Design, implementation, and evaluation of a behavioral intervention package for parents of children with Asperger’s Syndrome

This research seeks to create a viable behavioral intervention package by designing, implementing and evaluating a treatment program for three children (ages 5, 7 and 13) with Asperger’s syndrome. These children’s parents were trained in the implementation of the treatment plan. Training procedures used with the parents included in-vivo modeling, shaping and positive practice. Parents were trained in the implementation of four behavioral procedures to modify disruptive behavior in their children. These procedures included the use of the Premack principle, verbal praise, manual guidance and time out of reinforcement. As a means to achieve generalization, training was conducted in each participant’s home. After training, all parents were able to successfully implement the program with their children, achieving significant reductions in oppositional behavior, inappropriate verbal behavior, and motor mannerisms. Parents were also able to achieve significant increments in their children’s social skills and autonomy.