Using Prompts to Increase a Teacher's Attention to a Child With Autism Spectrum Disorder in a General Education Class and Effects on the Child's Academic Engagement

Abstract

Study objectives: The present study examined effects of prompts on increasing a teacher's attention to a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in a general education class and on the child's out-of-seat behavior and academic engagement. Design: ABAB design. Setting: A first-grade general education class. Participants: A male elementary school teacher and an 8-year-old girl with autism spectrum disorder. Target behaviors: The teacher's attention to the child, and the child's out-of-seat behavior and academic engagement. Intervention: Functional assessment indicated that the child's out-of-seat behavior was maintained by her teacher's attention. During the intervention, the teacher used a timed vibratory cue device (MotivAider) as a prompt to provide attention to the child when she was seated. The teacher was told not to attend to the child when she was out of her seat. Results: During the intervention, the teacher's attention to the child increased; the child's out-of-seat behavior decreased, and her academic engagement increased. Conclusion: The teacher increased his attention to the child when he was using MotivAider as a prompt, and the child's academic engagement improved.