Teaching and Behavior Support for Children and Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Practitioner’s Guide

The number of children diagnosed with autism has increased dramatically in the last decade, and a growing number of behavior analysts, psychologists, educators, and speech pathologists-to name a few-are just starting to regularly treat individuals with autism. Children and adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) require specialized instruction and behavior support to teach them critical skills and establish a meaningful quality of life. However, these objectives can only be achieved if professional and paraprofessional service providers have access to the most effective evidence-based and empirically supported methods for teaching children with autism. Similarly, practitioners must know about effective intervention methods that can be implemented to reduce and eliminate problem behaviors frequently displayed by people who have ASD.

This guide is an indispensible asset, appropriate for any behavioral specialist, on all aspects of this increasingly prevalent disorder. Teaching and Behavior Support for Children and Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder brings together contributed chapters on assessment, instruction, and behavioral intervention procedures unique to the autism population. Each chapter covers a single topic according to a uniform format, which will ease comprehension and facilitate procedural adaptation in "real world" settings such as school, home, and the community. Usable advice and methods for teaching difficult skills, such as self-care, verbal language, and communication, are provided. Authored by recognized experts, the concise and readable chapters also feature forms, illustrations, summary tables, and resource lists to further guide practitioners in selecting "best practice" methods. Taking into account specific settings, different age groups, and practitioner experience, this book will serve as a resource for educators, psychologists, and behavior specialists in the field of autism education and treatment, and as an educational tool for those enrolled in university classes training to become practitioners.

"This book provides practitioners with a concise and practical overview of critical evidence-based approaches. It is a well-organized and readable resource that should be required reading for anyone working with people on the autism spectrum."--V. Mark Durand, Professor of Psychology, University of South Florida St. Petersburg and Co-Editor, Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions

"Dr. Luiselli is a master editor who, in this volume, has compiled a rich, well-organized collection of practical tips and suggestions for helping people with autism spectrum disorders. This promises to be a heavily-used guidebook that will prove its worth over and over again. This well-organized volume is a rare and eminently useful contribution to the applied literature. It will be of great value to all professionals and parents concerned with helping people with ASD."--Glen Dunlap, Ph.D., Division of Applied Research and Educational Support, Department of Child and Family Studies, Florida Mental Health Institute, University of South Florida

"Designing support for individuals with ASD has become increasingly complex as new knowledge, strategies and sensitivity have emerged. In this volume, James Luiselli has assembled an impressive breadth of information in a condensed format. Nationally recognized clinicians and scholars provide 27 chapters that distil current knowledge across four large sections: Assessment, Teaching, Problem Behavior and "how to" Guidelines. The result allows families and practitioners to survey the evidence-based assessment, instruction and intervention approaches most likely to be helpful for children and adults with ASD."--Rob Horner, Ph.D., Alumni-Knight Professor, Special Education and Director of the Educational and Community Supports Research Unit, University of Oregon