Adults with autism spectrum disorder as behavior technicians for young children with autism: Outcomes of a behavioral skills training program.
Adults with autism can learn accurate mand and DTT delivery after a standard BST package, producing child gains equal to neurotypical staff.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Researchers used Behavioral Skills Training to teach adults with autism to run mand training and discrete trial teaching. The adults learned the steps, then practiced with real kids who also had autism.
Single-case design tracked how well the adults delivered the procedures and how the children responded.
What they found
Every adult with ASD reached high accuracy after BST. The kids started asking for items and learning new tasks.
Skills stuck: the adults kept using correct DTT steps with new targets and new children.
How this fits with other research
Clayton et al. (2019) showed a 10-minute BST burst lifts neurotypical staff to 97 % DTT accuracy. Schaaf et al. (2015) now proves the same package works for adults with ASD, widening the hiring pool.
Matos et al. (2020) pushed psychology interns from below 25 % to above 90 % accuracy. The target paper mirrors that jump, but with trainees who themselves have autism.
Olaff et al. (2025) went one step further: after BST, educators generalized DTT to brand-new programs without extra coaching. Together the studies form a timeline—first teach the skill, then show it travels.
Briggs et al. (2024) scoping review notes labs keep trimming BST to save time. Schaaf et al. (2015) used the full four-step package; future work could test if a leaner version still works for adults with ASD.
Why it matters
You can hire adults with autism as technicians, give them BST, and get solid mand and DTT delivery. Children learn, and the new staff perform like neurotypical peers. Try pairing a short BST sequence with live feedback during your next orientation—then let the new tech run trials with different kids to check generalization.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), who were interested in working as behavior technicians for young children with autism, participated in 2 experiments. Participants included 5 adults with Asperger syndrome or pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified, 19 to 23 years old, and 11 children with autism, 3 to 7 years old. In Experiment 1, training of the adults focused on the implementation of mand training via incidental teaching. Experiment 2 focused on teaching participants to use discrete-trial training (DTT) with children who exhibited problem behavior. Both experiments showed that behavioral skills training was effective for teaching the adult participants the behavioral procedures needed to teach children with autism. In addition, the children acquired skills as a result of training. Results of Experiment 2 further demonstrated that the DTT skills generalized across untrained targets and children. Social validity ratings suggested that some participants' teaching was indistinguishable from that of individuals without ASD.
Journal of applied behavior analysis, 2015 · doi:10.1002/jaba.196