The Effectiveness of Direct Instruction Flashcards with Guided Practice Activities to Instruct Two Elementary Students Diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Delays in Pre-Academics and Communication

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of Direct Instruction (DI) flashcards in combination with guided practice activities to instruct two elementary male students diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Both students had delays in pre-academics and communication. The study was conducted within a designed instruction classroom at a public school in the Pacific Northwest. The researcher’s goal for the 7 and 9 year-olds was to master the names and sounds of the 18 most common lowercase letters of the alphabet and to generalize the newly acquired knowledge across settings and instructors. Throughout the study, a token economy system using pennies, stickers, or stamps was utilized in combination with specific praise to reinforce positive behaviors and focus. Participant 1’s performance for identifying lowercase letters improved by 19% and mastered Set 1. For sounds, Participant 1’ s performance slightly increased by 12%. The DI flashcards in combination with the guided practice activities intervention proved to be ineffective for Participant 2 for sounds and lowercase letters.