Chaining Functional Basketball Sequences (with Embedded Conditional Discriminations) in an Adolescent with Autism.

Individuals with developmental disabilities successfully participate in fewer recreation activities, including sports activities, than their typically developing peers. Although a functional basketball-playing repertoire might increase social opportunities and physical health for these individuals, no research has outlined a behavior-analytic strategy for teaching this sport. In our study, we taught a 13-year-old male diagnosed with autism to play basketball.

Experimental analysis of stereotypy with applications of nonparametric statistical tests for alternating treatments designs.

Introduction: Stereotypy is common in individuals with developmental disabilities and may become disruptive in the context of instruction.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to embed brief experimental analyses in the context of reading instruction to evaluate effects of antecedent and consequent variables on latencies to and durations of stereotypy.

Method: We trained a reading instructor to implement a trial-based functional analysis and a subsequent antecedent analysis of stimulus features for an adolescent with autism in a reading clinic.