The Effects of the Cool Versus Not Cool Procedure to Teach Social Game Play to Individuals Diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Jeremy A Leaf, Justin B Leaf, Christine Milne, Donna Townley-Cochran, Misty L Oppenheim-Leaf, Joseph H Cihon, Mitchell Taubman, John McEachin, Ronald Leaf
Author Information
Jeremy A Leaf: Autism Partnership Foundation, 200 Marina Drive, Seal Beach, CA 90740 USA.
Justin B Leaf: Autism Partnership Foundation, 200 Marina Drive, Seal Beach, CA 90740 USA.
Christine Milne: Autism Partnership Foundation, 200 Marina Drive, Seal Beach, CA 90740 USA.
Donna Townley-Cochran: Autism Partnership Foundation, 200 Marina Drive, Seal Beach, CA 90740 USA.
Misty L Oppenheim-Leaf: Autism Partnership Foundation, 200 Marina Drive, Seal Beach, CA 90740 USA.
Joseph H Cihon: Autism Partnership Foundation, 200 Marina Drive, Seal Beach, CA 90740 USA.
Mitchell Taubman: Autism Partnership Foundation, 200 Marina Drive, Seal Beach, CA 90740 USA.
John McEachin: Autism Partnership Foundation, 200 Marina Drive, Seal Beach, CA 90740 USA.
Ronald Leaf: Autism Partnership Foundation, 200 Marina Drive, Seal Beach, CA 90740 USA.
This study evaluated the utility of the cool versus not cool procedure for teaching three structured indoor games to eight children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The study took place as part of a social skills group for individuals diagnosed with ASD, and this study was one component of that group. The cool versus not cool procedure consisted of the teacher demonstrating each game the cool (i.e., appropriate) and not cool (i.e., inappropriate) way and having the participants provide a rationale as to why the demonstration was either cool or not cool. This was followed by giving the participants the opportunity to role-play the game in front of the group. The teachers utilized unprompted performance probes with no programmed reinforcement to create opportunities for the participants to display the targeted behavior (s). A multiple baseline design across behaviors and replicated across participants was utilized. The results indicated that seven of the eight participants mastered each of the games taught.
