The effectiveness of direct instruction in teaching students with autism spectrum disorders to answer “wh-” questions

Teachers of students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) often struggle to find effective instructional methods to use with their students on a daily basis. The characteristic verbal, social, and behavioral limitations of children with ASD make finding effective teaching methods difficult. Though some intensive intervention methods, such as discrete trial teaching (DTT), have numerous studies demonstrating their effectiveness with students with ASD, the required one-on-one format makes it impractical to use in a classroom setting on a regular basis. Direct Instruction (DI) appears in the literature as a promising intervention for students with developmental disabilities. One benefit of DI is that, unlike DTT and similar interventions, it can be implemented in a group format. This group format provides a practical alternative for classroom teachers to use with their students with ASD. This study utilized a multiple probe across behaviors design to further investigate the use of DI to teach high school students with ASD how to answer “wh-” questions. The researcher used the Science Research Associates (SRA) Reading Mastery language program, which is a DI program designed to develop language skills. Three participants between the ages of 15 and 17 participated in 20-25 minute instructional sessions four times a week for eight weeks. Data were collected on each participant’s accuracy in answering “wh-” questions during baseline, acquisition (teaching), and maintenance conditions. The results indicate that DI was effective in helping participants acquire the language skills necessary to accurately respond to “what,” “where," and “who” questions. Implications for small group language instruction for students with ASD and recommendations for future research are discussed.