Effectiveness of the Direct Instruction Language for Learning Curriculum Among Children Diagnosed With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Many children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) exhibit difficulties with complex language and social communication. Direct Instruction (DI) is an empirically supported curriculum designed to teach complex language skills to children with and at risk of learning disabilities. Only recent...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Focus on autism and other developmental disabilities 2015-03, Vol.30 (1), p.44-56
Main Authors: Shillingsburg, M. Alice, Bowen, Crystal N., Peterman, Richard K., Gayman, Mathew D.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Autism
Children & youth
Effectiveness
Interpersonal communication
Intervention
Language
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Many children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) exhibit difficulties with complex language and social communication. Direct Instruction (DI) is an empirically supported curriculum designed to teach complex language skills to children with and at risk of learning disabilities. Only recently, the effectiveness of DI has been evaluated among children with autism. The present study evaluated the effectiveness of the DI Language for Learning curriculum among 18 children diagnosed with ASD. Immediate post-intervention language scores on curriculum post-tests were significantly higher than pre-intervention scores and remained significantly higher than pre-intervention scores up to 6 to 8 months following the intervention. Comparing language skills across groups, children already exposed to the intervention exhibited significantly higher language skills than their non-exposed waitlist counterparts.
ISSN:1088-3576
1538-4829
DOI:10.1177/1088357614532498