Task Interspersal: a Meta-Analytic Review of Effective Programming

Task interspersal is a commonly used teaching method for individuals with autism spectrum disorder. There are several procedural variations of task interspersal reported in the literature. The purpose of the present meta-analysis was to examine the effectiveness of different procedural variations and the effectiveness of task interspersal across target skills. Results revealed that no procedural variation presents a significant benefit over any other, suggesting that task interspersal may be an instructional procedure easily adapted to a client’s needs or preferences. Further, task interspersal was effective across a range of target skills. The flexibility of task interspersal as an instructional procedure is limited in that practitioners still must rely upon clinical judgment when deciding to implement specific task interspersal procedures. Considerations for programming task interspersal are discussed.