Maintaining On-Task Behavior of Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder in the Absence of an Instructor
Step-by-step adult fade plus slower tokens keeps teens with autism on-task even when you leave the room.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Three teens with autism worked on computer math tasks. The adult first stayed in the room and gave tokens for correct work. Then the adult slowly stepped back. First she stood farther away, then sat at a desk, then left for short times. Tokens also came slower. The goal was to keep the kids working accurately even when no one watched.
What they found
All three teens kept doing the work with few mistakes. Their on-task levels stayed high when the adult left the room. The skills held up one month later and with a new task.
How this fits with other research
Carr et al. (1985) showed that unpredictable check-ins work better than fixed schedules. El-Boghdedy et al. (2023) now adds a clear step-by-step fade plan and thinner rewards.
Aman et al. (1987) first proved that autistic adults could keep good behavior in the community with only rare, delayed rewards. The new study copies that idea for teens at desks.
Jessel et al. (2017) used momentary DRO with fading supervision for one teen. The 2023 paper tests the same age group but swaps momentary DRO for prompt fading plus reinforcer thinning. Both work, giving you two tool choices.
Why it matters
You can leave the room without losing productivity. Follow a simple fade map: increase distance, lower praise rate, then step out for brief intervals. Pair it with thinner token delivery. Start this Monday: pick one teen, track on-task minutes, and begin the distance fade. You should see the same work output with less adult glue.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Despite the vast amount of research on increasing independence for individuals with autism spectrum disorder, there is a lack of research on techniques for fostering independent on-task behavior and accuracy in the absence of an instructor. Though increasing distance of the instructor and altering reinforcer delivery have been shown in a few studies to produce independence in the absence of an instructor, no study to date has compared the effects of systematic fading and complete removal of an instructor. In the current study, we evaluated the effects of three conditions on the on-task behavior and accuracy of adolescents with autism spectrum disorder: instructor present (instructor with participant and conditioned reinforcers delivered within session ), instructor absent (instructor not with the participant and no within-session conditioned reinforcers), and instructor fading (gradual, systematic fading of instructor and thinning of within-session conditioned reinforcers). Across all three participants, the intervention was effective in maintaining criterion levels of on-task behavior and accuracy. Responding generalized to novel instructors and remained high during maintenance evaluations for all participants. Clinicians rated the procedures as having high social validity.
Behavior Analysis in Practice, 2023 · doi:10.1007/s40617-022-00712-w