A Comparison of Telehealth-Based Instruction with or without Instructive Feedback

Area of Science:

• Speech-Language Pathology
• Developmental Psychology
• Applied Behavior Analysis

Background:

• Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often experience language delays.
• Traditional intensive, face-to-face instruction is common for developing verbal behavior.
• The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated alternative service delivery methods for ASD interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the efficacy of instructive feedback (IF) within telehealth instruction for children with ASD.
• To compare the effectiveness of discrete trial instruction (DTI) alone versus DTI combined with IF via telehealth.

Main Methods:

• Four participants with ASD received telehealth instruction targeting speaker-responding.
• Two conditions were implemented: DTI alone and DTI with IF.
• Speaker-responding and secondary targets were assessed for both conditions.

Main Results:

• Both telehealth instructional methods improved primary target speaker-responding for all participants.
• Two out of four participants acquired secondary targets when IF was included.
• The combination of DTI and IF showed potential benefits for some participants.

Conclusions:

• Telehealth instruction, including DTI, is effective for improving verbal behavior in children with ASD.
• Integrating instructive feedback (IF) into DTI via telehealth may enhance learning outcomes for some individuals.
• Further research is warranted to explore the specific benefits of IF in telehealth interventions for ASD.