The reinforcing properties of language were examined with four autistic and five mentally retarded children matched for mean nonverbal mental age (32-37 months). Ss were shaped to pull a lever which produced 2 seconds of a tape recorded story. The story was read with the following conditions: little pitch variance from word to word, but with…

This paper explains the brief stimulus preference procedure (SPA), which is designed to identify efficiently the effective reinforcers for children with autism and other developmental disabilities. SPA involves presenting the child with four items he/she generally responds well to plus one new item. After allowing the child to pick his preferred…

The paper describes services in the Memphis (Tennessee) City Schools serving autistic and emotionally disturbed students. Two separate programs are identified and described: a day program for emotionally disturbed students 6-14 years old, and a residential program for autistic students 4-21 years old. The day program is designed to help students…

This paper discusses the outcomes of a study that investigated whether applying the discrete-trial approach is effective in teaching children with autism to learn functional and pre-academic skills. Participants were four young children with autism (ages 3-4) attending a preschool special education program of an urban public school. Discrete-trial…

Happy Sticks, the name given to the reinforcement system used in a classroom of pre-school autisitc children, is presented. Happy Sticks are decorated tongue depressors serving as token rewards; Happy Bags, or pouches are worn by the children around their necks to hold the earned Happy Sticks. Reinforcement can be immediate and occur throughout…

The paper presents an overview of the methods used in a class for autistic children (ages 4-11 years) and reports on a longitudinal case study of an autistic 11 year-old girl. Autistic characteristics, such as poor eye contact and insensitivity to pain, are outlined. The author explains that the program emphasized teaching basic communication…