Families whose child has recently received a diagnosis of autism are a unique population in particular need of support and guidance. These parents often experience feelings of stress, fear, and uncertainty, which can be further complicated by challenges with understanding and navigating services. It may be especially important to consider parent preferences and experiences for the development of effective early intervention programs. Pivotal Response Treatment (PRT) and Positive Behavior Support (PBS) are two evidence-based approaches that are frequently used in the treatment of individuals with autism. However, there appears to be a paucity of literature on PBS plans that incorporate PRT education as the foundation of the multicomponent support plan. The current study examined outcomes of brief PRT education in the context of a PBS program that was individualized based on parent-reported needs. The education program was found to have a positive impact on various measures of well-being for parents whose child was newly diagnosed with autism and a positive impact on child social communication for some children. Future directions and limitations are discussed.

Research suggests individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have difficulties with daily living skills that affect adaptive behavior, which are a major barrier to success in higher education settings. Adaptive behavior has been shown to be the single-strongest predictor of positive outcomes for individuals with ASD, yet few interventions target the improvement of daily living skills within this population, with even fewer targeting college students. Since interventions that integrate motivational and peer-mediated components have improved social communication in adults with ASD, it is possible that incorporating these methods into a daily living checklist, a type of self-management intervention, may lead to improvements in daily living skills for this population as well. The purpose of this study was to assess whether the use of peer-mediated motivational components would increase (1) the percentage of targeted daily living tasks completed per week. In addition, data was collected to systematically examine if this intervention would (2) increase measures of adaptive behavior skill; (3) decrease symptoms of depression; (4) decrease symptoms of anxiety; (5) increase measures of overall quality of life,. and (6) improve quarterly academic grade reports. Three college students with ASD between the ages of 18 and 20 participated. A multiple baseline across participants design was used, where a baseline condition with a self-management daily living checklist without peer-mediation was compared to a peer-mediated intervention condition with check-ins by a peer mentor to complete the daily living checklist. Follow up data were collected for two participants four weeks after the completion of the intervention. (1) All participants increased the percentage of targeted daily living skill tasks completed each week with large effect sizes, with effects maintained at follow-up for two participants. (2) All participants demonstrated some improvement on subdomains of the Daily Living Skill domain on the VABS-III, and 2 participants improved their overall Adaptive Behavior Composite score on the VABS-III. (3) All participants decreased their total score on the BDI-II. (4) Two participants decreased their total score on the BAI. Additionally, (5) all participants maintained good ratings of quality of life as measured by the QLAA. Finally (6), 2 participants demonstrated maintenance of good academic standing following completion of the intervention. Results are discussed in regards to assisting college students with ASD with improving their daily living skills. Additionally, implications of findings and future directions related to the examination of collateral areas relating to mental health, quality of life, and academic performance are explored. Further research would be helpful to continue to develop and examine interventions to assist college students with ASD to live independently and successfully.

The number of students with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) requiring special education services in public schools have steadily increased over the last decade (Scull & Winkler, 2011; U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2013). In response, the employment of paraprofessionals in schools has increased in order to support these students (Blalock, 1991; Boomer, 1994; Frith & Lindsey, 1982; National Center for Education Statistics, 2007; Pickett, 1986). Although paraprofessionals often bear the responsibility to provide both academic and social support to students with ASD, they receive little to no training on how to successfully support these students (Giangreco, Edelman, Broer, & Doyle, 2001; Jones & Bender, 1993). Providing social support to students with ASD becomes especially important when considering the risk factors associated with not receiving appropriate social intervention such as having fewer lasting peer relationships and spending less time in peer interactions compared to typically developing peers (Bauminger, & Shulman, 2003; Kasari, Rotheram-Fuller, Locke, & Gulsrud, 2012). A recent study by Koegel, Kim, and Koegel (2014) provide optimism that paraprofessionals can be trained to fidelity to implement an effective social intervention for students with ASD. Within the context of a multiple baseline across participants design, the present study assessed whether paraprofessionals could be trained to effectively implement social interventions for students with ASD. Specifically, paraprofessionals were trained to stand in an appropriate proximity from the target student while providing cooperative arrangements and incorporating the preferred/specialized interests of students with ASD with typically developing peers into common playground games/activities. This present study also assessed whether training paraprofessionals in these three components would improve the social interactions between students with ASD and typically developing peers (i.e., social engagement and rate of verbal initiations). The results of this present study suggest that paraprofessionals can be trained to fidelity to implement social intervention for students with ASD. The results also suggest that when paraprofessionals are trained to implement social intervention for students with ASD, the level of engagement and rate of verbal initiations improves for these students. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for using trained paraprofessionals to improve social skills for students with ASD in the school setting.

Earlier intervention for infants and toddlers with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) enhances developmental gains (Rogers, et al. 2012) and necessitates ascertainment of early, reliable indicators of ASD. Diminished social attention and positive social affect have been among the leading hypothesized risk factors for ASD in the prelinguistic period, between 6-12 months of age, however research has resulted in mixed findings for the predictive value of social engagement in 6-9-month-old infants for the development of ASD. If abnormalities in infant social affect contribute to the early phenotypic expression of ASD, it is important to determine whether diminished social affect is a unique construct associated exclusively with social impairments or if it is, alternatively, an expression of normal variation in individual development better explained by temperamental style. The current study sought to enhance the understanding of social development in early infancy by investigating individual differences in social engagement during face-to-face dyadic interactions. Expression of positive social affect during a structured dyadic parent-infant interaction was measured for 33 typically developing 6-8-month old infants. This measure was then correlated with concurrent clinical measures of social-communication, vocal production, autism symptomology, and temperament. Results revealed a positive association between positive social affect and the receptive language component of social-communication. No significant relations were observed between positive social affect, vocal production, autism symptomology, or temperament. These results suggest that infant positive social during interaction with a caregiver is a reflection of some elements of social-communicative ability for 6-8 month old infants, but not temperamental style. Further research is needed to understand how diminished positive social affect in early infancy may impact later developmental outcomes. Implications for early identification of ASD and relevant intervention strategies are discussed.