Attending and readiness responding is a prerequisite to success in any learning environment. To learn from instruction in the classroom, students should be prepared to look at and listen to instructions and other relevant stimuli. This may require sitting or standing in one place for some period, and refraining from distracting behavior. These skills can be directly taught using shaping, a targeted procedure whereby reinforcement is provided following responding that is progressively closer to the desired response. Although attending and readiness many students with autism do not reliably engage in effective session behavior, and this may impede their progress in educational programming. In this study we observe and document session behavior in one-to-one teaching arrangements to learn what components of the skill set are most commonly missing, and then we will develop and evaluate a procedure for training teachers to build these skills in their students.
Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC)
Autism Research Database (AFD)
