48

Journal  of  ICSAR
ISSN (print): 2548-8619; ISSN (online): 2548-8600
Volume 3 Number 2 July 2019: 48-52

Application of DTT (Discrete Trail Training) Method 
in Improving the Eye Contact Ability of Autistic Children

aSiti Jaleha, bMirnawati

Indonesia University of Education, Indonesiaa
University of Lambung Mangkurat, Indonesiab

E-mail: Siti.jaleha@ulm.ac.id

Abstract: Autistic children are children who have developmental disorders that affect several aspects 
which include communication, social interaction, sensory disorders, play patterns, behavior, linguistics, 
perception, cognitive, and emotional. Usually these autistic children are less interested in making social 
contact and lack of eye contact. Autistic children’s problems are still low in eye contact so that it has an 
impact on behavior and social at school, because of the lack of teacher knowledge about autistic children 
and teachers who handle children currently do not have an extraordinary teacher education background. 
For this reason, the application of DTT (Discrete Trail Training) Method is very suitable to increase eye 
contact ability to attract children’s attention. The purpose of this research was to determine the application 
of DTT (Discrete Trail Training) method in improving the eye contact ability of autistic children. This 
research used a quantitative approach with SSR method or known as Single Subject Research. The 
research design used was the A-B-A reversal design. The subjects in this research were autistic children in 
sixth grade at SLB Negeri Pelambuan Banjarmasin. Data collection used event recording system or direct 
observation and documentation, data analysis techniques include analysis in conditions and analysis 
between conditions using descriptive statistics. The results of the research show that the mean level in 
the Baseline (A1) phase is 4.8 seconds, in the intervention phase (B) is 6.6 seconds and in the Baseline 
(A2) phase is 7.6 seconds. Thus, it can be concluded that there is an increase in the ability of eye contact 
of autistic children in SLB Negeri Pelambuan Banjarmasin after DTT (Discrete Trail Training) Method 
is applied.
Keywords: DTT (discrete trail training) method; eye contact; autistic children.

INTRODUCTION
Law Number 20 Year 2003 concerning National 

Education System article 5 paragraph 1 which states 
that “Every citizen has the same right to obtain quality 
education” and article 5 paragraph 2 which states 
that “Citizens who have physical, emotional, mental, 
intellectual and / or social disorders have the right 
to receive special education”. From the legal basis 
above, it is clearly explained that every citizen without 
exception has the right to obtain education. This has 
been guaranteed in the law which is the legal basis in 
our country. Therefore, children with special needs 
as citizens are also entitled to education.  One that 
belongs to children with special needs is autistic child. 
Luciano (2016) Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is 
characterized by deficits in social communication and 
social interaction in various contexts and restrictive 
and repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or 
activities. Autism spectrum disorders describe a group 
of neurological development conditions in which 
individuals face challenges with social involvement 
and age-appropriate games and fail to develop peer 
relationships that are appropriate to their level of 
development (Memari et al, 2015). 

In general, autistic children have disorders of 
social interaction, communication (both verbal and 
non verbal), and behavior patterns. With this disorder 
children are unable to form social relationships and 
communicate well or normally, even children do 
not have eye contact with other people. Children 
show failure to foster interpersonal relationships 
characterized by a lack of response to people around 
them. Symptoms of the inability of children to shape 
this behavior can be seen when the child prefers to be 
alone, engrossed in his own world, his attention is only 
focused on one object he is playing, and does not care 
about the events around him.

Unusual eye contact patterns are one of the most 
significant symptoms of children with the autism 
spectrum (Senju & Johnson, 2009). The underlying 
causes of eye contact avoidance in children with the 
autism spectrum are still unknown  (Nation & Penny, 
2008). Activities to avoid eye contact are identical in 
children with autism spectrum disorders and social 
disorders (Ninci et al, 2013). Eye contact is nonverbal 
communication, which is a process by which children 
are able or not to convey information and convey their 
thoughts and feelings through gestures / sign symbols. 



49Siti Jaleha, Mirnawati, Application of DTT (Discrete Trail Training) Method . . . .

In general, communication is carried out verbally or 
verbally that can be understood by both parties. If there is 
no verbal or non verbal language that can be understood 
by both, it will have an impact on communication that 
is not going well. Children with the autism spectrum 
face many challenges in living their daily lives. They 
may have difficulty in communicating and socializing 
with others. They will also feel frustrated when trying to 
overcome the ignorance and prejudice of others about 
autism. In addition families and teachers of children 
with autism spectrum also face many problems, and 
some problems, every day. For example, parents feel 
worried and exhausted in accompanying children with 
autism spectrum. they also face frustration when trying 
to find accurate information about good interventions 
for their children (Grindle & Remington, 2005). 

Based on the results of a preliminary study at SLB 
Negeri Pelambuan Banjarmasin, an autistic child was 
found in which the child sat in sixth grade. The condition 
of the child is currently still low in eye contact so that 
it has an impact on behavior and social at school. With 
the condition of the child when learning takes place the 
child is difficult to follow orders and instructions from 
the teacher, when the child is asked to make eye contact 
the child’s eyes are quickly distracted, when called by 
his name the child did not turn around and still seemed 
to not understand, when researchers try to invite even 
the duration of the time the child in staring is not long 
and very quickly distracted, and if you talk to them it 
will look like a daydream and empty because you don’t 
understand what is being said.  

Some of the efforts made by teachers in dealing 
with eye contact in autistic children are still not 
qualified. Due to the lack of knowledge about autistic 
children, teachers who handle children even now are not 
from an extraordinary teacher education background. 
So that during the learning process the teacher seemed 
to be indifferent to the low eye contact the child has. 
As for being able to enter the world of autistic children, 
at least they should be able to master the child’s eye 
contact. Because with eye contact all the information 
you want to teach to children can be understood by 
children. However, what happens is that teachers find 
it difficult to adjust to the provision of services that are 
appropriate to the needs of children and have an impact 
on the provision of learning services that are still not 
optimal. So that if the child’s eye contact ability is not 
improved, the child cannot develop properly and the 
child will be isolated from the environment and it is 
also difficult to have the skills and knowledge. 

Therefore, researchers tried to recommend a 
method that was deemed suitable to train eye contact 
in autistic children by applying DTT (Discrete 
Trail Training) method. Discrete Trial Teaching 
(DTT) is one of the fundamental procedures used in 
implementing Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). 

Each discrete trial consists of three main components, 
namely: (a) discriminatory stimulus (eg, instructions 
from the therapist); (B) responses by students; and 
(c) consequences (eg, reinforcement or punishment) 
(Leaf et al, 2016). Discrete (DTT) trial training is 
an individual method by simplifying instructions to 
improve the quality of learning. DTT is very useful for 
teaching new forms of behavior (eg, speech or motor 
movements) and new discrimination (eg, responding 
correctly to different requests, and eye contact) in 
children with the autism spectrum, (Smith, 2001). In 
handling children with autism spectrum, parents and 
teachers need the DTT method, DTT is considered easy 
and practical in its application, because DTT can be 
implemented in classrooms, at home, or in other places, 
(AL-Salahat, 2016). 

DTT (Discrete Trail Training) method which 
is part of the ABA approach has never been used by 
teachers, but researchers assume that DTT method can 
improve the eye contact ability of autistic children. As 
the results of a research by Downs, Downs, Fossum, 
and Rau (2008) show that DTT has the potential to be 
used practically and effectively in making a positive 
impact on the learning and development of children 
with developmental disabilities. As the results of 
research conducted by Resmisari (2016) that the ABA 
method can improve eye contact in the subject from two 
seconds to three seconds. Based on this, researchers are 
interested in conducting research on “Application of 
DTT (Discrete Trail Training) Method in Improving the 
Eye Contact Ability of Sixth Grade Autistic Children at 
SLB Negeri Pelambuan Banjarmasin.”

METHOD
The approach used in this research is a quantitative 

approach. The type of research used is an experiment 
with SSR (Single Subject Research). The research 
design used the A-B-A design which means the 
treatment phase is baseline (A1) without treatment, 
intervention phase (B) with treatment, repetition of the 
baseline phase (A2) after previously being treated. The 
independent variable in this research is DTT (Discrete 
Trial Training) method. The dependent variable in this 
research is to improve eye contact. The subject of this 
research was 1 (one) sixth-grade autistic child at SLB 
Negeri Pelambuan Banjarmasin. This researcher used 
a system of recording data directly by recording the 
duration of time. Analysis techniques used analysis in 
conditions and between conditions. 

DISCUSSION 
The data generated is the result of direct 

observation of researchers for approximately 18 days, 
with several phases. 



50 Journal of ICSAR; Volume 3, Number 2, July 2019: 48-52

Figure 1. Results of duration of eye contact in 
autistic children during the baseline phase (A1)

Figure 2. Results of duration of eye contact in 
autistic children during the intervention phase (B)

Figure 3. Results of duration of eye contact in 
autistic children during the baseline phase 2 (A2)

The results of recording data on the duration of 
eye contact ability of autistic children in sixth grade 
at SLB Negeri Pelambuan Banjarmasin are as follows.

Eye contact in autistic children in the baseline phase 
(A1)

The child’s eye contact ability was not increased 
but there was a decrease in eye contact in the 2nd session, 
figure 1. In the 2nd session there was a decrease in eye 
contact. The researcher assumed that it was possible 
because at the time of the implementation the child had 
just finished tantrums so that it had little impact and 
a decrease in the child’s eye contact.  But the rest of 
the 3rd to 6th session of the child’s eye contact is the 
same and stable. If a child is not qualified enough in 
terms of eye contact skills, the child will be isolated 

from his social environment because of the difficulty of 
having two-way communication with his interlocutor. 
Verbal communication is the main means of conveying 
messages in a social context, nonverbal signals 
play an important role in paving the way for social 
interaction. Eyes specifically provide many social cues 
(Madipakkam, Rothkirch, Dziobek, & Sterzer, 2017). 

Eye contact is an urgent matter and plays an 
important role in optimizing development in children. 
Carbone, O’Brien, Sweeney-Kerwin, & Albert 
(2013) state that eye contact occurs very early in 
child development, eye contact plays a role in many 
developmental functions such as social, cognitive, and 
language skills. A large number of children with autism 
fail to develop these skills because they have difficulty 
in eye contact. 

Eye contact in autistic children in the intervention 
phase (B)

The ability of the child’s eye contact at the 
1st and 2nd sessions of the duration obtained for 6 
seconds, then for the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th sessions there 
is an increase of 7 seconds so that it has happened 
enhancement, figure 2. At this stage the implementation 
of the intervention (B) phase has been given treatment, 
namely by applying the DTT (Discrete Trail Training) 
method. In implementing interventions, children with 
the autism spectrum, the instructor gives stimulus to 
the child by giving instructions to the child to get eye 
contact. When the child shows the expected behavior, 
the child is given a reward, the reward given is in the 
form of objects (dolls, chocolates), giving rewards is 
also given in the form of applause, touch, praise, and 
expression. Conversely, if the child does not show 
the desired behavior, the instructor removes items or 
things favored by the child  (Fonger & Malott, 2018) 
in training the eye contact of children with the autism 
spectrum, performed using positive formation and 
reinforcement during the pause in instruction. On the 
other hand, the instructor removes the preferred item 
until the child has eye contact. 

DTT helps children with autism acquire a variety 
of skills in important fields such as communication, 
social interaction, and self-care (Newsom, 1998). In 
addition, some researchers have reported that when 
applied as part of a comprehensive ABA care program, 
DTT produces major long-term benefits for many 
children. By involving eye contact with the person they 
are talking to, this gives the person the impression and 
message that they are serious about something that is 
communicated.

Eye contact in autistic children in the Baseline phase 
2 (A2)

This stage is the implementation of the Baseline 
(A2) phase as a control of the Intervention (B) phase. 



51Siti Jaleha, Mirnawati, Application of DTT (Discrete Trail Training) Method . . . .

At this stage it has been seen that the child’s eye contact 
ability has increased after being given treatment. 
Children have been able to see and respond in the form 
of eye contact that is long enough and increases from the 
previous time, when researchers give a little stimulation 
the child is sufficient to understand. Although the 
ability of the child’s eye contact is still far-reaching 
if compared with a child of his age who is capable 
of minutes of eye contact. Thus, if with the increased 
ability of the child’s eye contact, it will slowly facilitate 
the child to understand the language conveyed in the 
process of social interaction. Meanwhile, according 
to Herliyanti (2017) states that eye contact and gazing 
play an important role in regulating social interactions. 
In starting a social meeting the first thing to do is to 
build eye contact with the person we’re talking to.

The ability to establish eye contact with the other 
person can be seen through the frequency and duration 
of the number of times and how long the child can 
survive looking at the other person’s eyes. This is in 
line with the results of research conducted by Rani, 
(2015) that after receiving Discrete Trial Training 
(DTT) and Pivotal Response Training (PRT) found 
that ability in responding joint attention (RJA) both 
subjects of autism increased. Subject 1 obtained an 
average ability percentage of 88.09%, which means 
that the achievement of RJA ability in children is 
classified as high (≥ 80%). Subject 2 obtained an 
average percentage of RJA of 59.51%, which means 
that the increase in RJA’s ability that the child achieves 
is low. The difference in achievement of RJA’s ability 
on both subjects of autism is influenced by the intensity 
of repetitive behavior and stereotypical attraction.  

DTT helps children with autism acquire a variety 
of skills in important fields such as communication, 
social interaction, and self-care (Newsom, 1998). In 
addition, some researchers have reported that when 
applied as part of a comprehensive ABA program, 
DTT produces long-term benefits for autistic children 
(Smith, Buch, and Evslin, 2000). The occurrence of 
long-term eye contact will be maintained by children 
with the autism spectrum when the therapist uses a 
combined schedule of giving rewards in the form of 
food and praise continuously (Cook et al, 2017). 

CONCLUSION 
Based on the results of the research it can be 

concluded that the application of the DTT (Discrete 
Trail Training) method can improve the eye contact 
ability of autistic children in SLB Negeri pelambuan 
Banjarmasin. The application of the DTT method should 
collaborate or cooperate with parents of children with 
the autism spectrum, so parents can also implement 
the DTT method at home. In addition, the application 
of the DTT method will be better if it involves other 
methods, such as economic tokens.

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