Academic Technologies for College Students With Intellectual Disability.

Institutes of higher education have encountered an increase in enrollment of students with intellectual disability (ID). This increase is due, in part, to societal movements (e.g., inclusive participation in life activities) and federal legislation. There are potential benefits to both individuals with ID and society when students within this population complete college (e.g., earn certificates, a collection of completed courses and experiences, increased future employment opportunities). Nevertheless, there are barriers to college that students with ID need to overcome to have successful experiences, particularly in their academic or functional academic courses. This paper presents numerous instructional technologies grounded in behavior analytic strategies and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) that university faculty might implement in their courses and/or recommend to their students for studying to facilitate the learning of college students with ID and their classmates.

A Comparison of Video Prompting to Least-to-Most Prompting among Children with Autism and Intellectual Disability.

Students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and intellectual disability (ID) may experience challenges when learning tasks that are complex and require numerous steps. This difficulty can lead to employment issues for this population of learners. Therefore, researchers have explored methods to teach employment-related tasks to students with ASD and ID. Two such procedures are video prompting (VP) and least-to-most prompting. These procedures are frequently combined as an intervention package to boost student responding. The purpose of this study was to explore which of these interventions was more effective and efficient when used to teach office tasks to individuals with ASD and ID. Three adolescent students participated in this study. Using the adapted alternating treatments design, we found that VP was more effective and efficient for two participants, whereas least-to-most prompting was more effective but less efficient for the remaining participant. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Promoting Daily Living Skills for Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder via Parent Delivery of Video Prompting.

The use of technological devices has proven to be effective and efficient for the delivery of videos aimed at promoting daily living skills (DLS) among individuals with autism spectrum disorder. As technology advances, devices have become more portable and, ultimately, accessible to caregivers. There are relatively few studies that have examined whether parents can be taught to effectively deliver evidence-based practices using portable, mainstream devices. Using a multiple baseline across participants design, we evaluated parent fidelity in the delivery of video prompts on an iPad to their children who were learning DLS. Results indicated that parents were successful in their delivery of the training procedures and their children acquired and maintained the skills.

Teaching Young Adults with Intellectual Disability Grocery Shopping Skills in a Community Setting Using Least-to-Most Prompting.

Using a multiple probe design, we examined the effects of least-to-most prompting to teach young adults with intellectual disability (ID) to locate and select items using a grocery list presented on an iPad. Sessions were conducted entirely in a community grocery store. The results indicated that participants learned to use an initial grocery list, with one participant demonstrating the ability to use a re-sequenced grocery list and a list with novel items. These results are discussed along with implications for practice.

The Effectiveness of Direct Instruction in Teaching Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder to Answer "Wh-" Questions.

Research on the effects of Direct Instruction (DI) among students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has only recently emerged. A benefit of DI is that it can be implemented with groups of students, which makes it potentially a cost effective method of instruction for some skills. In this study, we examined the effects of DI on teaching secondary students with ASD to answer three "wh-" questions. Using a multiple probe design across behaviors, results indicated the participants mastered two of the three "wh-" question types and made progress with the remaining question type. These results are discussed along with implications for educators instructing students with ASD.

The effects of covert audio coaching on teaching clerical skills to adolescents with autism spectrum disorder.

Employment instruction for secondary students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has received very little attention in the professional literature. However, adults with ASD usually have difficulty maintaining employment for a variety of reasons, including problems with performing work tasks. This study used a multiple baseline design across participants to examine the effects of performance feedback on the participants' ability to independently make photocopies. Feedback was delivered privately through a two-way radio and earbud speaker. The results support the conclusion that the intervention, covert audio coaching, was effective in increasing the participants' accuracy in making photocopies. Specifically, participants demonstrated mastery of the skill within 4-5 sessions, and their improvements maintained for several weeks following intervention.