Teaching daily living skills to children with autism in unsupervised settings through pictorial self-management

J Appl Behav Anal. 1994 Fall;27(3):471-81. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1994.27-471.

Abstract

We investigated the efficacy of pictorial self-management to teach daily living skills to 3 low-functioning children with autism. Stimulus and response generalization, stimulus control of self-management materials, and maintenance of behavior change were also assessed. Results showed that children with autism could successfully use pictures to manage their behavior in the absence of a treatment provider, generalize their behavior across settings and tasks, and maintain behaviors at follow-up. In addition, when compared to baseline, all children showed a substantial decrease in stereotypic behaviors. When picture order was manipulated in stimulus control probes, the children followed the new picture sequence, suggesting that the pictures were controlling their behavior. Further, a savings effect was demonstrated, in that 2 subjects reached criterion on second and third behaviors within less than 25% of original training time.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Activities of Daily Living*
  • Autistic Disorder / rehabilitation*
  • Behavior Therapy / methods
  • Behavior Therapy / standards*
  • Child
  • Education of Intellectually Disabled / methods*
  • Generalization, Psychological
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Reproducibility of Results