Independence is the ultimate goal for students with disabilities, including secondary students with autism. One avenue targeted for increasing independence and decreasing prompt-dependency is through self-monitoring. In this study, investigators sought to determine whether a difference exists in levels of task independence when three students with…

A randomized pretest-posttest control group design was utilized to measure the effects of a platform swing on independent work behaviors of 30 children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Participants engaged in two 5-min intervals of independent work. Between the intervals, participants in the treatment group received 5 min of vestibular…

The study examined teasing experiences among 74 individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD; M age = 115.7 months [9.6 years]; 83.8% male). Experiences were examined from parent, teacher, and child's own perspectives. Factors potentially associated with being teased were investigated. Comparison data were ascertained on typically…

Video self-modeling (VSM) has been used to teach social skills to children with autism older than 4 years of age. Attempts to use VSM with younger children with disabilities have produced less than favorable results; however, it is unclear whether VSM could be used to promote social initiations by typically developing children. Thirty minutes of…

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are principally characterized by impairments in social functioning. Experimental investigation often is conducted using methods measuring social attention, social cognition, and social communication. In this study, we instead measured interest in social information, making a distinction between basic-level…

Deferred imitation and early social communication skills were compared among speaking and nonspeaking children with autism and children developing typically. Overall, the children with autism showed a lower frequency on measures of deferred imitation and social communication compared with typically developing children. Deferred imitation was…

A comparative analysis between emergent procedural and conceptual print-related achievements was conducted for 32 children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) aged 4 to 8 years. To minimize the influence of linguistic competence on the assessment, the ASD print-related profile was compared with that of a language-matched sample of typically…

The relative effectiveness of two writing accommodations, word processing (WP) and speech-recognition (SR) technology, was examined relative to the writing skills of four boys with Asperger syndrome. The more effective accommodation was then combined with the Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) writing intervention and compared with SRSD…

General education placement of students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) has increased at a rate faster than all other disability categories combined. As more children are diagnosed with ASD and expected to meet the same academic standards as their neurotypical peers, there is a demand for effective educational strategies. Using a…

Children with Down syndrome (DS) and autism spectrum disorders (ASD) frequently have difficulty riding a two-wheel bicycle. The purpose of this study was to investigate an intervention using an adapted bicycle and individualized instruction to teach 71 youth to ride a standard two-wheel bicycle. Youth with DS (n = 30) and ASD (n = 41) between the…

Children's lie-telling behavior and its relation to false-belief understanding was examined in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD; n = 26) and a comparison group of typically developing children (n = 27). Participants were assessed using a temptation resistance paradigm, in which children were told not to peek at a forbidden toy while…

This study examined the effects of two social skills interventions, Sociodramatic Affective Relational Intervention (SDARI) and Skillstreaming, to compare their treatment mechanisms, social performance- and knowledge-training. A total of 13 youth with autism spectrum disorders were randomly assigned to 4 weeks of 1-day/week SDARI or…

Research examining neuropsychological profiles of girls with Asperger's disorder (AD) is sparse. In this study, we sought to characterize neurocognitive profiles of girls with AD compared to girls with learning disabilities (LD). Two groups of school-age girls referred for neuropsychological assessment participated in the study. A total of 23…

Temperament is important for considering differences among diagnostic groups and for understanding individual differences that predict problematic behavior. Temperament characteristics, such as negative affectivity, effortful control, and surgency (highly active and impulsive), are predictive of externalizing behavior in typically developing…

This study was conducted to compare the effectiveness of video prompting and picture prompting when used as antecedents for teaching daily living skills to two adolescents with autism. Participants were taught two different skills, and the effects of the instructional conditions were compared and evaluated using an adapted alternating-treatments…