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Amanda Schulkowsky EPSE 449 Mathematics Interventions and Autism Introduction The topic of numeracy and students diagnosed

with autism is of great interest to me because of my background in teaching mathematics to high school students. As I progressed in my career, I found there is a great need for intervention and supports for students who have disabilities. These students are able to be just as successful as their neurotypical peers, however, they need various types of interventions and teaching approaches. I am interested in researching successful methods of teaching mathematics to increase mathematics achievement among students with cognitive disabilities. The following are two research articles that have conducted experiments in mathematics interventions on students with autism.

Banda, D. & Kubina Jr., R. (2010). Increasing academic compliance with mathematics tasks using the high-preference strategy with a student with autism. Preventing School Failure, 54(2), 81-85. The purpose of this research study was to increase the frequency with which a student with autism initiated mathematics tasks without being prompted to do so. The goal was that the student would increase his achievement in mathematics as a result of on- task behaviour. The idea was to present the student with a mathematics task that he enjoyed doing before presenting the student with a task that he tended to avoid in the past. The idea was that the student would complete the preferred task and move on to the non-preferred task without showing any non-compliant behaviours. Banda and Kubina Jr.

Amanda Schulkowsky EPSE 449 refer to this concept as the theory of behavioral momentum. (Banda and Kubina Jr., 2010) The participant of this research study was a thirteen year old male who was diagnosed with pervasive development disorder and autism. He was identified by the teacher as being non-compliant with certain math tasks yet the Woodcock-Johnson test results indicated he had the competency to solve the mathematics tasks given in class. His teacher reported that he had no problem completing three-digit addition and subtraction problems, however when it came to missing addend problems, he would choose not to complete them. The study was conducted in a small room in the students school with a video camera set up to record all sessions with the participant and the researcher. All math problems were printed on flash cards that consisted of three-digit addition problems (the preferred math task) and missing addend problems (the non-preferred task). To gather baseline data, the participant was presented with ten cards that each had a missing addend problem printed on it. The participant was asked to solve each question. During the next session, the intervention session, the participant was presented with a flash card that contained two three-digit addition problems printed at the top and one missing addend problem printed at the bottom and was asked to complete all the math problems from top to bottom. The participant was timed on how long he took to start working on the nonpreferred math tasks. The baseline and the intervention sessions were each repeated ten times. The results showed that when the participant was presented with the missing addend problems in the baseline data, he took an average of seven to eight seconds to

Amanda Schulkowsky EPSE 449 initiate starting the problems. When he was presented with the cards with both preferred and non-preferred math tasks, he only took 2 seconds to start working on the nonpreferred task, the missing addend problems. The teacher continued working with the subject using the intervention method and later reported that he showed less resistance with other non-preferred mathematical tasks when using this method. The authors feel that this study supports the ideas of both behaviour momentum and the Premack principle which is an opportunity to engage in more probable responses reinforces a less probable response or activity in individuals (Banda & Kubina Jr., 2010). In other words, when the participant was engaged in completing the preferred task and was successful, the non-preferred task was reinforced. The researchers recommend that teachers only use this intervention strategy if the student is competent in solving the mathematical problems presented. It is also recommended that the teacher assess the students task preferences before delivering the intervention. While the study reinforced the pre-existing concepts of Premacking and behaviour momentum there were a few limitations to the study. For the purposes of time, teachers usually present math tasks on worksheets instead of flash cards. This may change the results as the participant in this study may have been more willing to complete the math tasks due to the novelty of the flashcards. Also, only one mathematical concept was used in the study. The results of the task would be more valid if several more sessions were conducted with different mathematical concepts.

Amanda Schulkowsky EPSE 449 Levingston, H., Neef, N., & Cihon, T. (2009). The effects of teaching precurrent behaviors on children's solution of multiplication and division word problems. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 42(2), 361-367. The purpose of this study was to find if teaching precurrent behaviours for word problems would increase the level at which students can accurately solve the problem. The precurrent behaviours for word problems include: operant, label, and the concept of larger and smaller numbers. This research study was prompted from a report by the National Center for Educational Statistics that stated only 36% of fourth graders in the United States were performing at or above the proficient level in identifying and appropriately using information to solve word problems (Levingston, Neef, & Cihon, 2009). The statistics also state that students with disabilities are at an even lower rate for solving word problems compared to their neurotypical peers. The researchers felt that if the precurrent behaviours for word problems were taught it would reinforce the current behaviour of a correct solution to a word problem. The participants were a fourth grade ten year old male diagnosed with autism and a fourth grade ten year old neurotypical female. Both participants had equal achievement in multiplication facts up to 10, division facts up to 100, and were able to discriminate between larger and smaller numbers between 1 and 100. The classroom teacher reported that both participants had difficulty solving word problems. The research was conducted for ten minutes a day, five days a week. To gather baseline data, the researchers presented the two participants with five word problems taken from a bank of word problems that all contained multiplication and division operants. When the students were presented with the word problems, the researcher

Amanda Schulkowsky EPSE 449 would demonstrate all five word problems by underlining words in the problem that indicated the object of the word problem (label), the proper operation, and identification of the larger and smaller numbers. The researcher then modeled how to solve the word problem. The participants then to completed ten word problems the same way the researcher had completed them. This continued for many sessions during which the researcher prompted the students at each phase of solving the word problems with questions such as What do they want you to find? for finding the correct label. When the participants were able to achieve ninety percent correct on the prompted word problems, the participants were asked to complete word problems without any prompting. The results of this study found that during the sessions where the participants were asked to complete the word problems without prompting, each scored above ninety percent accuracy for the correct solution. The researchers felt that this method of mathematical intervention for word problems could be used in the classroom with both autistic and typically developing students and could be generalized to other mathematical operants. The researchers also recommended the students use a self-checking procedure such as a pen that reveals an answer when rubbed over a certain spot on the paper so that the student can be reinforced by the correct answer immediately. While this study was effective for the two participants, many students who struggle with word problems in mathematics also struggle with reading. This study did not take into account the students who have trouble with reading comprehension and the additional supports needed in that situation.

Amanda Schulkowsky EPSE 449 Summary The overall theme for both of the research articles was mathematics intervention for students with autism. The purpose of both research studies was to increase academic achievement with students who have struggled in the past with mathematics. Both articles mentioned that there needs to be procedures in mathematics instruction that addresses the needs of a variety of learners due to the movement towards inclusion. The fundamental difference between the two articles was that the Banda and Kubina Jr. article was focusing on task initiation. The researchers wanted to find out if a student would complete a mathematical task without being asked to do so. The Levingston et al. article focused on achievement of word problems. The researchers were looking to find if a student would achieve a higher accuracy rate if a word problem was approached in a systematic way. The articles also both agreed that a student with autism must feel successful in the learning of the material or negative behaviours such as refusing to do the work may occur. For example, Banda and Kubina Jr. explain that when a preferred task is completed first, the student will have the confidence to carry on to a less preferred task. The Levingston et al. article explains that the student will feel successful by using prompts and will achieve accurate results with no prompts after the student has practiced the format of answering the word problem. The interventions used in both research studies could easily be used by teachers in any classroom setting. Teachers are faced with teaching a wide variety of learners who learn at different rates and suffer from math anxiety. When a student suffers from math anxiety, behaviours such as a refusal to do the work and other off task behaviour tends to

Amanda Schulkowsky EPSE 449 occur when they do not feel they are capable of completing the material. As a teacher, I would adapt the high preference strategy to math concepts beyond addition and subtraction. I would design my own worksheets by starting with the questions that the student both preferred and was successful at completing. I would have five preferred questions and one question where the student may have to work at solving. At the bottom of the page, I would include three more questions that were similar to the first five. For the word problems, I would first model how to solve a word problem and then include a sequential checklist for several subsequent word problems. For example, on the checklist I would include examples of what operant would be needed when translating from the English sentence to a math sentence. See Table 1 below. Table 1. Word Problems Translating into Mathematical Operants Addition Subtraction Multiplication in all fewer in all groups total left area sum how much change times both how many more rate combined how much more twice how many altogether less how many difference perimeter minus remains total Teacher Vision, 2010

Division how many groups divided equally each

For future research, the Banda and Kubina Jr. article suggests examining how this experiment would generalize to other mathematical tasks and also suggests looking at the effects of task initiation if a student was asked to give verbal responses instead of written responses. In the Levingston et al. article, the researchers recommend that future research be conducted with word problems that contain irrelevant information or with multi-step problems.

Amanda Schulkowsky EPSE 449 References

Banda, D. & Kubina Jr., R. (2010). Increasing academic compliance with mathematics tasks using the high-preference strategy with a student with autism. Preventing School Failure, 54(2), 81-85.

Levingston, H., Neef, N., & Cihon, T. (2009). The effects of teaching precurrent behaviors on children's solution of multiplication and division word problems. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 42(2), 361-367.

Teacher Vision. (2010). Problem Solving. Retrieved November 15, 2010 from http://www.teachervision.fen.com/math-operations/problem-solving/48933.html

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