Selecting Optimal Performance Criteria for Autism Interventions: A Practical Guide

This chapter addresses a practical yet often overlooked question in autism intervention research: how to select performance criteria that are both meaningful and defensible. Rather than treating performance criteria as arbitrary benchmarks, the chapter argues that these decisions should be guided by the type of behavior being targeted and the functional significance of change for the individual and their environment. For behaviors targeted for increase, a structured rubric is introduced to support performance-criterion selection by jointly considering participant characteristics, task features, and measurement factors. Task-specific interpretation tables translate rubric scores into recommended criterion levels and frequencies, allowing flexibility when response variability is functional and greater stringency when skills are safety- or risk-sensitive. For behaviors targeted for reduction, the chapter presents a separate rubric that reflects the functions of disruptive behaviors. This framework emphasizes various parameters such as severity, risk to self or others, contextual pervasiveness, and the acceptability of residual behavior. Both rubrics were refined through focus group interviews with six experts and written feedback from two additional experts, strengthening their relevance to social validity. Overall, this chapter offers a practical and transparent guide to selecting performance criteria, supporting empirically informed, functionally appropriate, and socially valid decision-making in autism interventions.