Special Education Chapter 5 Teaching Students With Autism Using The Principles Applied Behavior Analysis

Chapter 5: Teaching Students with Autism using the Principles of Applied Behavior Analysis

Chapter Summary

Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is the utilization of the basic principles of learning and

motivation to address socially important problems. The principles of ABA, conclude that all behavior is

learned, behavior serves a purpose, and behavior is contextual. Research exists to support the use of ABA

for children with autism and shows that early, intensive ABA offers substantial gains for these children.

Discrimination training is a component within an ABA program addresses complex behaviors

taught through strategies including shaping, chaining, and modeling. Shaping is the process of reinforcing

successive approximations of the desired behavior (Skinner, 1953). Chaining is another instructional

strategy that is used to teach a series of behaviors in the presence of a specific stimulus. Modeling as an

instructional strategy is the process of demonstrating a behavior for a student to imitate.

Students acquire simple behaviors from. Teachers can then their procedures to reflect a more

flexible instructional sequence through the presentation of varied discriminative stimuli and the use of

naturalistic behavioral teaching procedures including; natural environment training (NET), incidental

teaching, and pivotal response teaching (PRT). Verbal behavior is the term B. F. Skinner (1957) coined

Incidental and milieu teaching strategies are further components of ABA programming and used

within the context of the natural environment during daily routines. Some environmental arrangement

strategies including sabotage, blocking, missing pieces, and small portions may be used to elicit language

or to increase the likelihood of manding (Hemmeter & Kaiser, 1994).

Students with ASD experience an increased prevalence of challenging behaviors. Before any

intervention plan is developed for challenging behaviors, a functional behavioral assessment should be

completed to determine the antecedents and consequences evoking and/or reinforcing the challenging

behavior. Intervention plans are then developed based on the function of the behavior. All parties

involved with the child’s instruction must be a part of this process.

Chapter Objectives

1. Describe and use the discrete trial training techniques.

2. Describe and use errorless teaching strategies.

4. Describe generalization and maintenance strategies.

6. Describe and use basic data collection.

Chapter Focus Questions

1. Describe and give an example of discrete trial training for a student with autism.

2. Describe and give an example of errorless teaching for a student with autism.

4. Describe and give an example of both generalization and maintenance for a student with autism.

5. Describe and provide an example of incidental teaching for a student with autism.

Chapter Key Terms

Applied behavior analysis (ABA)

Maintenance

Chaining

Mand

Discrete trial training (DTT)

Milieu teaching

Discriminative stimulus

Modeling

Error correction

Principles of Behavior

Generalization

Shaping

Incidental teaching

Tact

Instructional control

Verbal Behavior

Intraverbal

Instructional Strategies/Activities

Strategy

Rationale

Description/Steps

Modifications/

Alternative Options

“Why do people play

golf?” Activity

Students may better

process information

through relating to a

real life activity

familiar to most

people`

1. Discuss with students the

functions of behavior (see

Figure 5.1) and Handout

5.1

2. Ask students to reflect on

each function presented

in Handout 5.1 in terms

of this question, “Why do

people play golf?”

3. Share ideas and discuss

what real life classroom

examples might be for

each

Allow students to

work individually

Divide the class into

groups, each taking

only one function

and then sharing

their discussion with

the class

Practice with DTT,

Errorless Teaching,

and Error Correction

understanding of the

Hands-on practice

may improve student

1. Have students work in

pairs to practice each of

Have students

evaluate their own

concepts

monitor and provide

corrective feedback

where appropriate

a. Discrete Trial

Training

b. Most-to-Least

Prompting

c. Least-to-Most

Prompting

d. Time Delay

e. Error Correction

Procedure

evaluation, using the

checklist in Handout

6.2 (adapted from the

information found in

Box 6.1 and Figure

6.3)

Class Discussion:

Chaining

Discussion may allow

students to further

process and

understand new

material

1. Following the lecture on

chaining, encourage

students to brainstorm

types of skills, student

characteristics, or other

variables that would lend

themselves more to each

a. Forward Chaining

b. Backward Chaining

c. Total Task

Presentation

2. Have students brainstorm

how other skills might

look when taught with

each of the three chaining

procedures

Divide the class into

small groups

assigning each group

to a particular

chaining procedure

and then have them

share their

discussions with the

whole class

Homework: Verbal

Behavior Sampling

Identifying the use of

the Verbal Behavior

Operants in real life

may enhance student

understanding

1. Have students observe

some speaking in their

normal, day-to-day

activities and record they

frequency and/or types of

each verbal operant they

hear the individual use

2. Have students either

graph the frequencies for

each or create a list of

each type and share

Allow students to

work alone or in

small groups

Assign small groups

specific verbal

operants and then

have them share with

the class

Suggested Chapter Readings/Resources

Hemmeter, M, L., & Kaiser, A. P. (1994). Enhanced Mileu teaching: Effects of parent-implemented

language intervention. Journal of Early Intervention, 18, 269-289.

House Bill 2847: www.azautisminsurance.org/files/hb2847-HouseEngrossed.pdf

HB 2847, otherwise known as Stevens Law in Arizona is the first allocation of state funds for the

treatment of autism through ABA. Stevens Law mandates insurance coverage for ABA treatment.

Pavlov, I. P. (1927). Conditional reflexes: An investigation of the physiological activity of the cerebral

cortex. (G. V. Anrep, Trans). London: Oxford University Press.

Pérez-Gonzalez, L. A., García-Asenjo, L., Williams, G., & Carnerero, J. J. (2007). Emergence of

intraverbal antonyms in children with pervasive development disorder. Journal of Applied

Behavior Analysis, 40, 697-701.

Petursdottir, A, I., Carr, J, E., Lechago, S. A, & Almason, S. M. (2008). An evaluation of

Chapter 5: Teaching Students with Autism Using the Principles of Applied Behavior Analysis

Guided Notes

Outline

• Definition of ABA

• Principles of Behavior

• Using ABA to Teach New Skills

• Using ABA to Address Challenging Behaviors

Definition of ABA

• Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is “the utilization of the basic __________ of learning and

motivation to address __________ important problems” (p. 80)

Principles of Behavior

All Behavior is Learned

All Behavior Serves a

Purpose

All Behavior is Contextual

− Through Association

Learning (__________

Conditioning)

− Through __________

Conditioning

− Functions __________

from person to person

− Some functions may

include escape or

avoidance of task,

attention, to __________

something tangible, or a

preferred activity, or for

self-soothing/self-

stimulation

− Behavior is influenced by

the __________ in which it

occurs; sometimes referred

to as the trigger for the

behavior

− __________ events in the

immediate environment or

setting events that have

happened previously

Using ABA to Teach New Skills

• Discrete Trial Training

• Errorless Learning

• Error Correction

Discrete Trial Training

• Used to teach new skills through the __________ contingency:

Antecedent

“Say car”

Behavior

“Car”

Consequence

Child is given a car.

If the car serves as a reinforcer, the next time someone says, “Say car,” there is a high probability

the learner will do so.

Steps of DTT

• __________ Steps of DTT:

2. Gain child’s attention

4. Prompt

6. Use correction procedure as necessary

7. Collect __________

Some Things to Keep in Mind During DTT

• Always get __________ control prior to beginning the trial

• Keep the A – B – C separate from each other; no overlapping

• Reinforce immediately

• __________ the field when possible between trials

Errorless Learning

• Used during DTT to ensure that the learner achieves __________ the first time

• Uses series of prompts and prompt fading techniques to support learning

• Beware of prompt __________

Hierarchy of Prompts

• Stimulus

__________

• Gestural

• Model

• Partial Physical

• Full Physical

__________

Prompting Procedures Used in Errorless Learning to Prevent Prompt Dependency

Error Correction

• Trial 1: Mistake

• Clear field, present Trial 2 with prompt (at last required level prior to mistake)

• __________ prompted trial

Discrimination Training

• Used in receptive language training (as a foundation for future learning)

• Steps:

− Present __________ or more items to the student

Shaping

• Defined as “reinforcing successive approximations of the desired behavior” (p. 87)

• As the response becomes more proficient and/or more independent, increased levels of

reinforcement may be used.

Chaining

• Used to teach multi-step skills following a Task Analysis

o Forward Chaining: Begin instruction with the first step in the chain

Modeling

• Also known as __________ training

• May include a live, written, visual, or audio model

• Prerequisite skills include an ability to:

− Attend to the model

Verbal Behavior

Echoic

Mand

Tact

Intraverbal

Antecedent

Someone’s

Verbal Behavior

Desire or

Motivation

Non-verbal

stimulus present

in the

environment

Someone’s

Verbal Behavior

Behavior

Verbal Behavior

(Imitation)

Behavior

(Request)

Verbal Behavior

(Label)

Verbal Behavior

(Response)

Consequence

Social

Receipt of the

item or activity

requested

Social

Using ABA to Address Challenging Behavior

• Identification of the __________ of the challenging behavior

• Using the __________ of behavior to systematically teach or shape replacement behaviors

Instructional Activity Handouts

Handout 5.1: Why Do People Play Golf?

Functions of Behavior

• Socially Mediated Positive: Payoff is obtaining something via another person or

because of their presence (example, attention or reinforcement provided by

another)

• Socially Mediated Negative: Payoff is the removal of an aversive by another

person (example: escape or avoidance)

Handout 5.2: Checklist for Discrete Trial Training

Step #

Behavioral Query

Yes or No/Comments

1

Did the teacher have all the materials ready prior to

beginning each session or trial?

2

Did the teacher secure instructional control prior to

presenting the SD?

3

Did the teacher present the SD clearly and

appropriately?

4

If prompting was necessary, did the teacher use the

appropriate prompting method, including fading

procedures as appropriate (with no overlap with the

SD)?

5

Did the teacher reinforce immediately following the

student’s response (with no overlap with the prompt,

if applicable)?

6

If error correction procedures were necessary, did the

teacher do so correctly?

7

Did the teacher record the student’s behavioral

response during the inter-trial interval?