Teaching Basketball Shooting Skills to Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

There are few published procedures for teaching athletic skills to children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study used a multiple baseline across participants design to evaluate the effects of prompting, demand fading, and differential reinforcement, on the basketball shooting skills of four school-aged boys diagnosed with ASD. During baseline, all four boys rarely made correct and accurate baskets at the regulation height and distance for their age-group in youth basketball. Following intervention, all four boys increased their percentage of correct shots and accuracy, compared to baseline, and their shooting skills transferred to the game of “P-I-G” with peers.