FacebookTwitter
  • CAREERS
  • CONTACT US
Top Bar Menu
 
Hussman Institute for AutismHussman Institute for Autism
Hussman Institute for Autism
Advancing Discovery. Embracing Differences. Enabling Communication. Presuming Ability.
  • Home
  • Our Research
    • Program on Neuroscience
      • Autism and Brain Development Laboratory: Migration
      • Autism Neurocircuitry Laboratory: Neurochemistry
      • Human Stem Cell Neurophysiology Laboratory
      • Neural Circuit Development Laboratory: Adhesion
      • Neuronal Connectivity Laboratory: Cytoskeleton
      • Laboratory of Neural Circuits & Behavior: Electrophysiology
    • Program on Supports
      • Augmentative & Alternative Communication
      • Positive Behavior Supports
      • Communication and Inclusion
  • Our People
  • Programs & Events
  • TRANSLATE Blog
  • Resources
    • Recommended Reading
  • About the Institute
Menu back  

Child with autism learns new social skills via parent-mediated self-management training

February 4, 2016External Research, SupportsBy Sarah Hansen
Print Friendly, PDF & EmailPrint Friendly

A 9-year-old girl and her parents implemented self-management training so she (“Abby”) could learn to greet unfamiliar adults, not interrupt, and ask questions during conversation. One month after her parents faded out the self-management program, Abby maintained her new behaviors and generalized them to new settings. This style of intervention empowers families to improve their lives at low cost, in the home, and without extensive training.

PRT pocket guideThe self-management training process followed several of the tenets of Pivotal Response Treatment (PRT, learn more in this book), an intervention that occurs in natural settings and takes advantage of a child’s interests to teach skills such as communication.

The researchers interviewed Abby’s parents to choose the three target behaviors. They showed Abby videos featuring her older sister and conducted live role plays to teach Abby to discriminate between different versions of each behavior. It’s easy to create short videos at home using a tablet or smartphone, and ample evidence suggests that children with autism learn well from videos (TRANSLATE 1/28/16).

Abby and her family also learned how to implement a self-recording system, whereby Abby would record her own behaviors during the study’s observation periods. Each time Abby implemented one of her new skills, she used markers to color in a flower outline on the recording sheet. Initially, her parents rewarded her with her favorite chocolate after every third time she displayed the new behavior, and they praised her every time. As sessions progressed successfully, Abby received chocolate less frequently.

This reinforcement strategy was an aspect of this study that did not closely align with PRT. In PRT, reinforcers are always related to the task. For example, Abby tended to greet unfamiliar adults too affectionately (hugs and kisses). If she greeted a new person by saying “hello,” a relevant and natural reinforcer could be giving her mom a big hug as an alternative to meet the same need.pink flower

The trials took place either in Abby’s home or along the street between her home and school for the “greeting unfamiliar adults” behavior. Research has shown that interventions that take place in natural settings tend to generalize and maintain more successfully, which is why a natural setting is a key element of PRT.

After recording baseline levels of each behavior, the self-management strategy continued for several sessions, followed by fading (removing the recording sheet, removing the chocolate reinforcer, reducing frequency of praise) for several sessions. Follow-up sessions occurred a month later. Once during each phase of the study, researchers recorded Abby’s behavior at a local pool, her grandma’s house, and a supermarket to check her ability to generalize her newly-learned behaviors to different environments.

Overall, the results of the study indicated that the self-management strategy was very effective. For example, at baseline, Abby only asked for opinions 28 percent of the time. During intervention that increased to 78 percent, further increased to 92 percent during fading, and at follow-up was still 75 percent. Abby’s other target behaviors also increased through fading and only slightly regressed at follow-up. The exception was reducing interruptions, which further improved at follow-up.

blue flowerAsking questions doesn’t only help conversation flow more smoothly—it also facilitates language development in young children. Asking questions increases the amount of language they hear and makes language a social experience, which enhances learning. Promoting language acquisition via deliberate parent-child interactions is another piece of PRT.

The authors point to parental involvement as a key factor in the success of this strategy. Just as carrying out an intervention in a natural setting improves outcomes, so does carrying it out with the adults the child interacts with on a regular basis. The video modeling component was also different compared to previous, similar studies that used other methods of teaching the behaviors. Video modeling may have helped Abby learn to discriminate between different forms of a behavior more effectively.

For future research, the authors recommended increasing sample size. Also, they suggested broadening the research to other aspects of self-management such as goal-setting, self-evaluation, and self-reinforcement tested in addition to self-recording. A longer time gap between fading and follow-up would also provide a better indication as to whether the new behaviors will stick long-term.

Even with its limitations, this study is a useful step toward developing safe interventions that families can implement cheaply at home to teach social skills. Methods like this and PRT maintain the dignity of the individual and empower families and individuals on the spectrum to improve their lifelong outcomes by teaching skills such as language and social interaction.

About the author

Sarah Hansen

Sarah Hansen is the Communications Associate at the Hussman Institute for Autism. She works to share the Institute's research and programs with families, educators, and anyone else interested in learning more about how to support individuals with autism. She holds a Master of Science in Biological Sciences from University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) and Master of Arts in Teaching and Bachelor of Science degrees from Cornell University. Before joining the Hussman Institute, she taught middle and upper school science at the Holton-Arms School in Bethesda, MD.

Related posts
Autism Kit for First Responders
April 21, 2022
Supporting Students with Special Needs: Online Training Modules for School-Based Professionals who Support Students with Disabilities
April 16, 2019
Young adults with autism increase empathic communication with training
March 24, 2016
Seeing things differently: Altered GABA signaling at play in autistic visual perception
March 10, 2016
Evidence sensory differences are related to communication challenges in children with autism
March 3, 2016
Traditional and supported employment present diverse challenges to adults with autism
February 25, 2016
  • “The soul must be loved as it is.”

    Jamie Burke
  • “Autism awareness can’t stop with a list of what makes people with autism different from us. Because what is essential is the constant awareness of what makes us the same.”

    John P. Hussman, Ph.D., Director
  • “And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”

    The Little Prince

    Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
  • “We agree with the view that presuming competence is the least dangerous assumption.”

    John P. Hussman, Ph.D., Director
  • “Autism is not disability.”

    Jamie Burke
  • “We are just like you, with the same desires, and just need help to be typical members of society.”

    Sue Rubin
  • “In the end, the best argument for inclusion is the simplest. It’s the one we know by heart – that all of us are created equal.”

    John P. Hussman, Ph.D., Director
Subscribe & Stay Informed
Recent Activity:
  • Autism Kit for First Responders
    April 21, 2022
  • Supporting Students with Special Needs: Online Training Modules for School-Based Professionals who Support Students with Disabilities
    April 16, 2019
  • Parental optimism, school inclusion may affect long-term progress of individuals with autism
    April 12, 2016
  • Young adults with autism increase empathic communication with training
    March 24, 2016
Contact

  • follow us:

Administration & Program on Autism Supports
Hussman Institute for Autism
6021 University Blvd, Ste 490
Ellicott City, MD 21043
Phone 443-860-2580 | Email info@hussmanautism.org

Research Laboratories
Hussman Institute for Autism
1011 Sunnybrook Road, Ninth Floor
Miami, FL 33136
(3 blocks from the Hussman Institute for Human Genomics)
Phone 443-860-2580 | Email info@hussmanautism.org

site development by

© 2013 - 2017 Hussman Institute for Autism