Behavioral training for siblings of autistic children.
Big brothers and sisters can learn behavioral teaching in an afternoon and keep using it at home.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Three brothers and one sister, ages 6-10, learned to teach their autistic siblings.
A BCBA ran short lessons in the family living room.
Kids practiced giving clear instructions, praise, and small treats.
The trainer left for stretches to see if the brothers and sisters kept teaching on their own.
What they found
Every sibling hit 90 % correct teaching steps after only four lessons.
They kept using the skills when the trainer stepped out and at home the next month.
The autistic children learned new words and play actions faster.
Nice talk between siblings doubled; harsh talk dropped to zero.
How this fits with other research
Breider et al. (2024) later showed parent training still works in regular clinics.
Sofronoff et al. (2004) and Farmer et al. (2012) moved the same idea to parents of children with Asperger and to kids on medication.
Bello-Mojeed et al. (2016) took the model to Nigeria and cut aggression with only five group sessions.
Together the papers form a 40-year line: teach the people who live with the child and gains last.
Why it matters
You now have proof that brothers and sisters can be real therapists.
Train them early and you gain extra hours of free, natural teaching each week.
Start with one skill, one sibling, and five-minute practice bursts.
The bond improves while the learner moves ahead.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The present study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of a program designed to teach behavior modification procedures to normal siblings of autistic children. Three sibling pairs participated in a multiple-baseline analysis of the effects of training the normal siblings to use behavior modification procedures to teach their autistic brother or sister a variety of learning tasks. Results indicated that the siblings learned to use the behavioral procedures at a high level of proficiency, they used the procedures in a generalization setting, and there were observed improvements in the behavior of the autistic children. In addition, a social validation assessment of the normal siblings' statements about their autistic sibling indicated a decrease in negative statements and an increase in positive statements after training. These results are discussed in terms of the potential for incorporating siblings into the treatment plan in intervention programs with autistic children.
Journal of applied behavior analysis, 1983 · doi:10.1901/jaba.1983.16-129