Scaling Up a Peer-Mediated Program Statewide: Lessons Learned Through Peer to Peer.

Peer-mediated interventions are a powerful and practical way of promoting the social relationships, learning, and inclusion of students with disabilities. In this article, we describe one state's efforts to scale up a research-based, peer-mediated program called Peer to Peer throughout Michigan. Among the more than 700 schools that now offer this program, as many as 18,000 peers are involved in supporting nearly 5,000 schoolmates with autism and other developmental disabilities in their learning and relationships.

Context-based assessment and intervention for problem behavior in children with autism spectrum disorder.

The present study used a context-based model of assessment and intervention to explore whether interventions that modify context result in reduction of problem behavior in ecologically valid settings (i.e., typical routines implemented by typical education personnel in neighborhood schools).

Functional analysis of precursors for serious problem behavior and related intervention.

Precursor behaviors are innocuous behaviors that reliably precede the occurrence of problem behavior. Intervention efforts applied to precursors might prevent the occurrence of severe problem behavior. We examined the relationship between precursor behavior and problem behavior in three individuals with developmental disabilities.

Physical illness, pain, and problem behavior in minimally verbal people with developmental disabilities.

There is growing interest in the role that physical illness and pain might play in exacerbating problem behavior in individuals with developmental disabilities. Assessment of these factors, however, is often difficult since many individuals have minimal verbal communication skills. In response to this difficulty, we developed a sequential method of assessment involving retrospective and prospective measurement strategies.