A variety of factors (e.g. quantity of supervision) contributing to trainee effectiveness are identified and discussed.

We describe intervention with 2 adolescent male students who had autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and resisted haircutting performed by care providers at a residential school. The students were exposed to a graduated hierarchy of steps including the presence of hair clippers, and increased duration of hair clippers against their scalp and hair. Edible reinforcement was presented contingent on completion of a step without interfering behavior. Both students learned to tolerate all of the steps in the graduated hierarchy and a full haircut with maintenance at 2-, 4-, and 6-month follow-up. The study supports previous tolerance-training research with children and youth who have intellectual and developmental disabilities and resist personal care and hygiene routines.

No abstract

Many children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have gastrointestinal (GI) problems and associated fecal incontinence, constipation, and diarrhea. We describe the design and operation of a computer‐assisted health monitoring system for tracking and recording bowel movements at a residential school. Implementation integrity of the system by care providers was 100% for six targeted students with ASD and GI difficulties. The utility, objectives, and effectiveness of the system were rated positively by supervisory professionals, parents, and GI physicians. Our discussion focuses on the advantages of computer‐assisted data recording and instrumentation technology for documenting health measures such as bowel movement frequency and quality in children with ASD.