Education and Training in Developmental Disabilities - Division on ...

enhance the <strong>in</strong>dependence of an adolescent
with AS at home <strong>and</strong> at school.
Method
Participant
Kent, a Caucasian male <strong>in</strong> his f<strong>in</strong>al year of
public middle school <strong>in</strong> the Midwestern
United States was the participant. He was 14years
old, <strong>and</strong> had a diagnosis of AS made by
a medical professional us<strong>in</strong>g criterion <strong>in</strong> the
Diagnostic <strong>and</strong> Statistical Manual of Mental
Disorders – 4 th Edition (American Psychiatric
Association, 1994). Kent’s <strong>in</strong>telligence quotient
was <strong>in</strong> the above average range <strong>and</strong> his
grades were average. He had considerable difficulty
with his h<strong>and</strong>writ<strong>in</strong>g, f<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>g it both
tiresome <strong>and</strong> tedious.
A Behavior Assessment System for Children
(Reynolds & Kamphaus, 1992) was adm<strong>in</strong>istered
to Kent’s resource room teacher, his
mother, <strong>and</strong> Kent himself. His teacher reported
that Kent was rated “At-Risk” <strong>in</strong> Attention
Problems, <strong>and</strong> was identified as “Cl<strong>in</strong>ically
Significant” <strong>in</strong> Anxiety, Atypicality, <strong>and</strong>
Withdrawal. Kent’s mother classified him as
“At-Risk” <strong>in</strong> Hyperactivity, Anxiety, School
Problems, Learn<strong>in</strong>g Problems, Withdrawal,
Adaptive Skills, <strong>and</strong> Behavioral Symptom Index;
he received “Cl<strong>in</strong>ically Significant” scores
<strong>in</strong> Atypicality <strong>and</strong> Attention Problems. The
discrepancy <strong>in</strong> responses between Kent’s
teacher <strong>and</strong> mother appears consistent with
other reports by educators <strong>and</strong> parents address<strong>in</strong>g
the characteristics of a child with AS
(Barnhill et al., 2000; Myles, Ferguson, &
Hagiwara, 2003). Kent rated himself as “At-
Risk” <strong>in</strong> Anxiety <strong>and</strong> Atypicality; other areas
fell <strong>in</strong> “Average” or above ranges <strong>in</strong> his report.
An Adolescent/Adult Sensory Profile
(Brown & Dunn, 2002) was also completed by
Kent. This measure <strong>in</strong>dicated that Kent
avoided sensation much more than most people,
was more sensitive to sensory stimuli than
most people, <strong>and</strong> exhibited registration <strong>and</strong>
sensory seek<strong>in</strong>g behaviors <strong>in</strong> a manner similar
to most people.
Sett<strong>in</strong>g
The study took place <strong>in</strong> Kent’s math <strong>and</strong> social
studies classes, <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong> his home. Kent’s math
<strong>in</strong>struction occurred <strong>in</strong> the resource room <strong>in</strong>
a small group sett<strong>in</strong>g that <strong>in</strong>cluded two other
students, <strong>and</strong> his social studies class was held
<strong>in</strong> a general education classroom with 20
other students.
Target Behavior
Kent relied heavily on prompts from his parents
<strong>and</strong> teachers to complete his daily activities.
Without multiple prompts from his
mother to f<strong>in</strong>ish rout<strong>in</strong>e daily tasks, for example,
Kent would become distracted <strong>and</strong> stop
his rout<strong>in</strong>e. In school, Kent’s teachers
prompted him to gather the appropriate materials
before class, pay attention dur<strong>in</strong>g class,
submit his homework, record his homework
assignments, <strong>and</strong> transition to his next class.
Kent needed to function more <strong>in</strong>dependently
to complete rout<strong>in</strong>e daily tasks, especially as
dem<strong>and</strong>s for greater <strong>in</strong>dependence <strong>in</strong>crease
by age <strong>and</strong> grade level. Thus, the behavior
targeted for this study was to <strong>in</strong>crease Kent’s
<strong>in</strong>dependence dur<strong>in</strong>g morn<strong>in</strong>g home activities,
school tasks, <strong>and</strong> even<strong>in</strong>g home activities
by decreas<strong>in</strong>g his dependence on the adults <strong>in</strong>
his life.
Instruments
A Hewlett Packard Jornada 560 Personal Digital
Assistant (Hewlett-Packard, 2001) with Microsoft
W<strong>in</strong>dows for Pocket PC Software 2002
(Microsoft, 2002) was <strong>in</strong>troduced to <strong>in</strong>crease
Kent’s <strong>in</strong>dependence when complet<strong>in</strong>g early
morn<strong>in</strong>g, school, <strong>and</strong> even<strong>in</strong>g tasks. Kent, his
mother, <strong>and</strong> resource room teacher received
tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g on the PDA. In essence, the PDA
rema<strong>in</strong>ed the same as the product available to
the general public. The calendar <strong>and</strong> alarm
functions that are a part of the Microsoft W<strong>in</strong>dows
for the Pocket PC were used <strong>in</strong> implement<strong>in</strong>g
the <strong>in</strong>tervention.
A data collection sheet was designed to outl<strong>in</strong>e
the four morn<strong>in</strong>g tasks <strong>and</strong> desired times
when Kent needed to complete each task every
morn<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> his home. A second data sheet,
created us<strong>in</strong>g the same format, listed four
even<strong>in</strong>g activities. The data collection form
listed each task <strong>and</strong> its start time on the left.
Three additional columns on the right allowed
Kent’s mother to <strong>in</strong>dicate (a) if he completed
the task <strong>in</strong>dependently, (b) if he com-
Pocket PC <strong>and</strong> Asperger Syndrome / 61