Acquisition des comportements sécuritaires de circulation piétonnière chez un enfant autiste

Adaptive skills are required for adequate functioning in one's daily environment. These skills are especially important to individuals with autism and related conditions because they constitute the main contributing factor to the individual's ability to function independently and efficiently in society, even more than on cognitive level. Adaptive skills are also strongly correlated with prognosis. It justifies the importance of working on the acquisition of these abilities. Thus, a pedestrian training program was used to teach security skills to a 5-year-old child with autism. During the behavioural training condition, the subject was submitted to a continuous reinforcement program of appropriate crosswalk behavior in his natural urban environment. Average adequate behaviours went from 3.33% at baseline to 83% after the training program. These skills were still in the child's repertoire at the two weeks and eight months follow-up.