Teaching a young child with autism to request assistance conditionally: a preliminary study.

Purpose: Investigators taught a 5-year-old boy with autistic disorder and severe language delay to conditionally use requests for assistance.

Method: A within-participant multiple-probe design across 3 functional tasks was implemented in order to evaluate the child's acquisition and conditional use of requests for assistance during intervention with each task.

Results: Results indicated initial acquisition of requests for assistance followed by a brief period of overgeneralization.

Comparison of accuracy and efficiency of directed scanning and group-item scanning for augmentative communication selection techniques with typically developing preschoolers.

Purpose: Directed scanning and group-item scanning both represent options for increased scanning efficiency. This investigation compared accuracy and speed of selection with preschoolers using each scanning method. The study's purpose was to describe performance characteristics of typically developing children and to provide a reliable assessment protocol to evaluate scanning skills.