ideas for more cohesive definitions and assessment are offered as well as opportunities for future research.

Lorah, E. R. (2016). Evaluating the iPad mini® as a speech-generating device in the acquisition of a discriminative mand repertoire for young children with autism. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, doi: 1088357616673624.Source of funding and disclosure of interest: The authors did not report any financial support for this study. The authors did not report any conflicts of interest.

Instructive feedback (IF) is a procedure in which secondary targets are presented to a learner during instruction for primary skills. Previous research has demonstrated that students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may acquire at least a portion of skills presented via IF. Although it is a promising instructional methodology for learners with ASD, few studies focus on learners who use an augmentative device for communication purposes. The purpose of the current investigation was to extend the IF literature related to students with ASD who use communication devices. Across all target skills, IF resulted in the acquisition of at least a portion of secondary targets without explicit teaching.

Learners with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) often struggle with communicating preferences integral to the transition planning process. Systematic preference assessments (SPAs) are objective methods for observing and documenting learner responses to a variety of environmental stimuli. An extensive literature-base exists supporting the inclusion of SPAs when identifying potentially reinforcing stimuli for educational programming. Although these methodologies are effective, in the transition planning process they may be useful beyond identifying potentially reinforcing stimuli. The following commentary provides an overview of the transition planning process, as well as how preference assessment may enhance that process.

Instructive feedback (IF) is a procedure in which extra information is presented to a participant during the consequence portion of instruction for other skills. Previous research has demonstrated that participants with intellectual disabilities may acquire a portion of non-targeted skills (secondary targets) without explicit instruction when extra information is presented. Previous research has demonstrated that IF has resulted in more efficient instruction for participants with disabilities as a whole. However, few studies have focused on participants with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Additionally, the measures of secondary target acquisition in past research have focused solely on discrete responses (e.g., one-word utterances). The current investigation extended the IF literature related to participants with ASD by including longer verbal responses as secondary targets and assessing maintenance for both primary and secondary targets. Across three participants, IF resulted in the acquisition of at least a portion of secondary targets without explicit teaching. For two participants, additional instruction was required before IF resulted in acquisition of secondary targets. Across all three participants, gains observed for both primary and secondary targets in intervention were maintained.

Rule-governed behavior (RGB) results from contact with a verbal description of a contingency as opposed to prior contact with that contingency. Despite its importance, research on the establishment of RGB with learners who do not display the skill is limited. Tarbox, Zuckerman, Bishop, Olive, and O’Hora (The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, 27, 125-139, 2011) used multiple-exemplar training (MET) to teach children with autism spectrum disorder to follow rules specifying an antecedent and a behavior. We conducted a systematic replication of the Tarbox et al. study with three boys diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and extended those methods to rules specifying a behavior and either a preferred or nonpreferred consequence (e.g., “If you clap, then you get candy”). In baseline, participants typically followed a given instruction regardless of whether the consequence was preferred or nonpreferred. Following MET, all participants responded accurately to novel rules, indicating that MET may be an effective method to establish basic RGB repertoires.