Behavioral Implications of Asperger's/Autism

One method of teaching on the autism spectrum is called Discrete Trial Training (DTT).  DTT addresses seven main areas children in the autism spectrum often struggle with when learning. 

First, attention is addressed because autistic children often have very short attention spans.  DTT starts with short simple interactions and slowly increases as the child attention span increases. 

Next motivation is explored.  DTT attempts to build motivation by rewarding desired behavior and completion of tasks with reinforcements.  Often food, toys, and free time play are used as rewards.  The reinforcement is paired with social praise in hopes the child will eventually be weaned from tangible reinforcements and be motivated by verbal praise instead.

Next, stimulus control is addressed.  Stimulus control takes into consideration the environmental factors such as school bells, alarms, and the weather that often bogs down children within the autism spectrum.  DTT rewards students for giving more attention to more beneficial stimuli.

Students in the autism spectrum also have difficulty with generalization.  They often have difficulty applying a behavior or skill across a number of environments.  DTT programs change over time the teacher giving instruction and the content of instruction.

It is also common for children in the autism spectrum to have difficulty pick up cues from their environment.  DTT explicitly teaches cause-effect learning.

Since communication is such a difficult area for many in the autism spectrum DTT instruction starts out simple with concrete examples.  As the child progresses and receptive language becomes stronger, instructions become more complex.

Finally DTT explicitly teaches perspectives of others and understanding social and behavioral expectations.

DTT is a structured method that addresses many of the behavioral deficits children in the autism spectrum face.  The web site www.polyxo.com has data collecting sheets, assessments, and many specific tools used for instruction using the DTT methods.