Design
A single subject design was implemented in this quantitative study. In order to establish a baseline, there was one week of no treatment. At this time, increases on task behaviors were charted (gazing, talk to peer, out of seat/ throwing self on the floor, vocal grunts). Once baseline data had been collected and analyzed to determine the frequency and duration of the behaviors, three weeks of treatment followed.
The treatment involved the implementation of a teacher designed picture exchange communication system that incorporated actual pictures of objects in the subject’s classroom and school environment. Boardmaker, software program created by Mayer-Johnson, was used for the development …show more content…
Subject is a female Hispanic student eight years and 9 months of age. She will be nine years old by the end of the treatment. Her socioeconomic status is lower middle class. She was diagnosed with Autism when she was three years old. She began attending the Preschool Autism Program at an elementary school in Los Angeles County when she turned four. She’s been attending this program for approximately two years now. The student is nonverbal. She has no words, but will imitate sounds and will attempt to imitate two syllable words. He is currently receiving speech services twice a week for thirty minutes each session. She also participates in a collaborative group occupational therapy session once a week for fifty minutes. She receives behavior services at home through a regional center. She lives at home with mother, grandparents and ten year old brother. The subject’s native language is Spanish. The subject displays non-compliant behaviors such as gazing, falling to the floor, and vocal outbursts/grunts. Student’s cognitive level is approximately 4.5 years …show more content…
The subject is a third grade in researcher’s classroom. The treatment used in this study is a strategy that was implemented during the subject’s school day.
Setting
The study location took place in an elementary special day class for students with Autism in Compton. The study took place during the student’s school day. The student is in the classroom for six hours each day, five times a week.
The classroom has two kidney tables where students perform table top activities. There is one rectangular table where the students sit for breakfast. Next to the rectangular table is the library area which consists of a bookshelf and containers with books where students can sit and look at books. There are two cabinets with open shelves where puzzles and other school readiness materials are stored. Students have access to these materials and are often encouraged to choose one of the items in the cabinet to work on during table top activities. Examples of materials stored in these cabinets are Mr. Potato Head, magna doodles, sorting and counting activities, puzzles, and language arts activities. Other play materials are stored inside cabinets. These materials are brought out during free-time. The items range is to toy cars, dinosaurs, dolls, and pretend food, zoo and to farm