Increasing physical activity for adults with autism spectrum disorder: Comparing in-person and technology delivered praise.

Background/aims/methods: While there are many benefits to regular engagement in physical activity, individuals with autism spectrum disorder often do not engage in healthy levels of physical activity. The purpose of this study was to compare praise delivered through multiple means on increasing engagement in physical activity for individuals with autism spectrum disorder. A single-case alternating treatment design was used to compare two conditions for delivering praise statements, in-person and through technology, for three young adults with autism spectrum disorder and accompanying intellectual disability.

Spelling on the fly: investigating a pentop computer to improve the spelling skills of three elementary students with disabilities.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a pentop computer and accompanying spelling software on the spelling accuracy and academic engagement behavior in three elementary students with disabilities who were served in a resource room setting. Using a multiple baseline across students single subject research design, researchers determined student use of the pentop computer--the FLYPen--and its spelling software may serve as an equivalent intervention to traditional spelling instruction. While academic engagement performance increased considerably for students when using the FLYPen, results indicated little to no improvement over traditional instruction in spelling accuracy.

Virtual and concrete manipulatives: a comparison of approaches for solving mathematics problems for students with autism spectrum disorder.

Students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are included in general education classes and expected to participate in general education content, such as mathematics. Yet, little research explores academically-based mathematics instruction for this population. This single subject alternating treatment design study explored the effectiveness of concrete (physical objects that can be manipulated) and virtual (3-D objects from the Internet that can be manipulated) manipulatives to teach single- and double-digit subtraction skills.

Brief report: learning via the electronic interactive whiteboard for two students with autism and a student with moderate intellectual disability.

The effects of a multicomponent intervention (a self-operated video modeling and self-monitoring delivered via an electronic interactive whiteboard (IWB) and a system of least prompts) on skill acquisition and interaction behavior of two students with autism and one student with moderate intellectual disability were examined using a multi-probe across students design. Students were taught to operate and view video modeling clips, perform a chain of novel tasks and self-monitor task performance using a SMART Board IWB. Results support the effectiveness of a multicomponent intervention in improving students' skill acquisition.

Safety assessment of a home-based telecare system for adults with developmental disabilities in Indiana: a multi-stakeholder perspective.

We investigated the perceptions of people about the safety, security and privacy of a telecare monitoring system for adults with developmental disabilities living in residential settings. The telecare system was used by remote caregivers overnight, when staff were not present in the homes. We surveyed 127 people from different stakeholder groups in the state of Indiana.

Considering student choice when selecting instructional strategies: a comparison of three prompting systems.

Three secondary age students with moderate intellectual disabilities learned to use the system of least prompts, a self-operated picture prompting system, and a self-operated auditory prompting system to use a copy machine and a debit machine. Both the effectiveness and efficiency of these prompting systems were compared. Additionally, student preference of instructional method was examined.