Case demonstration of a fading procedure to promote school attendance of a child with Asperger’s Disorder

By Luiselli, J.K., (2000), Journal of Positive Behaviour Interventions, Vol. 2, 1, 47-53.

A 5 year old girl with Asperger’s Disorder experienced agitation when required to separate from her mother following entry into a preschool classroom at a public entry school. As part of a nonexperimental case demonstration, an intervention plan was developed to promote school attendance by first having the girl’s mother be present continuously in the classroom and then scheduling the mother to be out of the classroom for progressively longer durations that were introduced along a “fading” sequence. The girl learned to remain in the classroom without agitation and to participate fully in her educational program, with positive adjustment maintained during a postintervention period. Components of the intervention plan and recommendations to improve the empirical evaluation of antecedent control approaches that incorporate fading procedures as discussed.