Mental health and developmental challenges that emerge in early childhood can be associated with difficulty in social interactions and behavioural regulation. With educational policies increasingly promoting inclusion in early learning settings, educators are being called upon to support children's social-emotional competence through…

This multiple probe across participants design evaluated the effectiveness of teaching early number sense skills (ENS) to young children (age 4) with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) using Number Talks with supports. Following participation in Number Talks with supports, young children with ASD learned the ENS skills of subitizing, one-to-one…

While mathematics education is key to the post-school outcomes of students with disabilities, it has received less attention in research and practice compared with other aspects of educating this population. Skill maintenance is particularly crucial in mathematics because students build upon prior knowledge across grade levels. They also need to…

Commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) III, the purpose of this commentary is to describe school-based and school-relevant interventions and instructional approaches for children and youth with autism that have been developed and employed during that time period. The commentary begins with a brief…

With the increasing attention and surge of empirical research in providing academic instruction for students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) comes the need to provide teachers with research-supported strategies. Using one evidence-based strategy for teaching mathematics to students with high incidence disabilities, and another for teaching…

This study investigated the effects of a Direct Instruction (DI) reading comprehension program on the reading comprehension skills of students with autism spectrum disorder or developmental delay. Although the effectiveness of DI programs has been well documented in disability and instructional literature, effectiveness of DI for individuals with…

This study examined the effectiveness, generalization, and maintenance of a multi-element intervention consisting of brief direct instruction social skill lessons, a prompting procedure, and a fading procedure to promote social engagement in an integrated lunchroom and playground setting for three elementary age students with developmental…

Educators are continually seeking effective, research-based strategies to address the unique needs of their students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). It is well documented that students with ASD benefit from direct instruction and visual supports when learning new skills. This article provides step-by-step procedures for using a tiered…

This study used a single-subject multiple probe design to investigate the use of Direct Instruction (DI) to teach students with autism to tell time to the five-minute increment. Exercises from "Connecting Math Concepts" were used as the DI component during intervention. All students increased their telling-time skills to the five-minute…

Social reciprocity deficits are a core feature of the autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and a major source of impairment regardless of cognitive or language ability (Carter, Davis, Klin, & Volkmar, 2005). Since these impairments do not naturally remit with age, it is critical to intervene as early as possible to offset potential risk factors…

The purpose of this article is to provide a comprehensive review of the published research-based strategies used in content area instruction for students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Twenty-eight (N = 28) studies published from 2000-2012 that met the criteria for inclusion were located, reviewed, and synthesized. Findings revealed the…