Date of Conferral

2022

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Psychology

Advisor

Anthony Perry

Abstract

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) effects growing numbers of children and effective treatment is essential for families to overcome the challenges associated with ASD. Applied behavior analysis treatment has been tailored to address the unique learning needs of children with ASD. The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which treatment environment impacted language milestones and barriers among children with ASD. Behaviorism and applied behavior analysis served as the framework for the study. A nonexperimental quantitative mixed design with two independent variables was used. The between-subjects independent variable was type of treatment environment (home vs. clinic). The within-subjects independent variable was time of assessment; the dependent variable was Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment. A 2 X 2 mixed ANOVA for language milestone scores indicated a significant main effect of time of assessment. This showed a significant increase in language milestones scores between the baseline assessment and the second assessment. A 2 X 2 mixed ANOVA for language barrier scores indicated a significant main effect of time of assessment. There was a significant decrease in language barrier scores between the baseline assessment and the second assessment. There was no significant main effect for type of environment or interaction between type of environment and time of assessment. The consideration by families and clinicians of whether to utilize a clinic-based model or in-home based model of treatment may have more significant ramifications other than location, most importantly the effectiveness of treatment that increases skills and decreases behavioral barriers resulting in positive social change.

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