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differential effects of simplified speech versus typical speech on response accuracy in discrete trial teaching formats with prekindergarten-age students with autism

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Date Issued:
2000
Summary:
The examination of effective teaching strategies for young students with autism is necessary to successfully address the wide variety of skills deficits exhibited in students with this pervasive developmental disorder. The wide spectrum of cognitive functioning levels and autism severity levels found in this highly heterogeneous disorder make the development of sound instructional techniques a fundamental issue in best practices teaching with students with autism. The purpose of this study was to determine the differential effects of simplified speech discriminative stimuli and typical speech discriminative stimuli on response accuracy on an acquisition level discrimination skill using a discrete trial teaching format with prekindergarten age students with autism. The participants were four students chosen from a pool of students enrolled at The St. Mary's Preschool for Children with Autism, a charter school located in West Palm Beach, Florida. All students were between 3 and 5 years old and met eligibility criteria for special education in the autism category. The targeted instructional skill was a visual discrimination task that was to be exhibited upon presentation of a verbal stimulus and which required discrimination of the verbal stimulus in order to be performed correctly. Each participant was presented with an array of acquisition level picture vocabulary items under one of two instructional conditions: either a simplified speech discriminative stimulus condition or a typical speech discriminative stimulus condition. Each student received both instructional conditions with different but equivalent picture vocabulary items. The results indicated that there were differences in response accuracy under the two discriminative stimulus conditions. For participants with autism severity levels under 36 as measured by the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS), criterion was met under both conditions, regardless of IQ. For participants with autism severity levels equal to or above 36 as measured by the CARS, response accuracy was higher under the simplified speech condition, regardless of IQ. One implication of this study is that students with more severe levels of autism may learn most effectively under simplified speech discriminative stimulus conditions and that students with less severe levels of autism may be able to learn effectively under either condition.
Title: The differential effects of simplified speech versus typical speech on response accuracy in discrete trial teaching formats with prekindergarten-age students with autism.
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Name(s): Clark, Claudia Pia, author
Florida Atlantic University, Degree grantor
Taylor, Ronald L., Thesis advisor
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation
Issuance: monographic
Date Issued: 2000
Publisher: Florida Atlantic University
Place of Publication: Boca Raton, FL
Physical Form: application/pdf
Extent: 126 p.
Language(s): English
Summary: The examination of effective teaching strategies for young students with autism is necessary to successfully address the wide variety of skills deficits exhibited in students with this pervasive developmental disorder. The wide spectrum of cognitive functioning levels and autism severity levels found in this highly heterogeneous disorder make the development of sound instructional techniques a fundamental issue in best practices teaching with students with autism. The purpose of this study was to determine the differential effects of simplified speech discriminative stimuli and typical speech discriminative stimuli on response accuracy on an acquisition level discrimination skill using a discrete trial teaching format with prekindergarten age students with autism. The participants were four students chosen from a pool of students enrolled at The St. Mary's Preschool for Children with Autism, a charter school located in West Palm Beach, Florida. All students were between 3 and 5 years old and met eligibility criteria for special education in the autism category. The targeted instructional skill was a visual discrimination task that was to be exhibited upon presentation of a verbal stimulus and which required discrimination of the verbal stimulus in order to be performed correctly. Each participant was presented with an array of acquisition level picture vocabulary items under one of two instructional conditions: either a simplified speech discriminative stimulus condition or a typical speech discriminative stimulus condition. Each student received both instructional conditions with different but equivalent picture vocabulary items. The results indicated that there were differences in response accuracy under the two discriminative stimulus conditions. For participants with autism severity levels under 36 as measured by the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS), criterion was met under both conditions, regardless of IQ. For participants with autism severity levels equal to or above 36 as measured by the CARS, response accuracy was higher under the simplified speech condition, regardless of IQ. One implication of this study is that students with more severe levels of autism may learn most effectively under simplified speech discriminative stimulus conditions and that students with less severe levels of autism may be able to learn effectively under either condition.
Identifier: 9780599642652 (isbn), 12630 (digitool), FADT12630 (IID), fau:9513 (fedora)
Degree granted: Thesis (Ed.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2000.
Collection: FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection
Note(s): College of Education
Subject(s): Autistic children--Education
Autism in children
Verbal learning
Held by: Florida Atlantic University Libraries
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/12630
Sublocation: Digital Library
Use and Reproduction: Copyright © is held by the author with permission granted to Florida Atlantic University to digitize, archive and distribute this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder.
Use and Reproduction: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Host Institution: FAU
Is Part of Series: Florida Atlantic University Digital Library Collections.