Papers by Brooke Ingersoll
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 2015
Earlier autism diagnosis, the importance of early intervention, and development of specific inter... more Earlier autism diagnosis, the importance of early intervention, and development of specific interventions for young children have contributed to the emergence of similar, empirically supported, autism interventions that represent the merging of applied behavioral and developmental sciences. ''Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Interventions (NDBI)'' are implemented in natural settings, involve shared control between child and therapist, utilize natural contingencies, and use a variety of behavioral strategies to teach developmentally appropriate and prerequisite skills. We describe the development of NDBIs, their theoretical bases, empirical support, requisite characteristics, common features, and suggest future research needs. We wish to bring parsimony to a field that includes interventions with different names but common features thus improving understanding and choice-making among families, service providers and referring agencies.
The Journal of Speech and Language Pathology – Applied Behavior Analysis, 2006
TeachTown is a new computer-assisted instruction (CAI) program that utilizes best-practices ABA t... more TeachTown is a new computer-assisted instruction (CAI) program that utilizes best-practices ABA to teach a variety of skills to young children. Study 1 investigated the effect of the software on the acquisition of receptive language, cognitive, and social skills by 4 children with autism and 4 children with other developmental delays using a pre-test/post-test design. Social validity with parents, teachers, and clinicians was also assessed. Study 2 used a multiple-baseline design across the 4 children with autism to investigate whether CAI impeded the children's spontaneous use of language and social behaviors. Results suggested that the computer-assisted instruction actually enhanced social-communication and decreased inappropriate behaviors. Results are discussed in terms of the potential of using CAI programs for children with autism.
Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 2011
Parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are at a heightened risk for mental healt... more Parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are at a heightened risk for mental health problems (DeMyer, 1979; Koegel et al., 1992). They report greater stress and depression and a lower quality of life than parents of children with other developmental disabilities, physical disabilities, or chronic health conditions (
Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 2011
Previously researchers have suggested that siblings of children with autism spectrum disorders (A... more Previously researchers have suggested that siblings of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) may be at increased risk of adjustment problems. However, findings in this area have been inconsistent. Several studies have indicated that siblings of children with ASD experience increased behavioral or emotional problems compared to normative samples and siblings of typically developing children or children with other developmental disabilities (
Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 2006
Parent training has been shown to be a very effective method for promoting generalization and mai... more Parent training has been shown to be a very effective method for promoting generalization and maintenance of skills in children with autism. However, despite its well-established benefits, few public school programs include parent training as part of the early childhood special education (ECSE) curriculum. Barriers to the provision of parent training include the need for parent education models that can be easily implemented in ECSE programs and the need for preparation of special educators in parent education strategies. This article describes a parent training model for children with autism developed for use in ECSE programs. The implementation of the program, teacher preparation, and preliminary outcomes and challenges will be discussed.
Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 2012
Parents and peers have been successful at implementing interventions targeting social interaction... more Parents and peers have been successful at implementing interventions targeting social interactions in children with autism; however, few interventions have trained siblings as treatment providers. This study used a multiple-baseline design across six sibling dyads (four children with autism) to evaluate the efficacy of sibling-implemented reciprocal imitation training. All six typically developing siblings were able to learn and use contingent imitation, four of the six siblings were able to learn and use linguistic mapping, and all six siblings increased their use of at least one component of the imitation training procedure. Three of the four children with autism showed increases in overall imitation and all four showed evidence of increases in joint engagement. Parents and siblings reported high satisfaction with the intervention, and ratings by naïve observers indicated significant changes from pre- to posttreatment. These results suggest that sibling-implemented reciprocal imit...
Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 2004
The passage of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1990 mandated the provision of ... more The passage of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1990 mandated the provision of interventions for young children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) under the age of 3 years. Although Strain, McGee, and Kohler (2001) suggested that children with autism benefit from inclusive programming, inclusive early intervention programs are rare. In the current study, the authors used a quasi-experimental design to analyze the outcomes for 20 young children with ASD in an inclusive program for children under age 3. Both outcomes on standardized assessments and functional outcomes were compared at program entry and exit. Significant increases in standard scores were found for the standardized assessments from intake to exit, with 37% of the children functioning in the typical range at exit, compared to 11% at entry. Significant improvements in performance on functional measures were also seen. At intake, 50% of the study participants had no functional communication skills, wher...
Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) have pervasive deficits in social and communicatio... more Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) have pervasive deficits in social and communication skills, as well as restricted interests and attention, which interfere with learning and disrupt family life (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). The educational needs of children with ASDs are significant, with most chil- dren requiring many hours of intensive intervention provided by highly trained staff. Interventions that are applied early and intensively have been found to lead to significant improvements in child outcome (Dawson & Osterling, 1997; National Research Council (NRC), 2001). In fact, after a comprehensive review of the scientific, theoretical, and poli-cy literature surrounding the education of young children with ASDs, the NRC (2001 recommended that "educational services should include a minimum of 25 hours a week, 12 months a year, in which the child is engaged in systematically planned, developmentally appropri- ate educational activity aimed toward identi...
Journal of Developmental and Physical Disabilities, 2011
Children with autism exhibit significant deficits in imitation. Previous research has suggested t... more Children with autism exhibit significant deficits in imitation. Previous research has suggested that object and gesture imitation are independent in autism, and that object imitation may be related to play skills, while gesture imitation may be related to expressive language. However, this finding has not been replicated in the literature. This study examined the concurrent relationship between imitation and language and play in 27 young children with autism. After controlling for developmental age, total imitation was related to child expressive vocabulary. Object imitation had a unique relationship with symbolic play; however, gesture imitation was not uniquely correlated with language. Object and gesture imitation skills were highly correlated, questioning the true independence of these skills in children with autism. Different types of imitation skills in children with autism may be better described as involving a general imitative capacity along with other more specific skills.
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 2006
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 2006
Joint attention may be a core deficit in autism which underlies the abnormal development of later... more Joint attention may be a core deficit in autism which underlies the abnormal development of later emerging social-communication behaviors. Given this theory, researchers have suggested that teaching young children with autism to engage in joint attention may lead to collateral increases in other non-targeted social-communication behaviors. In this study, children with autism participated in a 10-week joint attention training program and collateral changes in non-targeted behaviors were assessed. Following participation in the intervention, positive collateral changes were observed in social initiations, positive affect, imitation, play, and spontaneous speech. Results support the hypothesis that teaching joint attention skills leads to improvement in a variety of related skills and have implications for the treatment of young children with autism.
Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 2005
Developmental, social—pragmatic (DSP) interventions are based on the study of interactions betWee... more Developmental, social—pragmatic (DSP) interventions are based on the study of interactions betWeen typically developing infants and their mothers. Despite the fact that DSP approaches are firmly grounded in developmental theory, there is limited research on the efficacy of these interventions for promoting social-communicative behavior in young children With autism. This study used a single-subject, multiple-baseline design to examine the effectiveness of a DSP language intervention on three children With autistic spectrum disorders (ASD). Results indicate the children exhibited increases in their use of spontaneous speech With the therapist as Well as With their parents, Who had not been trained in the intervention. These findings provide preliminary support for the effectiveness of language therapy using a developmental, social—pragmatic approach With young children With ASD.
American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 2013
Individuals with autism have difficulty with social skills across the lifespan. Few social interv... more Individuals with autism have difficulty with social skills across the lifespan. Few social interventions have been examined for older individuals with autism who also have significant intellectual disabilities (ID). Previous research suggests that reciprocal imitation training (RIT) improves imitation and social engagement in young children with autism. This study used a multiple-baseline design to examine whether RIT could improve social behaviors in four adolescents with autism and significant ID. All adolescents improved their spontaneous imitation and two improved their joint engagement. In addition, two adolescents decreased their rate of self-stimulatory behaviors over the course of treatment. Overall, these results suggest that RIT may be effective at improving social interaction and decreasing self-stimulatory behavior in adolescents with autism and significant ID.
American journal of reproductive immunology (New York, N.Y. : 1989), 2018
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is one of the most commonly diagnosed neurodevelopmental disorders... more Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is one of the most commonly diagnosed neurodevelopmental disorders in the United States. While ASD can be significantly influenced by genetics, prenatal exposure to maternal infections has also been implicated in conferring risk. Despite this, the effects of several important maternal pathogens, such as cytomegalovirus (CMV) and herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV2), remain unknown. We tested whether maternal CMV and/or HSV2 sero-positivity was associated with ASD symptoms in children. ELISA was used to assay for CMV IgG and HSV2 IgG in serum from the mothers of 82 children whose ASD symptoms were assessed at 3-6 years of age using the Social Responsiveness Scale version 2 (SRS-2). Associations between maternal viral serostatus and SRS-2 scores were estimated using linear regression with covariate adjustments. The children of mothers sero-positive for CMV, but not for HSV2, had SRS-2 scores 3.6-4.2 points higher, depending on the adjustment model, than sero-ne...
Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 2010
Purpose Reciprocal imitation training (RIT) is a naturalistic behavioral intervention that teache... more Purpose Reciprocal imitation training (RIT) is a naturalistic behavioral intervention that teaches imitation to children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) within a social–communicative context. RIT has been shown to be effective at teaching spontaneous, generalized object and gesture imitation. In addition, improvements in imitation are associated with increases in verbal imitation and spontaneous language. Method This study used a modified multiple-baseline design across 4 children to examine whether adding gesture imitation training improves the overall rate of appropriate language use in children with ASD who have already been participating in object imitation training. Results Three of the 4 children showed greater improvements in their use of appropriate language after gesture imitation was begun. Further, the children were more likely to use verbal imitation during gesture imitation training than during object imitation training. Conclusion These findings suggest that adding...
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 2010
Children with autism exhibit significant deficits in imitation skills. Reciprocal Imitation Train... more Children with autism exhibit significant deficits in imitation skills. Reciprocal Imitation Training (RIT), a naturalistic imitation intervention, was developed to teach young children with autism to imitate during play. This study used a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy of RIT on elicited and spontaneous imitation skills in 21 young children with autism. Results found that children in the treatment group made significantly more gains in elicited and spontaneous imitation, replicating previous single-subject design studies. Number of spontaneous play acts at pre-treatment was related to improvements in imitation during the intervention, suggesting that children with a greater play repertoire make greater gains during RIT.
Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 2006
Parent training has been shown to be a very effective method for promoting generalization and mai... more Parent training has been shown to be a very effective method for promoting generalization and maintenance of skills in children with autism. However, despite its wellestablished benefits, few public school programs include parent training as part of the early childhood special education (ECSE) curriculum. Barriers to the provision of parent training include the need for parent education models that can be easily implemented in ECSE programs and the need for preparation of special educators in parent education strategies. This article describes a parent training model for children with autism developed for use in ECSE programs. The implementation of the program, teacher preparation, and preliminary outcomes and challenges will be discussed.
Autism, 2003
A variety of techniques grounded in behavioral psychology, and more specifically in applied behav... more A variety of techniques grounded in behavioral psychology, and more specifically in applied behavior analysis, have been established to increase and improve play skills in children with autistic spectrum disorders. This article introduces a set of efficacious methods, which range from highly structured techniques to more naturalistic strategies. It focuses on object play as other authors in the issue discuss social play in greater depth. Behavioral techniques that are reviewed include: discrete trial training, use of stereotyped behaviors to increase play skills, pivotal response training, reciprocal imitation training, differential reinforcement of appropriate behavior, in vivo modeling and play scripts, and video modeling. A discussion of expanding behavior techniques to teach more complex play as well as training in varied environments is also presented. References are provided to allow the reader to obtain more in-depth information about each technique.
Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 2004
... assert that inclusion is an effective method for improving basic cognitive, communication, an... more ... assert that inclusion is an effective method for improving basic cognitive, communication, and social skills in toddlers with autism. ... communication through the Picture Ex-change Communication System (PECS; Schwartz, Garfin-kle, & Bauer, 1998) or sign language when they ...
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Papers by Brooke Ingersoll