An Examination of the Effects of a Classroom Activity Schedule on Levels of Self-Injury and Engagement for a Child with Severe Autism (original) (raw)

Abstract

We examined the effects of an individualized schedule on levels of engagement and self-injury for a student with severe autism. We first conducted a series of functional analyses to identify contexts in which self-injury occurred in his classroom. Results of the functional analyses suggested that self-injury was associated with academic demands. Self-injury rarely occurred during the play and no interaction conditions (i.e., when the teacher was present but did not attend to him) of the functional analysis. Furthermore, when the functional analysis conditions were organized according to a specific schedule (no interaction–play–demand) self-injury did not occur. This schedule of activities was then evaluated within the context of his regular curriculum and produced substantial reductions in self-injury and increases in engagement. Positive results maintained for up to five months following the assessment. These findings seem to indicate that functional analysis methodologies might provide helpful information when developing individualized schedules for students who may not have the skills to comprehend and follow a schedule.

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Authors and Affiliations

1. The University of Texas at Austin, Austin
   Mark O’Reilly, Jeff Sigafoos & Chaturi Edrisinha
2. Department of Psychology, University of Bari , Via Quintino Sella 268, 70100, Bari, Italy
   Giulio Lancioni
3. Autistic Treatment Center of San Antanio, 1611 Nacogdoches Road, 78247, San Antonio, Texas
   Alonzo Andrews
4. Department of Special Education , The University of Texas at Austin , 1 University Station D5300, Austin, TX , 78712 , USA
   Mark O’Reilly

Authors

1. Mark O’Reilly
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2. Jeff Sigafoos
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3. Giulio Lancioni
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4. Chaturi Edrisinha
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5. Alonzo Andrews
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Correspondence toMark O’Reilly.

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O’Reilly, M., Sigafoos, J., Lancioni, G. et al. An Examination of the Effects of a Classroom Activity Schedule on Levels of Self-Injury and Engagement for a Child with Severe Autism.J Autism Dev Disord 35, 305–311 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-005-3294-1

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• Issue Date: June 2005
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-005-3294-1

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