Week 11 Case Study: Using systematic instruction and graphic organizers to teach science concepts to students with
autism spectrum disorders and intellectual disability.
Knight, V., Spooner, F., Browder, D., Smith, B., & Wood, C. (2013). Using systematic instruction and graphic organizers
to teach science concepts to students with autism spectrum disorders and intellectual disability. Focus on Autism and
Other Developmental Disabilities, 28(2), 115-126. doi: 10.1177/1088357612475301
Topic
Guiding Questions
Collaborative Notes
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1. What strategies (i.e.,
prompts, materials) does
the author pair to support
the use of Graphic
Organizers with students
with ASD? For whom has
this strategy been effective
in the past and why might
it be effective for students
with ASD?
Graphic
organizers for
students of
ASD in the
science
classroom.
2. Describe the three students
who participated in the
study. What was the
nature of the intervention
that they received? For
example, describe the
adult supports, length of
time in intervention and
maintenance, and the
procedures.
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•
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•
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3. Was the intervention
successful? What is the
Constant Time Delay
procedure? Would this be
difficult for an educational
assistant to learn how to
use? How could you
support this training?
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“…effective method for improving vocabulary and
comprehension for students with learning disabilities and other
high incidence disabilities”
Documented research on effectiveness of pictorial systems.
Documented research on effectiveness of graphic organizers
with students with hearing issues.
Probes used with Constant Time Delay (CTD) and Graphic
Organizers (GO):
o Pictures, Words, Distractors, Untrained graphic
organizers with relevant stimuli, Untrained graphic
organizers with irrelevant stimuli, Explicit
Instructions
Melanie, 14 years old, ASD and moderate intellectual
disability, IQ 44, oral reading score at fifth-grade level,
reading comprehension at third-grade level.
Brandon, 13 years old, ASD and moderate intellectual
disability, IQ 40, oral reading score at sixth-grade level,
reading comprehension at third-grade level.
Chucky, 14 years old, ASD and moderate intellectual
disability, IQ 55, oral reading score at third-grade level,
reading comprehension at second-grade level.
No other supports noted
Melanie reached criteria for mastery in 8 sessions and was
able to maintain correct responses after the intervention.
Brandon reached criteria for mastery in 7 sessions and was
able to maintain correct responses after the intervention.
Chucky reached criteria for mastery in 8 sessions, the
researchers were unable to assess maintenance of
comprehension.
CTD is an intervention based on fading the use of prompts to
illicit the desired responses. In constant delay (compared to
progressive) the intervals between instructions and prompts
are fixed times. This intervention would be relatively easy to
teach to an EA through modeling and collaborative redesign of
lessons.
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