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| Skills Training for Persons With Autism Spectrum Disorder |
| Monday, September 30, 2019 |
| 10:30 AM–12:20 PM |
| Stockholm Waterfront Congress Centre, Level 6, A3/A4 |
| Area: AUT |
| Instruction Level: Intermediate |
| Chair: Jennifer Hieminga (New Haven Learning Centre) |
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| Taking Care of Business! Prevocational and Vocational Training for Adolescents and Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorder |
| Domain: Service Delivery |
| JENNIFER HIEMINGA (New Haven Learning Centre), Sandra Hughes (New Haven Learning Centre) |
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| Abstract: As students with autism get older it is essential to shift the focus of programming from academics to more functional life and employability skills. Research has shown that people with autism can function independently at jobs that are suited to their strengths and abilities, as long as the specific tasks involved in the job are taught to mastery. This presentation will address 1) how to effectively assess prerequisite skills required for a job (e.g., job specific vs. job related skills), 2) how to prepare clients for a work placement (e.g., prevocational programming including; life, personal care, independent, and community skills), 3) how to engage the community for job opportunities (e.g., volunteer employment, job sampling, gainful employment, job carving), and 4) how to effectively integrate the client into the work setting (e.g., vocational programming, job shadowing). A review of the available literature in the area of employment, promoting independence, community integration and quality of life will be discussed. The talk will include presentation and discussion of data collected, video vignettes of program implementation, as well as other relevant visual supports. |
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CANCELED: Coding With Robots: A Conduit for Creating Soft-Skills in STEM Classrooms for Individuals With Autism |
| Domain: Theory |
| JENN GALLUP (Idaho State University), Cory Bennett (Idaho State University ) |
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| Abstract: Much attention has been placed on developing procedural skills in technical content areas such as science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM); as students with Autism are often underrepresented and underperform. Remedial teaching of skills often fails to help these students learn the soft-skills necessary to be successful in STEM. As such, for students with disabilities in STEM classrooms, learning what it means to think and behave like a mathematician or scientist means little despite the importance of these actions (NCTM, 2014). Technology, such as robotics, holds the potential to advance soft-skills in STEM classrooms. Recent uses of robotics in classrooms have supported content acquisition, engagement, and social outcomes for students with Autism. Essentially, the technologies become the conduit to supporting equitable access for which soft-skills are an inevitable byproduct. This presentation shares initial results from a project on integrating robotics in middle-level classrooms to support soft-skills for students with Autism. |
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| Effectiveness of Teaching Social Skills to Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorders Using Cool Versus Not Cool |
| Domain: Applied Research |
| SEZGIN VURAN (Anadolu University Egitim Fakultesi), Seray Olcay Gul (Hacettepe University) |
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| Abstract: One of the interventions, of which effectiveness in the teaching of social skills has been examined in autism literature in recent years, is teaching with cool versus not cool. In this study, it was aimed to examine the effectiveness of teaching with cool versus not cool in the teaching of social skill (“Coping with inappropriate requests from familiar peers or adults”) to participants with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). A multiple probe design across participants was used to investigate the effectiveness of teaching social skills with cool versus not cool. In the study, follow-up and generalization data were collected from participants with ASD. Furthermore, social validity data were collected from participants with ASD. The findings of the study showed that all participants acquired and preserved social skills. In the study, it was observed that the first and second participants generalized the skills they acquired to different environments. No generalization data were collected for the third participant. Subjective evaluation approach revealed that the participants’ opinions about the target skill, the teaching process and post-teaching performance were positive. It was observed that the findings of the study were in parallel with other research findings related to the subject. |
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CANCELED: Paying More Attention to What We Teach Our Children With Autism: The Case for Functional Skills and a Call for Goals and Outcomes With Social Validity |
| Domain: Service Delivery |
| PATRICK E. MCGREEVY (Patrick McGreevy and Associates) |
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| Abstract: For the past twenty years, behavior analytic intervention for children with autism has focused primarily on age-referenced skill deficits and problem behavior, with a goal of 'catching up' to typically-developing peers and being academically mainstreamed in school. Even with high-quality instruction, this goal has been attainable with only a relatively small proportion of children. The remaining children seldom experience stimulus generalization, behavioral cusps, generative learning, or derived relations, and have difficulty acquiring intraverbal responses, verbal conditional discriminations, and abstract concepts. The lack of these experiences and these skills becomes a barrier to advanced language and academic skills and relegates children to goals and outcomes largely lacking in social validity. This paper will describe skills referenced not to age, but to safe, effective, and high-quality participation in family, school, and community living. This paper will suggest that these functional skills become the centerpiece of focused intervention for children who experience the aforementioned barriers to academic skills. High-quality implementation of empirically-based instructional procedures, along with measurable outcomes, will insure effective intervention with social validity. |
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