Effects of a problem‐solving strategy on the independent completion of vocational tasks by adolescents with autism spectrum disorder

Abstract

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often have few employment opportunities and a lower job quality than individuals of typical development. Social deficits and lack of independence may contribute to underemployment and unemployment of individuals with ASD. The ability to solve problems might ameliorate some of these barriers. We taught four adolescents with ASD a problem-solving strategy (i.e., use of a textual activity schedule) to assist with independent completion of vocational tasks in the face of three types of problems (e.g., missing or broken items) and nonproblem situations. Following introduction of the problem-solving strategy, all four participants independently completed the tasks when a problem was presented and responding generalized to untaught vocational tasks.

Teaching adults with developmental disabilities to problem solve using electronic flowcharts in a simulated vocational setting

“…This study extends the current literature (e.g., Gentry et al, 2015;Lora et al, 2020) by evaluating the effectiveness of a technologyaided strategy for increasing job-related problem solving skills with individuals with developmental disabilities. Results also add to the growing literature (e.g., Allen et al, 2010;Burke et al, 2010) demonstrating the benefits of technological aids (e.g., video models; digital text prompts) for promoting independence on the job.…”

“…The purpose of the current study was to replicate and extend prior research on problem solving (Lora et al, 2020) and the use of technology-aided vocational interventions (Gentry et al, 2015) to teach individuals with developmental disabilities to solve multiple problems, including those that might require more than one solution. The goal was to assess the use of electronic flowcharts as a form of self-instruction to increase the independent problem solving skills of individuals with developmental disabilities in a simulated vocational setting.…”

“…In a notable exception, Lora et al (2020) taught four adolescents with ASD to manipulate supplemental stimuli in the form of activity schedules that functioned as discriminative stimuli for obtaining task materials when the participants encountered missing, broken, or mismatched items while completing office tasks. The experimenters used manual guidance and reinforcement to teach the participants to use the activity schedules, which consisted of text prompts that evoked a sequence of responses, including identifying the item needed, going to its location, getting the item, returning to the classroom, and finishing the task.…”

“…A number of studies have evaluated methods for teaching individuals with developmental disabilities to solve problems in actual or simulated vocational settings (e.g., Agran et al, 1987; Dotto‐Fojut et al, 2011; Hughes et al, 1996; Hughes & Rusch, 1989; Lora et al, 2020; Martella et al, 1992; McCuller et al, 1987; Palmen & Didden, 2012; Smith et al, 2016; Yakubova & Taber‐Doughty, 2017). However, this body of research is limited in several respects, such as focusing on only one type of problem (needing materials to complete a task; e.g., Agran et al, 1987; Dotto‐Fojut et al, 2011; Lora et al, 2020; Yakubova & Taber‐Doughty, 2017), teaching just one solution to a problem (e.g., Agran et al, 1987; Hughes & Rusch, 1989; McCuller et al, 1987), and using strategies that may not be appropriate in job settings (e.g., stating the problem and solutions out loud; Hughes & Rusch, 1989). In addition, with some exceptions (e.g., Hughes & Rusch, 1989; Lora et al, 2020; Yakubova & Taber‐Doughty, 2017), the experimenters taught participants to solve specific types of problems rather than to problem solve (i.e., to engage in behavior that produced conditions that evoked the appropriate responses).…”

Autism Beyond Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention

“…For example, there are a variety of issues related to employment that are important to consider for this population (Scott et al 2019). Among these are specific programs to help prepare young adults, requesting workplace accommodations (Khalifa et al 2019), enhancing job site training of supported employment (Lattimore et al 2006), and assessing and teaching job-related social skills (Grob et al 2019;Lora et al 2019). In addition, topics related to sexuality are not specifically addressed in this Special Issue, although this is an area that has received increasing attention from the behavior-analytic community in recent years (Cividini-Motta et al 2019;Davis et al 2016).…”