Predictors of employment for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities participating in a postsecondary transition program in the United States.

Background: Previous research has shown that post-secondary collegiate vocational educational programs often have positive effects on employment outcomes for young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Aims: Using secondary data of a program in the United States collected over several years, we examined which intervention components of a postsecondary education transition program predicted subsequent employment for young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Materials & Methods: The sample consisted of 56 individuals that participated in a transition-services collegiate program; Crossing Points, University of Alabama.

Introduction to the Special Section: Translating Advanced Quantitative Techniques for Single-Case Experimental Design Data.

The articles in this special section offer strategies to single-case experimental design (SCED) researchers to interpret their outcomes, communicate their results, and compare the results using common, quantitative results. Advancing quantitative methods applied to SCED data will facilitate communication with scientists and other professionals that do not typically interpret graphed data of the dependent variable. Horner and Ferron aptly note that innovative statistical procedures are improving the precision and credibility of SCED research as disseminate our findings to an increasingly diverse audience.

Examining the Relation between Self-reported ASD Symptoms and Sensory Sensitivities from a Community-based Sample of Adults.

Atypical responses to sensory stimuli, termed sensory sensitivities, are a commonly reported symptom for individuals diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). In this community-based study of 604 adults, the correlation between sensory sensitivities and ASD symptoms was = 0.23, < .

Examining the correlation between symptoms of obsessive compulsive disorder and autism spectrum disorder in a community-based sample of adults.

We examined the association between obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) symptoms among a community-based sample of adults (n = 217) that completed an OCD and ASD screening instrument. Approximately 39% of the sample that met the ASD screener cutoff criteria also met the screener cutoff criteria for OCD. The correlation between overall OCD symptoms (i.

Treatment Burst Data Points and Single Case Design Studies: A Bayesian N-of-1 Analysis for Estimating Treatment Effect Size.

Single-case experimental designs (SCED) evaluate treatment effects for each participant, but it is difficult to aggregate and quantify treatment effects across SCED participants receiving the same type of treatment. We applied Bayesian analytic procedures to SCED data aggregated across participants that have previously only been applied to large- and group design studies of treatment effect sizes. For the current study, we defined transient elevated treatment data points as (1) above the range of the last five baseline sessions during the first three sessions of treatment (i.

Renewal of fear and avoidance in humans to escalating threat: Implications for translational research on anxiety disorders.

Exposure-based treatment for threat avoidance in anxiety disorders often results in fear renewal. However, little is known about renewal of avoidance. This multimodal laboratory-based treatment study used an ABA renewal design and an approach-avoidance (AP-AV) task to examine renewal of fear/threat and avoidance in twenty adults.

Assessing wandering risk among individuals with Alzheimer's disease and dementia: a pilot study.

Background: We examined a screening instrument to assess risk for wandering among individuals with Alzheimer's disease and dementia according to caregiver informants.

Methods: Pilot data were collected on the Risk of Wandering (RoW) screening instrument by 48 responses from an online survey using the Alzheimer's Association Trial Match system.

Results: Results indicated acceptable evidence of the internal consistency of scores for the data obtained, α = 0.

Telehealth and in-person training outcomes for novice discrete trial training therapists.

The efficacy and efficiency of telehealth and in-person training were compared while teaching seven undergraduate students to implement components of discrete trial training. A multiple-baseline design across skills with elements of multiple probe and delayed multiple baseline combined with an alternating-treatments design was used to evaluate the effects of behavioral skills training (BST) on (a) implementing a multiple stimulus without replacement preference assessment, (b) setting up an instructional context, (c) delivering antecedent prompts, and (d) delivering consequences for accurate and inaccurate responding. Two skills were trained via telehealth and two skills were trained in-person using BST procedures with a mock student.

Development of an in-vivo metric to aid visual inspection of single-case design data: Do we need to run more sessions?

Comparing visual inspection results of graphed data reveals inconsistencies in the interpretation of the same graph among single-case experimental design (SCED) researchers and practitioners. Although several investigators have disseminated structured criteria and visual inspection aids or strategies, inconsistencies in interpreting graphed data continue to exist even for individuals considered to be experts at interpreting SCED graphs. We propose a fail safe k metric that can be used in conjunction with visual inspection, and it can be used in-vivo after each additional data point is collected within a phase to determine the optimal point in time to shift between phases (e.

"Watch out!": Effects of instructed threat and avoidance on human free-operant approach-avoidance behavior.

Approach-avoidance paradigms create a competition between appetitive and aversive contingencies and are widely used in nonhuman research on anxiety. Here, we examined how instructions about threat and avoidance impact control by competing contingencies over human approach-avoidance behavior. Additionally, Experiment 1 examined the effects of threat magnitude (money loss amount) and avoidance cost (fixed ratio requirements), whereas Experiment 2 examined the effects of threat information (available, unavailable and inaccurate) on approach-avoidance.

Facial emotion recognition among typically developing young children: A psychometric validation of a subset of NimStim stimuli.

We evaluated the psychometric properties of NimStim taking into account the effects of chronological age on the ability of typically developing young children (aged 2-6 years old) to recognize basic facial expressions (i.e., happy, sad, angry, and fearful).

Social Communication Questionnaire scoring procedures for autism spectrum disorder and the prevalence of potential social communication disorder in ASD.

In analyzing data from the National Database for Autism Research, we utilized Mokken scaling techniques as a means of creating a more effective and efficient screening procedure for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) via the Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ). With a sample of 1,040, approximately 80% (n = 827) of the sample were males while approximately 20% (n = 213) were females. In regard to ethnicity, approximately 68% of the sample were White/Caucasian, while 7% were African American, 16% were Hispanic, 4% were Asian, and 1% were Native American or American Indian.

Attentional Networks in Adolescents with High-functioning Autism: An fMRI Investigation.

Background: Attentional deficits in Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are often noted, but their specific nature remains unclear.

Objective: The present study used the child Attentional Network Task (Child ANT) in combination with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to determine if the consistently cited deficits of orienting attention are truly due to dysfunctions of orienting-based networks. We hypothesized that these observations are, in fact, a reflection of executive dysfunctions.

Descriptive analysis and comparison of strategic incremental rehearsal to "Business as Usual" sight-word instruction for an adult nonreader with intellectual disability.

Objective: Strategic Incremental Rehearsal (SIR) is an effective method for teaching sight-word acquisition, but has neither been evaluated for use in adults with an intellectual disability, nor directly compared to the ongoing instruction in the natural environment.

Methods: Experimental analysis of sight word acquisition via an alternating treatment design was conducted with a 23-year-old woman with Down syndrome. SIR was compared to the current reading instruction (CRI) in a classroom for young adults with intellectual disabilities.

Predictors of Elopement Exhibited by School-Aged Children With Special Health Care Needs: Towards the Development of a Screening Instrument for Elopement.

Elopement exhibited by school-aged children with special health care needs is a relatively low frequency problem behavior with the potential for severe negative consequences for the child and family. Using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Survey of Pathways to Diagnosis and Services, our results represent one of the first empirical studies of variables that may be associated with children with special health care needs engaging in elopement. Using data from a nationally representative sample of children with special health care needs, our results revealed two variables that were statistically significant predictors of parent-reported elopement in the past year: (1) the child's chronological age, and (2) the presence of an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis.

A meta-analysis of the social communication questionnaire: Screening for autism spectrum disorder.

The current meta-analysis examines the previous research on the utility of the Social Communication Questionnaire as a screening instrument for autism spectrum disorder. Previously published reports have highlighted the inconsistencies between Social Communication Questionnaire-screening results and formal autism spectrum disorder diagnoses. The variations in accuracy resulted in some researchers questioning the validity of the Social Communication Questionnaire.

The tipping point: Value differences and parallel dorsal-ventral frontal circuits gating human approach-avoidance behavior.

Excessive avoidance and diminished approach behavior are both prominent features of anxiety, trauma and stress related disorders. Despite this, little is known about the neuronal mechanisms supporting gating of human approach-avoidance behavior. Here, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to track dorsal anterior cingulate and medial prefrontal (dACC/dmPFC) activation along an approach-avoidance continuum to assess sensitivity to competing appetitive and aversive contingencies and correspondence with behavior change.

Not so bad: avoidance and aversive discounting modulate threat appraisal in anterior cingulate and medial prefrontal cortex.

The dorsal anterior cingulate (adACC) and dorsal medial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) play a central role in the discrimination and appraisal of threatening stimuli. Yet, little is known about what specific features of threatening situations recruit these regions and how avoidance may modulate appraisal and activation through prevention of aversive events. In this investigation, 30 healthy adults underwent functional neuroimaging while completing an avoidance task in which responses to an Avoidable CS+ threat prevented delivery of an aversive stimulus, but not to an Unavoidable CS+ threat.

Meta-analysis of noncontingent reinforcement effects on problem behavior.

A meta-analysis of noncontingent reinforcement (NCR) outcomes was conducted using hierarchical linear modeling (a) to document the effect size for decreasing problem behavior, (b) to compare effect sizes for NCR using functional reinforcers and nonfunctional reinforcers, and (c) to document the influence of schedule thinning on effect size. Analyses were conducted with data from 55 studies and 91 participants. Results indicate that NCR was associated with a very strong effect size (d =-1.

Peer reactions to early childhood aggression in a preschool setting: Defenders, encouragers, or neutral bystander.

Purpose: The purpose of the current study was to determine if peer reactions to aggression among preschool youth were consistent with those conceptualized in the adolescent bullying literature as defenders, encouragers, and neutral bystanders.

Research Design: Direct observations were used to document patterns for types of peer-directed aggression in early childhood settings to ascertain interaction differences between individuals involved within the bullying dynamic.

Methods And Procedures: Observations of 50 students in preschool were conducted over 5.

Stereotyped behaviors predicting self-injurious behavior in individuals with intellectual disabilities.

We examined the relation between stereotyped behavior and self-injurious behavior (SIB) for 1871 individuals with intellectual disabilities who had a score of >0 on the Behavior Problem Inventory (BPI-01; Rojahn et al., 2001). We report three main findings: First, structural equation modeling techniques (SEM) revealed that the BPI-01stereotyped behavior subscale scores predicted BPI-01 SIB subscale scores.

Risk factors for self-injury, aggression, and stereotyped behavior among young children at risk for intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Before the 1990s, research on the early identification and prevention of severe behavior disorders (SBDs), such as aggression, self-injury, and stereotyped behavior, among young children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), was mostly done with children 3 years or older. More recent work suggests that signs of SBDs may occur as early as 6 months in some infants. The present study combined a cross-sectional and longitudinal approach to examine SBDs in 180 young children aged 4-48 months recruited through mass screening, then receiving an interdisciplinary evaluation and six-month follow-ups for one year.

Functional Analysis Outcomes and Comparison of Direct Observations and Informant Rating Scales in the Assessment of Severe Behavior Problems of Infants and Toddlers At-Risk for Developmental Delays.

Severe problem behaviors, like aggression, self-injury, and repetitive behaviors, in people with intellectual and developmental disabilities often appear during early development and may persist without early intervention. The frequencies of self-injurious behavior, aggression, tantrums, property destruction and stereotyped behavior among 17 infants and toddlers at risk for developmental delays and severe behavior problems were assessed using two methods: 1) direct observation of responses during 10 s partial interval recording during analogue functional analysis and 2) the Behavior Problem Inventory-01 (BPI-01; Rojahn et al, 2001), an informant rating scale. Analogue functional analysis results suggested that the most common function for problem behavior was automatic reinforcement, followed by negative reinforcement in the form of escape from demands.

Effects associated with on- and off-label stimulant treatment of core autism and ADHD symptoms exhibited by children with autism spectrum disorder.

Objective: Families of children with autism spectrum disorder are barraged by different treatment options. Some of these options have the support of empirical evidence while others do not. Stimulant treatments are typically utilized to treat symptoms of ADHD indicating an on-label use of such treatment.

Teaching skills related to self-employment to adults with developmental disabilities: an analog analysis.

Employment opportunities for people with developmental disabilities (DD) have improved in the last several decades. There is increasing focus on helping people with DD sample more diverse employment options, including running their own businesses. The present study (1) evaluated the effects of a well-established behavioral teaching procedure on the acquisition of a sample of three broad classes of skills related to self-employment (worker, supervisor, and clerical work) in young adults with DD within an analog recycling business, and (2) investigated the extension of that treatment to the natural environment while working in isolation or in peer pairs.