Evaluating tasks within a high‐probability request sequence in children with autism spectrum disorder
Use real-life, varied warm-ups in your high-p sequence to get kids with autism to follow the big request.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Planer and team tested three kids with autism. They wanted to know what makes a high-probability request sequence work best.
Each child got four kinds of sequences: relevant tasks in fixed order, relevant tasks in mixed order, silly tasks in fixed order, and silly tasks in mixed order. The adult gave five quick, easy requests, then one harder request. They counted how often the child did the hard one.
What they found
Relevant tasks won. When the warm-up requests matched the child's daily routine, compliance with the hard request jumped.
Mixing the order helped two of the three kids. Fixed order worked fine for the third. Overall, relevant plus variable gave the biggest boost.
How this fits with other research
Wilder et al. (2020) took the next step. They added a favorite toy after the first prompt in three-step guided compliance. Kids who failed either method alone now obeyed. Planer showed which tasks to pick; Wilder showed how to sweeten the deal.
Kirshner et al. (2016) looks like a contradiction. Their preschoolers with autism obeyed less often than typical peers. But they watched free-play, not a structured high-p sequence. Young kids in loose settings need more support; Planer's structured routine closes that gap.
Leon et al. (2023) warns that variable order can spark problem behavior during transitions. Yet Planer saw more compliance with mixed order. The difference: Leon changed the entire schedule; Planer only shuffled five quick tasks. Small, predictable variety helps; big, sudden change hurts.
Why it matters
Pick warm-up requests the child already meets in daily life: handing over a toy, clapping, sitting. Shuffle the order so the sequence feels fresh. Start with five, then give the real request. This simple tweak can turn a stubborn "no" into a quick "okay" without extra toys or tokens.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
AbstractNoncompliance is common in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Antecedent interventions offer effective alternative to consequence procedures to decrease noncompliance. Although high‐probability request sequences have been shown to be effective, previous research has not evaluated types of tasks within a high‐probability request sequence. We compared the effects of relevant and irrelevant high‐probability tasks on compliance to low‐probability (low‐p) requests in children with ASD. After high levels of compliance to low‐p tasks were achieved across relevant and irrelevant conditions, fixed and variable presentations of high‐probability requests were compared. Results showed that relevant high‐probability requests increased the percentage of compliance more than irrelevant high‐probability requests across participants as compared with baseline. For two of three participants, variable presentations of the high‐probability requests resulted in higher percentages of compliance than fixed presentations. Results suggest that a variable presentation of relevant tasks should be considered within the high‐probability request sequence.
Behavioral Interventions, 2018 · doi:10.1002/bin.1634