The Effects of a Procedure to Generalize Asking "Where?" in Children with Autism
Class
Article
College
Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services
Faculty Mentor
Tom Higbee
Presentation Type
Oral Presentation
Abstract
Asking for answers to questions is a skill often taught to children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) by creating motivation such that the answer becomes especially relevant for the child (Lechago & Low, 2015). While this skill has been taught in specific situations, it does not always generalize, or transfer, to other appropriate situations . One way of creating motivation to teach asking is using interrupted-behavior chains, in which one object to complete a preferred task is missing (e.g., presenting milk, chocolate syrup, and a spoon to make chocolate milk, but no cup). We used multiple interrupted-behavior chains, with different objects missing from each chain, to teach asking where the missing items were located to three preschoolers with ASD. We then tested for generalization to novel objects in novel chains, as well as novel objects in novel play situations. All participants learned to ask "where" during training. However, we only observed partial generalization, which was context-specific for each participant. Direct training for the contexts in which asking "where" did not generalize lead to quick acquisition of the skill. Potential reasons for of context-specific responding and their relevance to clinical practice are discussed.
Location
Room 154
Start Date
4-12-2018 12:00 PM
End Date
4-12-2018 1:15 PM
The Effects of a Procedure to Generalize Asking "Where?" in Children with Autism
Room 154
Asking for answers to questions is a skill often taught to children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) by creating motivation such that the answer becomes especially relevant for the child (Lechago & Low, 2015). While this skill has been taught in specific situations, it does not always generalize, or transfer, to other appropriate situations . One way of creating motivation to teach asking is using interrupted-behavior chains, in which one object to complete a preferred task is missing (e.g., presenting milk, chocolate syrup, and a spoon to make chocolate milk, but no cup). We used multiple interrupted-behavior chains, with different objects missing from each chain, to teach asking where the missing items were located to three preschoolers with ASD. We then tested for generalization to novel objects in novel chains, as well as novel objects in novel play situations. All participants learned to ask "where" during training. However, we only observed partial generalization, which was context-specific for each participant. Direct training for the contexts in which asking "where" did not generalize lead to quick acquisition of the skill. Potential reasons for of context-specific responding and their relevance to clinical practice are discussed.