Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a lifelong disability for which prevalence rates continue to increase. Persons with ASD vary widely in both severity of disability and services required. Therefore it is important to identify trends in research and evaluate progress in the field. The current study uses a journal analysis to evaluate research over…

The evidence-based practice movement in special education has emphasized the use of the scientific process to assist with the identification of effective academic and behavioral strategies. An important but often overlooked aspect of this system is the peer review process in which manuscripts submitted for publication are reviewed by experts to…

Thirty-one research articles were examined to investigate the empirical evidence supporting the use of assistive technology as a type of support for people with intellectual disability in relation to the seven domains of support provision identified in the Supports Intensity Scale. Results indicated that assistive technology devices can be a…

Promoting self-determination has become an important aspect of the educational programs of students with disabilities. There is now a sufficient literature base to support some syntheses that enable researchers to judge their progress in this area to date and to provide direction for future research and practice. For this study, we conducted a…

Throughout the history of education, debate has existed between the relative merits of instructed versus constructed knowledge. In this article, we review our program of research in science education for students with disabilities in order to reveal some insights into this debate. We review research in science curriculum, mnemonic strategies,…

Social competency deficits are a core feature of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). During the past several decades, a number of social skill interventions for students with ASD have emerged. However, over the past five years, three converging issues have brought increased attention to the need for social competence programming: (1) increased ASD…

Autism experts and individuals with high-functioning autism contend that many individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) respond most favorably to information that is presented visually. Accordingly, strategies capitalizing on this visual preference have received significant recent attention in both ASD research and practitioner-related…

This article focuses on the transition experiences of foster youth with disabilities, a group of students with disabilities who have often been neglected by researchers and policy makers. We begin by discussing transition outcomes for youth with disabilities, highlighting the progress that has been achieved in recent years, and noting that much of…

This article reviews an emergent area of traumatic brain injury (TBI) literature; namely, developmental outcomes of TBI sustained during the early childhood and preschool period. The developmental time period from birth through age 5 years is one of significant growth and maturity, particularly in the neurological development of the child. An…

This synthesis paper summarizes research literature addressing challenging behaviours in children and youth with autism spectrum disorders and developmental disabilities in school settings. We conducted a comprehensive literature review to identify relevant peer-reviewed articles published between the years 2000 and 2011. The methodological…

Methods to enhance compliance is a topic of great interest to practitioners serving children and adults both with and without disabilities. High-probability (high-p) request sequences are one way practitioners can prevent episodes of noncompliant behavior. Based on the theory of behavioral momentum, high-p request sequences consist of delivering a…

Two issues of each volume of the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis were reviewed to identify research reports focusing on individuals with autism. The identified articles were analyzed to describe the ages of individuals with autism, the settings in which the research occurred, the nature of the behaviors targeted for intervention, and the…

Expository text is often neglected in the elementary school curriculum even though most of the reading that children do in school is of that type. Most of the research that demonstrates the importance of text structure in reading comprehension and the benefits that accrue from instruction in text structure deals with children at or above the 4th…

This article discusses interactive information book read-aloud, an instructional approach that supports both non-readers and non-fluent readers prior to the introduction of instruction in cognitive and comprehension strategies. Key components of the approach are presented, including interaction, information books, teacher awareness of text…

This article describes strategic content learning (SCL), a strategies-training model that integrates cognitive, behavioral, sociocultural, and constructivist learning theories. The theoretical rationale for SCL is provided, followed by a review of research documenting SCL efficacy for postsecondary students with learning disabilities. Preliminary…