Effect of Teacher-Mediated Discrete-Trial Training in Improving Communication Skills of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of teacher-mediated discrete trial training in improving the communication skills of children with Autism. The research deployed an ABAB research design, ABAB was divided into 4 phases; A1, B1, A2, and B2. A1 was a baseline, B1 was treatment, A2 was the removal of the treatment, and B2 was the treatment resumed following the break, and at last, a follow-up was conducted. In the study, three children with ASD who fulfilled the inclusionary criteria received Discrete-Trial Training from their teachers. In the study, the instruments used for assessment were social communication questionnaire-Lifetime, Autism diagnostic interview-revised, and Vineland -3 Adaptive behavioral scale (communication domain). To examine the intervention effect on each participant, visual analysis, raw score, v-scale score, and standard score comparisons were used. The study result indicated that teachers successfully learned the procedures of DTT and significantly improved the communication skills of students with ASD. This research shows that when DTT intervention is found important for children with ASD, teachers obtain intensive training to learn techniques and deliver interventions with fidelity. Training further allows teachers to improve the skills of children with ASD.