Combining Readers Theater, Story Mapping and Video Self-Modeling Interventions to Improve Narrative Reading Comprehension in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) demonstrate atypical development, resulting in significant deficits in perspective-taking and observational learning. Children with ASD tend to have challenges in social interactions and academic performance, such as comprehending narrative texts, which heavily rely on accurate understanding of the thoughts and feelings of others. However, the current literature provides limited information on effective interventions to address these areas. The present study expands the existing research base by combining Readers Theater, story mapping, and video self-modeling, three separate research-based interventions, into an intervention package for children with ASD. A multiple-baseline across participants design was utilized. Overall, the results indicate that the intervention package successfully improved reading comprehension. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Direct observation in a large-scale randomized trial of parent training in children with autism spectrum disorder and disruptive behavior.

A direct observation strategy (Standardized Observation Analogue Procedure, SOAP) was used in a large-scale randomized trial of parent training versus parent education in young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and disruptive behavior. The 16-minute SOAP, modified from an earlier version of this same measure, included parentchild interaction to assess child behavior in a clinical laboratory setting. Despite study entry criteria for all child participants requiring moderate levels of disruptive behavior in this project, 126 of 168 children with complete SOAP data at baseline showed no disruptive behavior on this measure. Although the primary purpose of the study was to determine whether the SOAP could detect differences between the two conditions (i.e.,parent training (PT) and parent education (PE)), baseline observation data was not consistent with parent ratings at baseline or subsequent follow up visits, leaving little room to demonstrate improvement with this observation measure. This and the challenging, time-consuming and resource intensive effort involved in using such a measure in a large randomized scale trial, raises fundamental questions about the validity of the SOAP as an outcome measure in such a study. Further consideration related to the feasibility and practicality of using direct observation as a primary measure in larger scale efforts overall are also discussed.