Amy R. Wagner, LCSW, BCaBA
University of West Georgia

 Children with autism require precise teaching strategies
 Paraprofessionals are often primary educators
 Paraprofessionals are often not provided with sufficient development opportunities
 Short term mastery criteria typically guides instruction

 CDC reports 1 in 88 children with autism
 Vast empirical evidence relating early intensive intervention to child achievement.
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Lovaas (1987 ) – 47% of experimental group vs 2% of control group
Similar results replicated by Sallows and Guptner
(2005).
 By age 7, 48% in regular education 1 st and 2 nd grade classes.
 Individuals with autism often struggle with generalizing skills (Wehman, 2009)

 Cowan and Allen (2007) present evidence that combining intensive teaching procedures and naturalistic teaching procedures promotes generalization
 Moreover, these two procedures are well documented in the behavior analytic literature
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Skinner and Keller (1950’s)
Saville, Lambert and Robertson (2011) – interteaching
Reed and Parsons (2000)
LeBlanc, Ricciardi, Luiselli (2005) – abbreviated performance feedback
Binder (2003) and Weiss (2010) – fluency
Catania et al. (2009), Moore and Fisher (2007) and
Collins et al. (2009) – video modeling

 Coordination of teaching strategies, focused on IEP objectives will accelerate student learning and skill maintenance
 Fluent teaching skills will impact student performance
 Efficient and less costly staff development methods are more likely to be implemented

To evaluate the effects of a video modeling protocol on staff and student performance
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Design of an effective, efficient staff development tool
Consistency in which staff use teaching strategies as designed
Impact of those teaching strategies on student performance
Student achievement of IEP targets

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3 paraprofessionals currently working in a classroom with children with autism
Paraprofessionals trained to use discrete trial instructional skills through video modeling
 Instructions and approximately 10 minutes of videos during each of the video modeling phases
Protocol excerpted from LeBlanc, Ricciardi, Luiselli (2005)
Student instructional trials linked to IEP objectives
Feedback provided to participants on accuracy of protocol use
Indirect measures of student achievement collected from teacher assessment

 Data analyzed using a ABC experimental design with replications.
 IOA of 96% gathered from a sample of 25%
 Baseline and intervention performance data collected for all staff participants
 Performance measured as adherence to protocol

 Improvements shown in 83% of student targets with baseline data
 All three students showed some improvement
E
F
C
D
Target
A
B
Baseline Av
83.4
71.9
70.5
64.7
84
64.5
Intervention Av Change
91.4
100
8
28.1
73.8
72.3
94.1
59.4
3.3
7.6
10.1
-5.1

 Study was conducted with veteran staff - BL data was high
 No webcam available for feedback
 Researcher had no control over data collection
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Protocol did not focus on accuracy of data collection
Behavior analysts did not conduct competency checks on data collection
 Variability in student data:
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Reinforcement preference or satiation
Insufficient trials
Non-compliance
Data validity and reliability

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Quality of videos
Staff feedback sheet not comprehensive - insufficient training given to behavior analysts
Classroom logistics required staff participant to be assigned to specific students. This clouded conclusions about generalization
Insufficient number of targets due to mastery prior to intervention
Due to time constraint, only one BL data point and two intervention data points – study needs to be extended.
Multiple baseline for future research.

 Data trends given the time constraints, veteran staff, and variability in student data
 Dissertation…

Catania, C. N., & Almeida, D. (2009). Video modeling to train staff to implement discrete-trial instruction. Journal of Applied Behavior
Analysis, 42(2), 387-392
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/data.html
Collins, S., Higbee, T. S., Salzberg, C. (2009). The effects of video modeling on staff implementation of a problem-solving intervention with adults with developmental disabilities. Journal of Applied Behavior
Analysis, 42(4), 849-854.
Cowan, R. J., & Allen, K. D. (2007). Using naturalistic procedures to enhance learning in individuals with autism: A focus on generalized teaching within the school setting. Psychology in the Schools, 44(7), 1-
15. doi: 10.1002/pits.20259

Leblanc, M., Ricciardi, J. N., & Luiselli, J. K. (2005). Improving discrete trial instruction by paraprofessional staff through an abbreviated performance feedback intervention. Education and Treatment of
Children, 28(1), 76-82.
Lovaas, O. I. (1987). Behavioral treatment and normal educational and intellectual functioning in young autistic children. Journal of
Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 55(1), 3-9.
Moore, J. W., & Fisher, W. W. (2007). The effects of video modeling on staff acquisition of functional analysis methodology. Journal of Applied
Behavior Analysis, 40(1), 197-202.
Reid, D. H., & Parsons, M. B. (2000). Organizational Behavior
Management in Human Service Settings. In J. Austin & J. E. Carr (Eds.),
Handbook of applied behavior analysis (pp. 275-294). Reno, NV:
Greenwood: Context Press.

Sallows, G. O., & Graupner, T. D. (2005). Intensive behavioral treatment for children with autism: Four-year outcome and predictors. American
Journal on Mental Retardation, 110(6), 417-438. Retrieved from
EBSCOhost
Saville, B. K., Lambert, T. , & Robertson, S. (2011). Interteaching: Bringing behavioral education to the 21st century. The Psychological Record,
61(1), 153-166. Retrieved from EBSCOhost
Wehman, P., Smith, M. D., & Schall, C. (2009). Autism & the transition to
adulthood: Success beyond the classroom. Baltimore, MD: Paul H.
Brookes Publishing Co.
Weiss, M. J., Pearson, N., Foley, K., & Pahl, S. (2010). The importance of fluency outcomes in learners with autism. The Behavior Analyst Today,
11(4), 245-251.