The effect of sibling-mediated behavioral intervention program on improving the verbal behavior skills of children with autism spectrum disorder

In this study, the effectiveness of the Sibling-Mediated Behavioural Intervention Program (SMBIP) was investigated in order to teach a student with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) to name entities which is a part of Verbal Behaviour Skills. For this purpose, a 9-year-old male student with ASD and deficiency in naming skills diagnosis, and his 15 years old brother with typical development were included in our study. Five different objects from electronic equipment, internal organs and kitchen equipment were determined to be taught to the student, and a Behavioural Intervention Program was developed using four different visuals of each objects. In the study, the effect of the independent variable on the dependent variable was determined using the Multiple probe design across behavioural interrogation, one of the single-subject research methods. The number of correct responses for the dependent variable was collected using the event recording technique, and it was concluded that the subject has learned this skill at the targeted level. After the end of teaching sessions, monitoring data regarding permanence were collected in the 1st, 3rd and 5th weeks and it was observed that the subject preserved the permanence of this skill. The student was able to generalize his acquired naming skill to different objects and people. Social validity data were collected by getting opinions from the teachers who watched the application videos and the students' family members, and collected data showed that the social validity of the study was high. Considering the graphical analysis of the data obtained in the teaching, probe and generalization sessions of the research, SMBIP was found to be effective for children with ASD to learn naming skills. Keywords: Behavioral Intervention Programs Used by Family Members, Sibling-Mediated Teaching Practices, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Verbal Behaviour, Tacting