Evaluating the effectiveness of a comprehensive staff training package for behavioral interventions for children with autism

The effectiveness of behavioral interventions for the treatment of young children with autism has been well documented in professional literature. The success of these procedures, however, depends on the fidelity of implementation and proper training of the therapist. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a 125-skill, comprehensive staff training package that involved a graduated sequence of teaching. In addition to changes in skills, participant satisfaction and training time were also assessed. Correct demonstration of skills increased following training, incorrect implementation decreased, teachers rated the procedures favorably, and the total training took between 20 and 32.5 h for over 120 skills to reach mastery criteria. A discussion of the results as well as implications for future research is also provided.

Research highlights▶ The results of the present study indicate that utilizing antecedent and consequent strategies for training and a graduated sequence of introduction to the intervention skills was effective for training behavior analysts to work with children with autism. ▶ Over 120 skills reached mastery in 20–32.5 h of training. ▶ The results of the present study were consistent with research that has indicated that a graduated introduction to the instructional stimulus conditions can be an effective and “learner friendly” approach when training a complex skill set. ▶ A comprehensive staff training package, as opposed to several partial training procedures, may increase the adoption of behavioral approaches to staff training within agencies serving children with autism.