Abstract
By engaging with family members through video-chat technology, children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may access additional opportunities to develop social connections to build familial cohesion and access emotional support. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a behavioral intervention package in teaching social conversation via video-chat. Using a non-concurrent multiple-baseline across participants with an embedded alternating treatments design, three seven-year-old males with ASD were taught two variations of a social conversation. Their conversation skills generalized to unfamiliar adults, some of whom had no prior experience with children with ASD. When visual supports were removed, participants appropriately varied their social conversations. Social conversations continued to occur 2 weeks following the completion of the study. Results and implications are discussed.
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This research was supported in part by the Clifford B. Kinley Trust.
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MTB conceived and designed the study. MTB and SYK conducted the research sessions. MTB, SYK, MJR, ESS, and MYSB performed data analyses. MTB, MJR, and ESS wrote the manuscript. MTB, SYK, MJR, ESS, and MYSB contributed to the final version of the manuscript.
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Brodhead, M.T., Kim, S.Y., Rispoli, M.J. et al. A Pilot Evaluation of a Treatment Package to Teach Social Conversation via Video-Chat. J Autism Dev Disord 49, 3316–3327 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-019-04055-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-019-04055-4