Conducting behavioral research with children attending nonbehavioral intervention programs for autism: The case of Lebanon.
Author: Daou, N.
Source:
Behavior Analysis in Practice, 7(2), pp.78-90.
It has been almost 50 years since the inception of applied behavior analysis (ABA). As advocates for ABA would argue, people living with autism deserve to receive behavioral intervention for a multitude of reasons, an important one pertaining to learning to perform tasks independently. The present study adds to literature on activity schedules in that it abandoned an original, literature-recommended goal to address prerequisite skills normally taught to mastery prior to delving into activity schedules, as they proved to be too numerous and difficult to manage in the restricted time of the study and its sessions. Instead, the present study taught all skills necessary for independent engagement in leisure activities incidentally, during the course of baseline and treatment phases, as applicable. Responses that were targeted during sessions throughout the study included learning to respond to individualized motivational systems, increasing attending responses, reducing or eliminating stereotypic and problem behavior (e.g., echolalia, excessively slow responding on basic tasks, vocalizing), and improving upon or introducing prerequisite skills necessary for independent engagement in leisure activities.