DISCRETE-TRIALS TEACHING WITH CHILDREN WITH AUTISM: TEACHING AND EVALUATING THE TEACHERS

Discrete-trials teaching (DTT) is commonly used for delivering applied behavior analysis (ABA) treatment for children with autism. Although individuals trained in DTT are in high demand, there are relatively few studies examining DTT training and assessment procedures. We developed and field tested the Discrete-Trials Teaching Evaluation Form (DTTEF). Our research indicates that the 20 components of the DTTEF can be used to provide a valid and reliable assessment of the quality of one-to-one DTT sessions conducted by instructors. We also developed and evaluated the effectiveness of a self-instructional manual for training newly-hired tutors (in an ABA program for children with autism) how to conduct DTT sessions with a confederate role-playing a child with autism. After an average of 4.6 hours to master the self-instructional manual, tutors showed an average improvement in DTT accuracy of 39% from Baseline. If tutors did not reach a mastery criterion of 80% correct on DTT skills after reading the manual, they were asked to watch a brief video demonstration of a highly-trained individual conducting DTT with a child role-playing a child with autism. Tutors´ accuracy in delivering DTT improved an average of an additional 10% from after reading the manual to watching the video. These results suggest that self-instructional strategies have significant potential for instructing participants to conduct discrete-trials teaching.