Problem behavior, such as non-engagement, impacts academic outcomes (McIntosh et al., 2008; Morgan et al., 2008; Nelson et al., 2003; Roberts et al., 2015). Theories examining the relationship between problem behavior and academics suggest the following regarding the directionality of the relationship: (a) academic challenges lead to problem behavior, (b) problem behavior leads to academic challenges, (c) academic challenges and problem behavior co-occur, and (d) attention related challenges lead to academic challenges and problem behavior (Hinshaw, 1992; McIntosh et al., 2008; Morgan et al., 2008). Additionally, they emphasize the importance of addressing problem behavior concurrently with academics. This is crucial for students with autism, seeing that academic challenges (e.g., reading comprehension) and problem behavior have been consistently reported as challenges for students with autism (Belardinelli et al., 2016; Huemer & Mann, 2010; Solis et al., 2016; Volkmar et al., 2014). However, there is limited research on reading comprehension and behavior interventions for students with autism focused on behavior interventions and outcomes. To address this gap in research, the present study analyzed levels of engagement through a secondary analysis of an alternating treatment single-case design study (N = 3) that was entirely implemented via a distance learning platform during Covid-19. This secondary analysis sought to compare the relative effects of a pre-developed reading intervention (Solis et al., 2022) to a reading intervention that embedded behavior supports (i.e., behavior expectations, visual schedule) on student engagement levels. Study effects were analyzed through a visual analysis (WWC, 2022). The results indicated that the reading intervention that embedded the behavior supports was not more effective than the reading intervention that did not embedded the behavior supports. Engagement levels increased for one out of three participants during the reading plus behavior intervention. For the additional two participants, engagement levels slightly increased during the reading plus behavior intervention. Surprisingly, engagement levels were high across participants and interventions, despite using a distance learning platform. The percentage of intervals with engagement ranged from 66% to 99% in the reading only intervention and from 75% to 100% in the reading plus behavior intervention. Social validity results indicated a preference for the reading plus behavior intervention. This study provides insight into the engagement of students with autism and the use of distance learning to implement interventions.

This paper provides an overview of ABA, summarizes findings from studies of early childhood ABA with a focus on intervention dosage, and addresses the influence of demographics and culture on early ASD detection and access to early childhood ABA intervention. Although, this paper is not inclusive of all the ABA studies conducted between 1987-2007 and beyond, it summarizes the findings of some of the historical studies in early childhood ABA. These historical studies were located through two systematic reviews including studies between the years 1987- 2007 and selected if they met the following criteria: (1) intervention was based on behavioral principals (2) participants were five years of age or younger at the onset of intervention (3) intervention was in-home or clinic-based (4) utilized a group research design. A total of seven studies met the inclusion criteria. All seven studies reported increasing intellectual, educational, and behavioral gains for children with ASD. However, three of the studies did not report significant differences across all outcome measures favoring the treatment group. The seven studies reported mixed findings regarding treatment dosage with weekly treatment dosage ranging from 40 to 19.45 hours. Additional findings indicated that demographics and culture should be considered as they influence the early detection of ASD and access to intervention. Based on these findings, future research should further investigate how these variables along with others moderate or mediate early childhood ABA outcomes associated with early ASD detection and access to intervention.

A key characteristic of individuals with autism is communicative dysfunction. Specifically identifying the appropriate use of pragmatic skills such as phrasing and syntax. When looking at expressing phrasing (producing of word groups), communication research has highlighted a significant group difference between students with autism and typically developing student in upper elementary grades. Although reading frameworks such as the Reading Systems Framework (adapted) have highlighted the importance of phrasing across reading development, it remains an understudied concept specifically when it relates to upper elementary grade typically developing students and students with autism. The current study investigates the associations of phrasing, reading rate, comprehension, and student group (i.e., typically developing students and autism) in grades 4 through 6 using both spectrographic analysis and the Multidimensional Fluency Scale (adapted). A secondary analysis of three previous data sets was conducted. Standard multiple regression findings indicated that, phrasing was statistically significant for the prediction of reading rate (p<0.05) but not for reading comprehension. The addition of the independent variables (i.e., phrasing, student group, comprehension) into the regression model explained 28% (MDFS) and 50% (spectrograph) of the variability of rate outcomes. The addition of the independent variables (i.e., phrasing, student group, rate) into the regression model explained 14% (MDFS and spectrograph) of the variability of comprehension outcomes. Overall, findings from the current study indicate a correlation between phrasing, reading rate, and reading comprehension outcomes.

Over the past several years, the need for identification and implementation of effective reading comprehension strategies for students diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has come to the forefront of educational research, especially as the prevalence of this population continues to rise. It has been well documented, a large percentage of students with ASD demonstrate stronger decoding and word recognition skills over comprehension of text and are chronically disengaged from non-preferred, academic tasks. Additionally, this population demonstrates reduced ability to self-monitor their behavior in order to stay engaged with academic tasks, which impacts performance despite their learning potential. This alternating treatments with baseline phase, single-case design study investigated the effects of implementing a main-idea summarization reading intervention to the same reading intervention paired with a self-monitoring strategy. Outcomes of reading comprehension and engaged behavior were assessed daily for three students diagnosed with ASD in grades 5-8. Subjects were elected based upon their grade, eligibility of ASD, cognitive functioning (standard score >85), and reduced comprehension skills based upon IEP goals and/or standardized assessment. The participants will receive individual intervention 30 minutes per day, four days per week, for six consecutive weeks. After the baseline is established, the alternating treatment conditions will consist of reading intervention only and reading intervention plus a self-monitoring strategy on both reading comprehension and on-task engagement. Daily comprehension sheets and self-monitoring charts will be collected and visually inspected along with videotaped recordings of student engagement using the Behavioral Observation of Students in Schools (BOSS) software, which records percentage of intervals in which targeted behaviors occur. Social and fidelity of implementation will also be measured using exit surveys and daily checklists.  

The aim of this study is to examine different methods (i.e., interactive and direct instruction) of teaching foreign vocabulary. In order to help instructional designers build more effective lessons, a quantitative experimental study with post-test only design on L2 vocabulary acquisition through storybook reading was conducted with 115 UCR college students. The participants were distributed into three different conditions: direct instruction (providing L1 translations of the new vocabulary), interactive instruction (providing additional tasks on the new vocabulary), and control (no instructions were provided). Results showed that the impact of direct and interactive instructions on college students was the same and not generalizable for all age groups. Moreover, the findings indicate that prior familiarity with the story significantly affects vocabulary acquisition.