Efeitos do Behavioral skills training sobre a capacitação de cuidadores de pessoas com transtorno do espectro do autismo

Abstract

With the training of primary caregivers in the practice of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) intervention for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), access to experience and development expanded the qualification and access to interventions due to a shortage of qualified professionals and scarcity in public service. Behavior Skill Training (BST) was used to train primary caregivers interested in teaching skills to learners with ASD. Three caregivers and three children diagnosed with ASD participated in this study. The three caregivers (P1, P2, and P3) included a 34-year-old nanny and two mothers aged 21 and 31, and the three children diagnosed with ASD (CA1, CA2, and CA3) were between 7, 8, and 9 years old. Through an experimental research of applied importance, a single-subject design was conducted to demonstrate experimental control of the independent variable (IV), BST, over the dependent variable (DV), which is the correct emission of behaviors/components that characterize a more precise teaching of repertoires. In the present research, after a baseline condition where ten repertoires were initially taught to each of the three caregivers, the participants went through BST training conditions. During this trial stage involving interactions with a confederate, who simulated being a child with ASD, immediate and delayed performance feedback was provided for the errors and correct responses of the repertoires taught through discrete trials by the experimenter. Thus, all caregivers demonstrated more precise performance (correctly implemented discrete trial components) in teaching five repertoires compared to baseline levels, and there was generalization of the precise teaching of five new repertoires to children with ASD, different from those in the baseline. All caregivers demonstrated more precise performance in teaching five repertoires compared to baseline levels, and there was generalization of the precise teaching of five new repertoires to children with ASD. The caregivers positively evaluated their training, recommending the process to others interested. There was maintenance of precise teaching by the caregivers after BST training, and the children acquired new skills. Limitations were discussed, as were possible directions for future research.