Research: Social Validity of Behavioral Practices in the Treatment of Autism – A Review of the Super Nanny

Authored by King, MJ, and Valdovinos MG in Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, Volume 3, Issue 1, p. 173-178, (2009).

Article summary (posted Mar 12, 2009):

Applied behavior analysis (ABA) therapy may be viewed by society as a good treatment for children with autism.

Very little research has been done to see if society thinks that ABA therapy is a good therapy for children with autism (social validity). Therapies that are socially valid are more likely to be started, adhered to, and then used by others. The purpose of this study was to see if a type of ABA therapy (pivotal response training) would be viewed by a group of college students as a good therapy for a child with autism. The students watched the television show Super Nanny to see ABA therapy used on a child with autism. The students were given questions to answer both before watching the show and after watching the show.

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You can access the original abstract and the complete paper is sometimes available for free via Google Scholar (look for entries that say "PDF" or "HTML" on the right side of the page).
applied behavior analysis (ABA), autism, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), college, pivotal response training, review article, science, therapy, treatment
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