The purpose of the investigation was to record the behavior of 12 autistic and severely disturbed children (5 to 14 years old) after exposure to a live model exhibiting either aggressive or affectual responses toward a surrogate person. During 3-minute observation periods, Ss' responses toward a Bobo doll were scored as aggressive or affective.…

This paper addresses optimal strategies in teaching essential life and communication skills to children with Down syndrome, autism and other developmental delays. Evidence from the literature concerning the relative efficacy of hand-over-hand (self-modeling) in contrast to passive observational teaching techniques (e.g., video modeling) shows the…

The study compared the effectiveness of a peer model and an adult model in teaching an expressive language task to four autistic boys (ages 7-10). Results indicated that all children learned from both models and few consistent differences occurred across the two conditions. Generalization and maintenance was also consistently high in both…

Four preschool children with autism played "Follow-the-Leader," in which a normal peer demonstrated and physically prompted a variety of actions and object manipulations that defined the activity. Following training, all four subjects generalized their imitative skill to a new setting involving new actions and object manipulations. (Author/JDD)

Three autistic boys, aged 6-7, observed videotaped conversations consisting of 2 people discussing toys. Subsequent assessment of the boys using untrained topics of conversation, new stimuli, new persons, and other settings indicated that the children learned through video modeling, generalized their conversational skills, and maintained…

The purpose of this study was to modify the affective behavior of three preschoolers with autism in home settings and in the context of play activities, and to compare the effects of video modeling to the effects of "in-vivo" modeling in teaching these children contextually appropriate affective responses. A multiple-baseline design across…

This paper compares the incidence of the diagnosis of Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD) among White and Asian children with reference to data obtained from thirteen local education authorities (LEAs) in England. It begins by outlining some of the theoretical debates associated with the definition, diagnosis and prevalence of ASD. The empirical…

From earliest infancy, a typically developing child imitates or mirrors the facial expressions, postures and gestures, and emotional behavior of others. Where does this capacity come from, and what function does it serve? What happens when imitation is impaired? Synthesizing cutting-edge research emerging from a range of disciplines, this…

A structured discourse strategy, employing child echoic imitations and adult expansion, was used to teach five autistic preschool children two-term semantic relations. The strategy increased the children's initial spontaneous imitations of two-term relations. Following the imitation increase, spontaneous productions of the two-term relations…

Four children (ages 4-6) with autism were taught to use gestures in combination with oral communication. Intervention was introduced successively across three response categories that contained gestures representative of attention-directing/getting, affective, and descriptive behavior. Results indicated that all participants acquired this skill…

A study compared the effectiveness of video modeling with in vivo modeling for teaching developmental skills to five children (ages 7-11) with autism. Targeted skills included social skills and daily living skills. Video modeling led to faster acquisition of tasks than in vivo modeling and was effective in promoting generalization. (Author/CR)

Two children with autism, aged 10, were exposed to peer-implemented pivotal response training (PRT). Typical peers implemented PRT strategies by modeling, role playing, and didactic instruction. Both children with autism maintained prolonged interactions with the peer, initiated play and conversations, and increased engagement in language and…

Thirteen subjects with autism and 13 with Down's syndrome (ages 5-27) were compared on their ability to respond appropriately to conversational "social scripts" concerning another person's distress. Compared to autistic subjects, subjects with Down's syndrome gave a greater percentage of relevant suggestions and sympathetic comments, and…

This study investigated the ability of high-functioning verbal individuals with autism or Down syndrome (DS) to respond appropriately to conversational "social scripts" involving reactions to another person's distress. Subjects were 13 persons with autism and 13 with DS, aged 5-27, matched on verbal mental age. During a "tea…

The study assessed the efficacy of time delay and peer modeling procedures in increasing spontaneous verbalizations of affection in four autistic children (ages 6-8). Results indicated that the time delay was a quick and effective procedure for all subjects. Peer modeling was unsuccessful in teaching the target behavior. (Author)