Evaluation of a Treatment Package to Increase Mean Length of Utterances for Children with Autism
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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Evaluation of a Treatment Package to Increase Mean Length of Utterances for Children with Autism M. Alice Shillingsburg 1 & Sarah E. Frampton 1 & Yannick A. Schenk 1 & Brittany L. Bartlett 2 & Taylor M. Thompson 2 & Bethany Hansen 3
# Association for Behavior Analysis International 2020
Abstract Skinner’s (1957) classification of mand responses has spawned decades of research related to teaching individuals with developmental disabilities. However, few studies have evaluated how to teach individuals with autism to progress from simple to more complex mands for desired items and activities. The present study used a treatment package consisting of errorless teaching, differential reinforcement, and systematic decision rules to increase the number of words per mand utterance used by 6 children with autism. Daily probes were conducted in the absence of prompting and differential reinforcement throughout every stage of the treatment. Results showed that all children showed significant developmental gains in the mean length of utterances. Increased rates of manding, increased emission of mand frames, and decreased instances of indicating responses (i.e., pointing, reaching) in the absence of mands were also observed. Implications regarding the feasibility of intensive mand training in practice are discussed. Keywords Autism . Mand . Mand frames . Mean length of utterances . Verbal behavior
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is estimated to affect 1 in 59 children (Baio et al., 2018). ASD is a disorder characterized by deficits in communication and social interactions, as well as stereotypic and repetitive behaviors (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Language development and acquisition of new skills have been linked to the individual’s overall trajectory and better prognosis (Kelley, 2011). It is estimated that 25%–30% of individuals with ASD do not develop functional language (Anderson et al., 2007; Lord, Shulman, & DiLavore, 2004; Norrelgen et al., 2014). Individuals who do not acquire some form of functional communication (e.g., speech, sign,
The study was conducted at the Marcus Autism Center and Emory University and was supported by a grant from the Marcus Core Pilot Funding Award. * Sarah E. Frampton [email protected] 1
The May Institute, Inc., Randolph, MA, USA
2
Village Autism Center, 41 Pacella Park Drive, Randolph, MA 02368, USA
3
University of Nebraska Medical Center Munroe-Meyer Institute, Omaha, NE, USA
icons) are at a higher risk of exhibiting challenging behaviors (Carr & Durand, 1985) and generally have poorer long-term outcomes (Anderson et al., 2007). Fortunately, many children with ASD who do not develop functional communication may acquire these skills if they receive early intensive behavior intervention with procedures that specifically target language acquisition (Eigsti, de Marchena, Schuh, & Kelley, 2011). Early stages of language interventions typically focus on teaching mands (i.e., requests) because it directly benefits the learner—that is, learners are
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