ABA is Not Just for Teaching Eye Contact!
Adel Najdowski, PhD, BCBA-D*
There has been extensive published research to support the use of ABA to treat a variety of higher-order skills. Here’s a few examples organized by topic (and by no means is this list exhaustive):
Emotion Recognition
McHugh, L., Bobarnac, A., & Reed, P. (2011). Brief Report: Teaching Situation-Based Emotions to Children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 41, 1423–1428.
Empathy
Argott, P., Townsend, D.B., Sturmey, P., & Poulson, C.L. (2008). Increasing the use of empathic statements in the presence of a non-verbal affective stimulus in adolescents with autism. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 2, 342-352.
Schrandt, J.A., Townsend, D.B., & Poulson, C.L. (2009). Teaching empathy skills to children with autism. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 42, 17 – 32.
Gena, A., Couloura, S, & Kymissis, E. (2005). Modifying the affective behavior of preschoolers with autism using in-vivo or video modeling and reinforcement contingencies. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 35(5), 545-556.
Conversation Skills
Charlop, M. H., & Milstein, J. P. (1989). Teaching autistic children conversational speech using video modeling. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 22, 275–285.
Maione, L., & Mirenda, P. (2006). Effects of video modeling and video feedback on peer-directed social language skills of a child with autism. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 8, 106–118.
Sarakoff, R. A., Taylor, B. A., & Poulson, C. L. (2001). Teaching children with autism to engage in conversational exchanges: Script fading with embedded textual stimuli. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 34, 81–84.
Social Interactions
Krantz, P. J., & McClannahan L. E. (1998). Social interaction skills for children with autism: A script-fading procedure for beginning readers. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 31, 191–202.
Morrison, L., Kamps, D., Garcia, J., & Parker, D. (2001). Peer mediation and monitoring strategies to improve initiations and social skills for students with autism. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 3, 237–250.
Nikopolous, C. K., & Keenan, M. (2003). Promoting social initiation in children with autism using video modeling. Behavioral Interventions, 18, 87–108.
Nikopolous, C. K., & Keenan, M. (2004). Effects of video modeling on social initiations by children with autism. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 37, 93–96.
Shabani, D. B., Katz, R. C., Wilder, D. A., Beauchamp, K., Taylor, C. R., & Fischer, K. J. (2002). Increasing social initiations in children with autism: Effects of a tactile prompt. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 35, 79–83.
Stevenson, C. L., Krantz, P. J., McClannahan, L. E. (2000). Social interaction skills for children with autism: A script fading procedure for nonreaders. Behavioral Interventions, 15, 1–20.
Working Memory
Baltruschat, L., Hasselhorn, M., Tarbox, J., Dixon, D.R., Najdowski, A.C., Mullins, R.D., & Gould, E. R. (2011). Addressing working memory in children with autism through behavioral intervention. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 5, 267-276.
Baltruschat, L., Hasselhorn, M., Tarbox, J., Dixon, D.R., Najdowski, A.C., Mullins, R.D., & Gould, E. R. (2011). Further analysis of the effects of positive reinforcement on working memory in children with autism. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 5, 855-863.
Baltruschat, L., Hasselhorn, M., Tarbox, J., Dixon, D.R., Najdowski, A.C., Mullins, R.D., & Gould, E. R. (2012). The effects of multiple exemplar training on a working memory task involving sequential responding in children with autism. The Psychological Record, 62, 549-562.
Metaphorical Reasoning
Persicke, A., Tarbox, J., Ranick, J., & St Clair, M. (2012).Establishing metaphorical reasoning in children with autism. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 6, 913-920.
Understanding Sarcasm
Persicke, A., Tarbox, J., Ranick, J., & St. Clair, M. (2013). Teaching children with autism to detect and respond to sarcasm. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 7, 193-198.
Deception
Ranick, J., Persicke, A., Tarbox, J., & Kornack, J.A. (2013). Teaching children with autism to detect and respond to deceptive statements. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 7, 503-508.
Perspective Taking
Charlop-Christy, M.H., & Daneshvar, S. (2003). Using video modeling to teach perspective taking to children with autism. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 5(1), 12-21.
Gould, E., Tarbox, J., O’Hora, D., Noone, S., & Bergstrom, R. (2011).Teaching children with autism a basic component skill of perspective-taking. Behavioral Interventions, 26, 50-66.
LeBlanc, L.A., Coates, A.M., Daneshvar, S., Charlop-Christy, M.H., Morris, C., & Lancaster, B.M. (2003). Using video modeling and reinforcement to teach perspective-taking skills to children with autism. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 36(2), 253-257.
Self-Management
Koegel, L. K., Koegel, R. L., Hurley, C., & Frea, W. D. (1992). Improving social skills and disruptive behavior in children with autism though self-management. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 25, 341-353.
Koegel, R. L., & Koegel, L. K. (1990). Extended reductions in stereotypic behavior of students with autism through a self-management treatment package. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 23, 119-127.
Pierce, K. L., & Schreibman, L. (1994). Teaching daily living skills to children with autism in unsupervised settings through pictorial self-management. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 27, 471-481.
Stahmer, A. C., & Schreibman, L. (1992).
Teaching children with autism appropriate play in unsupervised environments using a self-management treatment package. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 25, 447-459.
Rule-Governed Behavior
Tarbox, J., Zuckerman, C. K., Bishop, M. R., Olive, M. L., & O’Hora, D. P. (2011). Rule-governed behavior: Teaching a preliminary repertoire of rule-following to children with autism. The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, 27, 125-139.
Visualizing
Kisamore, A. N., Carr, J. E., & LeBlanc, L. A. (2011).Training preschool children to use visual imagining as a problem-solving strategy for complex categorization tasks. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 44, 255-278.
Derived Symmetry
Fiorile, C. A., & Greer, R. D. (2007). The induction of naming in children with no prior tact responses as a function of multiple exemplar histories of instruction. The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, 23, 71-87.
Greer, R. D., Stolfi, L., Chavez-Brown, M., & Rivera-Valdes, C. (2005). The emergence of the listener to speaker component of naming in children as a function of multiple exemplar instruction. The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, 21, 123–134.
Pérez-González, L. A., García-Asenjo, L., Williams, G., & Carnerero, J. J. (2007). Emergence of intraverbal antonyms in children with pervasive developmental disorder. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 40, 697–701.
Safety Skills
Bergstrom, R., Najdowski, A.C., & Tarbox, J. (2012). Teaching children with autism to seek help when lost in public. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 45, 191-195.
Self, T., Scudder, R. R., Weheba, G., & Crumrine, D. (2007). A virtual approach to teaching safety skills to children with autism spectrum disorder. Topics in Language Disorders, 27, 242–253.
Steinborn, M., & Knapp, T. J. (1982). Teaching an autistic child pedestrian skills. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 13, 347–351.
Taylor, B. A., Hughes, C. E., Richard, E., Hoch, H., & Coello, A. R. (2004). Teaching teenagers with autism to seek assistance when lost. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 37, 79–82.
* Thanks to Adel Najdowski, PhD, BCBA-D, Research and Development Manager at the Center for Autism and Related Disorders in Los Angeles, CA. She completed her PhD in Psychology, at the University of Nevada, Reno. Adel presents frequent talks and workshops on her work with CARD and has had extensive experience working with families of children on the autism spectrum. One of her projects at CARD has been as the Director and Co-Creator of Skills(r) and in this role she has also been a collaborator with Dr. Jonathan Tarbox, Director of Research and Development at CARD, in research on complex skill development. She is always glad to answer questions.
[email protected]