Outcomes of behavioral Intervention for Children with Autism in Mainstream pre- school settings was done by Sigmund Eldvik, Richard Hastings, Erik Jahr, and Carl Hughes. This study was a Behavioral study. The purpose of this study was to show how behavioral intervention positively effects children with Autism in classrooms. Also, the goal was to portray how intervention can improve children’s ability to learn in different settings compared to other children in the classroom.
The subjects in the study were thirty-one children with autism that received behavioral intervention. Twelve of the children received regular treatment, with no intervention. Children that were chosen were between the ages of two and six with variations in intellectual disabilities. The study was done in multiple settings- center based and child care settings. The children chosen without a bias being present in order for the study to be effective. The pre- schools they placed the children in received an additional staff member per child and received training from specialist that had knowledge on the children with autism. The staff that were placed in the classrooms were to collect data and observe the children during the behavioral intervention.
In the study, the children were placed in preschool settings and then the staff was to determine if they needed a referral after observing them. To organize the intervention, the staff were placed in small groups to form an intervention team. This was done to ensure the child did not get adapted to only one member. The team members were trained with workshops in order to know how to interact with the children with autism and coordinate classroom activities effectively. Based on the child’s progress each week, the intervention team would come together and reevaluate the plan and intervention they have for the child. In order to keep the team updated, the child was engaged in about ten to twenty teaching activities a week. Other activities were managed outside of the classroom to make sure generalized activities were included. The children in classroom had to perform basic tasks, when the task was mastered more complex skills were given to perform.
Multiple types of interventions were used to compensate for each child’s needs. It was found that, “The intervention was qualitatively different because of the focus on small numbers of selected programs rather than a comprehensive model”. 1 Due to the intervention being more of a clinical task, measurements of the time spent on intervention within the different groups could not be calculated precisely. After the intervention was finished, intellectual functioning and adaptive behavior tests were done by professionals. In the intervention group, about nineteen percent had positive change in their IQ score and the nonintervention children showed little or no change. After two years of intervention, drastic changes were noticed in these children affecting their social skills, communication, learning abilities, and academic success. Due to the children with autism being in a mainstream classroom with their peers, gave them more opportunity for growth and for the conductors of this study to see notable differences. The outcomes of the study concluded that intervention in the mainstream classroom can be more beneficial for children with autism rather than being in a special education classroom.
I found this study to be extremely insightful and eye opening. I believe that this study is a tremendous resource for mainstream teachers and teachers in special education classrooms. Based on the findings, teachers and intervention teams can thoroughly evaluate a child before determining if they belong in a main stream of special education classroom. Determining where the child should be placed is important because it can severely affect their performance and potentially their future. If a child with autism is placed in a special education classroom and is not performing to the standards the teacher and team want, it should be taken into consideration if it would be more beneficial to place that student in a mainstream classroom with daily or weekly intervention. The roles being switched is just as important, if a child is placed in a mainstream classroom and should potentially be in a special education classroom due to their more specific needs, measures should be taken in order to determine the best placement for that child.
Brianna's Education Journey 