Applied Behavior Analysis, SCERTS Model, and Daily Life Therapy: A Continuum for Teaching Students with Severe Autism Spectrum Disorder

Undergraduate Review Volume 19 Article 9 2025 Applied Behavior Analysis, SCERTS Model, and Daily Life Therapy: A Continuum for Teaching Students with Severe Autism Spectrum Disorder Emmalee M. Schepis Follow this and additional works at: https://vc.bridgew.edu/undergrad_rev Recommended Citation Schepis, Emmalee M. (2025). Applied Behavior Analysis, SCERTS Model, and Daily Life Therapy: A Continuum for Teaching Students with Severe Autism Spectrum Disorder. Undergraduate Review, 19, 69-84. Available at: https://vc.bridgew.edu/undergrad_rev/vol19/iss1/9 This item is available as part of Virtual Commons, the open-access institutional repository of Bridgewater State University, Bridgewater, Massachusetts. Copyright © 2025 Emmalee M. Schepis COLLEGE OF EDUCATION AND HEALTH SCIENCES Applied Behavior Analysis, SCERTS Model, and Daily Life Therapy: A Continuum for Teaching Students with Severe Autism Spectrum Disorder Emmalee M. Schepis Abstract This project analyzed the continuum of philosophical interventions used to support students with severe autism. Project activities included reviews of program websites and documentation, site visits to each private residential school program, and focus group interviews conducted with teachers from each school. These data sources created a basis for analysis and a variety of conclusions to describe the contrasting philosophical approaches employed by each program. The summative analysis of the project activities provided greater understanding of the complex continuum of philosophical intervention strategies designed to support students with ASD. Introduction In 2023, there were 913,735 students enrolled in Massachusetts schools, 28,335 of those students were being serviced under a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) (Massachusetts Autism Commission, 2023). According to the American Psychiatric Association ASD is “a complex developmental condition involving persistent challenges with social communication, restricted interests, and repetitive behavior” and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that one in 36 children have been diagnosed with ASD. ASD is becoming more and more prevalent every year, as data collected by the U.S. Department of Education shows the jump in diagnoses. In 2010, it was reported through the Special Education Child Count that 7.7 out of every 1000 children were receiving special education services under an ASD diagnosis, almost a decade later in 2019 that number jumps to 14.2 children out of every 1000, an 84% increase over 9 years (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2023). With ASD making up such a prevalent percentage of students served within spe- cial education, it’s important for teachers and schools to know what their philosophical values are for teaching these students. Current research focuses primarily on applied behavior analysis, or ABA; however, there are numerous other, lesser-known philosophies out there. The SCERTS model is an entirely student-led approach, the complete opposite of the ABA philosophy. These two philosophies, being so different, present the idea of a continuum, particularly as there are numerous other philosophies such as daily life therapy. This research will analyze a range of different philosophies used to teach students with ASD to create a continuum that better explains these different philosophical approaches for others to view and to help them determine what philosophically aligns best with their classroom. Literature Review When looking at the application of teaching philosophies, it’s important to first understand the history of the philosophies, as well as key elements as they pertain to students with severe ASD. Using primary BRIDGEWATER STATE UNIVERSITY | 69 COLLEGE OF EDUCATION AND HEALTH SCIENCES sources like textbooks written by the original developers of these philosophies, as well as other textbooks, this literature review aims to create a base line understanding of the three highlighted philosophies in order to supplement the data collected within educational programs. Published journals within the field of education have been included to supplement the textbook literature with accredited observations and findings. Metacognitive articles create depth to the findings of these textbooks within the field, similar to what the data analysis portion of this paper aims to do. Within this literature review the historical backgrounds of applied behavior analysis, the SCERTS model, and daily life therapy will be broken down and the philosophical role in promoting communication through behavior will be established, as these two categories create a baseline understanding of the philosophical interventions used with students with severe ASD. Historical Background of Teaching Philosophies Applied behavior analysis (ABA) is defined as “the science in which tactics derived from the principals of behavior are applied to improve socially significant behavior and experimentation is used to identify the variables responsible for the improvement in behavior” (Cooper et al., 2019, p. 786). In short, ABA is a scientific approach that identifies and analyzes environmental variables to understand their influence on behavior. ABA found its roots in the work of B.F. Skinner, an adherent behaviorist during the 1950s. Behaviorism is “an approach to psychology based on the study of objective, observable facts rather than subjective, qualitative processes, such as feelings, motives, and consciousness”. (American Psychological Association, 2018) Skinner is viewed as a radical behaviorist which is defined as “a form of behaviorism that attempts to understand all human behavior, including private events such as thoughts and feelings” (Cooper et al., 2019, p. 792). Skinner worked primarily on operant conditioning, “the process in which behavioral change 70 | THE UNDERGRADUATE REVIEW 2025 occurs as a function of the consequences of behavior” (American Psychological Association, 2018) this theory alleges that behavior is shaped by stimuli succeeding behavior instead of preceding stimuli. In summary, Skinner proved that telling a student not to do something before they even do it is much less effective than the reprimand that comes after they do it. These foundations of behaviorism, as well as numerous discoveries by other experimentalists from the 1960’s-1975, are the guiding principles of ABA today. The Social Communication, Emotional Regulation, and Transactional Support (SCERTS) model “is a comprehensive, multidisciplinary approach to enhancing communication and social-emotional abilities of individuals with ASD and related disabilities” (Prizant et al., 2006, p. 1). The set of textbooks titles The SCERTS Model: A Comprehensive Educational Approach for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder published in 2006 states that the philosophy is based on creating functional communication abilities as all behavior is viewed as purposeful and a form of comm (...truncated)