CONSIDERATIONS IN PLANNING FOR CHILDREN WITH

AUTISM
Structure that provides information and predictability, incorporates student choice, and
promotes instruction in naturally-occurring sequences

Environment
• Clear visual marking of areas
• Strategies to promote independence

Schedule
• IEP objectives drive formation and implementation
• Scheduling strategies from TEACCH that provide predictability and clear information for
students and flexibility for staff are helpful.
• Include multiple/numerous learning opportunities.
• Engineer/plan for naturalized incidental teaching opportunities to promote generalization.
• Schedule in representative data collection.
• Schedule staff responsibilities and groupings as well as student activities.
• Include student choice in structure

Parent Involvement
• Demonstration in home by staff
• Consistent strategies between home and school to promote generalization
• Implementation of regularly- scheduled team meetings in which two lists are generated:
what's going well first and then to do/issues/concerns with an accompanying action plan
(teacher, parent, and others as appropriate); precise time limit for meetings

Incorporate Pivotal Response Training

Training procedure is derived from the work of Koegel, Schreibman, Dunlap, Horner, and other
researchers. It is a composite of the research on task interspersal, direct reinforcement, and role of
choice. Pivotal Response Training (PRT) provides a guideline for teaching skills and has been most
successful for language, play, and social interaction skills. (Positive changes in "pivotal behaviors" have
widespread effects on many behaviors include motivation and responsivity to multiple cues.)

The main components of Pivotal Response Training include:

• Choice (shared control to increase motivation)
• Instructions or opportunities clear and uninterrupted (make sure child is attending)
• Reinforcement of approximations/attempts (shape goal-directed attempts)
• Reinforcement has a specific relationship to the desired behavior natural reinforcement ("ball"
gets ball, not praise, child chooses object for instruction and that object is used, done to
increase motivation)
• Interspersal of mastered tasks with new tasks (takes advantage of behavioral momentum and
increases motivation)
• Multiple examples or multiple components presented (e.g., during natural language
training/NLP use two different objects but same verb such as "roll car" and then "roll ball" then
"throw the ball." Multiple components also means using "new pants" or "red suit" versus just
"pants" or "suit." This is done to increase responsivity to multiple cues.
Individualized communication systems
• For students who are non-verbal or with emerging oral language the Picture Exchange
Communication System (PECS) can be effective. (The system promotes the concept of a
communication partner and is highly successful at reducing prompt dependency in initiating
communication.)
• Conversation books (photos of high interest and daily living events (Pam Hunt, et. al.) have
been shown to promote naturalized communication with typically developing peers.

Natural Language Paradigm (NLP) (summary points adapted from Koegel & Koegel, Teaching
Children with Autism, 1995)
The Natural Language Paradigm is built upon arranging the environment to increase children's
opportunities to use language. It differs from strategies that often lean heavily on teacher choice,
manual prompts, stimulus items not functional within instructional interaction, strict shaping, and
edible reinforcement. It includes the following:
• Stimulus items chosen by child, varied every few trials and ones that are age-appropriate and
found in child's natural environment
• Prompting occurs by repeating item
• Teacher and child play with stimulus item (i.e., stimulus item is functional within interaction)
• A somewhat loose shaping contingency so that attempts to respond verbally (except for self-
stimulation) are also reinforced.
• Studies have show that levels of disruptive and off-task behavior during language instruction
are often significantly reduced when a natural language paradigm is implemented.
• Activities should be outcome based. Data should be collected systematically on IEP objectives.
Decisions regarding instructional strategies should be data-based.

Regularly scheduled integration opportunities with typically developing peers (if child with
autism is not fully included in general education)
• Remain sensitive to the developmental and skill level of the child with autism to promote
success and high reinforcement in the activities.
• Incorporate partial participation.
• Find ways to make the activity enjoyable for the children without autism to promote
friendship.

Use a functional analysis paradigm whenever problematic behavior occurs. (Identify the
purpose the misbehavior serves, identify and teach a positive replacement behavior, and avoid
inadvertently reinforcing the problematic behavior through a response which is not thought
out well. Avoid aversives.)

The team should come to a working consensus as to how everyone will respond to self-
stimulatory actions. (Several approaches include: replace with high interest activity, modify its
form to appear more appropriate, use "as is" as reinforcement following work sessions, never
permit)

Related considerations:
• Teach in context.
• Focus on skills that are immediately functional.
• Survey/observe child's interests and incorporate.
• Emphasize teaching skills.
• Incorporate teaching to strengths.
• Provide and promote opportunities for independent work and play (i.e., as opposed to teacher
directed and teacher-dependent).
 • Intentionally teach social and play skills.
• Individualizing (even if models seem contradictory, pull components that are best fit for each
individual child as well as for different activities) --- The only test should be individual data-
based student progress on IEP objectives with sustained positive behavior.

Spectrum Center's In-Class Support Services (ICSS) is one of leaders in the field of autism, with twenty
years experience in designing and implementing educational programs for children with autism.

For more information, contact: Kari Bartlebaugh

Kari Bartlebaugh
In-Class Support Services (ICSS)
2855 Telegraph Avenue, Suite 312
Berkeley, California 94705
(510) 845-0864