Arab Educational Information Network

This study aimed to identify the effectiveness of an early intervention-training program based on verbal behavior in the development of the communication skills of children with autism in Saudi Arabia. The study sample consisted of 12 children with Autism, aged 4-6 years, who had been identified as having average and less than average degrees of autism according to Gilliam Autism Rating Scale. The sample has been selected purposely from Human Development Center in Riyadh. The study used the following tools, after checking their validity and reliability by the researcher: Teacher's Rating of Autistic Child Joint Attention Scale (Isa, 2008); a translated version of Behavior Language Assessment Form (BLAF) (Sundberg, 1998); and Roaa Program for the Autistic Child, which is based on the theory of verbal behavior, and was implemented in the Human Development Center in Riyadh in 2016. The study followed a quantitative, semi-empirical approach to answer its questions. The findings of the study showed that there were statistically significant differences between the mean rank scores of the pre and post measurements of the sample according to Teacher's Rating of Autistic Child Joint Attention Scale and according to Behavioral Language Assessment Form, in favor of the post measurement. However, there were no statistically significant differences between the mean rank scores of the post and follow-up measurements of the sample according to the Teacher's Rating of Autistic Child Joint Attention Scale and viii Behavioral Language Assessment Form due to the impact of the program, which indicates the continuity of the program's effectiveness. (Author's abstract)