Behavior modification

Preparing people with disabilities for employment is an important task. Many of
these individuals have difficulty learning and performing new tasks without support or
guidance. There are many accessible interventions that can increase the learning and
performance of individuals with disabilities, including positive instructional, literacy
based behavior interventions.
A social story (Gray, 2000) is one example of a literacy-based behavioral
intervention that has been effective for teaching social skills. This type of intervention
typically has been used with children with autism. Several studies have used social stories
to decrease disruptive behavior or teach self-help skills such as using a napkin or hand
washing. Very few of the studies have examined the effects of a social story intervention for individuals with disabilities not on the autism spectrum (Sansosti & Powell-Smith,
2004).
The present study was designed to examine the effects of social stories to improve
the job skills of employees with developmental disabilities. Two experiments were
conducted. In the first experiment a multiple baseline across subjects was employed to
examine the potential of the intervention on employees' requests for materials and
supplies, and any resulting improvements in their work engagement. The second
experiment employed a multiple baseline across time periods, with an embedded ABAB
design to assess whether the intervention would increase independence and improve "on-time"
return-to-work. The results showed that employees with developmental disabilities
made substantial improvements in employment skills as a result of the social story
intervention, and similar improvements were observed in co-workers as well.

This research focuses on obesity and other major risk factors for chronic diseases
such as Type II Diabetes Mellitus, Heart Disease, and Stroke. Worksite wellness
programs have been successful in this realm of health promotion and disease prevention
for heart disease and stroke, but their effectiveness in treating diabetes has been uncertain
partially due to poor patient compliance, lack of stress reduction strategies, poor diet and
lack of persuasive health education on the risk of being obese. Published peer-reviewed
articles were reviewed, coded and analyzed to determine best practices, using a modified
systematic review approach. The findings from these studies yield results that were used
to develop a new employer-sponsored wellness program that is in accordance with the
recently passed Affordable Care Act.

Many student behaviors interfere with schools' primary function--teaching academic and social skills. In response, teachers use behavior management programs to improve learning environments and help students assume responsibility for their behaviors. This study examined the effectiveness of two commercially available programs designed to increase on-task behaviors of frequently off-task students. Under the Assertive Discipline (AD) program, students demonstrated low on-task behavior rates. Under Contingencies for Learning Academic and Social Skills (CLASS) program, students showed high on-task behavior rates. These results seem to indicate that CLASS' focus on positive classroom behaviors, peer support, and student self-reinforcement helps teachers improve on-task behaviors as compared to Assertive Discipline.

This study compared cognitive distortion change between boot camp participants who received an intervention authored by Samenow (1994), entitled "Commitment to Change" and boot camp participants who did not receive the intervention. The purpose of the study was to determine if there would be a significant difference between the treatment groups and if demographic variables (age, sex, race, grade level of academic achievement, criminal history, drug usage) would be significant in predicting characteristics of a boot camp participant most amenable to change from the intervention and from the boot camp experience. The research was done in 1995 with boot camp participants (N = 99) at the Broward County Division of Community Corrections in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The instrument used as a pretest/posttest in this quasi-experimental study was the How I Think (HIT) questionnaire. Regressions performed revealed no significant difference between those who received the intervention and those who did not. No demographic variables were significant in predicting characteristics of a boot camp participant most amenable to change. The result, however, is inconclusive because of the low power of the statistical test. With longer treatment time, more homogeneous groups, and larger sample size, a false null hypothesis would have been easier to detect. It is suggested that further studies use a larger sample size. Within-group variability could be lessened by age, grade level of academic achievement, criminal history, drug usage, or willingness to participate. The length of time of the intervention should be lengthened to 10 to 15 weeks or presented in the final stage of boot camp when participants, particularly the drug addicted cadets, might be more receptive to examining their distorted thinking. Because cognitive distortions promote disciplinary problems in the educational setting, it is suggested that research be conducted with at-risk students in public schools to determine the effect of a cognitive distortion change intervention program in an educational setting.

There has been a substantial amount of research supporting the use of functional behavioral assessment (FBA) for students with severe to profound disabilities. Many of the studies with these populations have shown to greatly impact the behavior of students when FBA-generated interventions, which match the function of the targeted behavior, are used to improve behavior. This research was the basis for the 1997 reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which specifically requires the use of the FBA to generate educative, positively-based interventions. Since IDEA '97, research has shown the effective use of the FBA to create interventions matching the function of the problem behavior for students with milder disabilities. This is promising as research has been lacking in what assessment data teachers use to select behavioral interventions. Furthermore, school personnel have been ineffective in dealing with the problem behavior of students with disabilities as evidenced by high suspension rates for students with disabilities. There is also very limited research in the area of what assessment data is used in the development of individualized education programs (IEP) for students with emotional disabilities. The psychological evaluation is used to determine eligibility for special education, yet there is no research indicating that the information contained within a psychological evaluation is used for either goal development or intervention selection. This is problematic in that IEPs developed for students with emotional disabilities are lacking in quality and effectiveness. This study examined the effect that types of assessment report played on teachers' selection of interventions and IEP goal development for a student with an emotional disability. After reviewing an FBA or psychological evaluation, participants were to develop a behavioral goal. These goals were rated for the presence or absence of five quality indicators that should be present in a well-developed goal. No significant differences were found in the frequencies of these goal indicators. Participants were then asked to indicate preference of use of three interventions to increase appropriate behavior and three interventions to decrease inappropriate behavior and then to rank order their potential use of the interventions. No significant differences were found in the indication of use on either measure. Participants did consistently indicate preferred use of the three positively-based interventions.

In this study the effectiveness of WatchMinderTM, a vibrating prompt watch, was examined as a component of a self-monitoring intervention package to help students with autism increase on-task behavior during independent seatwork. A multitude of literature since the 1970s has suggested that self-monitoring interventions are integral in increasing task engagement. Tactile prompting devices are a new aspect of self-monitoring interventions, and the limited research has shown that these unobtrusive devices are effective for providing feedback to monitor their behavior. Self-graphing is another component of self-monitoring interventions that has received little attention in the literature. However, many studies recognize the importance for individuals to be active participants in their educational programs by analyzing progress and being a part of the decision making process. This study assessed the use of WatchMinder and self-graphing on the on-task behavior of four elementary students with autism in the special education setting.

This study sought to measure the impact of an evidence-based school guidance counseling curriculum. Student Success Skills (Brigman & Webb, 2010),on : (a) wellness factors for early adolescences, (b) engagement in school success skills, and (c) grades in core subject areas of language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies, reported at nine-week intervals. ... The results of this study provide a link between the collaboration between school counselors and teachers when delivering classroom guidance interventions on wellness behaviors in adolescents. More research in needed on the impact of school counseling curriculum programs on early adolescent wellness, engagement in school success strategies, and improved academic achievement.

The education of profoundly intellectually disabled individuals requires identifying motivators to help them learn basic tasks and skills. When these individuals also suffer from Autism Spectrum Disorder, one promising method of therapy, multisensory therapy, has been shown to relax patients, facilitating the educational process. Relaxation drastically minimizes maladaptive behaviors such as repetitive movement (stereotypy) and self-injury, allowing the participant to learn efficiently. In this study, a multi-axis measure was developed to determine behavioral differences between an experimental group that underwent the therapy and a control group that performed a functional task in their classroom. Stereotypic behaviors were significantly reduced and gaze focus was enhanced within the therapy. The significance of these effects carried over when participants were returned to their classroom.