Recent studies have shown that children with developmental language disorder (DLD) often face challenges in emotion recognition (ER) skills, which impacts their social and behavioural outcomes. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a flexible online intervention in meeting the individual needs of children with DLD, focusing on ER…

Background: Building 'key skills' may help prevent the development of challenging behaviour in children with an intellectual disability. The aim of this paper was to extend the current limited evidence in this area. Method: We undertook two studies with children with an intellectual disability in school settings: (1) a cross-sectional replication…

Children with intellectual disabilities experience well-documented challenges in the development of problem-solving, particularly related to mathematical word-problem solving. Such challenges are related to both linguistic and conceptual skills. While interventions to assist children in developing conceptual skills are well reported, linguistic…

There are several considerations to address when conducting functional communication training for challenging behavior in a school setting, such as the need for schedule thinning and maintenance across staff and the need to establish a variety of appropriate classroom skills. There are several strategies for conducting schedule thinning following…

In this time of climate change, many young children dream about finding ways to save the planet. The curriculum teaches about the problems -- and about the small changes that can be made to slow down global warming. But children need more skills for the jobs of the future and to be taught how to bring their amazing ideas to life.

Longitudinal research is crucial to fully assess the putative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children with an intellectual disability in special school settings--ideally drawing on data pre-pandemic to be able to evaluate later impact. Data on challenging behaviour and adaptive skills were collected annually for 348 students in one special…

The present study shows the results of six case studies referring to an intervention applied to mathematical learning difficulties. Participants were 8 to 12 years old. The intervention considered mathematics as a language and it is theoretically based on Bronfenbrenner's bioecological model, Vygotsky's sociocultural theory and Peircean semiotics.…

This study assessed the effectiveness of using Behavioral Skills Training (BST) for parent training to implement functional behavior training and video modeling via a telehealth platform designed to increase manding abilities and to decrease problem behaviors with children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). With eight participants, this study…

An interview-informed synthesized contingency analysis (IISCA; Hanley et al. in J Appl Behav Anal 47:16-36, 2014) and related skill-based treatment process can result in socially valid outcomes for clients exhibiting severe challenging behavior when implemented by professionals and then transferred to parents (e.g., Santiago et al. in J Autism Dev…

Purpose: Despite the fact that research on creativity and cognition have garnered the attention of researchers and practitioners for decades, there is a lack of valid, reliable, and accessible instruments for enhancing and measuring these critical skills. Leveraging research from The LEGO Foundation and in collaboration with BrainPOP and the…

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have been shown to benefit from parent-implemented interventions (PIIs). This meta-analysis improved on prior reviews of PIIs by evaluating RCTs and multiple potential moderators, including indicators of research quality. Fifty-one effect sizes averaged moderately strong overall benefits of PIIs (g =…

The use of socially assistive robotics (SARs) is a promising method for improving the social skills of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Studies conducted in this field in recent years show that the use of robots as collaborators may have positive effects on the development of social skills in children with ASD, especially in those…

Despite its advantages, discrete-trial instruction (DTI) has been criticized for producing rote responding. Although there is little research supporting this claim, if true, this may be problematic given the propensity of children with autism to engage in restricted and repetitive behavior. One feature that is common in DTI that may contribute to…

The current study extends the literature on task interspersal (TI) by comparing the effects of four different TI ratios on the efficiency of skill acquisition and on levels of problem behavior in children with autism spectrum disorder and related disorders. The four ratios of TI were 3:1, 1:1, 1:3, and 0:1 mastered-to-acquisition tasks. An adapted…

The Skills Imperative 2035 is a five-year strategic research programme which is investigating future skills needs, skills supply and skill development, with a particular focus on the 'Essential Employment Skills' (EES) that are projected to be most vital across the labour market in 2035. This paper investigates childhood skill development and…