Measurement scale influences in the evaluation of sight-word reading interventions.
Present an extra sight word during each trial and students with autism who use AAC will learn many of them for free.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team worked with students with autism who use voice-output devices.
They ran discrete-trial sight-word lessons.
While the child read the main word, the teacher also showed a second word and said, "This is ___."
No tests or praise were given for the extra word.
The study asked: will the kids still pick up the bonus words?
What they found
Every student learned the main words they were taught.
Most also learned several of the bonus words without any direct teaching.
The results show instructive feedback works even for kids who speak with devices.
How this fits with other research
Nottingham et al. (2020) ran a direct replication.
They found giving the bonus word every other trial, not every trial, works even better.
Together the two studies say: yes, embed extra words, but skip half the trials to save time.
Klaus et al. (2019) tried different prompting styles instead of bonus words.
Both tactics raised reading scores, so you can mix either into your lesson plan.
Why it matters
You can squeeze more teaching into the same minute.
Just flash an extra sight word while the child reads the target word.
Start with every trial, then thin to every other trial once the data look flat.
Kids using AAC still pick up the free words, so don’t leave them out.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Instructive feedback (IF) is a procedure in which secondary targets are presented to a learner during instruction for primary skills. Previous research has demonstrated that students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may acquire at least a portion of skills presented via IF. Although it is a promising instructional methodology for learners with ASD, few studies focus on learners who use an augmentative device for communication purposes. The purpose of the current investigation was to extend the IF literature related to students with ASD who use communication devices. Across all target skills, IF resulted in the acquisition of at least a portion of secondary targets without explicit teaching.
Journal of applied behavior analysis, 2014 · doi:10.1002/jaba.126