Objective: This investigation examined the effect of emotional recognition intervention via telepractice on the ability to identify emotions in children aged 7;0-10;11 years with a confirmed diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. Method: A multiple baseline across participants (MBAP) design was utilized for this investigation. The primary dependent variable (DV) was identification of a randomly selected set of emotions. Two participants completed this study, ages 8;10 (P2) and 8;1 (P3). The intervention phase included 2 treatment sessions for P2 and 16 treatment sessions for P3. A maintenance period of two weeks ensued once the criterion of 9/10 (90%) emotions was met. At the two-week mark, another data collection session was completed to check carryover. The investigation was completed in 8 weeks. Results: This study began with three participants, however the first reached criterion in baseline. The additional 2 participants demonstrated positive effect in the ability to correctly identify emotions. The data were supportive of the initial claim that participants’ emotional recognition improves when taught a specific and systematic way to identify emotions. Conclusion: Findings suggest that emotional recognition treatment via telepractice is an effective intervention for autistic children aged 7;0-10;11 years. Additional research is necessary to compare level 1 to level 2 autistic participants, as well as to expand the criterion for mastery or maintenance phase to determine long-term retention of skill.
