Abstract

Some students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) struggle with social reciprocity, or the ability to engage in chains of back-and-forth conversation, interfering with other students' ability to respond to a question that is posed by the teacher in classrooms. The participants were 11 fifth grade students with autism spectrum disorder. We used a simple differential reinforcement intervention within a token system in direct instruction sessions for math to help balance the participation in a class of children with ASD as well as lower the number of talk-outs made by all students. Using a single-subject design, data were analyzed for changes in level, trend, and variability. Secondary analysis consisted of descriptive data and effect size calculations, including analysis of three subgroupings of students according to participation levels at baseline. Results show that students who previously had excessively high rates of participation were able to better balance their participation to allow other students the opportunity to participate. The intervention also increased participation from students who previously showed minimal rates of participation. Students whose participation levels were already within one standard deviation of the class mean maintained their balanced participation levels, on average, throughout the intervention. Lastly, the intervention was very effective in lowering the number of talk-outs made overall during the direct instruction period. This is a simple intervention that showed good results in a classroom setting to help students with autism regulate their participation during instruction

Degree

MS

College and Department

David O. McKay School of Education; Counseling Psychology and Special Education

Rights

http://lib.byu.edu/about/copyright/

Date Submitted

2018-06-01

Document Type

Thesis

Handle

http://hdl.lib.byu.edu/1877/etd10144

Keywords

autism, participation, intervention, talk outs, classroom

Language

english

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