Suchergebnisse

The effects of a combined neuromotor/behavioral approach on the acquisition of basic motor skills by young children with severe and multiple disabilities was examined. Two children, 17 and 24 months of age, were provided training via a microcomputer-mediated teaching system. Specific questions addressed were: (a) Do basic motor skills improve as a result of direct training using a neuromotor/behavioral approach? (b) Does generalization occur to other settings? (c) Do students demonstrate maintenance of the target skills once training has been terminated? (d) Can the microcomputer-mediated teaching system accurately reinforce and measure students' performance of the target motor behaviors? A multiple probe across behaviors design was used. Results indicated that the children increased the frequency and duration of the target behaviors in both the training and generalization settings. Maintenance of the effects was also demonstrated. These findings are discussed in light of the efficacy of using a neuromotor/behavioral training approach. Issues related to the implementation of a microcomputer-mediated teaching system in a classroom setting are also discussed.

The present study investigated the effectiveness of a microcomputer-mediated motor skills teaching package in a small group training session. Two groups of three young children with cerebral palsy were provided motor skills instruction by a trainer across two conditions. Condition A consisted of a package of adaptive positioning and behavioral teaching procedures. Condition B consisted of the same adaptive positioning and behavioral procedures plus "computer assistance" and response-contingent toys. An A-B-A-B multitreatment design with across-site replication was used to compare the effects of the two training packages. Results indicated a consistent relationship between the introduction of a computer-mediated package (Condition B) and improvement in both the children's behaviors and the trainer's quality of instruction. The computer-mediated package was shown to be successful in increasing the children's general level of engagement as well as their performance of the target motor skills. Simultaneously, improvements in the consistency of immediate performance-based reinforcement and corrective feedback provided to the children by trainers were noted.