Getting Started

Developing Critical Learning Skills for Children on the Autism Spectrum

A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO FURTHER THE DEVELOPMENT OF

CHILDREN WITH MINIMAL LANGUAGE SKILLS

James W. Partington, Ph.D., BCBA-D

Behavior Analysts, Inc.

311 Lennon Lane, Suite A
Walnut Creek, CA 94598
PartingtonBehaviorAnalysts.com

GETTING STARTED: DEVELOPING CRITICAL

LEARNING SKILLS FOR CHILDREN ON THE
AUTISM SPECTRUM

Teach Your Children Well® Series

April, 2014

Version 1.0
Partington, James W.

The Teach Your Children Well® Series is designed to provide research-

based practical information in a non-technical manner to parents,
educators, and other professionals who interact with or attempt to teach
skills to individuals with an autism spectrum disorder or other
developmental delay. However, the presentation of this information does
not make recommendations for any specific child. The selection of
educational and behavior change goals and interventions are tasks that
should be undertaken with input from competent professionals.
Furthermore, it should not be viewed that the use of this information
with a child with a developmental disability would result in “normal
development or functioning.” It is not within the scope of this book to
determine the appropriateness of any educational goals and objectives,
nor the priority of a child’s needs. It is recommended that parents confer
with trained and experienced professionals to evaluate an individual’s
need and to determine appropriate educational priorities and
programming decisions.

Copyright © 2014 by James W. Partington, Ph.D. ALL RIGHTS

RESERVED
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior
written permission of the author.

ISBN: 978-0-9882493-7-0

Publisher:

Behavior Analysts, Inc.

311 Lennon Lane, Suite A
Walnut Creek, CA 94598
www.behavioranalysts.com
(925) 210-9378
FAX (925) 210-0436

Teach Your Children Well®, ABLLS®, and ABLLS-R® are Registered

Trademarks of Behavior Analysts, Inc. All rights are reserved. These
trademarks may not be used without written permission from Behavior
Analysts, Inc.
 DEDICATION

To Terry Partington, my loving wife and steadfast companion who shares my

desire to make the world a better place for individuals with special needs.

JWP

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This work would not have been possible without the help of many
individuals. Some people assisted by providing a conceptual analysis for
understanding behavioral teaching methodology, while others provided
me opportunities to work with their children to refine the
implementation of the teaching methods necessary for the development
of critical language and learning skills. Finally, others devoted a
considerable amount of time to help with the editing of this work to
ensure that the reader was able to clearly understand the information
being presented.

Most of the conceptual analysis of behavioral teaching

methodology has been acquired from the work of my mentors Dr. Jon S.
Bailey, Dr. Richard Malott, and Dr. Jack Michael. Dr. Jon S. Bailey and
Dr. Richard M. Foxx also provided me with the inspiration to translate
all of my works into non-technical language so that it could be useful to
those not well versed in the technical language of a behavior analyst.

The day-to-day efforts by the staff at Behavior Analysts, Inc. to

provide high-quality services to the children and families have also been
an inspiration to me. My consultant staff: Jessica Curell, Michael
Edmondson, Holli Henningsen-Jerdes, Kathy Kilby, Carmen Martin,
and Marian Woodside, work hard everyday so that all the children we
serve have the best possible chance to develop to their fullest potential.
The author is also appreciative of the administrative support provided by
Alex Arnold, Autumn Bailey, Tammy Pease, Cathy Santopadre and
Laurie Winkler who helped find time to get the work done. I am also
grateful to Brian Beasley, and Sue and Rick Ranft for their support in
helping me be able to devote time to this and other major projects.

I wish to thank the individuals who provided editorial comments to

help improve the readability of this work. The editorial review by
Autumn Bailey, Jessica Curell, Kathy Kilby, Dion Ma, Scott Partington,
Terry Partington, Rita Shreffer, and Lisa Squadere-Watson has been
invaluable. I also wish to thank Dawn Nozaka for her very valuable
guidance and support with graphic design of the book and for her artistic
work in the design of the cover. I would also like to thank Blake Knight
for his assistance with typesetting the book.

Most importantly, I would like to acknowledge my family for

enduring our endless hours of work on this project. I owe a great deal to
my wife, Terry Partington, and my children, Scott and Sonja Partington,
for their patience and support. Scott provided significant input to help
clarify the descriptions of several key teaching procedures. Terry spent
countless hours transcribing, reviewing, and editing the document;
without her help the book wouldn’t have been possible.

Of course, this work would be meaningless if it were not for the

parents and children served by devoted professionals and their staff.
Thanks especially to all the children who have taught me so much.

JWP

PREFACE

This book is a “must have” for every parent or educator of a child who
has no—or very limited—language skills. It is written in non-technical
terms and provides critical information on what and how to teach initial
skills to such children. It provides the rationale for teaching six critical
learning skills and the procedures necessary to develop them. Step-by-
step instructions allow a parent or teacher to implement training and
track the child’s acquisition of these important skills. In addition, it
provides the reader with strategies to motivate the child to participate in
those learning activities.

Week after week, parents bring their children to my clinic for

evaluations of their son’s or daughter’s skills so that my staff and I can
make programming recommendations that will help the child reach his
or her fullest potential. These parents have found themselves in a
situation that they never anticipated; they need to find the best possible
actions with the best possible outcomes that can help their children
minimize or overcome delays in their development. It is difficult enough
to raise a typically developing child, but children with delays in
language and social skills bring even more challenges into the mix.
Parents must then seek help from experts who have experience in such
situations. Parents are willing to do whatever they can to help their
child, “leaving no stone unturned”—often unaware of what options are
available, and which specific actions on their part may be critical in
helping their child.

There is an abundance of information available to parents of

children with developmental delays through a variety of sources. The
Internet, pediatricians, state sponsored agencies, and local school
systems all have information that might assist these children and their
families. The Internet provides access to a wide range of resources,
some of which provide accurate data and are worthy of the time spent in
checking them out. However, there is also an abundance of information
that can be misleading, or lacks conclusive empirical support to confirm
the effectiveness of the proposed interventions. Furthermore, even if the
information is credible, it is often extremely difficult to sort and use to
develop into a meaningful plan of action that will increase the rate at
which a child learns new skills.

There are also private agencies that specialize in providing

intervention services based upon the principles of Applied Behavior
Analysis (ABA). This type of intervention service has been
demonstrated to be effective in helping many children develop skills that
are needed for participation in a wide variety of school, family and
community activities
(Howard, Sparkman, Cohen, Green & Stanislaw, 2005; & Lovaas, 1987;
National Research Council, 2002; Sallows & Graupner, 2005;
Thompson, 2007 & 2011). The input from physicians and professionals
from the various community agencies (including the school system) has
been of some assistance to families and children with special needs.
However, the professionals from these various systems often do not
have knowledge and skills to develop and implement a comprehensive
and effective intervention plan for the child.

I believe that parents need to become the child’s best teacher.

Regardless of the resources available to a family, it is critical that
parents learn how to teach skills to their own child. Although well-
trained professionals can help in teaching skills, parents spend the
greatest amount of time caring for their child. It is important that they
know how to develop the child’s skills while they interact with him
during his daily activities. Parents have the most to gain from their child
learning to interact with others and care for himself. Every waking
moment provides opportunities for the child to learn new skills. When a
parent has learned how to teach and implement those teaching
techniques, both the child and the parents will be able to reap the
benefits.

The main focus of this book is to help parents, teachers and

caregivers identify the critical elements of an effective intervention
program. The aim is to help in identifying the specific needs of a
particular child, so that parents and educators can develop specific
individualized program recommendations. Finally, the book will assist
in identifying appropriate teaching strategies to develop those skills that
are being targeted for intervention.

The book is not written primarily for academicians (although it can

be used in college classes to teach students how to develop effective
programs), but rather for parents and teachers and other individuals who
want to see the child succeed. Written in layman’s terms, the book is
designed for individuals who care about a child, but do not need to learn
a technical vocabulary to be effective in teaching new skills.

Because individuals with a diagnosis of autism vary greatly in their

skill levels, it is not possible to write a single book that can cover all the
learners with that diagnosis. Therefore, this book is geared toward those
children who are currently nonverbal or have a vocabulary of less than
20 words. The focus is on developing programs that will teach the child
beginning basic language and social interaction skills, along with other
critical skills that allow the child to learn from his everyday interactions
with others.

Getting Started: Developing Critical Learning Skills For Children On

The Autism Spectrum is one in a series of books. The skills that are
presented herein provide the foundation upon which to build a wide
variety of other important skills. A child must develop an extensive
vocabulary, and he needs to be able to talk about items and events.
Additionally, he must learn to put words together in the correct order
and in combination. Separate books in this Teach Your Children Well®
series provide additional information regarding how to teach skills such
as understanding and using adjectives, pronouns, prepositions, and to
develop conversational skills. However, these advanced skills are
dependent upon the child learning the basic skills addressed in this book.

My aim is to provide a useful tool to help a child’s team of parents

and educators make informed decisions about intervention strategies for
optimal advances in development. It is important to remember that every
child is unique and all decisions regarding teaching-based interventions
must consider all aspects of the child’s life. Therefore, the information
from this book should be used in conjunction with input from other
professionals who know the child and are knowledgeable in providing
services to children with autism or similar developmental delays.

JWP

Table of Contents

Please click on the below symbol - - above each section to be

redirected to the corresponding section in the book.

Dedication

Acknowledgements
 Preface

Chapter 1: Establishing Initial Skills

Chapter 2: Developing Initial Social Interaction Skills

Chapter 3: Teaching Beginning Receptive Language

Chapter 4: Teaching Motor Imitation Skills

Chapter 5: Teaching Vocal Imitation Skills

 Chapter 6: Teaching Manding/Requesting Skills

Chapter 7: Visual Performance Tasks

Appendix 1: First 220 Nouns List & Receptive and Labeling Skills
Generalized Data Sheet

Appendix 2: The Partington Imitation Skills Assessment (PISA)

Appendix 3: Echoic Assessment

Glossary
 References

Establishing Initial Skills

A child who doesn’t understand what is being said to him and who
cannot communicate needs to begin receiving services to help him learn
those skills. One of the first steps in developing an educational program
to teach a child to understand and use language to communicate with
others is identifying what skills to teach first. There are many skills that
a child needs to acquire, but the selection of the initial skills to be taught
will have a significant impact on the outcome of the child’s
development. This chapter identifies six critical skills that should be
included in a program for children who are either nonverbal or use only
a few words to communicate with others.

The Goal: Learning to Learn

The parent or teacher of a child with language delays is often easily able
to identify language deficits by comparing the child to typical children
of the same age. For example, a typical five-year-old child is able to
readily ask for a variety of items and activities, can name and
receptively identify thousands of items and activities, knows colors,
numbers, letters, and is able to learn a variety of new concepts with
relatively little effort. Thus, for a child of that age who has no
communication skills or only a limited vocabulary, there are clearly
many skills that he could develop to reduce the discrepancy in skill
levels from his typically developing peers.

Unfortunately, merely identifying deficits does not often result in

the identification of skills that should be taught first. A skill that may
appear at first glance to be a relatively simple task (e.g., follow
instructions to pick up a pencil, or point to colors when asked) may
prove to be difficult for a child, and may result in frustration for him as
well as for his parents and teachers.

For the child with autism or other developmental disabilities, it is

often critical that those who attempt to teach him (1) are well trained in
behavioral teaching methodologies and (2) have a well-sequenced
curriculum that can be individualized to meet the specific needs of a
child. The combination of effective teaching practices and an
appropriate curriculum can help to maintain a child’s motivation during
the instructional activities.

Although one could attempt to identify and teach all the specific
skills that a child needs to learn, this approach may not be practical. A
more efficient strategy may be to focus on the basics that will allow him
to learn additional skills to promote developmental growth without the
need for highly specialized instruction. Therefore, a curriculum should
emphasize teaching a child a set of “basic learner skills” in a manner
that sets the stage so that children can “learn to learn” (Partington,
2010).

The Assessment of Basic Language and Learning Skills-Revised

(The ABLLS-R®) provides such a curriculum. The ABLLS-R® is a
criterion-referenced assessment that measures a child’s ability to
perform 544 skills. The assessment provides a comprehensive review of
25 types of skills from four major areas of development. The major
groupings of skills are the Basic Learner Skills (which includes many
language skills and the skills included in this book), Academic Skills,
Self-Help Skills, and Motor Skills. The assessment lists skills in order
from those that are easier to more difficult to learn. Thus, it helps a
parent or educator identify what skills a child already has, and the next
ones that should be taught (Partington, 2010).

The Basic Learner Skills

The Basic Learner Skills section of The ABLLS-R® Protocol (the book
where the assessment is conducted) provides a basis for a curriculum
that emphasizes skills that are important for being able to “learn to
learn.” This section is comprised of 15 skill areas that are critical to
being able to learn from everyday experiences. These skill areas include
the child’s cooperation with learning activities, specific receptive and
expressive language skills (vocal imitation, requesting, labeling, and
talking about items and experiences), motor imitation, social interaction,
appropriate play, participation in group instruction, following classroom
routines, and generalization of acquired skills to new people, places, and
materials.

The skills contained in the Basic Learner Skills section are ones
that typically developing children acquire before entering kindergarten
(Partington, Bailey, Pritchard, Nosick & Doerr, 2010). Thus these skills
represent a reasonable, age-based target for young children who are in
early intervention programs, while also continuing to provide important
educational goals for older learners. It is important to consider that if an
older learner has not yet acquired some of these basic skills, the
development of these skills would still help the individual gain access to
a wider range of options for involvement in community activities.

Because these basic learner skills provide a foundation for the

development of a wide variety of social, academic, and functional living
skills, the majority of instructional time should be devoted to fostering
their development (Payne, Radicchi, Rossellini, Deutchman & Darch,
1983). While other skills (e.g., self-help and motor skills), may also be
taught concurrently (Partington & Mueller, 2012), it is often beneficial
to postpone certain tasks (e.g., traditional academic skills) until progress
has been made on the basic learner skills (An exception would be if the
child shows a high degree of interest in learning in those areas).

However, in order to teach these critical learner skills to a child, it

is important to:

> Identify developmentally appropriate skills to teach

> Establish a sequence of interactions to teach those skills

> Get the child to actively participate in the learning activities

 The active participation of the learner in the developmental
activities is a critical factor in the acquisition of the skills. If the child
does not actively respond, his behavior will not have the opportunity to
be strengthened by coming in contact with either naturally occurring or
other reinforcers being used during the teaching sessions.

Developing a Child’s Cooperation

When attempting to teach a new skill either in a formal teaching session

or in the context of performing an activity of daily living, it is important
that the child cooperates with the parent or teacher. However, many
children have learned that if they engage in disruptive behaviors, take
too long to respond, or just fail to respond to the parent’s or teacher’s
instructions, they will no longer be asked to participate in those
instructional activities; the adults will simply do what is necessary for
the child. The adults find it is easier just to save time and disruption by
doing the tasks for the child. In essence, the child has learned how to
avoid following the instructions of others. Thus, one of the priorities of
the teaching process should be to ensure that the child is consistently
following directions and otherwise cooperating with the adults who are
attempting to teach him. The development of the foundational skills
identified in this book can help to develop a learner’s cooperation and
can be used to establish instructional control while facilitating the
development of both a child’s ability and his willingness to follow
instructions (A Section)*.
* Note that references to both ABLLS-R® skill areas and specific skills
will be provided (e.g., A Section, B 1, C 14, etc.).

Multiple Payoffs for Teaching a Skill

When teaching a specific task to a student, it is important to remember

that the teaching activity can facilitate the development of several other
important skill areas. For example, when teaching a child to request an
item (e.g., raisin), the instructor has an opportunity to reinforce the
child’s looking at the adult and attending to her instructions.
Reinforcement will also follow cooperation with the instructor’s
prompts and instructions, thus increasing the likelihood of future
cooperation. Additionally, the instruction will result in the further
development of the child’s imitative skills (if using sign language) or
vocal imitation skills (if speaking). Finally, the instruction may result in
the child attending to praise, the changes in the instructor’s facial
expression, and the tone of voice that precedes the delivery of the
reinforcer. The careful pairing of the instructor’s praise with the delivery
of other reinforcers often results in the child being willing to work for
more naturally occurring social reinforcement (e.g., praise, smiles).

Technical Note

Although people often refer to reinforcing a child for exhibiting a certain

 behavior, it is actually the behavior that is being reinforced.

The completion of a simple puzzle provides another example of

how multiple benefits can occur when teaching a specific skill. For
example, when teaching a child to put puzzle pieces into an inset puzzle
board, the instructor can be developing the student’s attention to the
materials, independent completion of the task, coordination of fine
motor movements, and looking for instructor feedback. Thus, it is
possible for a well-trained instructor to teach the child how to listen,
attend for longer periods of time, scan his environment, and attend to
more complex instructions.
The Six Critical Skills

There are six critical skill areas that need to be developed for a
nonverbal child or a child with minimal language. It is important to
teach him that good things happen when he interacts with others. He
must learn that attending to what others are doing and saying helps him
gain access to his reinforcers. He must also learn that language works
for his benefit when he requests items or actions that are of value to him.
 Critical Skills to Teach a Nonverbal Child or One with Minimal
Language Skills

> Social Interaction

> Receptive Language

> Motor Imitation

> Vocal Imitation (Echoic)

> Requesting (Manding)

> Visual Performance Tasks

The first six skill areas include: approaching and interacting with
others, listening to and understanding what others are saying, watching
and imitating actions, listening to and repeating sounds and words,
requesting desired items and activities, and paying attention while
manipulating objects. These skills have been identified by professionals
as being important for the development of additional advanced skills
(Sallows & Graupner, 2005; Weiss, 1999). The skills involved in each
of these areas—and their importance—will be reviewed below.
Following this chapter, an individual chapter is devoted to providing an
in-depth description of how to develop each of these skills.

Parents Teaching Critical Skills During Daily Activities

It is important to note that all of these skills can and should be

worked on throughout the day. (The only exception is a situation in
which a child can’t control his vocal musculature and may need to
develop his motor imitation skill prior to an attempt to teach imitation of
specific vocalizations.) Many parents report that due to busy schedules
involving careers and/or taking care of their other children, they find it
difficult to arrange times to work on the development of these critical
skills. Although it is important for the child to have specific “teaching
sessions,” these skills can also be developed anytime a parent is
helping the child to engage in the typical daily routines of eating,
dressing, and bathing. Even those parents who leave for work before
the child wakes up can still find “teachable moments” to work on the
development of these skills in the evening while bathing the child and
helping him get ready for bed.

Skill Area 1: Social Interaction

One of the major deficit areas for individuals with an autism spectrum
disorder (ASD) is related to the ability to socially interact with others.
Therefore, it is critical that a child learn to pay attention and interact
with others they encounter. There are many subtle skills that are needed
by individuals to be able to interact with and learn from their peers. A
child must learn to greet others, pay attention to the reactions of others,
and generally interact with others according to his cultural expectations.
Looking at people when they are talking, excusing himself when
necessary, helping others, and waiting to take a turn during activities are
just a few additional examples of social skills that increase the
likelihood that others will want to include the child in their activities,
hence, enriching his life.

The Social Interaction chapter of this book (Chapter 2) covers the

development of initial approach and interaction behaviors. This chapter
describes the motivation behind why we interact, and how to encourage
a child to initiate an interaction. It also covers topics such as how to
develop eye contact, initiate and return greetings, and interact with
others while engaged in fun activities (L Section of ABLLS-R®).

Skill Area 2: Receptive Language

Another critical learner skill is to be able to attend to and understand the

words of others (Bloom, 1974; Wynn & Smith, 2003). This ability is
necessary for tasks such as following simple directions. Many children
with ASD have never learned the benefits of paying attention to the
words and instructions spoken by others. The receptive language skills
of these children are often a major area of weakness. When the spoken
words of others do not help children gain access to things that are
important to them, they often begin to “tune-out” the verbalizations of
others. Therefore, it is important to establish the ability to pay attention,
understand, and be able to respond to the words of others.

The Receptive Language chapter of this book (Chapter 3) covers

the child’s first few responses to specific instructions. This chapter
explains how to motivate and teach a child to respond to his own name,
and come to an adult when called. It also describes how to teach a child
to follow instructions in the context of ongoing daily activities, and
explains how to teach him to listen to instructions and then perform
specific actions (e.g., wave, clap), and how to select common objects on
request. Methods for selecting the first words to teach a child and for
tracking the development of receptive language skills are also presented
(C Section of ABLLS-R®).

Skill Area 3: Motor Imitation

The importance of being able to imitate or copy another person’s motor

movements has been recognized by parents and professionals as critical
to the development of a wide variety of language, self-help, motor,
academic and social skills (Rogers & Vismara, 2008; Schreibman,
2005). Many skills are acquired by watching and then imitating the
actions of others. When people are unsure of how to respond in a certain
situation, one of the most effective courses of action is to look at what
others are doing and to respond in a similar fashion. Unfortunately,
many children with autism don’t pay attention, let alone close enough
attention, to the actions of others. Without the ability to watch and
replicate the actions of others, a child will not be able to learn many
critical skills. Thus, it is important to ensure that every child is able to
pay attention to the actions of others and be able to replicate those
actions in a very precise manner. Furthermore, the child must be able to
attend for a sufficient amount of time to learn sequences of responses
being modeled by others, perform sequences of actions that require him
to switch between actions at the same time as others, and to be able to
recall and replicate those actions following demonstrated sequences of
actions.

The Motor Imitation chapter of this book (Chapter 4) describes

how to develop a child’s initial imitative skills. Methods are described
regarding how to teach a child to watch a person perform an action using
objects and then imitate the manipulating of those objects. Additionally,
methods to teach the imitation of gross motor movements involving
arms, hands, and feet are provided. Specific procedures are presented
that detail how to teach the imitation of fine motor actions involving
fingers, and how to teach imitation actions that are presented by
standing in front of a mirror. Finally, a description as to how motor
imitation is related to the development of vocal imitation skills is
presented (D Section of ABLLS-R®).

Skill Area 4: Vocal Imitation (Echoic)

If a child is going to be able to communicate with others using speech as

the medium of communication, it is important that he is able to vocally
imitate what others are saying. He must be able to produce patterns of
sounds that imitate not only individual sounds, but also combinations of
sounds that result in accurately spoken words, phrases and sentences. If
a child has delays in this skill area, programming must be implemented
to overcome deficits in this repertoire (E Section of ABLLS-R®).

The Vocal Imitation chapter of this book (Chapter 5) describes how

to develop initial vocal imitation skills. Methods are presented on
teaching a child to attend to specific sounds and then replicate sounds
made by objects. Because vocal imitation involves making a variety of
sounds, procedures to increase the number of sounds and amounts of
specific sounds made by a child are described. Specific procedures to
identify which sounds may be most easily taught to imitate are described
along with a system for tracking the child’s development of specific
sounds. Finally, teaching strategies are provided to develop the ability to
repeat a variety of sounds on request, make sound combinations, form
words, and produce variations in volume and tone of the words.

Skill Area 5: Requesting (Manding)

There are many types of receptive (Kent, 1974; Spradlin, 1974) and
expressive language skills (Partington & Bailey, 1993; Skinner, 1953;
Spradlin, 1963; Wynn & Smith 2003) that a child must develop in order
to effectively interact with others. Professionals from the field of
behavior analysis (Hart & Risley, 1975; Lerman, Parten, Addison,
Vorndran, Volkert, & Kodak, 2005; Sloane & MacAuley, 1968) and
from speech and language pathology (Van Riper, 1978) have developed
a variety of techniques to help individuals learn these necessary skills.
The cumulative effect of the development of many of those language
skills results in gradual improvements in interactions with others over
time. However, there is one expressive language skill that results in
immediate and powerful benefits to the child—the ability to ask for a
desired item or activity (i.e., manding).

Every child must be able to use his language skills to ask for things
that he needs or desires. (Note that the ability to request can be either by
speaking, using sign language, writing, or typing.) Whether the item is
within view or out of sight, the child should be able to get access to
those items or activities. He also must learn how to request that others
stop undesired activities or to be removed from unpleasant situations.
Furthermore, when the child needs information about the location of
people who are momentarily important to him, or about activities that
may occur in the future, he should be able to gain access to information
about those individuals or activities. He also needs to be able ask for
items and activities by stating and describing the specifics about where
an item is located, when an activity should occur, and delineate the
specifics of the items and actions he would like to access or engage
using a variety of adjectives, adverbs, pronouns and prepositions (F
Section of ABLLS-R®).

The Requesting chapter of this book (Chapter 6) describes exactly

how to teach a child to request items and activities. Because he can be
taught to ask for items even if he isn’t able to speak, a description as to
how to select the initial method of requesting is presented. However, as
most people talk to each other when interacting, speech would always be
the preferred method of communication. For children who have
difficulty controlling their vocal musculature enough to be able to
reliably produce sounds and words (the reason vocal imitation is one of
the critical skills included in this book), it is still helpful to teach them to
learn to ask for items even before they can use their voice to ask for
them. This chapter describes not only what to teach a child to request,
but also what not to teach. The information in this chapter identifies how
to avoid common mistakes made when attempting to teach a child this
invaluable skill.

Skill Area 6: Visual Performance

It is very important for a child to pay close attention to the items that he
can see during his everyday life. For example, he needs to be able to
identify his jacket and backpack among those that belong to others. He
also needs to be able to pay close attention to the difference between a
dog and a cat to be able to learn to name the two different types of
animals. If a child is to learn common daily activities such as matching
socks or putting away silverware, he must be able to “match” or sort
identical items.

The Visual Performance chapter of this book (Chapter 7) describes

the development of the child’s ability to attend to items and his own
actions as he manipulates those items. This chapter covers how to teach
a child to complete tasks such as placing single puzzle pieces into the
correct space in an inset puzzle board, and how to select various shaped
pieces, visually locate an identically shaped space, and then insert into
the appropriate holes in a form box. Additionally, a detailed description
is presented on how to teach a child to look at a display of items, locate
an item identical to the one he’s been given, and then place his item
beside the matching item (often referred to as a matching-to-sample
procedure). Finally, a similar procedure is described in which the child
must scan and then select an item that matches the one shown to him by
his instructor (a reverse matching-to-sample procedure) (B Section of
ABLLS-R®).

Daniel’s Story

Daniel was a nonverbal three-year-old boy who had a very busy

schedule. He had six hours a day of therapy sessions at my clinic with
competent instructors and two weekly appointments with a speech and
language pathologist. His father worked long hours so his mother was in
charge of Daniel’s care. She reported that scheduling and driving him to
each of his appointments and caring for her older son left her exhausted
and without time to conduct therapy sessions with her son.

I scheduled an early evening appointment to visit Daniel and his

mother in his home. I quickly identified numerous interactions that
could easily be turned into teaching opportunities. When Daniel wanted
something to eat, he approached his mother in the kitchen and pulled her
toward the refrigerator. I suggested that rather than just immediately
giving him some food, she could use the opportunity to teach him to use
American Sign Language (ASL) signs to request (mand) for her to
“open” the refrigerator, and to request something to “eat.”

When talking with the mother about Daniel’s nighttime routine, she
indicated that she usually undressed her son, got him into the tub and
washed him and then supervised him while he enjoyed sitting in the tub
and playing with his toys. Afterwards, she would put on his pajamas and
then put him in bed.

As it approached the time for Daniel to take his bath, I suggested

that he could be taught some additional skills during this evening
routine. Rather than merely removing his clothes, I prompted his mom
to use physical and verbal prompts to help him learn how to take off
each article of clothing. Although he couldn’t remove some of the items
without assistance, he could be taught how to engage in some actions to
help with their removal. Also, once the clothes were off, I prompted his
mother to have him follow the instruction to “put your clothes in the
hamper.” Once again, it was necessary for Daniel to be physically and
verbally prompted to put each piece of clothing in the hamper. After
putting away his dirty clothes, he was able to get into the tub.

Daniel seemed very happy when he got into the tub. His mother
quickly washed him and then allowed him to play with his toys. He
clearly enjoyed splashing in the water, and he spontaneously made a
variety of speech-related sounds as he played. I then pointed out that
while the mother had to sit and watch him, she could also work on
teaching him a few skills. Because he needed to work on improving both
his motor and vocal imitation skills, I suggested a way to capitalize on
his enjoyment of seeing and hearing water splashing.

I demonstrated how she could start by scooping some water in a

container and then get his attention as she poured it quickly back (i.e.,
splashing) into the tub in a very animated manner. After she did this
action a few times, he started to watch her in anticipation of the next
“splash” (a powerful reinforcer at that moment). She then scooped the
next container of water but then asked him to “give me five” (i.e., tap his
hand on hers). Since he already was able to follow this request, he
immediately tapped her hand, and she then poured the water into the tub.
After a few more successful “trials,” Daniel was still very excited about
seeing his mother pour the water in a fun way. I then had her give him
an instruction to imitate clapping his hands. I knew that he had already
learned to imitate this action. He readily imitated the actions and mom
then poured the water into the tub.

I instructed her that it was now time to attempt to teach him to

imitate other actions such as tapping the top edge of the bathtub. She
then asked him to watch her and to “Do this” as she tapped the top edge
of the tub. On the first trial, she needed to physically prompt him to tap
the tub before she poured the water. By the third trial, he was
independently imitating the action.

We both noticed that when Daniel watched the water pouring into
the tub, he would make several speech-related sounds. I asked the mom
to playfully repeat his sounds and pour a little more water while doing
so. Very quickly, he started increasing the frequency of making a certain
sound. I asked the mom to get the container full of water and then make
that sound for him. Daniel then made (i.e., imitated) that sound
immediately after she gave that vocal model, so she then excitedly
poured the water into the tub. She repeated this vocal imitation task a
few more times before she stopped to let him just play for a few minutes
on his own before getting out of the tub.

After Daniel was in his pajamas, the mother told me that she was
excited to see that she could work on so many skills while just doing the
usual nighttime routines. Teaching him to follow directions, and imitate
her actions and vocalizations was actually fun for both her and Daniel.
She remarked that there were so many “teachable moments” and it
didn’t really require any extra time for her to teach him those skills. The
best part for her was that Daniel enjoyed having fun with her.

The Need to Develop Each of These Critical Skills

It is important to remember that each of these six critical skills is

involved in the development of more complex skills. In essence, they are
skills that lay the foundation for the child’s development. Therefore, it is
crucial that the development of these skills is made a priority, and that
everyone who works with the child knows how to teach them. There
must be a plan as to what specific tasks are presented, and there must be
consistency in how everyone attempts to teach these skills. Most
importantly, all of these skills must be worked on throughout the day in
a variety of locations and situations. Everybody who interacts with the
child should be well aware of the skills he needs to learn and how to
teach them. Simply stated, the more opportunities the child has to work
on these skills, the more quickly he will learn them (Payne et al., 1983).

Bob’s Story

Bob is the father of two boys. As with many fathers, he works a full-
time job that sometimes requires travel. He and his wife, Lisa, learned
that their youngest son’s delays were consistent with the diagnosis of
autism. Lisa, who did her homework and began an early intervention
program for their son, became a very competent teacher. Their
intervention approach was based on verbal behavior teaching strategies
and included a team of therapists and a variety of professionals. They
were using the Assessment of Basic Language and Learning Skills (The
ABLLS-R®) to identify his learning objectives.

Lisa asked me to review their son’s program and to help provide

guidance and training to his intervention team. When I went to their
home to observe their son’s intervention program, I was able to provide
the feedback and guidance that she requested.
 During my visit, Bob approached me and said, “Dr. Partington, I
want you to spend time alone with me. I know you’re here to work with
the team but I’m his father and I want to know how to work with my
son. Leave some time at the end of your visit to show me what to do to
get him to interact with me, and how to teach him.” I promised him that
I would meet with him when I was done with his team of therapists.

That day, Bob and I spent about an hour discussing intervention

strategies and how he could get more involved in the process. I had him
practice working with his son using the strategies and procedures
described in this book. I coached him so that he would experience
success in teaching skills to his son. Although his mother Lisa is still the
main manager of their son’s program, and his most effective teacher,
Bob has continued to implement the strategies we discussed and has
remained an active participant in his son’s intervention. I must say that I
was so happy to hear a father’s request to learn what to do to help his
child. There may be others who are better trained in effective teaching
methods, but as I’ve always said, it is crucial that parents learn how to
teach skills to their own child—the parents should become the child’s
best teachers.

Good work, Bob!

Summary
There are six critical skill areas that need to be developed by a child who
is either nonverbal or who has minimal verbal skills. It is important to
teach him that good things happen when he interacts with others. He
must learn that attending to what others are doing and saying helps him
gain access to his reinforcers. He must also learn that language works
for his benefit when he requests items or actions that are valued by him.
It is important that he learn to attend to and imitate the actions of others.
In order to be able to communicate by talking, he must learn to control
his vocal musculature so that he can vocally imitate sounds, words and
phrases (Van Riper, 1978). It is also crucial that he learn to carefully
attend to his own actions while manipulating objects. Finally, he must be
able to scan displays of items and be able to match identical items.
These important skills are foundational for the development of a wide
variety of other critical life skills (Partington & Mueller, 2012). They
increase the opportunity to maximize his potential and overall
development. Parents and educators need to learn the procedures that
can help the child learn these skills, and must be able to identify those
teachable moments when they can further the child’s development.
These skills should be worked on throughout the day under a wide
variety of circumstances (e.g., while dressing, eating, and bathing), and
everyone who interacts with the child needs to know his best level of
responding and should require him to use those skills.

2
Developing Initial Social Interaction
Skills

The responsiveness of a six-month-old child to an adult who interacts

with him is an enjoyable moment for both the child and the adult. Even
though the child is unable to talk, the attentiveness to the adult’s actions
and the excitement that is shown through the child’s facial expression
and body movements provides a great source of reinforcement for the
adult’s interactions. In addition, the child also enjoys these interactions
and learns to attract further attention by looking at the adult and moving
or making vocalizations. When the child engages in such actions, adults
will often notice him and interact with him, reinforcing the child’s
initiation behaviors. The result of these interactions is an “emotional
connection” between the two of them. There is enjoyment that is derived
solely from the interaction itself. As the child learns to walk and talk, he
soon learns more sophisticated ways of socially interacting by not only
hearing what is said to him, but also attending to the tone of voice and
posture of others as they are speaking with him.

One of the major defining characteristics of an Autism Spectrum

Disorder is the failure of a child to develop those types of social
interaction skills (American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual [DSM-V], 2013). Parents of such children often
report being saddened by the “lack of connection” between them and
their child. However, every child is a unique individual, and there is a
wide range of differences in social interaction skills among those who
have been given this diagnosis (Siegel, 2003; Wing, 2003). Many
children may lack or avoid making eye contact and may even avoid
interacting with others unless that person has something that is currently
desired by the child. Some children do show interest in the actions of
others but lack the language skills or awareness of the more subtle
nuances of interactions that will allow them to successfully interact with
others. Other children may have sufficient language skills, but lack an
interest in interacting with others. In any of these situations, both the
parent and the child miss out on the reinforcers associated with simply
“socially connecting” with each other.

Because there is such a wide range of skills involved in becoming

competent in socially interacting with a variety of individuals, this
chapter will limit the focus on this topic to the establishment of the
earliest forms of social interaction by individuals with little to no verbal
skills. Specifically, we will consider the issues of approaching and
responding to initiations from others to engage in interactions. Once
these basic social interactions are established, it is possible to have the
child learn additional social interaction skills that are necessarily reliant
on the development of language skills.

Why We Interact with Others

Regardless of a child’s language skills, it is important for parents and

educators to consider the motivation behind social interactions
(Partington, 2008). Parents often report being saddened by the fact that
their child doesn’t take an interest in attending to the actions of others.
When left alone, some children seem to prefer to entertain themselves
primarily by engaging in isolated activities. These activities are often
very limited and frequently they are ones that cause concern for the
parents.

One of the types of concerns can be due to the danger involved in

the activity. For example, some children like to climb which may result
in injury. Other children like to explore different locations that may lead
them to dangerous items (e.g., sharp objects) or harmful substances
(e.g., cleaning supplies, poisons, etc.) found in cabinets, or even leave
the house when not under constant surveillance (i.e.,
wandering/elopement). Other types of concern involve damaging of
objects (e.g., tearing books, breaking objects) and engaging in repetitive
behavior (often referred to as “self-stimulation;” e.g., arm-flapping).

Parents are often perplexed as to why the child seems so interested

in doing these isolated activities instead of engaging in socially
interactive activities. However, the fact that the child does continue
these actions indicates that he is getting something out of the activity.
Simply put, if he was not receiving some reinforcement for the behavior,
he wouldn’t be doing it. (Note that in order to help reduce or eliminate
these undesired behaviors, it is necessary to teach him alternative
appropriate ones that result in his receiving reinforcers that are more
highly valued than the ones that automatically result from the undesired
behavior.)

When a child engages in a certain behavior, the reinforcement often

comes directly as a result of his own actions. Professionals often refer to
this phenomenon as “automatic reinforcement” (Laraway, Snycerski,
Michael, & Poling, 2003; Michael, 1993). For example, he may enjoy
watching paper rip, hearing the sound of the tearing, and the feel of the
paper as it is being ripped. Furthermore, he can get this type of
stimulation without needing the help of others. Playing with electronic
tablets or computers that allow him to watch movies or changes on the
display provide direct reinforcement for his actions. He doesn’t need to
ask for help or follow anyone’s instructions; the paper-ripper can get
access to those reinforcers by simply engaging in the behavior whenever
paper is available. The reinforcement is available without needing to
respond to anyone else.

The reinforcement derived from social interactions often requires

following directions or going along with requirements from others.
Additionally, the “reinforcement” for engaging in the social interactions
may not actually be a reinforcer (i.e., it doesn’t strengthen the behavior).
Although a child may enjoy some of the outcomes, the value of the
supposed reinforcer may not be sufficient for the amount of behavior
being required. If the benefit derived from interacting with others is
greater than the enjoyment of engaging in isolated activities, the child
will want to engage in those interactive activities. If, on the other hand,
he chooses to engage in isolated activities, this fact would suggest that
the effort to engage in activities with others just isn’t worth the effort
compared to what he can get on his own for free (i.e., from his own
activities).

The critical point is that parents and educators need to help the
child obtain stronger forms of reinforcement for engaging in behaviors
involving interaction with others. Thus, when attempting to increase the
child’s interactions with others, it is critical to ensure that his
participation with them is actually reinforcing. Initially, it is important
that the responses being required of the child are not too complicated
and don’t require too much effort. The responses should be easy for the
child, and the reinforcement for engaging in those responses should be
highly desired by him at that moment.

Reasons Children May Avoid Others

“We want the children to run to us, not from us.” ~ JWP

While adults want children to be eager to interact with them, the child
may not be as interested. Each adult who interacts with a child needs to
establish a good working relationship with him. The child must learn
that good things are likely to happen when he sees the adult
approaching. However, adults often approach a child to get him to do
activities that he may not necessarily enjoy.

Children must be prompted to perform daily living tasks and taught

a variety of skills. Because a child on the spectrum is delayed in
understanding and using language skills, he may not understand why he
is being made to do certain daily living tasks. The same situation may
occur when adults attempt to teach a child a new skill. If the teaching
sessions are not carefully designed, the child may find many of the
learning tasks to be difficult and not enjoyable.

If the adult’s interactions are mostly ones that stop the child from
engaging in preferred activities (or require him to engage in non-
preferred activities), the child will not be very interested in interacting
with that adult. If, however, the interactions have been more positive
than negative overall, the child will be more likely to approach and
interact with that adult. It is most important that the relationship with the
adult results in the child wanting to “Run to us, not from us.”

Reinforcement of Approach Behavior

In order to develop social interaction skills, it is necessary for two

individuals to interact. However, some children with developmental
delays rarely approach others unless they want something from the other
person. The majority of interactions are a result of others approaching
the child to start the interaction. Obviously, if a child lacks interest in
approaching others to initiate an interaction, this outcome is related to a
motivational factor due to his past experiences with others. Simply put,
the child is receiving greater amounts of reinforcement for his behaviors
that do not involve interacting than he is for those that do. Much of his
existing reinforcement may be from the direct changes in stimulation
resulting from of his own actions (i.e. automatic reinforcement). For
these children, it is not only important to reinforce the child’s
participation when it has been prompted by an adult, but it is especially
important to reinforce the spontaneous approaches from the child.

When a child does approach another person (child or adult), it is

important to remember that the child is initiating an interaction, and
that his initiation behavior needs to be reinforced. It is critical that the
child seeks out and enjoys the interaction. The more attempts a child
makes to interact with another person, the greater the opportunity to
teach him a wide variety of social interaction skills. Thus, the main
result of his approach behavior is that he enjoys the outcome of the
interaction.

When a child approaches, he may be doing so because the adult

either clearly has something he wants, or will be able to get something
for him. These situations are wonderful opportunities to encourage the
following of simple directions, imitating, or requesting (i.e., manding)
specific items. However, one of the most important reasons for a
child to interact with another person is not just to get specific items
from others, but rather to get the person to do something with him.
Therefore, it is important for adults (and other children) to develop
playful or other interactions that involve doing things with the child that
he enjoys but isn’t able to do without the other person.

For example, if a child likes a particular doll, he may enjoy being

able to hold and manipulate the toy. However, the child may also enjoy
the interaction that occurs when someone else makes the doll pretend to
say certain phrases in a funny voice as it is bouncing around and is then
tickled into the child’s chest. Because the child enjoys this particular
type of play with the doll, and he can only participate in this activity
with another’s involvement, the reinforcing activity can only come
through social interaction. Similarly, if a child enjoys jumping on a
trampoline, but prefers being able to jump higher when an adult holds
his hand, the activity is better with the adult’s participation. Thus, the
value of the reinforcer is increased because it involves the actions others
(Partington, 2008).

Another example involves the child who likes to be squeezed or

rubbed in a certain manner. If an adult makes fun sounds or says
“Squeeze!” or “Rub, rub, rub!” in a fun voice while squeezing or
rubbing the child, the child may enjoy that activity enough to approach
her again for that activity. Even if the child isn’t able to specifically
request the squeezing or rubbing, his actions (e.g., backing up to the
adult and moving her arm around his chest) will be sufficient for her to
know what the child would like her to do. The value of interacting with
the adult is increased because she can provide him with something he
can’t get without her.

It is important for adults and other children to establish similar

reinforcing interactions. Although it is great that the child spontaneously
approaches when another person can get him something, it is much
better when he will also approach because of the forthcoming interaction
with that person.

One method of encouraging a child to approach involves an adult

making certain words, sounds, and/or actions that have previously been
paired with a fun (i.e., reinforcing) activity. For example, if a child
enjoys being tickled, an adult may playfully say, “Tickle, tickle, tickle!”
starting with a slow and low voice progressing to higher-pitched words,
while making exaggerated finger movements (i.e., tickling motions) as
she leans closer to the child. Finally, as the child is watching her
approach, she will then rapidly say, “Tickle” multiple times as she
tickles the child. Thus, the child comes to associate the adult making the
tickling motions and saying “Tickle” with that reinforcing activity.
When the child notices (i.e., hears and turns toward the adult) the adult
saying “Tickle, tickle...,” and looks at her hands making the tickling
motion, the child may then move toward the adult to be tickled.
 Although the interaction is initiated by the actions of the adult, this
type of activity has several beneficial outcomes. It provides
reinforcement both for the child’s attending to the changes in the adult’s
actions, and for the child approaching the adult. Although a child may
attend to and approach an adult who has a specific reinforcing item (e.g.,
a food item, an electronic pad) in this type of interaction, the reinforcer
is the specific interaction with another person.

Desired Outcomes

The child will:

> Approach to interact with others

> Engage in interactions

> Have praise, smiles and recognition become actual reinforcers

Approaching the Child in a Fun Way

A child can often tell by the way the adult is approaching whether the
interaction is likely to be fun. The child may not understand what an
adult is saying, but he may be able to identify what is likely to happen
based upon what he can observe. For example, after dinner a parent may
go into the bathroom and turn on the water to fill the tub. If the child
enjoys taking a bath, he may be excited to see his mother approaching
him with his pajamas in her hand; he knows he will be able to get in the
bathtub and play in the water. Similarly, children can often identify
when an adult is approaching that a task is not likely to be fun. When a
parent or teacher approaches with a serious looking face and tone of
voice, the child may be able to identify that she is not happy about doing
the activity.

When approaching the child, it is usually beneficial for the adult to

approach with an attitude and corresponding actions indicating that the
activity will be fun for the child. With the right approach, even typical
daily activities can be made into pleasant interactions. If the child is able
to identify that the approaching adult is likely to engage him in a fun
activity, he is more likely to want to interact with her.

Keeping the Child Engaged

One of the most important aspects of developing initial social interaction

skills is to make sure that the child is actively engaged with others
throughout the day (Grandin, 2012). As indicated above, those
interactions should overall be positive in nature so that the adults
become conditioned reinforcers (i.e., the child likes the adult and the
adult’s praise and attention increases positive behavior). If the child is
not actively engaged in activities with adults or children, he may start to
entertain himself by engaging in undesired activities (e.g., repetitive or
“stimming” behaviors). As stated above, he is most likely to go along
with interactions that are enjoyable. However, even if the child resists
some of the interactions, it is important to adjust the activities to keep
them enjoyable for him so that he will not want to “escape” from the
interactions.

Interactions During Play

Although it is desirable for a child to engage in appropriate independent

play for short periods of time, adults can also take the opportunity to
play with the child after he has begun a certain activity. The main idea is
to make the play activity more fun for the child when the adult is
present. For example, some children enjoy dropping balls into a ball
maze and watching it travel along the track. If the child has initiated
playing with the toy, an adult may simply join the activity and comment
or make fun comments (e.g., “There it goes, down, down, down” in a
funny voice). If one of the balls rolls away from the child, the adult can
retrieve it and simply hand it to the child (i.e., without requiring any
response from the child). If the child enjoys the actions of the adult, he
will often start to glance at her to see what she is going to do. At that
moment, the adult can engage in a playful manner to reinforce the child
for looking at her.
 Fun activity with eye contact.

Remember that the goal is to establish a positive working relationship

with the child so that he will want to remain near the adult. Although it
will be necessary to gradually present instructions, it is often helpful to
simply narrate or add to the child’s self-initiated play activities. Initially,
it is better to let him lead the activities, and have the adult’s actions
make the activities “more fun” for the child.

Establishing Facial Change as a Reinforcer

As was described earlier, it is important that the adult’s facial changes

become associated with the delivery of reinforcers (i.e., a conditioned
reinforcer). Whenever an adult is about to do something the child likes
(e.g., give a reinforcer, engage in a preferred activity), it is desirable to
have him see the changes in the adult’s face and hear the change in his
voice that go along with being excited. When the child sees the change
in expression just prior to having something good happen, he will
associate that change with the delivery of the reinforcing item or
activity. Prior to giving the child a reinforcer, the instructor can hold the
reinforcing item near her face as she is smiling and praising the child.
When the child looks at the reinforcer, he is more likely to also see the
instructor’s smile. Thus, the smile and praise will get paired with the
delivery of the reinforcer. After this pairing has occurred multiple
times, the child will often start to look to the adult’s face on other
occasions to see if good things are about to happen (e.g., fun activity,
delivery of a reinforcer).

Require Eye Contact

It is expected that people look at each other when interacting with one
another (L 17). Although there are varying cultural expectations as to
how much eye contact is considered to be appropriate, a certain level is
always expected. Many individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum
disorder have noticeably low rates of making eye contact when
interacting with others (Jones & Klin, 2013).

There are two types of interactions that are especially important for
the development of eye contact. These situations are when the child is
requesting (i.e., manding) an item or activity and when greeting others.
When an instructor has control over an item or activity that the child
wants, she can control what the child must do in order to get it. In
Chapter 6, the process of teaching a child to request a reinforcer by
prompting and then gradually fading the prompts is described. In each of
the steps, the child is systematically required to do more before he is
given the item or activity he is requesting. As he is learning to request
(i.e., mand) an item, he can be required to look at the person when he is
asking for it. In essence, the child needs to ask the person who will be
giving him what he is requesting. The person can hold the item beside
her face, or merely prompt the child to look by saying, “Ask me,” or
“Look at me,” and then wait for the child to make the request while
simultaneously looking at the person. Using the power of the child’s
motivation to get something is a great way to get him to make eye
contact (F 7).

Establishing Eye Contact When the Child Can’t Mand

Children who are unable to speak or imitate ASL signs will often let
adults know when they want something. They may lead a parent to the
refrigerator when they are hungry, bring them a cup when thirsty, or
lead the parent to the TV when they want to see a movie. Although the
child isn’t able to verbally ask for specific items or activities, he is
showing what is referred to as “communicative intent” (F 1). For these
children, teaching them to imitate sounds and actions so that they can
learn to request those items should be a major part of the child’s
intervention program.

However, because the child is indicating that he wants something

from the adult, the adult is able to require additional responses (e.g., eye
contact) prior to giving the child the desired item. For example, when a
child wants a push on a swing, the adult can stand in front of him and
only give him a push when he looks at the adult. For a child who enjoys
going down a slide multiple times, the adult can block him from sliding
when he gets to the top of the slide and require him to look at her prior
to allowing him to go down the slide. In these examples, the adult would
need to use and fade prompts to teach the child to make eye contact, and
would praise the child for looking (e.g., “Thank you for looking at me!”)
as well as giving him a push or letting him go down the slide (See
Shaping Johnny’s Eye Contact).

Importance of Teaching Requesting Skills (Manding)

One of the most powerful reasons for a child to approach others is that
he needs something that the other person can supply. It is for this reason
that early language training should focus on teaching the child
requesting skills (See Chapter 6) (F Section). As a child learns that he
can go to a person and ask for a specific item (e.g., mand for getting
something to eat, listening to music, getting tickles, watching a movie,
etc.), the person who delivers such items becomes more highly valued
by the child. The child often becomes excited when he sees the person
who helps him get reinforcers. If there are two other people in a room
and the child sees the one who has delivered reinforcers when requested,
he is most likely to approach the person who has provided the requested
items. Thus, when teaching a child to request items (i.e., mand) it is
important that he be taught to request items and activities from a variety
of individuals.
 Boy asking his peer for a lollipop.

The child also needs to learn that in addition to adults, other children can
help him gain access to his reinforcers (L 18). If the requests are
reinforced only when he mands to an adult, he is not likely to attempt to
use these skills with other children. Therefore, once the child has learned
to request items from several adults, it would be beneficial to enlist the
support of a cooperative peer. When the child is motivated to receive an
item, the other child can be given the desired item, and the adult can
direct the child to ask the peer for it (be sure to reinforce the peer for
giving the requested item to the child!). Once the peer has provided the
child with requested reinforcers, the child will now have learned that he
can also ask his peers for items. Thus, he will be more likely to begin to
use his new manding skills with peers.
Eye Contact When Returning Greetings

Child greeting/waving with eye contact.

Another important time to develop a child’s eye contact is when greeting

or when leaving a person. Upon seeing a known person for the first time
each day, it is expected that the person will be greeted. That greeting
will usually include a statement such as “Hi,” “Good morning,” or “How
are you?” It is expected that the other person will then return a similar
greeting (L 10).

However, many children with language delays not only fail to

initiate a greeting (L 21), but also don’t return greetings (L 10). When
adults or peers attempt to greet a child and he consistently doesn’t
respond to those greetings, those individuals will often stop attempting
to interact with him in that manner (i.e., their greeting behavior is “on
extinction”). The result is that the adults and peers are more likely to
avoid initiating other interactions with him. However, when the child
does return greetings, his behavior reinforces the initiation of social
interactions from others, thereby increasing the probability of additional
interactions. Thus, to increase the social interactions with others, it is
necessary to teach the child to at least return greetings.

Responding to Visitors

When friends and extended family members come to visit, it is

customary for them to greet all the family members when they arrive.
However, if the child doesn’t respond to their greetings, the natural
effect is that they often stop attempting to greet the child. It is crucial
that the child reinforce the visitor’s initiations by returning the greeting.

There are two potential factors that may explain why the child isn’t
returning the greetings. The first is that he may not have learned how to
respond to those greetings. The second is that there is inadequate
motivation to respond. With a language-delayed child, the failure to
respond is often a combination of those variables. Therefore, it is often
effective to address both issues at once.

The usual approach is to have someone greet the child by standing

directly in front of him, getting him to look, and then both waving and
saying “Hi.” The greeting should be as easy as possible at first. The
child would then be prompted to make eye contact with the person,
wave, and if able to speak, say “Hi.” For a child who is unable to control
his vocal musculature enough to say “Hi,” he would merely be required
to make eye contact and wave. The child should be prompted as much as
necessary to get him to return the greeting. Vocal prompts (i.e., “Hi”),
imitative prompts (i.e., waving), and physical prompts (e.g., physical
assistance to wave) may be necessary during the initial stages of this
training. Those prompts will need to be eliminated as he learns to return
the greeting without requiring such assistance (Charlop & Trasowech,
1991). Praise and additional reinforcers (e.g., tickles, hugs, raisins, etc.)
should be delivered following the returned greeting.

It is important to note that the reinforcement for returning greetings

should be positive in nature (i.e., praise and other reinforcers). However,
for many children, praise is not actually a reinforcer (i.e., it doesn’t
increase positive behavior). Therefore, other actual reinforcers may need
to be presented following the child’s response.

Additionally, it is sometimes necessary to require only that the

child respond. In essence, a child must learn that he will be required to
respond to greetings, even if the person doesn’t have something he
wants at the moment. In such situations, just the fact that the other
person is “getting out of his face” or escaping the demand serves as the
reinforcer. Although this approach is generally not as desirable, it is
sometimes necessary to get a response. However, children are required
to do many tasks that they may not want to do, and this is another one of
those tasks. If this type of escape motivation is necessary (i.e., he only
returns the greetings to get the adult to stop requesting him to do
something) it is very important to continue to use strong forms of
positive reinforcement so that the child may eventually respond for the
positive outcomes, rather than just responding to eliminate the demand.

Shaping Johnny’s Eye Contact

Johnny rarely made eye contact with anyone. However, during one of
his intervention sessions, the therapist decided to directly reinforce him
for making eye contact. Since Johnny liked to be pushed on a swing, his
therapist decided to reinforce his looking at her with pushes.

When they arrived at the park, the therapist put Johnny into a
child’s seat that would prevent him from falling off the swing. She then
stood in front of him and began to give him as few pushes as possible to
get the swinging started. Johnny liked the feel of the swing moving
quickly. Since Johnny couldn’t “pump” his legs to keep the swing in
motion, he needed to have occasional pushes from his therapist to keep
the swing going quickly.

The therapist began to use a “shaping procedure” that involved

delivering a reinforcer for those responses that were closer to the desired
behavior, and withholding reinforcers for lesser responses. As the swing
began to move more slowly after the initial pushes, the therapist
crouched down so that her face would be directly in front of Johnny at
the top of his forward swinging motion. She looked at him and when he
began to move his head in her direction, she said, “Good looking at me,”
as she gave him a push.

She continued to crouch in front of him and look for him to turn his
head in her direction. After several pushes that followed him turning his
head towards her face, she began to only give a push when she saw that
he was looking directly at her face. He soon began to look at her face
and occasionally he made brief eye contact with the therapist. She then
decided to only give a push and praise when he made direct eye contact.
Because only minimal effort was required at each step in the process and
the value of receiving a push was strong, Johnny continued to turn his
head and make eye contact with the therapist to get a push to keep the
swing in motion.

The next time they went to the park, the therapist again put him in
the swing, but began the swinging in a different manner. She began by
pulling Johnny forward and released the swing (to start it in motion)
after he had first turned his head toward her (i.e., reinforcing turning his
head toward her). She again began to give him a push (and praise) only
when he looked at her face. After a few pushes, she only gave pushes
when he made eye contact with her. Since then, every time they go to
the park, the therapist only gives him pushes when he makes eye contact
with her. She had taught him that when he makes eye contact with her,
he can get what he wants.

Additional Methods to Teach the Child to Attend to Others

Children walking with their grandfather.

Walking with others is another way of teaching the skill of attending to
the actions of others. When a child walks with an adult or a peer, he can
either be physically prompted to start and stop or turn in a certain
direction, or he can be taught to pay attention to when the others make
those same movements. The critical distinction is that the child needs to
be reinforced for attending to the actions of others rather than being
physically guided. He needs to learn to watch what others are doing and
adjust his actions based on the changes in the actions of others (C 7 & L
25).

For example, when an adult starts to walk quickly or walks in a

certain direction, the child should notice the alteration in pace or
direction and adjust his pace or direction to stay alongside the adult.
Similarly, if walking in a line with other children, he should be
prompted and reinforced for starting to walk when the others walk, stop
when they stop, and maintain an appropriate distance from the person in
front of him. The main issue is that his actions are in response to the
changes in the other children’s actions.

Assisting Others in Moving Items

 Boys working together to move a basket.

Another approach in teaching a child to attend to the actions of others

involves the joint manipulation of objects. For example, a child could
learn to help carry a large object with another person. He could be
prompted and reinforced for helping another child pick up, carry and
place a plastic container with a few objects on a table. This type of
activity requires the child to attend to when the other child is lifting the
container, when he is starting to move, where he is walking, and when
he begins to lift the container onto the table. Similar activities such as
lifting arms to make a parachute move up and down and swinging a
jump rope provide opportunities to have the child notice and adjust his
behavior in relation to the actions of others (K 13).
Imitation

Teaching a child to imitate the actions of others requires that he first

attend to those actions, a necessary skill in the development of social
interaction skills (Nadel & Peze, 1993; Slaughter & McConnell, 2001;
Tomasello, 2001; Wolfberg, 2003). At first, an instructor will teach the
child to attend to and imitate her actions. As the child learns to imitate
the actions of the instructor, she can also teach the child to attend to and
imitate the actions of others. The main difference is that instead of the
child imitating the instructor and then receiving reinforcement from her,
he now must focus on another adult or peer to receive the reinforcement
from the instructor. (See Chapter 4 for additional information.)

Singing With Others

Imitating together during “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes” song.

Many children enjoy hearing people sing songs, and teaching them to
sing along with peers or adults is another important way to teach them to
attend to others. Many children’s songs are often accompanied with
certain movements. For example, “The Wheels On the Bus” song has
specific motor actions that are done with specific verses. Even if the
child is not able to imitate sounds or words, when he participates with
others who are singing the song and making the actions, instructors can
teach him to imitate the actions along with the group. The use of
prompts, fading of the prompts and reinforcement used to develop other
behaviors would also be used to develop the child’s participation in this
type of activity. The benefits of this activity are that it is often an
enjoyable activity for the child and provides the opportunity for
instructors to teach him to not only look at - but also focus on - the
actions and changes in those actions by others. As the child participates
in this activity, he can also be developing his motor and vocal imitation
skills. If his vocal imitation skills begin to develop, he may even begin
to be able to start filling in words during songs (i.e., develop some early
intraverbal skills) (H 1).

Playground Possibilities

A child’s attention to others can often be developed while on a

playground with other children. A skilled instructor will not just let a
child play on the equipment, but will also use that opportunity to get him
to notice what others are doing. For example, if other children are
playing on a slide, the instructor might say, “Look at the children
sliding,” get the child to look at the children on the slide, and then say,
“Let’s go slide!” The instructor gets him to focus on others and then
leads him to an enjoyable activity. He is also learning to watch and
imitate the actions of others required to engage in the activity. This same
approach can be used to get him to watch others and then do other
enjoyable playground activities (e.g., jumping on a suspended bridge).

During these interactions, the instructor will have the opportunity

to teach the child to attend to others so that he can identify when it is his
turn to do an activity, and when he needs to wait for others to finish their
turns. For a child who has developed some speech, he may also be
taught to use his requesting skills to get a push on a swing or to have a
turn going down a slide (F 8).

Teaching a child to attend while rolling a ball.

Another great activity in teaching the skill of attending to others

involves having him participate in simple ball games (K 12). Activities
such as sitting on the floor and rolling a ball to another person can help
him attend to when the other person is ready to roll the ball back to him,
and when the other person is looking so that he can roll the ball to that
individual. Additional variations can be included if the child is able to
throw and catch a ball or bounce a ball to another person. Rather than
just taking the child to the playground to “get his energy out,” a skillful
adult will be able to use that opportunity to develop a wide range of
activities that involve attending to and interacting with others.

Nick Likes People Now

A four-year-old boy was brought to the STARS Clinic for an assessment

and to receive help with the development of his language skills.
However, when Nick first walked through the door, I noticed that he
didn’t even look at any of the people in the room. When he wanted
something to drink, he just said “juice” without even initiating an
interaction with either his parents or any other adult.

I commented to his parents that when he requests items, he should

be directly asking someone for the things that he wants. We immediately
began to teach him that in order to get a desired item, he would need to
look at the person who had the item. When he wanted some juice, he
was required to look at me and request “juice.” Each time he asked, I
would only give him a small amount of juice in a cup. In this manner, I
was able to have him practice multiple times in a row to look at me
when making his request.
 Nick and his parents received daily intervention services over a 10
week period. They moved a long distance to be near our site, while his
siblings remained at home. Our staff worked directly with Nick each day
on learning new skills while his parents were learning our teaching
methods.

Everyday when Nick would enter the clinic, he was required to

look at, wave, and say “Hi” to each of the staff. As he left at the end of
the day, he was also required to make eye contact with everyone, wave
and say “Bye.” The first few days, getting him to engage in these
behaviors required many prompts. However, after the first week, he
would greet and say “Bye” whenever he was approached by an adult as
he entered or exited the clinic with the need for only an occasional
prompt. After several weeks, he would easily make eye contact when
entering the clinic and on some occasions even initiate saying “Hi.”

After approximately nine weeks of services, his brother and sister

were flown to our area to stay with the family for the last week of Nick’s
stay at the clinic. One evening, the parents talked with Nick’s older
brother and sister about the changes that they saw in Nick. His older
brother replied, “He likes people now.” When his father asked his son
what he meant by that comment, he replied, “He looks at us.”

When I later heard this story from Nick’s father, I was

overwhelmed. The impact of teaching a child the simple skills of
looking at people when he wants something, and looking at others when
being greeted, had such a profound effect on how this boy was viewed
by his brother. Teaching him to look at people had made an important
emotional connection between Nick and his brother.
Summary

One of the major defining characteristics of an Autism Spectrum

Disorder is the failure of a child to develop those types of social
interaction skills. It is important to ensure that the child finds that
approaching, paying attention to, and interacting with others results in
him enjoying the interactions. Adults often must approach children
when they need to be made to participate in routine daily activities.
Those interactions may result in the child needing to stop engaging in
enjoyable activities to engage in lesser or non-preferred activities.
Therefore, it is extremely important that adults approach the child at
other times in a manner that suggests the activity will be fun and that it
actually results in an enjoyable outcome. Instead of stopping his
activities, the adult may simply join the child and help make his current
activity even more enjoyable. In essence, the interactions should result
in desirable events for the child.

It is important to have the child attend to the actions of others

throughout the day. Singing songs with actions, playing on playground
equipment, imitating others, and assisting others to manipulate items
provide numerous opportunities to encourage him to notice what others
are doing. A child should be required to make eye contact while return
greetings from others. One of the most effective times to teach a child to
make eye contact is when he approaches to request (i.e., mand) desired
items. Because an adult has something he desires, the adult can require
him to look at her before he is able to get the reinforcer.

Potential Learning Objectives Related to the Development of Social

Interaction Skills

The following objectives are provided to assist a parent or teacher in

targeting specific skills that may be appropriate for a child’s intervention
plan. Please see the ABLLS-R® to assess the child’s skills and to
identify additional objectives for further skill development.

Each child is a unique individual and requires input from a variety of

people who know him and are familiar with effective programming
strategies. Therefore, these learning objectives are not being prescribed
for any particular child, but rather are being provided as examples of
objectives that are consistent with the skills described in this chapter.

A7

(Child’s name) will be able to demonstrate and use skills learned when
working with three or more instructors and with novel instructors at
about the same rate and quality of responding demonstrated with
familiar instructors.

C1

(Child’s name) will look at or come to a person when called by his name
at least 80% of the time.

C7

(Child’s name) will follow instructions to walk nicely beside adults,

adjusting to changes in speed and direction of travel, and when stopping
and starting to walk.

F7

(Child’s name) will make eye contact when asking a person for items or
actions at least 80% of the times that he makes requests.

K 12

(Child’s name) will play a simple game involving sitting with legs
spread apart, attending to partner, and rolling a ball at least three feet to
 a peer or an adult for at least five exchanges.

L6

(Child’s name) will approach and attempt to physically engage others in

interactions even when the other person does not have a reinforcing item
at least 20 times per day.

L 10
(Child’s name) will return greetings from adults and peers at least 80% of the
time without prompts.

Teaching Beginning Receptive

Language
The main goal in the development of receptive skills is to teach the child
to correctly respond to the language of others. While a few children may
not understand any spoken words, most children (including nonverbal
children) can successfully follow some instructions (e.g., “Look at me,”
“Sit down”). These skills are important because the child must be able to
both attend to and respond to the language of others. He must also
eventually learn to follow a wide variety of instructions, some of which
require multiple and complex discriminations. Some of the earliest
instructions require the child to engage in a single specified action (e.g.,
“Stand-up,” “Come here,” “Jump”), while others require the child to
attend to others (e.g., “Go with Bill.”), or to discriminate between a
selection of items or pictures (e.g., “Give me the red ball.”).

When a child is able to follow a few simple directions, it is

important to determine the extent of his ability to understand the words
spoken by others. There are a variety of ways in which one must be able
to respond when others talk to him. It is necessary to determine if the
child can follow directions in routine situations (C 7), follow
instructions to demonstrate specified actions (C 9), and select objects
and pictures upon request (C 11-14 & 16-17). We also need to know
exactly what items, actions, and concepts a child understands when
accessing his receptive language capabilities.

Teaching Initial Receptive Skills

When a child is not able to follow any directions, including those that
are given in the context of regular daily activities, it is necessary to
directly teach him to listen and respond to words spoken by others. As
with other basic learning skills, we need to review the motivational
factors involved in getting the child to listen to our words, and to
identify specific teaching procedures to develop the various types of
receptive language skills (Grow, Carr, Kodak, Jostad, & Kisamore,
2011).

Why Children Might Not Attend to Words Spoken by Others

Many children with ASD have never learned to benefit from paying
attention to the words and instructions spoken by others. When children
have found that the spoken words of others don’t help them gain access
to desired things, they often begin to “tune-out” the verbalizations of
others. Additionally, some children actually have a negative history with
respect to hearing others speak. Some have learned that when an adult
who is talking approaches, they will soon be made to stop the current
enjoyable activity and be made to engage in a non-preferred activity.
Thus, hearing words is “not a good thing” because it signals that an
undesired event is about to occur. Furthermore, when the child
frequently hears his name being called prior to such changes, the sound
of his name may also be associated with unpleasant transitions.
Therefore, it is important to establish a new and positive history of the
child paying attention to the words of others and responding
appropriately.

The first step in developing a child’s receptive language skills is to

get reinforcement associated with listening and responding to spoken
words. The child needs to learn that when he hears certain words, and
then performs a certain action related to those words, good things will
happen (i.e., reinforcement). It is important that the initial attempts to
develop these skills involve responses that are relatively easy for the
child, and correct responses should be immediately reinforced.

For example, when a child is sitting at a table and is about to place

a ball in a ball maze, the adult could give the instruction, “Put it in.”
When the child drops the ball into the track, the adult can praise the
child for complying with the instruction. Another example would be
when a parent is leading a hungry child to sit in his seat at the dinner
table. She could say, “Sit down,” as the child is about to sit in his chair.
The child would be praised for sitting in his chair and would then be
given something to eat. The desired outcome is that the child will start
paying closer attention to the words of others, and that some of those
words (i.e., praise) will start to become actual reinforcers.

Motivation to Follow Instructions

The fact that a child may “understand” what is said to him does not
mean that he will respond as instructed. The ability to follow
instructions also involves the child’s motivation to follow the
instructions. For example, a child may follow a direction to get his shoes
when he wants to go outside to play, but if he is engaged in a highly
enjoyable activity and his parents want to go to the store, he may not
follow the direction to get his shoes on and get in the car because he
would rather not leave his current activity. It is critical that he learns that
following directions results in reinforcement; he must learn that good
things happen when he follows instructions. Therefore, when starting to
teach a child to follow instructions, it is best to start by having him do
simple responses that are requested of him when he is not actively
engaged in a highly reinforcing activity, and when it is apparent that the
adult will provide a powerful reinforcer (e.g., item or activity that he
would currently like).

Boy imitating dropping a ball into a ball maze.

Following Instructions in Context

Many of the first receptive responses naturally acquired by typical

children involve those that occur in the context of ongoing reinforcing
events in their daily lives. For example, when the parents are clearly
getting ready to leave the house to drive to a store (e.g., putting on their
coats, holding their car keys, and walking towards the front door of the
house), and as they are leading their child towards the front door, they
say, “Get your shoes.” The child will get his shoes and sit on a step so
that the parents can help him put them on his feet. These types of
interactions are likely to occur at least once or twice a day. In addition,
there are other interactions in which the child is given instructions
requiring him to get other items. Praise is frequently provided,
reinforcing the following of instructions. Through the combination of
these interactions, typically-developing child learn to follow directions
to get named items.

However, children with significant language delays may not learn

to follow those instructions without the contextual cues. Parents and
teachers often believe that a child is able to follow an instruction (i.e.,
“understands” the instruction) when they see him respond correctly in
specific contexts, but are then surprised to learn that he is unable to
respond correctly when the contextual cues are not present. For instance,
he may be able to get his shoes when it is obvious that the parents are
about to leave the house, but when it is not apparent and the parent tells
him to, “Get your shoes,” he doesn’t follow the instruction. Therefore,
he isn’t able to “understand” the instruction without the contextual cues
of the activity of leaving the house. In essence, most of the indicators
(i.e., stimuli) associated with the activity that require the child to get his
shoes are not present, and thus he no longer follows the same direction.

A child has the opportunity to learn many skills when a parent or

instructor plans a little extra time to devote to teaching them while
engaging in routine daily activities. The responses that do occur in
specific contexts can be used to teach the child to follow those same
instructions outside of those situations. The main issue is to get the same
behavior to occur (e.g., “Get your shoes”) while the contextual cues are
gradually eliminated (e.g., putting on coats, holding car keys, and
walking towards the front door of the house). For example, prior to
putting on his or her coat, and with the keys not being present, the parent
could walk to the front door of the house and then ask the child to get
his shoes. If the child gets his shoes, reinforcement would be provided.
If he didn’t follow the instruction, a prompt may be necessary (e.g.,
gestural or partial physical) to help the child get his shoes. As he learns
to get his shoes under this condition, the parent can then begin to
remove the context of being at the front door. In this next step, the
parent could place the child’s shoes in a location near the rear exit of the
house and repeat the same teaching strategy. At this point, the child is
able to get his shoes without the parents going through the routine of
putting on coats, holding car keys, and going to the front door.

The next step would be to remove the contextual cue of being near
a door. Thus, the parent could place the child’s shoes in a different room
(e.g., his bedroom) and teach him to get his shoes when away from the
doors leading out of the house. Once the child is able to get his shoes
without all of the contextual cues, it will be obvious that he is able to
respond when only given the verbal instruction itself.

Additional receptive responses can be taught by using the context

of ongoing routines and reinforcing situations. Many children are simply
led to the table to get food that has been placed there for them, or are
guided into a sitting position so that their shoes can be put on prior to
being allowed to go outside. If these typical events are reinforcing to the
child, it is possible to build a response requirement into these routines.
For example, prior to giving a plate of food (usually a reinforcer) to the
child, with the plate in one hand, the parent could lead the child (i.e.,
gently physically guide) to the table with the other hand. When standing
next to the chair, the parent can give the instruction to “Sit down,” while
gently physically prompting the child to sit, and then place the plate in
front of the child. In this example, the key response is the child sitting
down on the chair. Physical prompts to assist in teaching the child to sit
when given the instruction must be gradually eliminated (usually over a
series of trials) while the child does more of the work of getting into the
sitting position. Similar teaching strategies can be used to get a child to
learn responses such as “Get a diaper,” “Give me the towel,” “Throw it
in the trash,” etc.

Children need to be reinforced for coming when called!

When a child’s name is called, will his situation be improved if he

comes, or will he need to stop engaging in an enjoyable activity to do a
non-preferred task?

Responding When Name is Called

Parents and teachers are often anxious to teach children to comply with
the instruction to come when called (Beaulieu, Hanley, & Roberson,
(2013). Unfortunately, children are frequently called at a time when they
are already engaging in some reinforcing activity, or when the requested
activity is undesired by the child. Hence, coming when called doesn’t
necessarily result in a reinforcing situation.
 In order to teach a child to come when called, it is critical to
consider what behavior is expected on his part. Specifically, the child
should walk to the instructor when he hears the words “Come here” (C
1). Many children will walk to take a reinforcer that is in view, or held
out by another person (i.e., offered), and it is often relatively easy to
teach the child to come under these circumstances. It is also possible to
provide a gentle physical prompt (e.g., take the child’s hand and lightly
lead them closer), or to provide a beckoning hand gesture while
repeating the instruction. As soon as the child moves to the instructor, it
is important to immediately deliver the reinforcer and pair the delivery
of the reinforcer with praise. Once the child has been successful in
responding to the instruction when provided multiple prompts, the
prompts should be reduced as soon as possible. However, the physical
and gestural prompts should not be faded so quickly that the child
doesn’t come when called.

Once the child is approaching when the reinforcer is clearly present

and with the instructor only a few feet away, the instructor should
slightly increase the distance travelled to get the reinforcer. Once the
child walks a variety of distances toward an adult with a reinforcer
present, the next step is to gradually reduce the visual presence of the
reinforcer. For example, if the reinforcer is a food or drink item, briefly
show the child the item, give the instruction and then partially hide the
item behind the instructor’s back. When the child arrives, the item is
immediately given to him along with praise for coming. As the item is
being placed behind the instructor’s back, it might be necessary to once
again use the gestural prompt to help get the child to come. Eventually,
the child should be able to come when called and when given a gestural
prompt to come, while the reinforcer is completely hidden behind the
instructor’s back.

Next, the child should learn to come to different individuals in

varying situations (e.g., different locations inside each room, and
different places outside), for a variety of hidden reinforcers. Varying
these conditions is important because if coming when called is only
taught by one person, in one situation, using one reinforcer, the behavior
may not occur when any of these conditions change. For example, if the
child is not interested in a specific item or event that is characteristically
used, he may not respond. Rather than only giving a specific item as the
reinforcer for coming, events such as being picked up or tickled can be
used as reinforcers. However, since the activity may not have an item
that can be seen (i.e., a visual prompt) to get the behavior to occur, it
will probably be necessary to use some specific hand motion to signal
that the activity is likely to occur upon the child’s arrival. For example,
if the child likes to be tickled, the instructor could get his attention, and
then while approaching, make a motion with her fingers (as if she were
tickling the child’s torso) immediately prior to tickling the child for a
few seconds. After repeating this sequence a few times, the instructor
could back away a few feet from the child, and say “Come here” while
making the tickling motion, and tickle and praise the child when he steps
forward to the instructor. The praise should be specifically related to the
instruction being followed (e.g., “Thank you for coming!”). Training
trials should be spaced throughout the day to avoid satiation (i.e., the
reinforcer loses its value), and to make use of the varying motivational
conditions during a child’s day.
 Lisa’s Story

Lisa was a five-year-old girl who didn’t enjoy being approached by

adults. She couldn’t communicate and was unable to follow simple
instructions. Whenever an adult approached her, she would immediately
try to get away from them. She had to be constantly watched very
carefully so that she wouldn’t leave safe environments. It appeared from
talking with her parents that she had learned that when an adult
approached her she would need to stop her preferred activity and be
made to engage in a non-preferred activity. Lisa would often cry or
scream, and sometimes scratch people when required to do those
activities. Her parents and therapists were frustrated with her active
refusal to do what was asked of her.

When I started to work with Lisa, I knew that my first task was to
get her to enjoy interacting with me. Therefore, I had to pair myself with
the delivery of one of her reinforcers. I noticed that when she wasn’t
being carefully watched, she would scan the room and grab certain
unattended food items. She was very sneaky! She waited until she could
get the items without having to interact with an adult. I decided to make
sure that all the food items were removed from the room. If she wanted
one of those items, she would need to get it from me.

My first attempt to get her to come to me was a failure. I had a

piece of candy that I had previously seen her grab. I held it up so she
could see it and asked her to come get it from me. Unfortunately, she
just ignored my request. I then decided that when she was looking in my
direction, I’d put the piece of candy on a table near her. When I walked
away from the table, she quickly went over to the table and ate the
candy. I then repeated placing a piece of candy on the table but this time
I only stepped back a few steps from it. Once again, she watched me as
she quickly moved and took the candy. After a few similar trials, I then
sat at the table and placed a piece of candy on it so that it was between
Lisa and me. I decided it was time to just hold a piece of candy on my
flat hand that was extended towards her. She watched me carefully as
she came towards me and took the candy.

The next day, I approached her by extending my arm in her

direction while holding out a piece of candy. She immediately took the
candy. I then stood several feet away from her and again extended my
arm with the candy on my hand. She then took a few steps towards me
and took the candy. Next, I started varying my location and the distances
from her as I offered her a piece of candy. She quickly began to
approach me whenever she saw the candy in my extended hand. I then
started to call her name and motion with my other hand for her to come
to me before extending the hand with the candy. After several trials, she
started to come to me when I said, “Lisa, Come here,” while I motioned
for her to come before I extended my hand with the candy.

It didn’t take very long after those initial interactions for Lisa to
approach me whenever I was in her sight. I was now able to get her to
come for other food items. She began to follow my simple instructions
to participate in a variety of learning activities. At first, I only asked her
to sit on a chair before being given a preferred food item. At other times,
I would ask her to put a puzzle piece into an inset-type of puzzle board,
or to put a block into a container. On other occasions, I would give her a
reinforcer just for coming when called. Eventually, she would go along
with multiple and varied requests prior to being provided with
reinforcement. She was now learning many important new skills.

The reason I was able to get her to work for me was due to my first
teaching her that she could get her reinforcers when interacting with me.
At first she didn’t need to do much to get the reinforcers; she merely had
to take the candy I placed on the table. She then learned that just because
I was near the candy didn’t mean I was going to make her do something
(what she had learned from her previous interactions with others). She
next learned that I might ask her to do something simple to get the
reinforcer. Once she had learned that it was desirable to approach me,
and that it was easy to get reinforcers for doing simple responses, she
started to learn many new skills.

Following Instructions to Perform Actions

One type of receptive language skill that needs to be evaluated is the

ability to follow simple directions that don’t involve objects, but rather
involve performing a specific action (C 9). The skills involved include
performing the correct action when directed to clap, wave, jump, sit
down, stand up, and blow a kiss. Although these responses can be taught
to the child in specific contexts, his ability to perform these actions can
also be assessed outside of the context in which the skill was originally
taught. For example, a child being taught to “Wave bye-bye” when he is
leaving his classroom by being instructed to “Show me waving,” or
simply “Wave,” can also be asked to do the same thing when leaving
other locations. Once again, the praise statements that are given
following the behaviors should be specific to the action performed by
the child (e.g., “Nice waving,” Good clapping!”).

Following Instructions Using Imitative Responses

Boy imitating clapping hands.

If a child has acquired some imitative behavior, it is possible to use

these skills to help teach him to follow directions to perform actions. For
example, children who can imitate clapping or jumping can also learn to
do these same actions when asked to “clap” or “jump” without the
imitative model. In this situation, the instructor could say, “Clap hands”
(instead of saying “Do this”), then get the child to imitate her clapping,
and then reinforce his imitative clapping (D 3). On the next trial, the
instructor could say, “Clap hands” and present an imitative model of
clapping. If the child claps, immediately reinforce the behavior and
present the trial again with a slight delay in the adult’s model (i.e., begin
to fade the prompt). If the child does not immediately begin to clap
following the imitative model, a slight physical prompt could be used to
get the clapping to occur, and the child’s clapping should be followed
with the delivery of a reinforcer and a repeat of the trial.

After multiple trials, the child may start to clap his hands after the
adult says, “Clap your hands,” and before the adult models the response.
When the child claps his hands without the model, he should be
provided with big reinforcement (i.e., highly valued and in greater
amounts than what was given for the responses that followed prompted
responses) as he is now following the instruction. After the first
response is acquired, repeat this process with a second response (e.g.,
“jump”), and then teach the child to discriminate between the two verbal
stimuli by intermixing the two receptive commands. Once two responses
are acquired, additional commands (e.g., “wave”) should be used (C 9).

Correcting Errors

Whenever a child correctly performs a requested action, that response

should be reinforced with both praise and another reinforcer. However,
as a child learns to follow instructions to perform an action, he will
sometimes make an incorrect response. There are two basic types of
errors: not responding to the instruction, and performing the wrong
action (See Figure 3-1). In the case of the failure to respond after three
to five seconds, the instruction can be presented a second time. If he
then follows the instruction, reinforcement should be provided. If he still
doesn’t immediately begin to perform the action, he should then be
provided with either partial or full physical prompts (if necessary) to
help him perform the action. Next, he should be provided with praise for
complying with the prompted response, but then be asked once again
(without the prompts) to perform the action. Stronger reinforcement
should then be provided for performing the unprompted action. A
similar correction procedure should be implemented as soon as the child
performs an incorrect action. That is, immediately after the incorrect
action, repeat the instruction and prompt the correct action, then repeat
the instruction without the prompts. Continue the correction procedure
until the child is able to perform the correct response without prompts.

Figure 3-1.
 Please click on the above symbol to be redirected to a corresponding,
printable image of the above figure in your Internet browser.

Selecting the First Receptive Actions

Figure 3-2 provides a list of 50 common action words (i.e., verbs) that
children usually learn early in life. The list includes three groups of
verbs to help identify those actions that may be reasonable to attempt to
teach the child. It should be noted that in reference to the ability to
respond to words spoken by others, the child must be able to follow an
instruction to perform (or demonstrate) a requested action and be able to
select a picture representing an action (C 35). Because motion is only
implied in pictures of people performing an action, the receptive skill of
selecting pictures of actions often doesn’t develop until after a child has
learned to demonstrate an action upon request and after he learns to
receptively identify multiple examples of common items.

It is recommended that the words included in Group 1 be

considered before those in Groups 2 and 3. The concept is that the words
in the lower numbered groups are often easier to teach (e.g., easy to
physically prompt) or more commonly used and required of a child prior
to those listed in the higher groups. Note that it is easier to use simple
physical prompts to teach actions such as clapping or waving than more
complex actions such as crawling or catching. Because a child eats and
drinks several times a day, the instructions to “Eat,” and “Drink” are
ones he will hear throughout his day. Individual circumstances make it
necessary for a parent or instructor to consider teaching action words in
an order that is specific to the child.

Figure 3-2: First 50 Verbs List

 Please click on the above symbol to be redirected to a corresponding,
printable image of the above figure in your Internet browser.

As the child learns to follow instructions to demonstrate actions, his

acquired responses should be transferred to the 50 First Verbs List (See
sample data in Figure 3-3). Although a child can be presented with
opportunities to be taught these skills throughout the day, the most
significant demonstration of his mastery of any of the action words is his
response to the first instruction of the day to perform the action. If he is
able to respond correctly the first time he is asked that day, he will have
remembered that response to the instruction throughout the night. If he
is able to respond correctly the first time he is asked to perform the
action for three consecutive days, that response should be considered
acquired or “mastered,” and a “+” should be recorded on the 50 First
Verbs List.

Figure 3-3.
 Please click on the above symbol to be redirected to a corresponding,
printable image of the above figure in your Internet browser.

Teaching Receptive Discriminations Using Reinforcers

Eventually the child must learn to touch or point to specifically named

items. Receptive identification of items usually results in considerable
recognition and praise for the typically developing child. However, this
outcome may not be a sufficient reinforcer for a child with language
delays who often does not know what response is expected of him. In
order to increase the motivation for the child to participate in this type of
learning activity, it is often helpful to use a reinforcing item as the one to
be touched, because children often have a tendency to reach for things
they like. The critical response to teach the child is touching the item
when given the instruction “Touch (reinforcer)” (C 4) and shown the
item. At first, it may be necessary for the instructor to hold the item
(e.g., a cookie) in one hand and after having presented the instruction
“Touch cookie,” use the other hand to physically guide the child’s hand
to touch the cookie. The child should be presented with praise for
touching the cookie (e.g., “Yes! That’s the cookie!”) and given some to
eat as well.

On subsequent trials, the goal is to fade all of the prompts used to

teach reaching and touching the named item (Alberto & Troutman,
1999). Note that in this task the child is not being required to
discriminate between different items, which is a much more difficult
task. In order to fade the physical prompt to touch the item, it is often
necessary to use more subtle gestural prompts to get the response to
occur. Moving the item slightly closer to the child and/or tapping the top
of it with a finger often serve as an effective prompt to get the touching
to occur. As these types of receptive trials are being conducted, it is
important to generalize the reach and touch response to include reaching
to a variety of positions in front of the child (i.e., on the right and left
sides, above and below eye level). The child should also be taught to
touch a variety of other reinforcing items (only one at a time). The
outcome of this procedure is that the child will be able to reliably touch
a named item on request. This skill will ultimately facilitate the ability to
learn to receptively discriminate among a variety of items.

The next step in the procedure is to introduce a distracter item

(stimulus)
(C 10). Often an empty hand can provide such a stimulus. The instructor
should hold up the targeted item, a cookie for example, along with her
empty and open hand and say, “Touch the cookie.” There are several
ways to increase the probability of success during this initial
discrimination training. The item can be placed closer to the child,
tapped on, or wiggled. Attempts to touch the open hand should result in
the instructor moving her hand away from the child and moving the
object closer to him. Once he can successfully touch a specific item on
command, additional objects should be used as distractors along with the
empty hand. If the child can discriminate between these two stimuli
without errors, then additional objects should be slowly introduced. The
initial presentation of additional items can be done in a manner similar
to the introduction of the hand as a distracter (i.e., by initially providing
prompts to ensure success before fading them out) (C 12).

Teaching Receptive Discriminations of Objects

Children must learn to receptively identify many common objects (C

11-13 & 16) and pictures of those items (C 14 & 17). Although they
may be more interested in reinforcers than common objects, they must
still learn to identify common items. The initial words chosen to teach a
child to receptively identify should be for those items that he encounters
in his daily life. It is generally desirable to use real objects as the first
items, but pictures can be used for some children. Real objects may be
more effective in developing labeling skills because they are three
dimensional, and are present in the child’s daily environment. The
objects should be ones that are easy to identify, clearly defined, and
talked about frequently in the child’s environment (e.g., shoe, cup,
spoon). As the child learns to receptively identify real objects, he can
then also be taught to identify pictures of those items. There are several
additional issues presented in Figure 3-4 that the instructor should
consider before selecting specific words for training.

Figure 3-4: How to Select the First Words to Teach a Child to

Receptively Identify

> Select words that are for important and relevant items for the child in
his daily life (cup, shoe, spoon).

> The words should be for items that the child sees or uses frequently in
his daily activities.

> The words should be for items that can be clearly identified, that is,
the name of the item is consistent across all variations of the item (e.g.,
ball), and all adults can agree on what the item is called, and easily
identify it with a single word (e.g., sofa vs. couch, coat vs. jacket or
hoodie, etc.).

> The words should be for items that are easy to discriminate from
each other (i.e., a hat and a tree are very different, but a truck and a car
are quite similar).
> The targeted words should occur frequently in the child’s day-to-day
environment (e.g., “cup” “spoon” “shoe” may be heard more often than
“rug” or “microwave”).

> The words should be for items that are stable (nouns) not transitory
(verbs), so the child can have more time to attend to and physically
interact with the item.

How to Pick Words to Teach Using the First 220 Noun List

For the child who is unable to receptively identify many words, the First
220 Nouns Lists (See Appendix 1) can be very helpful in determining
which words might be most important for the child to learn at any given
time. The word list includes 220 nouns that children often acquire
during their first several years of life.

The nouns list is broken into four groups. The first group of nouns
is comprised of foods and other items that are frequently reinforcers for
children. It also includes a couple of animals that are common
household pets and a few vehicles. The second group contains some
clothing items, common household items, common food items and some
items seen outside the home. The third and forth groups include a
greater assortment of items that are commonly seen or used by children,
but are not seen as often or are not as easy to discriminate as the items
listed in the earlier groups.
 There is no exact order in which words should be taught to a child.
However, the selection of words to be taught should be carefully
considered. As specified earlier in this chapter, the main strategy is to
select words that are important and relevant in a child’s daily life.
Therefore, a useful strategy is to consider selecting nouns from the first
group (mainly reinforcers) before considering teaching words from the
second, third or forth groups. Although each of the words on the list are
important for a child to learn, it is important to teach him words that he
frequently hears others say, are easiest to be learned, and are items that
are seen or used by him on a daily basis.

As the child learns to receptively identify new words, it is

important to record these new skills on the word lists (see Appendix 1:
Data Collection Instructions on the bottom of the First Nouns list). The
selection of new words to be taught can then be continued using the
same strategy, selecting from the words that the child still has not
acquired. Since every child is different, each program to teach labeling
skills should be individualized by selecting words that are relevant to the
specific child.

Standard Receptive Discrimination Teaching Procedure

When beginning the receptive discrimination teaching procedure, an

instructor will usually place a small array of items (i.e., a display) on a
table in front of the child. It is very common to start with only two or
three objects in the display. As the child improves his ability to
receptively identify items, the number of items displayed should be
increased. Items should be placed the same distance from the child and
there should be some space in between them. They should be placed in a
manner that requires the child to actually move his arms and hands (at
least six to eight inches) when reaching for an object in the array. This
distance is important, because not only does it require an effortful
response, but it also provides the instructor with the opportunity to
intervene when needed by using prompts to teach the child to select the
correct items.

However, when the receptive discrimination task is first introduced,

the instructor will need to teach the child the response of handing an
item to her. The instructor should have only one common item (e.g.,
shoe) on the table and say “Shoe, Give me shoe,” while holding out a
hand to receive the item. However, since the child has never engaged in
this type of activity, it is important to use prompts to get him to select
and give the named object. Thus, an errorless teaching procedure can be
utilized that includes having the adult hold her open hand near the
named item and use her other hand to physically guide the child to pick
up and then release the object into her open hand. His cooperation with
allowing his response to be physically prompted should be reinforced.
This procedure should continue for several trials in which the item is
placed in various locations on the table. The physical prompts should be
quickly eliminated, followed by the elimination of the hand prompt
(placing it near the object). The goal is to present the instruction and
have the child visually scan the options, select the shoe, and then place it
in the instructor’s hand (that is held in a neutral position).
 Array of objects for a receptive discrimination task.

Once the child knows how to follow the instruction to give the
named item, the next step is to teach him to select a named item from an
array of several objects. The goal is to have him receptively discriminate
(i.e., hear the name of an item and select it from a group of items) each
of the items in the array. In the procedure used to teach him to give the
named object, he was not required to discriminate the object to be
selected because there was only one item. Now, he must learn to scan a
selection of items and pick only the one that is requested (Green, 2001).
 Boy selecting a plate on request.

The skill of receptively identifying items can be taught using

several different methods. The first method is using the Reverse-
Matching-To-Sample transfer to Receptive Discrimination Procedure
that is described in Chapter 7. That procedure is often very helpful in
getting a child to learn his first receptive discriminations. The following
procedure is a commonly used method of teaching a child to receptively
discriminate objects. This efficient format is often utilized to teach many
new discriminations once the first several items are learned.

Introducing the Receptive Discrimination Task

When the receptive discrimination task is introduced to the child, the

instructor should first require him to look at each of the objects in the
array. The instructor should then give an instruction to select one of the
objects in the array such as “Shoe, Give me shoe,” while holding out a
hand to receive the item. However, since the child has never engaged in
picking one of several items, it is important to use prompts to get the
child to give the named object (i.e., the shoe). Thus, an errorless
teaching procedure can be utilized that includes the use of both a
positional prompt and a gestural prompt (Alberto & Troutman, 1999).
The positional prompt involves strategically placing the “target item”
(i.e., the one he is to select) so that it is closer to the hand the child uses
to pick up the items, thus increasing the chances that he will select the
correct item. The gestural prompt involves having the adult hold her
open hand near the named item. This positioning serves as a prompt as
to which item the child is to select. Reinforcement is then delivered after
the child selects and hands the target item to the instructor. If he begins
to reach for the non-target object (i.e., the wrong item), the instructor
can most often stop him from selecting the non-target (if it is positioned
so that he needs to reach for it), and then provide further prompts (e.g.,
partial physical prompt) to select the correct item. Only praise would
then be given following this heavily prompted response (independently
correct responses should be reinforced at a higher level than corrected
responses).
Positional prompt: “Plate. Give me plate.”
 Hand prompt: “Cup. Give me cup.”

Because it was necessary to increase the prompt level to get the

child to correctly select the item on the last trial, it will now be
necessary to repeat the same trial without extra prompts. Reinforcement
(praise plus a stronger reinforcer than those that followed the prompted
responses) can then be delivered following the correct response (that did
not require the extra prompts). This process of increasing the prompt
level to get a correct response following an error and then immediately
repeating the original trial without the extra prompts is referred to as a
“correction procedure” (Sundberg & Partington, 2013). This method of
correcting errors can be used throughout all phases of the receptive
discrimination training (See Figure 3-5). Additionally, correct responses
that do not require any prompts should always be reinforced with a
higher valued reinforcer than those responses that require additional
prompts.

Figure 3-5: Correction Procedure for Errors When Selecting Named

Items
 Please click on the above symbol to be redirected to a corresponding,
printable image of the above figure in your Internet browser.

On some trials, the student may not respond immediately after the
instruction to select an item is given. If he hasn’t started to respond after
about three to five seconds, he should again be prompted to look at each
of the items and the instruction should be repeated. If he doesn’t
immediately begin to respond, the instructor should use a prompt to get
him to respond (e.g., gestural or partial physical prompt).

It is very important that the position of the target and non-target

items be systematically varied. The objective is to have the child locate
and select the named item. Therefore, it is critical to move the target so
that it isn’t always on the right or left side. It is also important to
eliminate the positional and gestural prompts as soon as the child is able
to select the target item. Note that he must continue to respond correctly,
so it is necessary to reduce the prompts slowly enough to avoid the child
making errors. However, they should be removed as soon as possible so
that the child will respond to the word that specifies which item he is to
select, and not learn to respond to the prompts. Many children become
dependent upon prompts (“Prompt dependency”) due to a teaching error
of not correctly fading the prompts.

Trial-by-Trial Data as Fading Prompts

The collection of trial-to-trial data can often be helpful to demonstrate

the fading of prompts in the teaching process. On the sample data sheet
that follows (See Figure 3-6), note that on the first and second day of
teaching, a prompt was used on each trial to help the learner
“errorlessly” learn how to select the shoe when asked “Shoe. Give me
shoe.” On the third day, only the first four trials were prompted, and the
child was able to respond correctly without prompts on the last two
trials. Note also that on this data sheet, there is no distinction about
which types of prompts were used (positional, gesture, full or partial
physical). Although the instructor was systematically decreasing the
prompts (and those variances could also be recorded), in this case only
the fact that the responses were prompted is indicated. On the fourth
day, only the first two responses were prompted, and on the fifth day the
child was able to select the item without any prompts.

Figure 3-6: Sample Data for Receptive Identification of Objects

 Please click on the above symbol to be redirected to a corresponding,
printable image of the above figure in your Internet browser.

Once the child is able to consistently select one named item (e.g.,
shoe), it is then necessary to complete the same process using a second
item (e.g., a cup). Once again, positional and gestural prompts, and
correction procedure can be used when the selection of the second item
is now used as the targeted response.

When the child is able to correctly select the second item, it is then
time to alternate having him select the first and second items (i.e., shoe
and cup). Up until this point in the training, the child could have merely
been correct by finding the one item that was presented repeatedly, (i.e.,
multiple successive trials). The child could just locate and select the
same item that he did following the previous instruction. At this time, it
is critical that he learn the word that specifies which item is to be
selected based on the instructor’s direction (i.e., “shoe” vs. “cup”).

It is crucial that the trials be mixed so that the item requested and
the position of the objects are varied. In this way, the child is able to
respond correctly based on hearing the name of the requested item,
rather than from knowing the pattern of presentation. Thus, it is
important to ensure that he scans the items, and then attends to the
instructor as she instructs him to select one of the items. The rationale
for presenting the instruction “Cup. Give me cup,” as opposed to “Give
me cup,” is that the key word necessary for responding correctly is
highlighted, or made more salient, by having it be both the first and last
word that the child hears before he responds. He has already learned
from the teaching process that he is to give an item to the adult, so the
“Give me” component isn’t critical in determining which item is to be
selected.

When the child is able to correctly select either of the two items
upon request, it is then necessary to add another item to the array (e.g., a
spoon). At this point in the training process, the third item is just an
additional non-target item. If the child is still able to select each of the
first two items in the presence of the third item, then that third item can
be taught. Specifically, the adult can take one of the “mastered” items
(i.e., shoe or cup), and then teach the child to select the “spoon” when
put in an array with either the shoe or the cup. When he is able to
consistently select the spoon and not the other item, the array of items
can include all three of the items (i.e., the shoe, cup and spoon). If the
child is able to correctly select any of the three items when located in
any position and asked in any order, additional items can be taught using
the same process.

The Importance of Working on Only a Few Target Words

When attempting to teach a child to receptively identify new items, it is

important to make sure that he has many opportunities (i.e., acquisition
trials) to learn the target words. Therefore, a useful strategy is to focus
on only a few words at a time. Consider the problem that adults often
encounter when they meet many new people at an event. After being
introduced to several individuals in a short amount of time, it is difficult
for most people to remember more than a few names. The same
phenomenon is true for children who need to learn the names of many
items. Rather than merely having a few “trials” to learn many words, a
more productive approach is to involve the child in many acquisition
trials on a few words at one time. If the child is able to intensely focus
on a few words, there is a greater chance that he’ll remember that item
on the following day.

How to Confirm That a Child Already “Knows” Some Items

Teachers and therapists sometimes know—or suspect—that a child

already knows some items when he hears them named. To determine
those objects that he can receptively identify, the adult should place
three or four objects in front of the child and ask him to give her one of
those items. Because he could randomly select the correct object by
merely grabbing any of the items, it is important to ensure that he
actually can receptively identify the objects.

There are a couple of strategies that can be used to ensure accurate

identification of objects. Watch to see if the child scans the objects and
then makes a deliberate reach for the named item. It is also desirable to
present the object with a second group of items, ensuring that the
position of the object is different from the first time the child was asked
to select it (e.g., on the right side of the array vs. on the left side).
Because the item being requested is always included in the array of
items, he has a one-in-three chance of picking the correct object (if there
are three items in the array) even if he didn’t look at the items before
responding. If he can select the named object a couple of times without
making a mistake, and can do so the first time he is asked on three
consecutive days, it’s reasonable to consider that the child has
“acquired” or “mastered” the skill of being able to receptively identify
that object. This information can now be indicated on the First 220
Nouns List (See sample of recording on Figure 3-7) by marking a “+”
next to the word under the “receptive” column. (Note that a “+” will be
placed under the “Generalized Receptive” column after the child can
select multiple examples of each item.) A new “target” object can now
be added to the items included in the teaching session to replace the
newly acquired object, and the newly acquired object can be randomly
included in the array of items used to teach other objects.

Figure 3-7: Sample Recording of Known Objects on the First 220

Nouns List
 Please click on the above symbol to be redirected to a corresponding,
printable image of the above figure in your Internet browser.

Avoiding Confusion For the Child

Many parents would like to see their child develop a pointing response.
They want him to be able to point to items he would like and to items
when he hears people name them (e.g., “Point to the cat”). However,
when a child is learning to receptively identify the first few items, it is
important to not unintentionally make the task confusing for him.
 In the receptive discrimination teaching procedure specified above,
the child was required to select and give the named object from a set of
items that were placed in front of him. Alternatively, the child could
have been taught to point to the named item. However, with young
children, it is possible to incorporate the identification of real objects as
part of his daily activities. For example, when getting ready to go
outside, the parent might ask the child to get his shoes. Therefore, asking
a child to get named items (or “give me X”) seems to be more likely to
occur in normal daily activities than pointing to items.

Sometimes parents look at books with their child and may want
him to point to the pictures. The child learning to point to the items in a
book would certainly be a wonderful accomplishment. However, it must
be remembered that many children have difficulty identifying three-
dimensional objects, and many have even greater challenges in learning
to identify those items in pictures. Furthermore, in addition to the child
not knowing the names of the objects, he also doesn’t know how to
differentiate between the instruction to “point to” and “give me” the
named object. Therefore, for the child who is just learning to receptively
identify objects, it is probably best not to confuse him by varying both
the instructions and the item that he is to locate.

However, it may not be confusing if he is required to give only one

type of response in each of two totally separate conditions. For example,
when looking at a book while sitting on a parent’s lap, he may be asked
to “point to” specific pictures of items (giving the named item isn’t
possible). When sitting at a table with an array of objects he could be
asked to “give” the named objects. In the early stages of learning to
identify items, while it is possible for the child to point to the named
items while sitting at a table, this approach would not be recommended
because now he would need to not only differentiate the named item, but
also determine what he is supposed to do with it. While he also needs to
be able to make these multiple component discriminations (differentiate
both the item and the action), this approach may result in the child
having difficulty learning even the names of the items. Once the child is
able to receptively identify numerous objects, he can then be taught the
specific response that the instructor would like him to do with the item
(i.e., give it or point to it).

Extending Receptive Identification Skills

After the child has been successful in being able to consistently

receptively identify any of at least 10 objects that are presented in an
array of at least three objects, the receptive discrimination skills should
be further developed along several dimensions.

Extending Receptive Identification Skills

> More items in the array

> Different examples of items

 > Matching objects to pictures

> Selecting pictures of items

> Adding more items

> Change words used in task

> Select items in everyday situations

1. More Items in Array

One of the first extensions involves increasing the number of objects in

the array. The size of the array can be systematically increased until that
there are at least six objects in the array. Another variation involves
randomly placing the objects in a nonlinear arrangement; the child
should be able to scan and locate items even when they are not in a neat
row. Additionally, he should be able to select the objects when they are
rotated (e.g., 45o, 90o, 180o) so that they have a slightly different
appearance.
 Non-linear large array of pictures.

2. Different Examples

Because the child can identify several objects, procedures should now be
started to teach him to identify slightly different examples of those
objects. For example, if the child learned to select a certain “cup” (e.g.,
blue plastic cup), he can now start to be taught to select other examples
of cups (Becker, Engelmann, & Thomas, 1975). The other cups should
vary in a variety of ways. (It doesn’t matter if it is made of metal,
plastic, ceramics, or paper, or it can be any color, shape, size, etc.) Note
that these other examples of cups can be included in the ongoing
receptive identification teaching procedure (as new items) or can be
included in other teaching sessions that involve the matching non-
identical items. (For more details, please see Chapter 7 regarding
Matching-to-Sample.) As a child learns to receptively identify other
examples of the objects, this information should be noted on the
Generalization of Receptive and Labeling Skills Data Sheet (See Figure
3-8).

Figure 3-8: Generalization of Receptive and Labeling Skills Data

Sheet

Please click on the above symbol to be redirected to a corresponding,

printable image of the above figure in your Internet browser.

3. Matching Objects to Pictures

For the first several objects that a child learns to select, it is important to
ensure that he can also identify those items when he sees pictures of the
objects. Once again, the Matching-to-Sample procedure can be helpful
in teaching him that the object is the same as a picture of the object.
Thus, it is possible to follow the matching object-to-picture procedure
outlined in Chapter 7 (B 4).

4. Receptive Discrimination of Pictures

It is also possible to start using pictures in the array. At first, a picture of

one of the mastered/acquired items can be placed in an array with one or
two other acquired objects. In this situation, the child already “knows”
the two other objects, and is only required to select the picture of the
target item. As he progresses and is able to select various pictures of an
item when in an array with two other acquired objects, the objects can
be gradually replaced with identical pictures of items. Finally, pictures
of other examples of the items can be included in the training to
facilitate the generalization of the receptive discrimination skills.

5. Continue Introducing More Objects

As training begins to include new examples of the original objects and

pictures of the objects, it’s also important to continue to introduce new
objects in the receptive discrimination teaching sessions. Once again,
it’s desirable to ensure that each new word to be introduced is one that is
frequently seen and used by the child. Ideally, the procedures for
selecting new items from the First 220 Nouns List will be reviewed
when selecting the new items to be taught.

6. Changing the Words of the Instruction

Now that the child is able to receptively identify named items, he needs
to learn to follow instructions to use his skills when interacting with
others. Unfortunately, if other people don’t know the exact words to use,
he won’t be able to use his newly acquired skills with them. Therefore,
it’s important that as the child begins to expand his list of receptively
known words, his instructors start to make slight changes in the words
they use to get him to select named objects. For example, if the original
instruction that was used to teach him to select a shoe was “Shoe. Give
me shoe,” this request could be changed to simply “Give me shoe.”
Other instructions could include: “Get the shoe,” “Find shoe,” Where’s
the shoe?,” “Can you give me the shoe?,” etc. By increasing the variety
of instructions to select a named item (C 20), the chances are also
increased that the child will be able to use his new skills with others.

7. Generalization to Natural Environment

Finally, the child needs to learn to use his receptive discrimination skills
in his daily life. Therefore, those items that the child has learned in
structured teaching sessions must also be used in his daily activities.
Thus, if the child has learned to select a cup, a spoon and a shoe when
these items are presented on a table, he should also be asked to hand
these items to his parents and instructors when they are in various
locations in his home or classroom. For example, when he wants a drink
of juice, he could be asked to “Give me the cup” or “Get the cup” that is
on a counter. When he is getting ready to go outside, he can be
instructed to “Get shoes.” Using these skills during his daily interactions
will help to generalize his skills due to slightly different words being
used when asking him to get the items, and he’ll be able to use these
abilities with different people and in different locations. But most
importantly, it will also help to ensure that his newly acquired skills are
maintained by the natural consequences of using them. After getting his
cup or shoes when requested, he also then gets his juice and gets to go
outside to play. He also becomes a more active participant in his daily
routines and interactions with others.

Moving Beyond Initial Receptive Language Skills

In this chapter, the basics of how to teach a child to start listening to and
following simple directions were presented. Once a child can follow
some simple directions to perform several actions (e.g., clap, wave) and
can receptively discriminate several common objects, he is able to
respond to some of the words of others. The next step is to extend those
skills so that he is able to listen to and respond to other words. It is
necessary to increase his responses to core vocabulary words (e.g., learn
the names of household items, animals, etc.) and to then learn to respond
to more complex combinations of words (e.g., adjective and noun
combinations, verb and noun combinations) (C Section of ABLLS-R®).

Summary

The main goal in the development of receptive skills is to teach the child
to correctly respond to the language of others. He must eventually learn
to follow a wide variety of instructions, some of which require multiple
and complex discriminations. Some of the earliest instructions require
the child to follow instructions presented during routine situations (e.g.,
“Stand-up,” “Come here,” “Jump”). One of the most important
considerations is that after following directions, the child immediately
gains access to reinforcers for complying with the instructions. The child
coming to an adult when called should result in a desirable outcome for
him.

A child also needs to follow instructions to perform specific actions

(e.g., wave, clap) and to identify items that are named by others. He
should develop a core vocabulary that results in him being able to
discriminate between a selection of items or pictures named by others
(e.g., “Give me the ball.”). The selections of the first items to teach a
child to receptively identify should include common items that he sees
and hears others talk about on a daily basis (e.g., shoe, cup, spoon). It is
important to only attempt to teach him to receptively identify a few
items at a time. Once he has learned to select items upon request, his
new skill should be generalized so he is able to identify other examples
of those items, and use his skills in a variety of contexts.

Potential Learning Objectives Related to the Development of Initial

Receptive Language Skills
 The following objectives are provided to assist a parent or teacher in
targeting specific skills that may be appropriate for a child’s intervention
plan. Please see the ABLLS-R® to assess the child’s skills and to
identify additional objectives for further skill development.

Each child is a unique individual and requires input from a variety of

people who know him and are familiar with effective programming
strategies. Therefore, these learning objectives are not being prescribed
for any particular child, but rather are being provided as examples of
objectives that are consistent with the skills described in this chapter.

C9

(Child’s name) will follow instructions to perform at least 5 simple

actions (e.g., clap, turn around, arms up).

C 16

(Child’s name) will select a specified object for at least 20 common

objects when the object is presented in an array of three or more objects
on a table in any position in front of him.

C 17
(Child’s name) will select a specified picture for at least 20 common objects
when the picture is presented in an array of three or more pictures on a table
in any position in front of him.

Teaching Motor Imitation Skills

Regardless of the conceptual analysis of human development, all

theoreticians have recognized the importance of learning skills by
observing the actions of others (Bandura, 1962; Bijou, 1993; Bijou &
Baer, 1965; Novak & Pelaez, 2004; Piaget, 1962). However, the mere
observation of others is not a sufficient enough factor to result in the
acquisition of many skills. It is also important for an individual to be
able to imitate actions (i.e., duplicate the behavior modeled by others)
(Catania, 1972) and to discriminate the appropriate conditions for the
use of those skills (Brown, Brown, & Poulson, 2008).

The ability to imitate the motor behavior of other people plays

an important role in a child’s verbal and social development. If a child
can imitate the behavior of others, he can acquire a number of skills with
only minimal training. A typically developing three-year-old child can
imitate a wide variety of complex actions and sequences, and use those
imitation skills to learn many additional skills (Partington, Bailey,
Pritchard, Nosick & Doerr, 2010). Some children with developmental
delays are able to imitate some simple motor actions, but have difficulty
imitating fine motor movements, sequences of actions, and matching the
dynamic characteristics (e.g., speed, timing) of certain models.
However, many nonverbal children cannot imitate even simple actions.

Similar procedures are used to both develop initial imitative

skills and extend existing imitation skills. However, there are different
factors that need to be considered for a child who is not imitating any
actions versus those who can imitate at least a few actions. Therefore,
it’s important to identify the elements involved in the process of
teaching a child to imitate and in extending existing imitative skills.

Components of Imitative Responding

There are several critical components involved in imitation behavior.

First, the instructor must be able to motivate the student to engage in
imitative actions. The child must also pay sufficient focused attention to
the modeled action so that he can see not only what action is being
performed, but also how that action is being performed. He also needs to
know that he is being asked to perform the action. Finally, the child
must make his own actions match those of the model. Hence, there is a
need to consider the motivation of the child to cooperate with an adult,
the nature of the instruction, and the level of difficulty of the responses
that are being modeled to the child.

Motivation

Some children will imitate a few actions they observe, but won’t imitate
those same actions upon request. It’s important that a child be able to
imitate actions when requested so that he can learn from the instruction
being provided to him. A child who is able to watch what others are
doing and do those same actions is clearly capable of imitating the
actions of others. However, if that same child will not cooperate with an
adult who requests that he imitate simple actions, the issue to be dealt
with is that of “instructional control.” In this situation, it isn’t that the
child fails to observe, or is incapable of making simple motor actions
that match a model, but rather he is failing to cooperate with the
instructor. The issues of concern include his ability to follow
instructions that indicate that he is to copy the action, and his motivation
to follow those instructions. In these situations, the instructor needs to
present clear instructions (e.g., “Do this”) and arrange the conditions so
that the learner will be motivated to imitate. That is, she should have a
clearly identifiable and powerful reinforcer available before modeling an
action that is easy for the child to imitate.

Attending

In some cases, children simply haven’t learned to carefully watch what

others are doing. These children need to be taught to attend to the action
of the adult. Once again, motivation is a key issue. Why should a child
watch what others are doing? The answer is that there must always be
reinforcement following the attending behavior. Therefore, it is critical
that at first, the child be required to engage in only simple imitative
responses (Baer, Peterson, & Sherman, 1967). Some responses are easier
to imitate than others simply because they don’t require the child to
carefully attend to the details of the model, or they don’t require the
child to attend for a long period of time. However, it’s important to
“shape” the child’s ability to more carefully attend to models by
differentially reinforcing (i.e., more and better reinforcers for better
attending) the child’s careful attending to more intricate and lengthy
models.
 Child imitating teacher raising arms over head.

The Model

Some actions are difficult to imitate due to the transient nature of the
model. When an adult models a specific motor action, the action has
often ended when it is time for the child to make the same action. For
example, consider a model of a single clap of the hands. The adult might
say, “Do this,” and then clap her hands. The clapping is no longer
visible, but the child is required to make an action that he has just seen.
Although the instructor may have had his attention when she began to
present the instruction, he may not have been attending well when the
model was actually presented. Another consideration is that he may have
quickly “forgotten” the action that he was shown. Thus, these transient
types of models may be difficult for some children who have fleeting
attention.

In contrast, another type of model involves an ongoing

demonstration of the model. When actions are continuous and ongoing,
the child can still observe the action even if he doesn’t attend for more
than a brief period of time. Additionally, he can also compare what he
sees himself doing in relation to the action of the model; he can observe
that his behavior matches the action.

Consider a second type of clapping model in which the adult

continues to clap as he asks the child to “Do this.” In this situation, the
child can begin his actions at any time the model is being demonstrated
and can still be able to see the model even if he doesn’t attend for a short
period of time. Another benefit to the ongoing model of clapping is that
the child can observe both his own clapping action and the ongoing
model at the same time, and see that his actions actually match the
model. Using these ongoing models is often a good place to start when
beginning to teach a child to imitate actions.

The Instruction

There are many different ways to indicate that a child should imitate an
action. An instructor might say: “Do this,” “My turn…your turn,”
“Watch what I do…. Now you do it,” “Let me see if you can do this,”
etc. Children who do not have well-developed imitative skills often also
have poor receptive language skills (i.e., they can’t follow instructions).
Therefore, it is often best to start with a simple and clearly stated
instruction (e.g., “Do this”) to avoid any confusion as to what the child
is expected to do (i.e., imitate). Once the child is able to follow one
simple instruction to imitate an action, it’s possible to generalize his
imitative skills by teaching him other variations of the verbal
instructions or gestures that others may use when asking him to copy
their actions (D 7).

Teaching Children to Follow Instructions to Imitate

Early imitation training can take several forms, but perhaps the most
important elements in training involve making it fun for the child, and
capitalizing on the child’s ongoing motivation for specific activities or
reinforcers. For example, children often enjoy hearing others singing
songs (e.g., “The Itsy Bitsy Spider,” “The Wheels on the Bus,” “If
You’re Happy and You Know It,” “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes”).
While singing these songs, adults usually perform actions associated
with the lyrics. If children are encouraged to perform the actions with
others who are singing, they’ll often easily learn a few simple actions for
each of the songs. Of course, the use of any prompts (e.g., verbal,
gestural or physical) will need to be faded (i.e., gradually reduced and
eliminated) as the child begins to be able to perform the actions. Note
that in the beginning, imitative attempts, or approximations of the
modeled actions will be reinforced. Over time, the reinforcement will
need to be provided for increasingly more accurate imitative
movements.

Other potentially fun actions can be included in the early imitation

training if the instructor can make the actions seem like a game. Specific
motivators and reinforcers can be used if the instructor can identify a
strong motivator (e.g., the child likes playing with dried beans in a
container). In this situation, the instructor could model scooping up and
pouring out beans into the container (D 1). She could first do those
actions, and if the child is interested in watching the beans fall, she
could encourage the child to copy her action. Similar types of actions
associated with reinforcing items or activities may include tapping a
drum, or pushing a button to activate a sound on a toy or “talking book.”
In these examples, in addition to praise, the child’s responses produce a
sound that may reinforce the child’s imitation of the model. Please see
an example in the next section, “How to ‘Shape’ Imitative Tapping of a
Drum”.

If the child will imitate at least some actions under these

circumstances, then further training will probably be easy. However, if
he doesn’t imitate any actions associated with reinforcing activities, then
more intensive training procedures will be required. In either case, the
process of teaching the first few imitative responses involves specific
steps.

Determining the First Few Imitative Responses

It is critical to select the first few responses to be easy ones for the child
to imitate. The responses should be easy for him to see what to do, and
easy for the instructor to physically prompt the action. Simple responses
using objects such as tapping a drum with a stick, pressing a button on a
“talking book,” picking up and dropping a block in a can, and shaking a
maraca or tambourine are often very easy to teach. The child can also be
taught to imitate simple actions using his arms, hands and legs. For
example, the child can be taught to raise both his arms over his head, to
rub or tap one of his hands on a table or on his stomach, wave or clap his
hands, or stomp his foot.

At first, an effort should be made to avoid teaching the child

responses that require him to pay close attention to the more subtle
aspects of the action. For example, it is difficult for many children to
place their hand on their ear versus placing it on the top of their head.
Similarly, it is sometimes difficult to teach a child to attend to imitations
that require one hand versus two hands being placed on their head.
 Early Imitative Skills

USING OBJECTS

> Tap drum with a drumstick

> Press a button

> Drop block in a container

> Shake a maraca

SIMPLE MOTOR ACTIONS

> Clap hands

> Wave

> Tap table

> Tap tummy

> Raise arms over head

> Stomp feet

 Once the child has mastered several of the easy-to-prompt
responses, additional imitative responses can be selected from the
Partington Imitation Skills Assessment (See Appendix 2). The list of
skills in this assessment cover a wide range of skills that vary from quite
simple ones that require very little focused attention to more complex
responses that require the child to pay extremely close and extended
attention to the modeled actions.

How to Teach the First Few Imitative Responses

When teaching a child to imitate...

> Have a clearly identifiable reinforcer

> Ensure the child is attending

 > Use simple words for the instruction

> Model a simple action

> Prompt as needed and fade prompts

The procedure for specifically teaching any imitative behavior

starts by asking the child to imitate a physical movement with the verbal
prompt,
“Do this.” The instructor should immediately reinforce any correct
responses or approximations of the target response. If the child does not
respond, or emits an obvious incorrect response, then the instructor
should repeat the request and the movement a few more times. If the
child still fails to respond, then the procedure should be repeated with
the use of physical prompts to guide the child’s arms through the correct
imitative action. (The physical prompt sometimes works better if a
second adult does the prompting from behind the child.) The child
should be reinforced immediately with praise and other reinforcers (See
Figure 4-1).

The next imitation trial should occur within a few seconds, and the
instructor should slightly reduce the physical prompt, and of course,
immediately reinforce the child’s correct behavior. This process of
presenting a model, prompting and then fading the prompts, and
reinforcing the imitation of the action should continue until the child is
able to imitate the modeled action without physical prompts. It should
be noted that, when possible, the physical prompts should be faded both
from trial to trial within a session, and over the course of several
sessions. Occasionally, it may be necessary to use a greater level of
prompt for a trial (especially at the start of a new session to teach
imitation), but the prompt level should always be minimized as soon as
the child demonstrates the ability to perform the action on his own.

Figure 4-1: Correction Procedure for Errors When Imitating

Please click on the above symbol to be redirected to a corresponding,

printable image of the above figure in your Internet browser.
 Any trial should be presented only when the child is attending to
the instructor. The model that an instructor uses should be presented
clearly and concisely, and should not be accompanied by complicated
verbal instructions. For example, the verbal prompt should simply be
“Do this,” while modeling a clap. The instructor should avoid saying
additional words such as “Come on Fred, do this, you can do it, Fred.
Look at me, Fred.” For some children, no verbal prompts should be
given; the instructor should just perform the action. The instructor
should present the clap in exactly the same manner during each trial
(e.g., same force, position, number of claps) and avoid engaging in
additional physical behaviors such as head and body movements. It
should be noted that each child is different, and these additional verbal
and physical stimuli may actually help teach imitation in some cases.

Martin and Pear (2002) suggest that imitative “control can be

developed much more effectively when the teacher attempts to minimize
the possibility of errors on the part of the student.” This suggestion of
using “errorless learning” is derived from the works of Terrace (1963)
and Touchette (1971), as well as several other basic behavioral
researchers (e.g., Catania, 1998). The skillful use of prompts, and the
careful fading of them, can help minimize errors. A child who cannot
emit any imitative behavior has obviously had a long history of failure.
If no response typically occurs after the “Do this” prompt, then the
instructor should simultaneously give the student a physical and verbal
prompt and immediately reinforce the behavior. The instructor should
then gradually delay the delivery of the physical prompt. A teacher who
skillfully uses prompts (by adjusting the delivery and removal of the
prompts) and reinforces closer approximations of the target response,
can greatly reduce a student’s errors, thereby increasing the probability
that the child will learn to imitate.

Requiring an Actual Response When Fading Prompts

The most important element in fading the physical prompts is the

delivery of reinforcement following the actual action performed by the
child. Remember that reinforcement strengthens behavior. At first,
reinforcement may be delivered for the child merely allowing us to
guide his hands through a specific (prompted) imitative action.
However, it is then important to fade prompting, such as using only a
partial physical prompt, or by delaying prompting (to see if he will begin
attempting the action), and to reinforce the child’s approximation of the
desired action. To eliminate the prompts, it’s necessary to begin
reinforcing some level of effortful response performed by the child.

Imitation With Objects

Some children are able to imitate actions using objects before they are
able to imitate motor actions involving only movement of body parts
(e.g., clapping hands, rubbing tummy, etc.). Some children may have
more success at imitating an action when the instructor uses an object
such as a drumstick to pound a drum or a block that’s placed into a
container. In these imitative tasks, the instructor can easily ensure that
the child has visually attended to the actions. She can watch him to
make sure he’s looking at the beating of the drum, and can wait to
release the block into the container until he is clearly looking at the hand
that’s holding the block. When he’s then given the same (or another
identical) object, he can still see the items used in the modeled action.
The actual model of the action may not be ongoing for all of the actions
(i.e., the dropping of the block into the container), however, it can be
there for some actions (e.g., both adult and child can hit a drum at the
same time). Even if the model of the action isn’t still present, the objects
that were used to perform those actions are still present (e.g., the block
and the container) and the sight of those items may facilitate the child’s
imitation of the previously modeled action.

How to “Shape” Imitative Tapping of a Drum

The process of “shaping” involves reinforcing a child’s responses that

are approximations that are becoming increasingly closer to the desired
response. For example, if the desired response is to imitate tapping a
drum with a stick, following a model of that same action (as will always
precede each trial), the first trial might involve taking the child’s hand
and totally moving it to tap the drum (i.e., a full physical prompt with no
independent action by the child). The behavior that would be reinforced
is the child’s loosening of his arm so that the instructor can move it to
complete the action (i.e., cooperation). On the next trial, the instructor
could move the child’s arm so that the stick is a few inches above the
drum. When the instructor releases the child’s arm, it will likely fall
downward so that the stick hits the drum. Reinforcement would then be
provided for the stick hitting the drum. Even though gravity helped to
make the response happen, the child still had to independently hold the
stick until it struck the drum. After a few similar trials, the child’s
behavior of holding the stick and striking the drum will have been
reinforced and it may now be possible to present the imitative model,
give the stick to the child and lead his hand so that the stick is above the
level and almost over the drum. If the value of the current reinforcer is
still strong, there’s a high probability that the child will extend his arm
the little amount that is necessary for the stick to hit the drum and get the
reinforcer. As he now starts to independently extend his arm a short
distance to imitate the tapping of the drum, that distance can be
increased by simply not leading the child’s arm as close to the drum.
Eventually, through the process of reinforcing the child’s behavior that
becomes closer to the desired response (i.e., “shaping”), reinforcement
will only be provided when he imitates the drum tapping after seeing the
model and being handed the drumstick.
Strategies for Developing an Imitative Repertoire

There are several strategies reviewed in the literature about how to teach
the first few imitative responses to a child. One method involves
teaching the first response, then a second, and then alternating between
the presentations of the two responses (Risley, 1968). Additional
imitative responses are then taught and then added to the mixture of the
previously learned responses.

Another strategy involves teaching several distinctly different

responses at the same time (Baer, Peterson & Sherman, 1967; Lovaas,
Freitas, Nelson, & Whalen, 1967). In this situation, the child is
presented with several different responses that are alternated on a
random schedule. If the child is able to learn to attend to the mixture of
several responses, it’s likely that this second strategy will result in faster
acquisition of the broad concept of “watch what the person does and
then imitate.” However, if the child has difficulty learning when several
different responses are presented, the slower method of teaching
responses in a sequential manner may help him begin to develop his
ability to imitate.

Regardless of the method of introducing and teaching additional

responses, the child needs to learn a variety of similar responses that
require him to attend to the differences between them. For example, if he
was taught to tap a drum with the drumstick, as soon as he sees the
drumstick he will know that he is to pick it up and tap the drum.
However, the sight of the drum and the drumstick should not be the only
stimuli that indicate what the child should do. Remember that the main
purpose of teaching a child to imitate is that he learns to focus on what
someone is doing and become able to match that action. So in the
presence of a drum and a drumstick, the adult might ask the child to
imitate the action of picking up the drumstick and waving it in the air.
The adult might also demonstrate the action of tapping the drumstick on
the table instead of on the drum and perhaps the action to be imitated
might be picking up the drum and tapping it with his hand (D 2).

It is important to present a variety of imitative actions that don’t

involve using objects. For example, if a child was taught to imitate the
action of tapping the table with his hand, he would also need to learn to
imitate a model of rubbing a hand on the table (D 5). Similarly, if he was
taught to tap his head or stomach with one of his hands, he would also
need to learn to imitate actions that require him to just place his hand on
his head or on his stomach (D 6).

The most important part of developing a well-generalized imitation

repertoire is to teach the child to carefully attend to the actions of others
and imitate them, no matter what those actions might be (D 4,5, 9-13).
Although in the early stages of developing a child’s imitation repertoire
it’s important to teach a variety of responses, it is also important to
quickly begin to teach the imitation of similar, but slightly different
responses. The goal is not to merely acquire a defined set of specific
imitative responses, but to also develop the skills necessary to imitate
the specific actions observed.

A final point presented by Martin and Pear (1995) is the importance

of maximizing the number of training trials. Training should be
conducted every day with as many trials, or learning opportunities, as
possible each session. Some students may need several hundred trials
every day in order to show improvement, while others require less
intensive training. However, it is clear that sporadic training is not very
effective for a child who cannot imitate motor behaviors, and imitation
skills can easily be developed in many situations throughout the child’s
daily activities.

Interspersal with Requests/Mands

If a child is learning sign language as a response form to mand (i.e.,

request items or activities), those signs can also be used in the further
development of the imitation repertoire. For example, if the child has
learned to sign music by tapping his arm, present the child with a “Do
this,” prompt rather than a “What do you want?” or a “Sign music”
prompt. Immediately reinforce correct responses or approximations with
a strong reinforcer. Incorrect responses can be followed by a prompt
such as holding up the music box. This procedure uses the variables that
control mands (i.e., motivation) and tacts (i.e., the object) as prompts to
teach imitation, and is often an immediately successful procedure if the
child has already learned to mand with signs. The procedure can be
repeated with the other signs that the child has learned.

Teaching Imitation Skills During Daily Activities

Imitative skills can be specifically taught in formal training sessions, but
they can—and should be—developed during all daily activities. For
example, when getting dressed, the child can be taught to imitate raising
his arms over his head. While being bathed, he can learn to imitate
rubbing soap on his arm (D 5). While standing in line at the grocery
store, he can learn to imitate tightening and loosening (e.g., squeezing
the handle of the shopping cart). When walking to the park, the child can
be taught to stomp on a sewer cover, to hop, or to jump off a curb (D 4).
The opportunities to teach children to pay attention to and imitate a wide
variety of actions are endless. Thus, imitation skills can be easily taught,
and should be incorporated throughout the child’s daily life.

The teaching of imitation skills while walking to the park presents a

great opportunity to make use of naturally occurring reinforcement.
When a child enjoys the play activities at a park, and he knows from
previous experience that he is on his way there, he will often be quite
excited as he sees that he is getting closer to the park. Because his
motivation to get there is very strong, it is possible to use this motivation
to teach him to perform some imitative actions. For example, if the child
has already learned to imitate a few actions, while walking to the park
his parent or teacher could stop and ask him to imitate one of his known
actions. Once he imitates the action, they can continue walking toward
the park (a reinforcer). Although it would not be advisable to stop every
few steps, if the child was requested to imitate an action perhaps three to
five times during a ten-minute walk to the park, he would probably not
resist these minor interruptions on the way to his major reinforcing
activity. As the child becomes accustomed to stopping for imitation
purposes, then novel actions could easily be introduced and taught using
the standard prompting and prompt fading strategies.
 Finally, it’s important to remember that training should be as much
fun as possible. If the child is forced to imitate, it’s less likely that
spontaneous or unprompted imitation will occur in the future.
Additionally, remember to ensure that attending to others and copying
what they do is an enjoyable activity for the child. Should the child ever
spontaneously imitate a desirable action (e.g., exhibiting a new skill
modeled by a peer or sibling), it is highly important to ensure that that
imitation response is heavily reinforced (D 26 & 27).

Trevor’s Story

Trevor was a four-year-old boy who was receiving services from my

staff at the STARS Clinic. He had regular sessions in which my staff
was working on teaching him a variety of basic language and learning
skills. One of the skills that we were teaching Trevor was to be able to
imitate actions.

One day when his father came to pick him up, he indicated that he
wished he could do more to help his son learn new skills. He went on to
describe that unfortunately he had such a busy schedule that he found it
difficult to make time to work with his son. I told him that there were a
few simple things he could do that required little to almost no extra time.
As I walked with them to their car, I told the father that it would be easy
for him to start helping to develop his son’s imitative skills. I then had
them both stop walking and I demonstrated how to give an instruction
and prompt Trevor to imitate knocking on a fence. I got down to
Trevor’s eye level, and when he was looking at me I said, “Trevor, do
this,” and I then knocked on the fence. He didn’t respond, so I repeated
the instruction and the model, and then took his arm and physically
prompted him to knock on the fence. I praised him for “Good knocking”
(praise was a reinforcer for him), and then repeated the instruction and
model without a prompt. This time, Trevor knocked on the fence
without me needing to provide any prompt. I gave him some
enthusiastic praise, and then we continued to walk to the car.

As we walked, I explained the details of what I had just

demonstrated to him. I then asked them to stop in front of a door we
were passing. I then told the father that it was now “his turn” to get his
son to imitate his knocking on a door. I provided Trevor’s dad with
verbal prompts and he was able to get his son to imitate his knocking.
The father was excited that his son had watched his model and complied
with his instruction.

We then walked a few more feet when I saw a manhole cover (now
known as a personnel access cover!) in the parking lot. I then
demonstrated to the father how to get his son to look at my foot as I
modeled stomping on the cover. Once again, I needed to use a physical
prompt to get Trevor to stomp on the cover. I then repeated the sequence
and he successfully imitated my stomping.

When we got to the car, I told Trevor’s dad that before he opened
the car door, I wanted him to get Trevor to imitate one of his actions.
 The father thought for a few seconds and said that he might try getting
him to imitate his knocking on the door. I said that would be a great one
to try. He then got at eye-level with his son, made him watch while he
said, “Do this” and knocked on the door. Trevor quickly knocked on the
door and the father excitedly praised his imitating and gave him a big
hug. I praised the dad for following my lead and commented, “That
wasn’t too hard now, was it?” To which the father replied, “Actually it
was pretty easy as long as I get him to really pay attention.”

I told the father that he can chose almost any action that he wants to
teach his child to imitate. The next time Trevor’s dad came to pick up his son
he was excited to show me several actions he had taught his son to imitate.
He said he was surprised at how easy it was to teach the new skills to his son
and that it really didn’t take much time to do it. He also said that he now saw
far more opportunities to get him to imitate than he had ever imagined.

Procedures to Continue Developing a Generalized Imitative

Repertoire

Once a child has learned how to imitate at least 10 different responses

(some of which would include the use of objects, while others are just
imitation of motor actions) further development of those skills along
several dimensions is critical. A young typically developing child can
readily imitate a wide range of behaviors that have never been
specifically taught, including complicated sequences of responses that
involve a wide range of variations in how the specific actions are
performed. This ability to imitate in such a precise manner makes it easy
for these children to learn new skills just by watching others perform
activities. Therefore, it is important to increase the variety of responses
that a child with developmental delays can imitate, the complexity of the
imitative responses, and the precision to which the modeled behaviors
are imitated (D 6, 15-17, 21-22). Having a well-developed generalized
imitative repertoire (i.e., almost anything observed can be accurately
imitated despite the setting, model, etc.) is critical for the learner to be
able to develop a wide range of skills. The development of generalized
imitation skills helps the child be better able to “learn to learn” a wide
range of important skills.

The main issue in the further development of a child’s imitative

skill is to not get too bogged down in teaching any one specific skill.
Many parents and educators will select a specific imitation action that
they want to teach the child and put too much emphasis on teaching that
one particular thing. The top priority should be to expand the number
and variety of responses that the child can imitate, and to do so when
asked to imitate using different instructions (e.g., “Do this,” or “My
turn…Your turn”) (D 7), and in a variety of situations (e.g., classroom,
home, park). Other significant goals are to increase the child’s ability to
focus attention for longer periods of time and to attend to the various
elements of how the model is being demonstrated (e.g., speed, timing,
intensity and sequencing of the actions) in order for him to be able to
replicate those actions. It is less important that any one skill be mastered
(e.g., “arms up”) than it is for the child to increase his ability to attend to
and replicate many different types of actions (i.e., watching the model
closely and imitating the nuances of her behavior). The same teaching
procedures used to develop the initial imitative responses (i.e., prompt
and then fade the prompts) should also be used in teaching the new
responses. However, the types of actions presented each day should
include a wide range of actions. If the child isn’t able to imitate a certain
response, the adult should work on teaching other ones and come back
to the difficult one another day.

Variation in Instructions to Imitate

The child should also learn how to imitate actions when a variety of
instructions are presented (D 7). For example, many early training
programs often give the instruction, “Do this” and then demonstrate a
particular action. Although this type of instruction may be important in
getting the child to learn how to imitate some actions, he should also
realize that he is being requested to imitate when an adult or peer uses
different words. Some examples of different ways of indicating that the
child should imitate include statement such as, “Watch me, your turn,”
“Do what I do,” “Watch what he’s doing,” or “Look, now you do it.”
The child must learn that all of these types of statements indicate that he
should be watching a model and imitating the action or sequence of
actions.

When shown actions with objects, the child should be able to

imitate almost any action that might be used in a particular activity. For
example, he should be able to imitate moving a toy car both quickly and
slowly, have it make turns, go forward and backward, move to a location
and stop, then turn and move to a second location. He should also be
able to complete the actions at the same speed of a model (D 15 & 16)
and—if he can imitate vocalizations—also make any sounds that are
associated with the actions (D 23). If he is shown a simple tapping
pattern on a tambourine, the child should be able to not only imitate that
action with the same speed, but also match the number and intensity of
the taps both when performing the action along with the model, and
following a demonstration of those actions (D 20-22).

Imitation Involving Various Body Parts

One of the components of a good imitative repertoire includes the ability

to imitate using different body parts. The child must be able to not only
imitate actions that involve his arms, hands and fingers, but also his legs,
head, mouth, tongue, and actions that involve movement of his entire
body. He should be able to imitate a wide range of actions using his feet
and legs (e. g., stomping a foot, spreading feet part, bending at knees,
marching, hopping, making a kicking action, balancing on one foot) (D
4). He should also be able to move his head in a variety of motions (e.g.,
twist head at neck as if to make a “no” action, moving head up and
down as if to make a ”yes” motion, moving head from side to side
towards his shoulders, etc.) (D 9), and be able to open and close his
mouth, move his lips into a testing position, stick out his tongue and
move it up and down and side to side) (D 10 & 11). A child being able
to imitate mouth and tongue actions in a mirror is often helpful in
teaching him to vocally imitate sounds.
 Teaching a child to imitate touching tips of fingers.

Development of Both Gross and Fine Motor Imitation Skills

Children need a well-developed repertoire of imitative skills that

includes both gross motor and fine motor responses. For example, a
child should be able to imitate a wide variety of action using his hands.
Some of the responses could include clapping, rubbing hands together as
if washing, rubbing hands together with palms and fingers kept in
straight alignment, opening and closing the hand to a fist, waving “Bye”
with the hands moving from side to side, as well as waving in a motion
where the fingers bend towards the palm (in an open and close type of
motion). He must also learn to imitate actions with his fingers including
responses such as closing the fist and then extending the index finger as
if to point, and a sequence of making a pointer finger, bringing it back to
the fist position, and then back to a pointer position. He must also learn
a similar action of moving his thumb into and out of the fist position.
Additionally, moving his index finger in a curling motion (as if
requesting somebody to come to him), touching thumbs together, index
fingers together, and folding hands with fingers interlaced are just a few
of the many actions which a child should be able to readily imitate (D
12). Again, the specific responses are not as important as the child
learning to observe a model and imitate a wide range of actions.

How to Teach a Child to Point & Make a Thumbs Up

To teach a child how to make a pointer finger, it is often helpful to hold

his hand in front of his face in such a manner so that the only part he can
move is his index finger. That is, the instructor should use her non-
dominant hand to physically surround his dominant hand so that only his
index finger can move. After getting the child to look at her hand, the
instructor should then use her dominant hand to demonstrate the action
of moving her index finger to a “pointer” position and then return it to a
closed fist position. With the child’s hand held next to the instructor’s
hand, he should be instructed to “Watch me”, “Do this: finger up…
finger down.” The child’s correct finger movements should be
immediately reinforced. As the child sees that reinforcement is
forthcoming for moving his finger, the instructor can then provide
reinforcement after he matches the model of holding the finger in the
extended and then closed position. If the child doesn’t start to move his
finger up and down along with the imitative model, the instructor should
use physical prompts to assist the child in making the actions. The exact
same procedure can then be used to teach him to make a “thumbs up”
and return to a closed fist actions.

Movement and Static Motor Imitation

A child needs to learn to imitate actions that involve movement as well

as those that require him to hold a static position. Many children with
developmental delays are only taught a very few imitative responses
such as clapping their hands, tapping their head, or knocking on a table.
Sometimes children have never been taught to imitate actions involving
holding their hands in a static position. For example, if a child is taught
to imitate actions such as clapping hands, it is also important to make
sure that he can move his hands to that same position and then hold
them in that position (e.g., “prayer hands”). Similarly, if the child is
taught to tap two hands to his head, he should also be taught to put both
hands on his head and hold them in that position without tapping.

The child should also be taught to pay close attention to the

position of his hands and to whether the model involves the use of either
one or two hands. For example, when extending one arm or both arms in
front of his body, the learner should be able to imitate those actions
using either one or both arms (depending on the model), attend to
whether the hands are held with the palms facing down, up, or facing
each other, and whether the fingers are spread apart, closed together or
held in a closed fist position. He should also be able to imitate moving
either one or both extended arms (depending on what is demonstrated)
up and down at his sides, or moving one or both arms from his side to
reaching in front of him.

Movement Across Time and Space

As imitation skills begin to strengthen, it is important that the child learn

how to imitate actions that involve the movement of his body across
time and space. For example, he should be able to watch and then
imitate actions such as getting out of a chair, walking over to a table,
getting an object and moving it to a second location, and then returning
to his seat (D 26). The child should be able to accurately imitate not only
the responses, but also the speed at which they were performed (D 17).

Imitation of Sequences

Additionally, the child needs to be able to imitate sequences of

responses at the same time as an existing model (i.e., switching
movements when the model changes to a new action), and also to
imitate those sequences of actions following a demonstration of a
sequence of actions. Often, children will need to perform sequences of
actions along with songs (e.g., “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes” song,
or “The Itsy-Bitsy Spider”). When doing some sequences of actions, the
child will often be doing it with a group of others, so he will need to
learn to watch the speed and intensity of those actions and not only
match those aspects, but also switch actions when the other children
switch from one action to another.

Imitation at a Distance and in Mirrors

The child also needs to learn to imitate actions when the person
providing the model isn’t standing directly in front of him. He should be
able to imitate actions when another person is standing beside him or
behind him using a mirror to show him the action in the mirror’s
reflection. He should also be able to imitate actions that are modeled
from across the room.

Teaching a Child to Imitate Mirrored Actions

When attempting to teach a child to imitate actions in a mirror, it is best

to start with responses the child has already mastered versus a new
imitative action. The goal is to teach the child to imitate the action when
he is looking at the reflection, rather than looking at someone standing
 in front of him (D 8 & 11).

Therefore, the instructor should stand behind or beside the child and
instruct him to look at her in the mirror. At first, reinforcement should be
provided for only looking at the instructor’s reflected face image (e.g.,
“That’s nice looking at me!”). Then, the instructor should present a
previously acquired imitative response that can be done using only one hand
in relation to the upper part of the child’s body (i.e., head or torso). Possible
actions include touching the head, tapping or rubbing the stomach, and
touching the nose. These examples make it possible for the instructor to
provide an ongoing imitative action while also providing additional verbal
prompts (e.g., “You do it…. Tap your head.”) and, if necessary, provide
physical prompts. Once the child learns to look in the mirror to perform the
first action, other similar previously mastered actions should be presented. As
he learns to do several imitative hand actions in a mirror, other actions
involving the head, mouth and tongue, and actions using the feet and legs can
also be developed.

It is critical that the child develop an extremely well generalized

imitative repertoire. With the exception of unusually talented motor
movements (e.g., back flips), the child should be able to watch almost
any example of actions that are performed by others, and be able to
accurately replicate what they are doing or have done (D 26). To
develop this level of imitation mastery requires that the child develop
sustained focused attention, an ability that is useful in learning many
other skills. When the child has developed the ability to pay attention to
the subtleties of what others are doing and is able to match those actions,
he will then be able to learn a wide range of additional skills simply by
being able to watch how others perform in a variety of situations. An
extensive list of imitative skills (The Partington Imitation Skills
Assessment) can be found at the end of this chapter.

Relationship Between Motor and Vocal Imitation

There are many specific skills that are developed when a child learns to
imitate motor movements. Particularly, the child learns to attend to a
model that is being presented to him and can accurately imitate that
action. In the process, he learns that reinforcement is delivered only
when he matches the actions of another person. He also learns through
the process of “shaping” that he must pay close attention to his own
response to make sure that it is accurate enough to result in the delivery
of a reinforcer. That is, sloppy or inaccurate responses do not result in
reinforcement. These same skills are also needed for him to learn to
vocally imitate sounds, words, and phrases.

The difference between motor imitation and vocal imitation is that

the motor imitation produces a visual stimulus (i.e., model) that needs to
be copied, while with vocal imitation, the model is an auditory stimulus
(Described in Chapter 5). In both types of imitation, the child must
attend to the model stimulus and engage in a response that matches the
model. During motor imitation tasks, there is a visual match between the
modeled action and the product of the child’s response. For vocal
imitation tasks, there is an auditory match between the vocal model and
the vocally imitative response.

However, there are several other factors that are unique to vocal
imitation tasks. Specifically, most of the auditory models that the child
is required to match are transitory in nature (i.e., they are no longer
present when the child responds). Unless the adult makes a prolonged
sound (e.g., holds the “O” sound for several seconds), the sound of the
model ends before the child makes the matching sound. Additionally, in
the case of prompting a child to make a matching sound or word, it is
nearly impossible to physically prompt child to make the sound.
Although certain prompts can be used to help signal to the child what
sound is being requested (e.g., gesturing or touching a part of the
mouth), or physically moving his lips in a certain position to make a
sound (e.g., hold lips together to get an “mmm” sound), it is impossible
to physically make the sound happen. Specific strategies for developing
a child’s ability to imitate vocalizations will be discussed in the
following chapter.

Norman’s Story

Norman’s parents brought him to me so that I could assess his skills and
make program recommendations. They had been receiving ABA therapy
for several months, but were concerned that something was being
missed in his program. He had made progress in several areas (including
motor imitation skills), but they were concerned that he wasn’t making
progress in the development of his vocal imitation skills.

After my staff interacted with Norman, we did see that he was able
to imitate numerous simple motor actions. However, the actions all
involved his arms, hands and feet. He wasn’t able to imitate any actions
involving his head or mouth except moving his hands to the top of his
head or to his cheeks. He wasn’t able to imitate nodding or shaking his
head, opening his mouth, sticking out his tongue, or closing his lips.

We decided to take Norman to the mirror, had him stand in front of

us, and began to have him look at us in the mirror. After we had him
looking at our reflections, we began to ask him to imitate the actions he
could see us doing in the mirror. We started by having him do the
actions that he could already do when he was sitting across from us and
looking directly at our actions (i.e., putting hands on our head or on our
cheeks). After a few prompted trials, we had him imitating those actions
that he saw us do in the mirror.

Our next task was to get him to imitate a few head and mouth
movements. We had him watch us as we presented a variety of actions
and asked him to imitate them. At first, it took several full, then only
partial physical prompts to get him to imitate the actions. After a several
short trips to the mirror, Norman began to imitate several of the actions
that we modeled in the mirror. Two of the actions included opening our
mouths wide, and closing our lips tightly.

Now that he was imitating the mouth movements, we began to pair

a vocalization with those two mouth movements. We made the “Ah”
sound with our mouth open and an “MMM” sound with our lips closed
tightly (both sounds we had heard him make, but not when he was asked
to make them). He continued to imitate the movements and after several
trials, he also began to make an approximation of those sounds. We
reinforced his motor and vocal imitation combination with one of his
preferred food items. It wasn’t many trials before we had him
consistently imitating those vocalizations while watching us in the
mirror. After we had him solidly able to do a few of those vocalizations
in front of a mirror, we then turned him away from the mirror and
presented the same models. He then was able to imitate those two
sounds when facing us.

Summary

The ability to imitate the motor behavior of other people plays an

important role in a child’s verbal and social development. If a child can
imitate the behavior of others, he can acquire a number of skills with
only minimal training.

In order to imitate, children need to learn to carefully watch what

others are doing. It is important the child be motivated to watch the
actions of others and be able to perform the same action. There must
always be reinforcement following his attending to the actions and for
reasonable attempts to replicate the actions. Therefore, it is critical that
at first, the child be required to engage in only simple imitative
responses that can easily be physically prompted by an instructor.

Some initial imitative actions often include manipulations of an

object (e.g., pushing a car, tapping a drum, dropping a block in a
container). Responses that can easily be physically prompted include
raising arms over his head, tapping a table with his hand, and clapping
hands. During the teaching process, the instructor can systematically
reduce the amount of prompting so that the child is able to watch and
then accurately imitate the actions or series of actions. At first, the child
should only work on learning to imitate a few specific actions. As he
masters a few imitative responses, the variety of tasks should be
gradually increased until he is able to imitate almost any action that he is
shown. The ability to watch and imitate known motor actions that are
modeled in a mirror make it easier to teach a child to watch modeled
actions involving the face and mouth. The ability to attend to what
others are doing and then engage in matching those actions often make it
easier to teach a child to also listen to, and then match, sounds and
words spoken by others.

Potential Learning Objectives Related to the Development of Motor

Imitation Skills
The following objectives are provided to assist a parent or teacher in
targeting specific skills that may be appropriate for a child’s intervention
plan. Please see the ABLLS-R® to assess the child’s skills and to
identify additional objectives for further skill development.

Each child is a unique individual and requires input from a variety of

people who know him and are familiar with effective programming
strategies. Therefore, these learning objectives are not being prescribed
for any particular child, but rather are being provided as examples of
objectives that are consistent with the skills described in this chapter.

D1

Upon request, (Child’s name) will imitate at least 10 motor actions with
an object (e.g., pretend to drink from a cup, roll a car down a ramp).

D2

Upon request, (Child’s name) will imitate at least 10 motor actions

requiring a discrimination when using objects (e.g., when there is a
pencil and a spoon and he is shown putting a pencil in a cup, he will do
the same on request).

D4

Upon request, (Child’s name) will imitate at least five gross motor
actions involving foot and leg movements (e.g., stomp foot, march).

D5

Upon request, (Child’s name) will imitate at least ten gross motor
actions involving arm and hand movements (e.g., raise arms over head,
clap hands, wave).

D8

Upon request, (Child’s name) will imitate at least five gross motor
movements that he observes being modeled by others in a mirror.

D9

Upon request, (Child’s name) will imitate at least three gross motor
actions involving head movements (e.g., nod head, shake head side-to-
side).

D 12

Upon request, (Child’s name) will imitate at least five fine motor actions
(e.g., touch tips of index fingers together, make a pointer finger).
 5

Teaching Vocal Imitation Skills

Developing Initial Vocal Imitative Responses

Although most children with autism or other developmental disabilities

are able to say some words, some children have not developed the
ability to control their vocal musculature sufficiently to be able to
imitate specific sounds or words upon request. Producing vocal output in
a specific pattern involves a complex sequence of actions on the part of
the speaker. The child must be able to coordinate the position and
movement of his mouth, tongue, and vocal chords with the muscles
involved in moving air from his lungs in a controlled manner. The task
of teaching him to echo specific sounds is difficult because these sounds
can’t be produced simply by someone moving all the involved parts of
the child’s body. It is possible to use certain prompts to help facilitate
the output of certain sounds, but it isn’t possible to physically make a
child imitate specific sounds. However, because it is so important for
children to learn to communicate by speaking, it is necessary to place a
major emphasis on having the child develop the ability to imitate
sounds, words and phrases. Therefore, vocal imitation training should be
one of the first components of a language-based intervention program.

The ability to imitate sounds and words modeled by another person

upon request is dependent upon several critical skills. Because of the
complexity involved in reproducing sound patterns, the child must first
be able to follow at least some directions to perform an action. It is
important that he have an established history of reinforcement for
complying with instructions to do something asked by others. He must
also be motivated when attempts are being made by the instructor to
have him imitate a sound or word. Assuming that the child’s hearing is
within the normal range, when a sound or word is presented for him to
imitate, he must be able to fully attend to that particular sound or word.
He must then engage all the body parts involved in making that sound in
a controlled manner so as to match the sounds, and be able to attend to
the similarity between his response and that of the model. For example,
after an instructor has motivated him to attend, he may then be asked to
say “mmm.” He would then need to tighten his muscles such as to force
his controlled breath through his vocal chords to produce a matching
sound.

Despite parental attempts to get a child to imitate sounds or words,

some children remain unable to imitate even simple sounds. Often, the
child who has experienced failure in attempting to echo sounds will then
attempt to avoid those types of interactions. Therefore, it is important for
an instructor to maximize the child’s reinforcement for attempting to
imitate sounds. It is also critical that the modeled sounds are ones that
have the highest probability of the child successfully producing, as some
sounds are physically more difficult to make.
Is the Child Attending to Specific Auditory Stimuli?

Parents of children with language delays should always have their

child’s hearing evaluated to ensure that their son or daughter isn’t
hearing impaired. Although it may be difficult to have a child respond to
some of the usual screening procedures, an audiologist who has
experience evaluating children with developmental delays will be able to
help rule out a hearing deficit as a potential factor in the child’s speech
and language delays. Additionally, because many individuals who have
difficulty learning to speak have oral-motor deficits, it is beneficial to
have a speech and language pathologist evaluate the strength,
coordination, and mobility of the child’s mouth, lips and tongue.

The skill of replicating a sound requires that the child actually

attend to the sound he hears. However, there are many sounds that are
present at any one given moment. Sounds come from a variety of
sources and some of them are often just “background noise,” while
others are more critical for human interaction and performing daily
activities. People are often talking, voices or music come from the
television or radio, birds chirp, dogs bark, cars make sounds accelerating
and honking, airplanes make noise taking off and landing, and
appliances hum and beep: all are sources of a continuous flow of
auditory stimulation. Most children respond differentially to the various
sounds in that they ignore non-critical sounds, but do respond to sounds
that are important to them in relation to their current motivation. For
example, when a child is hungry and hears the noise of the refrigerator
opening and closing along with the sounds of pans being placed on the
stove, he may go to the kitchen because he knows that food will soon be
ready. Hearing the theme song for his favorite TV program will usually
result in the child running into the family room so he can watch his
show. Sounds of the air conditioner turning on or a car driving by may
simply be ignored because those sounds are not associated with his
reinforcers.

Some children with developmental delays don’t appear to respond

to many of the sounds in their environment, and especially to sounds
from adults who may require him to engage in non-preferred activities.
There may be a few specific sounds that are associated with powerful
reinforcers that result in a major change in activities. For example, the
child who likes to play in the bathtub goes to the bathroom when he
hears the sound of the water filling the tub, and the child who loves to
swim runs to get his swimming suit when he hears the words “go
swimming.” In these examples, the child is highly motivated to engage
in preferred (i.e., reinforcing) activities. However, when adults approach
a child and attempt to get him to learn new skills, the motivation to
attend to the words being spoken may be very low unless the adult has
taken steps to both develop a history of providing reinforcement for the
child going along with instructions, and is now approaching him with a
clear indication that reinforcement will be provided for participating in
the upcoming activity.

Now consider an interaction in which the adult is attempting to

have the child replicate a difficult sound or word. If the child’s previous
history with this activity has not resulted in the successful replication of
those sounds, the start of a vocal imitation session may result in the
child attempting to avoid or escape from the adult’s instructions. In this
situation, he may not even be attending to the sounds being modeled by
the adult, and his physical behaviors (i.e., attempting to avoid the
interaction) may be interfering with the coordinated physical actions that
are necessary to reproduce the desired sounds.

The research by Greer and Ross (2008) has suggested that for
individuals who lack the ability to talk, it is important to develop their
ability to discriminate different sounds. In essence, if we want a child to
imitate sounds, it is important that he actually be able to hear the
differences between the sounds that he is being asked to imitate. If he
doesn’t hear the difference between the sounds, how will he be able to
learn to receptively identify items, and how will he be able to learn to
vocally imitate sounds and words?

There are several methods one could use to help a child learn to
attend to auditory stimuli. One method could involve starting a highly
reinforcing activity when a specific word or sound is heard. After the
reinforcer has been presented on several occasions following the specific
word or sound, the child will begin to respond by starting to engage in
the behavior associated with the reinforcing activity only when he hears
that sound or word, but not when he hears other sounds or words not
associated with the reinforcing activity. This type of conditioning (i.e.,
learning) accounts for the nonvocal child who reacts by going to the
back door when he hears words such as “outside,” or gets his swimming
suit when he hears “go swimming.” These words are clearly associated
with highly reinforcing activities and hence hearing those sounds
(words) results in the child engaging in behaviors associated with those
activities.
 For a child who has developed the ability to imitate simple actions
with objects, there is another activity that can help to ensure that he is
attending to auditory stimuli. There are several imitative tasks that
involve objects that produce a specific auditory stimulus (i.e., sound).
For example, shaking a maraca, tapping on a tambourine, and rolling a
toy car on a table each produce a unique sound. If the child is able to
imitate these actions, it is possible to teach him to attend to and engage
in behavior that produces matching sounds without seeing the items, but
rather by discriminating the sounds made by those items.

Replicating Sounds Using Objects

To teach the child to reproduce these matching object sounds, let’s look
at the several steps involved. The first step requires the child to imitate
the specific action with each of the objects (i.e., shake maraca, tap
tambourine, and roll toy car) when the adult shows the child what to do.
The adult would have all three items on a table and the child would have
his own matching set of items. She would then give the instruction to
“Do this” and then perform one of the actions. The correct imitative
action would result in reinforcement. Once the child has demonstrated
that he is attending to the actions (each of which results in a unique
sound), the instructor can then place a piece of cardboard in front of the
child so that he can see his three objects, but not those used by the adult.
The same instruction would then be presented (i.e., “Do this”), however,
since the child is unable to see the action but can hear the sound
produced by the action, his ability to replicate the action of the adult is
solely based on his ability to hear the sound and discriminate the
required action to produce the matching sound. Note that if the child is
unable to replicate the sound, it is possible to use and then fade visual or
physical prompts to teach this skill.

In essence, the skill of listening to a sound and then performing an

action to replicate the sound is the same skill necessary for learning to
vocally imitate sounds. However, with vocal imitation tasks, it is not as
easy to prompt the child to engage in actions to produce specific sounds.
It simply isn’t possible to provide the full physical prompts necessary to
have the child expel his breath with his vocal chords, with his mouth and
tongue in a certain position so that they produce various sounds.
However, the procedure does require the child to listen to the sounds and
engage in behavior that produces a matching sound. Thus, attending to
the sound (i.e., listening) and performing an action to produce a
matching sound is reinforced, making it more likely that the child will
attend to specific sounds and engage in other actions that result in the
matching of sounds. Thus, this activity could be useful in learning to
listen to sounds even for a child who is not yet able to imitate vocally.

Increasing Variability and Frequency of Spontaneous Vocalizations

To teach a child to talk, he must first learn to vocally imitate sounds and
words. In addition to attending to sounds, he must be able to make the
sounds needed to speak. As was described earlier, some children are
very quiet and do not spontaneously make many of the different sounds
used by others who speak. Thus, one of the goals for such children is to
increase the variety of speech-related sounds and the frequency of those
sounds made by the child (I 1). In essence, it is desirable to have the
child practice making speech-related sounds throughout his day (i.e.,
increase babbling). Once the child is making those sounds through
babbling or vocal play, they can then be brought under instructional
control so that he will be able to replicate them upon request. However,
if the child doesn’t make a certain sound, it is very difficult to get him to
imitate it when produced by another person or object.

There are several techniques that can help increase a child’s

speech-related vocalizations. The first procedure involves the use of
direct reinforcement for any vocalizations that the child emits. That is,
when the child makes some identifiable speech sounds, the instructor
should directly reinforce this behavior with attention, physical contact,
or other effective reinforcers. The goal is to increase the frequency of
vocalizations, and reinforcement is the main way to accomplish this
objective. The intensity of this program depends on the individual child.
If he almost never makes sounds, every effort to reinforce any sound
should be made. If the child makes a variety of sounds, these different
sounds should be reinforced. For example, if the child frequently makes
an “ah” sound, but rarely makes other sounds (e.g., “mmm,” “buh,”
“O”), stronger reinforcement could be provided whenever the child
makes those less-frequently-heard sounds. Thus, differential
reinforcement can be used to increase both the frequency and the variety
of sounds made by the child.

Another example of directly reinforcing a child’s spontaneous

vocalizations is to provide reinforcement in the form of pushing a child
on a swing whenever the child makes a specific sound. For example, for
a child who enjoys swinging, when he is first put on a swing and given
an initial push (for free—no response required), while positioned in
front of the child, the parent can make a certain sound (multiple times)
that he is heard to spontaneously make at least a few times per day (e.g.,
“E”). When the child makes any vocalization, the parent can give him a
push (from the front) and praise him for “good talking.” The parent
should continue to say the targeted “E” sound. When he makes another
vocalization, the parent can again give him a push while also providing
praise. If the push and praise are actual reinforcers, the reinforcement
will increase the child’s vocalizations. It will then be possible to
differentially reinforce the child for sounds that he makes that are closer
approximations of the “E” sound. Slightly close approximations of the
“E” sounds receive a little push (and the parent excitedly says “E, yes
E”), while closer approximations receive a bigger push, but an actual
“E” sound gets the biggest push (and perhaps even a couple of pushes).
Again, the more desired or independent the response, the greater the
reinforcement.

A second method of increasing a child’s spontaneous vocalizations

is to playfully engage with him while imitating his vocalizations (Palaez,
Virues-Ortega, & Gewirtz, 2011). Often, a child enjoys interactions
when an adult holds her face near the child’s and makes funny faces
while repeating the sounds the child is making. During these
interactions, the adult may also tickle the child, or touch him in a
preferred manner so as to make the interaction more reinforcing. An
example scenario could be when a child is sitting on his parent’s lap,
facing the parent, and he spontaneously makes a sound (e.g., “buh, buh,
buh”). The parent could immediately smile and bounce the child on her
lap while repeating “buh, buh, buh” in a playful manner. If the
interactions reinforce the child’s spontaneous vocalizations, there will
often be an increase in both the frequency and the variability of the
child’s vocalizations.

The third technique for increasing vocalizations is to take every

opportunity to pair (associate) adult vocalizations with naturally
occurring reinforcers (Sundberg, Michael, Partington, & Sundberg,
1996). For example, just prior to delivering tickles (a reinforcer) to a
child, the adult should say a sound such as “baba” and then tickle the
child (the sound should always slightly precede the delivery of the
reinforcer by about one to two seconds). Repeat this pairing several
times, and if tickles are reinforcers, soon that sound may become a
reinforcer because it is associated with tickles. Repeat this procedure
with a variety of different reinforcers, and eventually with a variety of
different sounds.

If sounds become reinforcers to the child through this pairing

process, then it is possible for them to become automatically
strengthened when produced by the child. That is, some sounds may be
heard “differently” by the child and take on reinforcing value because of
this pairing. He enjoys hearing the sound that he now makes; it is the
same as what he has previously heard others make while being presented
along with other reinforcers. The sound he now produces has become a
conditioned reinforcer (i.e., learned) that strengthens the behavior that
produced the sound. Skinner (1957) has identified this effect as
“automatic reinforcement” and he and others have suggested that it
plays a critical role in the early establishment of speech in typical
children (e.g., Bijou & Baer, 1965; Mowrer, 1950; Osgood, 1953;
Vaughan & Michael, 1982). The use of this pairing procedure has also
been effective for increasing speech for some children with language
delays.
 The purpose of reinforcing a child’s vocal play is to increase the
frequency and variability of his vocalizations so as to also increase the
probability of establishing echoic skills (vocal imitation). Echoic skills
play a major role in the teaching of new words, because if a child can
repeat a word on command, then the transfer of control procedures
described in Chapter 6 can be used to not only teach mands, but to teach
other types of language as well (e.g., labeling and talking about items,
activities, and experiences).

Identifying Initial Sounds to Bring Under Instructional Control

Before attempting to teach a child to imitate specific sounds, it is

necessary to determine which sounds should be targeted for instruction.
Certain sounds are often easier for a child to make than others.
Generally, children learn to imitate vowels and perhaps a few
consonants, often in a combination followed by one of those vowels. For
example, “ah,” “E,” “mm,” and “buh” are sounds that are easier for most
children to make than are sounds such as “ch” and “th.” Therefore, a
careful review of sounds frequently heard from babbling infants will
also help to identify sounds that are easiest to produce. Speech and
language pathologists are aware of the complexity of producing certain
sounds and can offer specific advice in the selection of appropriate
targets for a child. For example, vocalization of consonants such as m, n,
p, b, w and h often come before other sounds such as the ones for f, y, t,
g and k. The child’s own spontaneous vocalizations can be surveyed to
provide another source of input to identify sounds to teach him to
imitate.
 Children who are unable to vocally imitate still make certain
sounds. Some children are unusually quiet, some make noises that are
not useful for speech, while still others make a variety of speech-like
sounds but are unable to make those sounds upon request. One of the
first steps in selecting sounds to bring under instructional control is to
conduct an inventory of the spontaneous sounds made by the child.
While interacting with him and while merely listening to him when he is
not engaged with others, it is helpful to write down the sounds the child
makes. During these times, the frequency that those sounds are made
should also be recorded. (See Figure 5-1 - Sample Spontaneous
Vocalizations Data Sheet.) After several days of carefully listening to
the spontaneous sounds made by the child, it will be apparent which of
those sounds occur at the highest frequency. (In these sample data, “Ah”
and “mm” are the highest.) Because it is known that the child is
physically able to make those sounds, they are the best ones to attempt
to bring under instructional control (i.e., teach him to make those sounds
upon request).

Figure 5-1: Spontaneous Vocalizations Data

 Please click on the above symbol to be redirected to a corresponding,
printable image of the above figure in your Internet browser.

The sample Spontaneous Vocalizations Data Sheet is used to record the

sounds people hear the child make throughout his day. Each day, his
parents and his instructor (Susan) record what sounds they hear and how
often they hear him make those sounds. When the child makes a certain
sound, they write the sound across the top of each column (e.g., Ah, E,
O, MM, La). When new sounds are heard, they can be written at the top
of the next column (e.g., Buh). Every time a person hears the child make
one of the sounds, they record a “hash mark” (i.e., I) in their row for that
particular sound. These data can then be used to determine which sounds
a child is able to make and which ones he makes the most each day.
Those high-frequency spontaneous sounds may then be considered for
development as ones he will be taught to make upon request.

Rachel’s Story

I made a home visit to Rachel and her parents. She was a three-year-old
girl who had very limited skills; she needed to develop all the skills
included in this book! I noticed that Rachael was usually very quiet. On
some occasions, when she was by herself, she would make some very
low volume sounds. Others had attempted to get her to imitate sounds,
but had been unsuccessful.

Her parents would often take her to the park to use the swings. She
enjoyed being pushed by her parents. When I went with them one
afternoon, I asked her dad to squat in front of her and push her from the
front, rather than from behind her. I then told him to give her a few
pushes to get her started. After she was moving, I would occasionally
hear her make a vocalization. I told her father to get excited when he
heard her vocalize and then give her a push. I also told him that he could
talk with her while she was swinging, but to only give her a push when
he heard her vocalize. He was instructed to get excited and talk as he
gave her the push (e.g., “Yah! I heard that!”) and repeat her vocalization.
Rachel’s rate of vocalizing quickly increased as a result of her getting
pushes for vocalizing.

We noticed that many of her vocalizations sounded like

approximations of the sound “E,” so after a few minutes, her parents and
I all started making the “E” sound. I told the father to now only give her
a push when he heard her make an approximation of the “E” sound. I
told him not to worry about her repeating after him (or us), but rather
just give her a push any time she made that sound and say in a loud and
excited manner “EEE!” If she made a weak approximation of “E” he
was to still get excited but only give her a little push, but if she made a
solid “E” she was to get a big push. In just a few minutes, her
vocalizations of that sound increased dramatically. Rachel had learned
that in order to get a big push, she had to say “E.” It is important to note
that while she was still not echoing the sound, that is making it upon
request, but she was now learning to control her vocal musculature to
make the sound—definitely a step in the right direction.

Developing Initial Vocal Imitative Responses

The procedures for strengthening a child’s ability to echo an instructor

are similar to those used for motor imitation, except vocal behavior is
used, and the use of physical prompts is not as helpful. Note that the
components and recommendations described for teaching motor
imitation tasks are applicable when teaching a child to imitate a sound,
except the child’s response produces a sound (i.e., an auditory response
product) rather than the sight of the action that matches a visual model
(i.e., a visual response product).

The procedure consists of presenting the child with the verbal

prompt “Say...” and reinforcing a correct response. At first,
reinforcement may be provided for an approximation of a correct
response. As the child continues to emit approximations, the accuracy of
his vocalizations can be “shaped” by gradually reinforcing only those
responses that more accurately match the sound being modeled. For
example, an adult may shape a child’s approximation of the word “ball”
by gradually increasing the criterion for reinforcement as the child gains
greater control of his vocal musculature. At first, the adult may start by
reinforcing the response “buh,” then requiring “baw,” and finally
requiring “ball.”

There are several factors that can help this type of training be most
successful. As with all teaching, it is important that the child can see that
his cooperation with the instructions will lead to reinforcers being
delivered. It is also important that the initial sounds to be brought under
instructional control are ones that he has emitted frequently in the past.
The objective is to get the child to make the specific sound he can
already make when requested by the adult (e.g., “Say EEE”) (E 1).

It is also helpful if the initial sounds targeted for instruction are

ones that may be somewhat prompted. For example, if the child can
imitate moving his mouth to an “open wide” position and also move his
lips to a pursed (i.e., tightly closed lips) position, the presentation of
exaggerated visual models, along with the extended productions of
sounds (“ahhhhhhhh” and “mmmmmmmmm” respectively), may
increase the chances of the child making the desired sounds.
Additionally, if he attends to the mouth of the adult when she makes
exaggerated repetitive mouth movements that accompany the sounds
“buh, buh, buh, buh, buh,” the child’s vocally imitative response may be
controlled by both the sound of the model and the visual stimuli of the
instructor’s mouth movement.

Other types of prompts such as modeling the sound “mmm” while

gently physically prompting the child to purse his lips together may also
be helpful in getting him to be able to successfully make that sound
upon request. As with the use of any prompts to teach a new behavior,
these exaggerated mouth positions and physical prompts should also be
faded so that the child emits the desired sounds only when he hears the
model. Examples of prompt fading include touching the child’s lips,
gesturing towards the adult model’s lips, and merely modeling the
sound.

It is important to note that speech and language pathologists have a

variety of specific prompting methods that can be used to help develop
other vocally imitative responses. Some of their methods involve having
the child attend to and imitate positioning of the tongue and lip positions
prior to and during the movements necessary to produce a sound or
pattern of sounds. Another technique involves touching the child’s face
or neck in a certain way to prompt him to position his mouth or tongue
in a certain manner to make a specific sound. Additionally, the use of an
American Sign Language (ASL) sign paired with a specific vocalization
can often help improve the ability to produce a particular sound.
How Far to Push When Shaping an Accurate Response

When attempting to get a child to imitate a sound, it is important to not

push him so much that his attempts to imitate result in consistent failure.
Often it will be necessary for the child to attempt to repeat the sound
several times before he can actually make the response. Remember that
for a child who hasn’t learned to imitate sounds, the production of a
specific sound upon request is a very difficult task (if it wasn’t difficult,
he would already be talking!). Therefore, because it is so challenging,
and it is equally difficult to prompt him to be successful in making the
response, keeping the child motivated to follow instructions is critical.
Therefore, it is critical that reinforcement be carefully provided in order
to gradually shape the accuracy of the child’s responses.

What is “Close Enough”?

When teaching a child to say a particular sound upon request, the

instructor will often hear him produce variations of that sound. Many
instructors report being unsure as to which of those variations are “close
enough” to the actual sound to be reinforced. There are two main issues
that need to be considered: The first is the child’s history of making that
sound, and the second is the strength of the current reinforcer.

If the child is just starting to make the sound, almost all

approximations of the target sound should be reinforced. The desired
outcome of the reinforcement is to increase the child making
approximations of that sound. As the child is consistently able to make
an approximation upon request, the instructors should use a shaping
procedure to improve the accuracy of the vocalization. This procedure
involves the reinforcement of those responses that are closer to the
targeted sound while not reinforcing sounds that are less accurate.
Therefore, the accuracy or what is considered to be “close enough”
should be constantly changing; as the child is able to make more
accurate vocalizations, the reinforcement will only be provided
following examples of his best responses.

The child may have started the day by making only a rough
approximation of the sound. During the course of the day, only his best
responses were reinforced so he was making more accurate sounds by
the end of the day. The responses that were reinforced earlier in the day
were no longer considered to be “close enough” to be reinforced.
However, at the start of the next day, his responses may not be as
accurate as they were at the end of the previous day. Therefore, it is
sometimes necessary to go back to reinforcing a few of the lesser quality
responses, but then immediately start to raise the criterion to require and
reinforce his best responses from the previous day. As each day
progresses, the overall accuracy should keep increasing until the child is
able to clearly imitate the targeted sound on the first trial of each day.

It should be noted that on some occasions, the child simply will not
be able to make the sound or a close approximation. Therefore, at some
point, it will be necessary to stop attempting to get him to make the
sound. This decision requires determining at what point the child’s
vocalization is “close enough” to be reinforced, and considerations as to
the number of times a vocal model should be presented before giving up
on trying to get him to make a good response.

When the learner is attending to a vocal model and is attempting to

imitate that sound, he may be successful after a few attempts. However,
if he isn’t able to produce a reasonable approximation after several
attempts, it’s probably best to stop trying to get him to make that sound
so that he doesn’t “become frustrated” with the activity. (In behavioral
terms, his attempted responses are “on extinction” in that no
reinforcement is forthcoming, and his probability of making further
attempts is decreasing.) Therefore, as a general rule, it is probably best
to present the vocal model no more than three times before presenting
the child with another (easier) instruction. In this situation, his behavior
of complying with an instruction is still reinforced, but if he is able to
imitate the vocalization following one of the models, the reinforcer will
be delivered sooner. Note that it is also important that the reinforcer
provided following the vocal responses be more powerful (or delivered
in greater quantity) than the reinforcers that are provided following the
easier responses (vocal or non-vocal). Thus there is incentive both to
comply with instructions, and to correctly imitate the desired sound.

Maintaining Motivation to Vocally Imitate

There are a few ways to help keep the child motivated to participate in
vocal imitation activities. The first is to have him imitate some well-
established motor imitations prior to attempting to have him echo a
sound. By presenting these easy to imitate actions, the child’s behavior
of matching the model will be reinforced. After receiving several
reinforcers for matching the model, there will be “behavioral
momentum” in that the child is already doing what is asked of him and
he will be more likely to continue responding to get additional
reinforcers (Dube, Ahearn, Lionello-Denlof & McIlvane, 2009). For
example, if he has already learned to imitate some actions, he may be
requested to “Do this” (imitate touching nose), “clap with me,” and then
“say ‘mmm’.” By presenting a few mastered responses before
attempting the vocal imitation response, the child receives reinforcement
for complying with the adult’s requests before he is presented with the
more difficult vocal imitation task. Professionals describe this approach
as building “behavioral momentum” in that the child is already going
along with the instructor (he’s “on a roll”) before the more difficult task
is presented.

Research has demonstrated that mixing trials that include

previously mastered responses with acquisition trial results in better
performance by children (Winterling, Dunlap, & O’Neill, 1987; Volkert,
Lerman, Trosclair, Addison, & Kodak, 2008). Thus, a second method to
help maintain the child’s motivation to respond involves interspersing
the more difficult vocal imitation trials (i.e., echoic trials) with easier
trials (e.g., mastered motor imitation responses, known receptive
instructions), so that the child will maintain a high level of successful
and reinforced responding.

During the process of shaping the accuracy of the response, it is

important to remember that the child’s motivation to make an accurate
sound (or word) is dependent upon the strength of the reinforcer. If he
isn’t motivated to receive the item or activity that is being used as a
potential reinforcer, there is no reason for him to make an effortful
response to get it. In this situation, when adults recognize that the child
isn’t highly motivated, they should avoid the temptation to reinforce
lesser quality responses. If the child learns that even lower level
approximations will be reinforced, there is no reason for him to make a
more accurate vocalization. This phenomenon of decreased accuracy in
responding is often a result of what is referred to as “the law of least
effort” (Whaley & Malott, 1968). This concept identifies that the child is
only doing what is minimally necessary to receive the reinforcer. The
best option is to stop trying to get an accurate response until the adult
can find a more powerful reinforcer. Remember that it is always best to
stop an interaction after the reinforcement of a high-quality response
rather than trying to keep a session going as motivation wanes and the
responding becomes less accurate.

Echoics in Mand Training

One of the most important methods of developing a child’s vocal

imitation skills is to prompt him to make the sound when teaching him
to ask for reinforcers (See mand training described in Chapter 6). When
teaching a child to ask for things he wants, there is always a strong
motivation for a particular reinforcer. Some children cannot vocally ask
for items or activities (e.g., to get something to eat, to be picked up, etc.)
but can be taught to “mand” (i.e., ask for something) using nonvocal
methods such as ASL signs or by using picture systems. As the child
starts to successfully mand for these items and activities, he can also be
gradually prompted and required to make vocal approximations for
those items and activities. For example, when he is successful in using
an ASL sign for “eat” to get another bite of food, the instructor can
emphasize the “E” sound in the word “EEEEat,” prompting the child to
attempt to repeat that sound (as the bite of food is withheld for a second
or two, but held directly in the child’s view). The child’s attempts at
repeating the sound can be reinforced by the delivery of the food item
along with the adult enthusiastically repeating the word “eat.” If the
child doesn’t say “eat,” (or “E” as an approximation), he should still be
given his bite of food. However, if the child says the sound along with
the sign, the delivery of the food will be more immediate, and he will
receive more enthusiastic praise, and perhaps a greater quantity of food.
Thus, not only does the vocal mand get faster delivery of the reinforcer,
but it also gets a greater amount of the reinforcer than if he only uses the
ASL sign to request the food.

A similar approach can be used as the child comes to the parent

with his arms held in the “up” position to request to be picked up. The
adult can acknowledge his request to be picked up (e.g., “You want
“UP?”), and then delay picking him up far a few seconds as she says
“UP…..UP…..UP.” If the child should say “up” or make a sound similar
to “up,” the parent should immediately pick up the child and
enthusiastically repeat the word “UP.” If he has not previously said an
approximation to “Up” or has only said it a few times, the child could
still be picked after a few attempts to get him to say “Up” because he
had made the sign for ‘up.’ However, by saying “Up” along with the
sign results in him getting picked up sooner. Again, in this scenario, the
adult is paying particular attention to when the reinforcer (i.e., being
picked up) is delivered—ideally, immediately following a desired sign
and vocal response from the child.
Sequence for Teaching Vocal Responses

When teaching a child to make his first few vocal imitations, it is often
helpful to teach him to imitate each response separately. For example,
when asking him to imitate the “Ah” sound, he can imitate that sound
several times in a row. Similarly, if asked to imitate “mm,” he can make
that sound several times in a row. Once the child has mastered at least
two separate sounds, it is then necessary to have him learn to imitate the
sounds when the modeled sounds are alternated. The two sounds that he
is able to make should then be presented to him in a random order so
that he learns to discriminate which sound is being modeled, and he can
make either of those sounds upon request. As the two sounds are now
presented in a random order, it may be necessary to provide additional
prompts (e.g., exaggerated mouth open, lips closed) to increase the
chances of him making the correct vocalization. These prompts should
then be eliminated so that the child matches the sounds only after
hearing them. In fact, he should be taught to imitate those responses
when he cannot see the adult’s mouth.

After the child has learned to echo (vocally imitate) the first two
sounds, new sounds should be targeted for training. New sounds can be
prompted and shaped individually as were the initial sounds. Once he is
able to consistently imitate these additional responses, they should then
be included in the random presentation of the previously acquired
“echoic” responses.
Collection of Data on Echoic Development

One of most important elements of effective teaching is to be aware of

the changes in the learner’s skills. When attempting to develop echoic
skills, it is essential to know not only what sounds a child can reliably
make, but also to document the development of the initial skills. There
are many aspects to considering the sounds the learner can make. The
first is his ability to make the sound in isolation (E 1). The second aspect
concerns his ability to make that sound in combination with other
sounds (E 7-12). Some sounds are easier to make when following
certain other sounds, and some are more difficult when in the middle of
a word or at the end of a word. The sound production process involves
the flow of one sound to another (i.e., co-articulation). For example, the
word “me” is made by making the “m” sound and then flowing into the
“e” sound; the word is “me,” not “m” ”e” (two separate sounds). For the
purposes of this book, the development of the isolated sounds and a few
of the easier to develop sound combinations will be considered. As the
child is able to imitate a variety of sounds and simple sound
combinations, it will then be necessary to do a more complete evaluation
of his ability to imitate sounds in the initial, medial (middle), and final
positions within words.

For the child who is not able to imitate any sounds, or is able to
imitate only one or two sounds, it’s important to record his attempts to
imitate a sound on a trial-by-trial basis. The main data to be collected
includes both how often the child is able to imitate a sound, and how
many attempts he made before he was able to produce the sound.

In reviewing the sample datasheet (See Figure 5-2), correct

imitations of an “Ah” sound are indicated by a “+.” A “|” specifies that
a model was presented but the child did not correctly imitate the sound,
and a “/” indicates that the child made a close approximation that was
reinforced. A second attempt (a short time later) to get the child to make
the sound is recorded in the next box in the row. Each box across the top
of the data sheet (1-10) represents an instance of an attempt to get the
child to imitate the sound. The next attempt may occur within a minute
after the previous attempt, or after a longer period of time (e.g., 30 to 60
minutes or longer).

The collection of these data allows instructors to identify small, but

significant, improvements in the child’s ability to produce specific
sounds upon request. These improvements will be identified as the child
requires fewer attempts before being able to successfully make an
approximation or an accurate response.

Figure 5-2: Sample Echoic Data

 Please click on the above symbol to be redirected to a corresponding,
printable image of the above figure in your Internet browser.

By looking at the sample data sheet at the above link, it can be seen that
the child is developing the ability to vocally imitate the sound “Ah.” On
the first day his mother, father, and therapist each attempted to have him
imitate that sound. There were 36 specific times he was presented with
the instruction “Say ‘Ah’.” He was unable to repeat that sound the first
time it was presented, but was able to make the sound on two occasions
(6%) in which the instruction was presented several times. On day 2, he
had 31 trials, and he responded correctly on the first presentation on five
trials (16%), and was able to make the sound on a total of 16 of the trials
(52%). By day 3, he had 20 trials, and he responded correctly on the first
presentation on six trials (30%), and was able to make the sound on a
total of 13 of the trials (65%). Over the course of several days, the child
not only began to accurately imitate the sound, but also was able to
imitate the vocalization for multiple individuals. His ability to imitate on
the first presentation of the sound increased from 0% on day 1, to 30%
on day 3.

Tracking the Development of Vocal Imitation Skills

For a child who can imitate some sounds on request, it is important to

evaluate his existing echoic skills before attempting to teach new
sounds. The sounds that he is able to imitate can be interspersed (i.e.,
mixed in with) among trials that are being presented to develop new
sounds. This approach allows him to be frequently successful in
imitating many of his easier sounds while working on learning to make
the new sounds. The Echoic Evaluation Form (See Appendix 3) can be
used to determine which sounds a child is able to make. Note that it is
possible to present a variety of sounds and combinations to determine
which ones he can imitate. If the child is able to clearly and consistently
say a sound, a “+” should be entered next to the corresponding sound.
(See Sample Echoic Evaluation Data - Figure 5-3.) It should be recorded
as a “-”, if the child is unable to make an approximation of a sound. If
the child makes a consistently good approximation of the sound, what
his approximations sound like should be written in the approximation
column. If he is making a good effort and can produce the sound
sometimes, but is not consistent with imitating it, a “/” should be
recorded to score his response as an approximation. The review of the
child’s echoic skills should help his intervention team (including his
speech pathologist) identify reasonable targets to select for development.

Figure 5-3: Echoic Evaluation Sample

 Please click on the above symbol to be redirected to a corresponding,
printable image of the above figure in your Internet browser.

From these sample data we can see that the child is consistently able to
accurately replicate the sounds “aah” and “buh,” and that he is able to
make an approximation to the word “bubble.” He is able to make the
initial “buh” sound followed by an “uh” sound.

Expanding the Initial Vocal Imitation Skills

For children who can imitate at least 10 sounds and possibly a few
words on request, an emphasis should be placed on having them learn to
imitate a wider range of sounds and combinations of sounds. The learner
should be taught to quickly say each of his sounds in a random order (E
2), and to say the sounds matching the speed of the model (E 5).

For example, if he can make an “mm” sound, he should also be

taught to listen and imitate a short “mm” sound as well as able to match
a more prolonged “mmmmmmmmm” sound. As with the development
of the initial sounds, a shaping procedure should be utilized to develop
this skill (i.e., reinforce slightly longer sounds). The important skill that
the child is acquiring is his ability to discriminate the variance of how
the model sounds. Whereas before the issue was just making a sound,
the next issue is how the sound is being made. To teach this
discrimination, it is important to use prompts to get the child to make the
new response (e.g., the prolonged “mmmmmm”). For this task, it’s
helpful to start by constantly providing the model while prompting the
child to make the sound with the adult. As he learns to hold the sound
for a longer amount of time along with the adult, the child should be
taught to hold the sound following the model. Thus, the first step is to
teach him to make a prolonged sound, and the second step is to teach
him to discriminate when making each of the two variations of that
response.

Once the child is able to hold a sound, it is then possible to start

teaching him to roll from that held sound to a second sound (E 7). The
word “me” is not made by saying “mm”and then “ee” as was mentioned
earlier in this chapter. Instead, the word is produced by making changes
in the mouth that form the sounds, transitioning smoothly from an “mm”
sound to the “ee” sound. Once again, the instructor can get the child to
hold the “mm” sound and use exaggerated facial prompts to help him
see the changes in the mouth’s position, as well as hear the change in the
sounds. Note that if he has learned to imitate motor actions that are
modeled in a mirror, then it can also be used to facilitate the teaching of
this skill.

Similar teaching procedures (i.e., shaping and discrimination

training) should be used to teach the child to say sounds and words with
variations in volume, pitch and speed (E 15-17). It must be emphasized
that there are two critical aspects for teaching these variances. The first
is the ability to make the different responses; the second is to determine
which of those responses is currently being required.

When teaching the child to make the discrimination between a loud

and a quiet sound, it’s important to get him to attend to the volume of
the sound. It’s often helpful to teach the child to make the quiet sound,
as in whispering it, and then have him repeat the sound in his normal
voice (or louder). Once he learns to imitate the whispered sound and the
louder sound, it’s then possible to teach him to match other volumes of
the sound. Similar procedures can be used to teach him to then say
sounds and words slowly or quickly, and to say them with a high- or
low-pitched voice. It should be noted that teaching a child to sing songs
can be helpful in developing these dynamic properties of vocalizations.

Further Extending of Echoic Skills

For a child who can say at least 20 words with reasonable accuracy that
can be understood by most people, there should be a focus on having
him learn to accurately say a larger number of words and phrases with a
variety of sound combinations (E 13). There should be a focus on
improving his ability to articulate, produce phrases, and expand the
dynamic properties of his speech.

Keep in mind that many typically developing young children often

have difficulty producing certain sounds in certain positions in words.
Depending on the age of the child with a developmental delay, he should
be able to easily repeat words and phrases at a clarity level expected for
his chronological age. By the time a typically developing child is
approximately four years of age, he should be able to repeat phrases
with a wide range of dynamic properties (e.g., loud or soft, fast or slow,
high- or low-pitch) and should be able to deliver messages to others.

A child who is able to vocally imitate at least a three-word phrase

(that can be understood by most individuals who are unfamiliar with
him) can be taught many critical language skills (e.g., describing
objects, talking about experiences). However, if he is unable to match
other vocal characteristics of children his own age (e.g., speak as if he
were “the big bad wolf” or a “Goldilocks”), there should be a
component of the intervention plan that will work on developing these
vocal production skills to match those of his peers (E 16-20).

Special Note Regarding Children From a Bilingual Household

 It should be noted that many children now grow up in a household in
which English is not spoken or where it is the parent’s second language.
Often, these children hear many other sound combinations associated
with their parents’ native language. It is not uncommon for these
children to be delayed in their ability to imitate many of the sound
combinations unique to the English language. If the child is to learn to
communicate in English, he will still need to learn how to produce those
sound combinations. However, it may result in a slower rate of
development due to the child not hearing those same words and sound
combinations as frequently as a child who lives in an English-speaking
household.

Summary

Because the most effective way of communicating with others is by

speaking, it is important for children to learn to imitate sounds, words
and phrases. Therefore, it is necessary to include vocal imitation tasks as
one of the first components of a language-based intervention program.
To vocally imitate, the child must learn to coordinate the position and
movement of his mouth, tongue, and vocal chords with the muscles
involved in moving air from his lungs in a controlled manner. The task
of teaching him to echo specific sounds is difficult because these sounds
can’t be produced simply by someone physically moving all the
involved parts of the child’s body. As the child learns to imitate motor
actions (e.g., clapping, raising arms over head), his ability to observe
and match the actions of others can facilitate the development of his
ability to match the sounds that are modeled by others.

For a child who does not spontaneously make a variety of speech

sounds when babbling, it may be necessary to increase the frequency
and variety of sounds he makes during the day. Direct reinforcement of
his vocalizations of speech-related sounds and pairing of enjoyable
activities with certain sounds are methods to accomplish this result.

When selecting the first sounds to teach him to imitate on request,

consider those sounds that he already frequently makes on his own when
engaging in vocal play (i.e., babbling). Because he is already making
these sounds, the major task is to teach him to make those same sounds
upon request (i.e., bring the responses under instructional control). It is
important to ensure that attempts to get him to vocally imitate do not
lead to failure. If the child isn’t able to imitate a sound after several
presentations of a modeled sound, he should be presented with other
tasks that he has already mastered (e.g., simple motor imitation tasks).
By interspersing easier tasks among the more difficult vocal imitation
tasks, the child will be able to receive reinforcement for complying with
instructions from his instructor. As he begins to imitate a few simple
sounds, he should also be encouraged to attempt other sounds and a
variety of sounds in combinations. He should work on the development
of his vocal imitation skills for short periods of time, many times each
day.
Potential Learning Objectives Related to the Development of Vocal
Imitation Skills

The following objectives are provided to assist a parent or teacher in

targeting specific skills that may be appropriate for a child’s intervention
plan. Please see the ABLLS-R® to assess the child’s skills and to
identify additional objectives for further skill development.

Each child is a unique individual and requires input from a variety of

people who know him and are familiar with effective programming
strategies. Therefore, these learning objectives are not being prescribed
for any particular child, but rather are being provided as examples of
objectives that are consistent with the skills described in this chapter.

E1

(Child’s name) will imitate at least ten sounds when you say, ”Say ___”
(e.g., “ah”, “buh”, “o”, “e”).

E2
(Child’s name) will be able to repeat at least five separate sounds in ten
seconds when presented with a series of individual sounds
presented in quick succession (e.g., “may”, “moe”, “me”, “ah”, “buh”,
“ee”, “oh”).

E4

(Child’s name) will be able to repeat a variety of separate pairs of

sounds in combination in which the student must attend to both the
starting and ending sounds (Says “ma” “ma” vs. “ma” “me” vs. “ma”
“moe”; says “ee” “o” vs. “ee” “ee” vs. “ee” “ah”). He will be able to
repeat at least 3 pairs of sound combinations for at least 2 starting
sounds.

E5

(Child’s name) will be able to repeat at least two sounds matching the
approximate length of the presented sound (e.g., short and fast vs.
long/held sound--says “mm” vs “mmmmm”).

E7

(Child’s name) will be able to repeat sound combinations in which the

model requires the student to hold or elongate the first sound and
smoothly transition to a second sound — not merely say two separate
sounds. He will be able to smoothly switch between at least two
held/elongated sounds to at least two other sounds (e.g., says
“mmmeeeee” smoothly transitioning from the “mm” sound to the “eee”
sound, “aaaaammmm” as in an elongated “am”).

E8

(Child’s name) will be able to repeat at least three vowel-consonant and

three consonant-vowel sound combinations without breaks between the
two sounds (e.g., “eat,” “up,” “go,” and “me”).

E9

(Child’s name) will be able to repeat at least three consonant-vowel-

consonant-vowel sound combinations without breaks between the
sounds (e.g., “mama,” “dada,” “peepee,” and “meme”).

6
 Teaching Manding/Requesting
Skills

The Importance of Mand Training

The first type of expressive language skill to teach a nonverbal child

should be a mand (i.e., a request for a reinforcer). This skill is taught
first because the mand is a unique type of language that directly benefits
the child by letting his caretakers know exactly what he wants at that
particular moment. Mands are typically the first type of communication
that humans naturally acquire (Bijou & Baer, 1965; Skinner, 1957).
Infants cry when they are hungry and as a result they receive food. They
also cry when they are uncomfortable and receive comfort, and cry
when they want attention, and they receive attention. Early in life,
different forms of crying begin to emerge for each type of motivation;
infants even develop “fake crying” to make their needs known (Novak,
1996; Wolff, 1969). Crying quickly becomes a way to communicate
with adults, or more specifically, a way to mand (request reinforcers, or
to remove aversive stimuli). Most of an infant’s first forms of language
are mands for reinforcers that are caused by different types of
motivation (i.e., motivational operations). Eventually (around 12 months
of age), the young child learns to say words to ask for the different
things that he wants—or let others know what things he doesn’t want.

Every child must be able to use his language skills to be able to ask
for things that he needs or desires. Whether the item is present or out- of
sight, the child should be able to get access to those items or activities.
He also must learn to be able to request that others stop undesired
activities or to be removed from unpleasant situations. Furthermore,
when the child needs information about the location of people who are
momentarily important to him or about activities that may occur in the
future, he should be able to request information about those individuals
or activities. He also needs to be able to ask where an item is located and
when an activity should occur. He also needs to be able to use a variety
of adjectives, adverbs, pronouns and prepositions to delineate the
specifics of the items and actions he would like to receive.

The mand occurs early in language development for typical

children because of the direct benefit they receive (e.g., food, comfort).
The nonverbal child also desires reinforcers and direct benefits.
Regardless of the extent of their disabilities, they still get hungry, need
attention, need aversive stimuli removed, and so on. In the early
language training for a nonverbal child, it is possible to capture these
ongoing forms of motivation as an opportunity to conduct language
trials, and often the child is very willing to participate in this training
because of the direct benefits he receives. For example, when the child
is hungry (the motivation for food is strong), that is the time to work on
teaching the child the word, sign, or picture point/exchange for “food.”

Besides the child directly benefiting from being able to ask for
specific reinforcers, there are additional benefits derived from teaching
him requesting skills (i.e., manding). The parent of a nonverbal child
who cannot ask for specific items is often at a loss as to why the child
may be upset. Since he can’t tell the parent what is bothering him, the
parent often attempts to guess what might be the problem (i.e., What is
the motivation for the child acting in this manner?). If he or she believes
that the disruption is due to the child wanting some unknown item or
activity (e.g., he is hungry, wants to watch a movie), the parent will
often offer items to him in order to see if he wants one of them. Two
benefits occur when the child is able to ask for specific items and
activities. First, he is able to tell the parent what he wants, eliminating
the source of confusion for the parent. Therefore, he no longer needs to
become disruptive to alert the parent that he desires something.

Additionally, because the parent can deliver the requested

reinforcers to the child, the presence of the parent or other adult is
“paired” with delivery of those reinforcers. Hence, the parents
themselves become stronger conditioned reinforcers for the child’s
behavior. This pairing usually results in an increase of his approaching
and interacting with the adult.

Benefits of Learning to “Mand”/Request

> Works for the direct benefit of the child.

> Allows others to identify sources of the child’s motivation.

 > Decrease in behavior problems.

> Pairsinstructor with delivery of reinforcers.

The Response Form

Before beginning a formal language training program, the assessment of

the child’s motor and vocal imitation skills should be conducted (see
Chapters 4 and 5), and a decision should be made as to what response
form will be used (i.e., speech, signs, or pictures). Remember that the
initial decision regarding the best form of communication can change
depending on the child’s progress (e.g., increased ability to say sounds
and words) or lack of progress. If a child cannot echo a word, or even a
give a close approximation of a word, it will be difficult to immediately
teach him vocal language. If he can imitate some actions, but can’t echo
sounds or words with reasonable accuracy, then sign language (ASL)*
may be the most appropriate response form. If he cannot imitate any
actions, then signs may be difficult, but clearly not out of the question
and perhaps still a better choice than pictures.

> *American Sign Language (ASL) is being used in a general manner

that does not make a distinction between the various types of sign
language such as Signing Exact English.
 Sign language is very similar to speech in that in both types of
topography-based communication (Sundberg & Partington, 2013), the
child must engage in a sequence of muscle movements to produce a
unique response (e.g., say “shoe” or make the ASL sign for shoe), and
the response is not limited by a set of pictures from which he may select
an answer or make a response. In short, with both speech and ASL, the
child must independently make his own responses, and each unique sign
may also serve as a prompt for the corresponding spoken word.

However, if vocal imitation (i.e., echoic) and physical imitation are

equally weak, then signs should be selected as the initial response form
because it is usually easier to teach someone to imitate actions than to
echo words. Although it may be easier to teach a child to make an ASL
sign to request an item, the goal is to teach him to talk. Hence, it is
important to continue to develop the child’s control of his vocal
musculature while using sign language to teach him to communicate.
(See Chapter 5 regarding methods to develop control of the vocal
musculature.) However, it should be noted that because a child isn’t able
to vocally imitate at present, this fact doesn’t necessarily indicate that he
should use a selection-based communication system.

For a child who has severe physical impairments, a selection-based

picture system may be most appropriate. In these types of programs,
requesting skills are developed by teaching him to either point to an
item, or give a picture of it to another person. These systems are now
available using electronic pads or actual pictures. The most researched
of these systems is the Picture Exchange Communication System
(PECS) (Frost & Bondy, 1994).

Disadvantages of Selection-Based Systems

Unfortunately, the selection-based systems do not share one of the

important characteristics of speech (Sundberg & Partington, 2013;
Sundberg & Sundberg, 1990; Wraikat, Sundberg & Michael, 1991). In
selection-based systems, the child must scan the available pictures and
then select one of them. Every response involves the same pattern of
motor movement, and the child is not required to independently
remember and then make a unique response as the answers are always
present (i.e., the pictures contain all the possible options for the selection
response).

In speech and sign language, the child must remember and then
make a unique response for every word or request. Thus, sign programs
have the advantage of pairing a specific motor movement with a unique
spoken word (Sundberg & Partington, 2013). This fact makes it more
likely that as the child gains control over his vocal musculature, that his
making of the sign will prompt him to also make the corresponding
vocalization (i.e., say the word that he is signing). Additionally, like
speech, signs do not require the child to have pictures or electronic
communication devices to be able to communicate. When signing, as
with vocalizing, the actions he makes with his own body are all he needs
to communicate.

One last form of communication involves writing or typing.

Although it’s rare to consider either of these options as an initial form of
communicating, it should also be noted that some children could benefit
from learning to communicate by these methods.

Motivational Considerations

Regardless of which response form is selected for the initial training,

there are several variables that will increase the chances of successfully
teaching a child to request items or activities (i.e., mand). First, strong
forms of reinforcement should be used. Most children are reinforced by
various sources such as food, drinks, toys, and some forms of attention.
However, each child is different, and individual reinforcement surveys
must be conducted. Also, the value of reinforcers may change many
times throughout the day, week, or month. Hence, language training
should be conducted when the motivation for a particular reinforcer is
strong (Michael, 1988). If a certain toy is being used as a reinforcer,
then trials and sessions should be conducted when the motivation for
that toy is strong. For example, if a child does not emit any echoic or
imitative behavior, but likes to listen to music in the morning before
breakfast, then some training trials to teach him to request “music”
should be conducted at that time. The motivation is strong, and music as
reinforcement is the most potent, thus at this point in time, an instructor
would have the best chances of successfully teaching a requesting
response. In addition, a variety of prompts can be used (e.g., physical,
imitative, verbal) to ensure immediate success.

Where to Start: What to Teach as the First Mand

By carefully observing a child’s behavior, it is usually easy to quickly
identify items or activities that he can be taught to request (i.e., mand).
Almost all children like to eat some food items and drink certain
beverages. Additionally, children often enjoy certain activities such as
listening to music, watching a movie, being tickled, being pushed on a
swing, or playing with a favorite toy. It’s important to select words for
reinforcers that can be controlled so that the child can only get these
items or activities from an adult; if he is able to gain access to these
items by himself, there is no reason for him to ask for them. (It is often
beneficial to limit the child’s access to certain reinforcers.) Some of the
best first mands to teach are for consumables (e.g., food and drinks),
those ending on their own (e.g., bubbles), or are easy to stop without
physically taking something away from the child (e.g., tickles and
songs). The items should be readily available and easily delivered on
multiple occasions (e.g., sips of juice from a cup rather than a whole
glass of juice). It’s important for consistency to teach the child to ask for
reinforcing items or activities that he wants on a daily basis, rather than
items that are only desired every once in a while (See Figure 6-1).

A child’s behavior will help identify his strongest reinforcers. For

example, consider a child who frequently goes near the refrigerator, or
pulls the parent to it when he wants something to eat or drink (F 1).
Another young child may approach and pull at his parent’s legs when he
wants to be picked up, and an older child may often attempt to get the
parent’s electronic tablet so he can watch a movie. Frequent actions such
as these may point the way towards teaching the child his first mand
(e.g., “eat,” “juice,” “up,” or “movie”) (F 2-6).
 Figure 6-1: Issues to Consider When Picking the First Several
Words as Mands

1. Select words that are for reinforcers (existing motivation), especially

for those that adults can easily control the access to, and have the ability
to use as reinforcers. Such as those that:

a) are consumable (e.g., food, drinks)

b) easily allow for short a duration of contact (e.g., bubbles, tickles)

c) are relatively easy to remove from the student (e.g., music, video)

d) are easy to deliver (e.g., books, cars, dolls)

e) can be delivered on multiple occasions (e.g., small candies, sips of

juice)

f) always seem strong (e.g., “stim” toy, outside).

Many items might be reinforcing, but are difficult to manage for

training purposes. These include car trips, board games, blocks, bike
rides, long movies, walks, gum, hard candy, a bowl of ice cream, etc.
These items can still be used as reinforcers, but perhaps for extremely
high quality responding, or at the end of training sessions.

2. Select words that are already familiar to the child as demonstrated by

an existing receptive, echoic, or imitative skill. For example, when the
parent asks, “Do you want to go outside?” the child goes towards the
door.

3. For vocal children, select words that involve a relatively short and
easy response for the child to make. For example, many speech sounds
are easier to produce than others, such as “aa,” “ba,” “mm,” and “da”;
“la” and “rrr” may be much harder. Also, words should be selected that
match the child’s existing echoic repertoire.

4. For signing children, select words that are iconic, that is, the signs
look like the objects that they stand for, as in the sign “book,” which
looks like the action of opening a book, or the sign “eat” which looks
like putting food in the mouth. Also, signs should be selected that match
the child’s existing imitative repertoire.

5. Select words that are for salient and relevant items to the child in his
daily life. They should be items that the child sees or uses frequently in
daily activities. It is also preferable to use items that are stable and
clearly identified stimuli, that is, the name of the item is consistent
 across all variations of the item (e.g., ball), and all adults can agree on
what the item is called. The selected words should occur frequently in
the child’s day-to-day environment (e.g., “eat” may be heard much more
often than “spaghetti”).

6. Select a set of words that will eventually be associated with a variety

of motivators (e.g., foods, toys, video, physical play). For example,
don’t select all foods for the first several words or signs, or progress will
stop when the child is not hungry.

7. Avoid selecting words or signs that sound or look alike (rhyme). It

will be much harder for the child to differentiate between similar
response forms (e.g., don’t select the signs “eat” and “drink” as the first
two signs because the look very similar).

8. Avoid words and signs that might have a negative or aversive history
for the child (e.g., bed, toilet, no).

9. Avoid words such as “more” and “please” that do not clearly identify the
nature of the motivation for a mand or the type of reinforcer being requested
(e.g. something to eat, listen to music).
 There are a couple of other important considerations for selecting
the first mand to teach. One factor includes the ease with which the child
can make the requested response (e.g., say the word or make an ASL
sign for the item or activity). For the child who is capable of speaking,
he must be able to say at least an approximation of the word (e.g., “uh”
for “up”) or be able to make an approximation of physical movement
necessary to make an ASL sign (e.g., tap his left arm with his right hand
as an approximation to the ASL sign for ”music”). Furthermore, it is
important that everyone who interacts with the child consistently use the
same words for those reinforcers when interacting with the child. When
required to use ASL sign (i.e., “sign”) for “eat”, a child will often
become confused if one parent says, “eat” while the other parent says,
“food”. Everyone should agree on what specific words are used or not
used (e.g., “eat,” not “Oh, you want some food?”).

Picking the Next Few Words as Mands

Once the child has learned to request one specific item or activity, the
second item or activity to be taught should then be carefully considered.
In addition to the criteria used for the first mand, the next several items
or activities need to be carefully selected so as to avoid confusion on the
part of the child. If he is only able to make a few vocalizations that
approximate the word, it’s important that the next item to teach require
the child to make a sound that is both within his current capability and is
different from the first mand (e.g., “uh” for “up” and “e” for “eat”).
 If the child is child is learning to “sign” for his reinforcers, then the
motor movements associated with the signs should be significantly
different from the previously learned mands. For example, the ASL sign
for “eat” involves moving the fingertips of a hand to the mouth. The
ASL sign for “drink” requires the child to move his hand towards his
mouth with his fingers formed as if he were holding a glass and then tip
the hand as if pouring the liquid into the mouth. In this example, there
are two sources of potential problems. The first is that both signs require
the movement of the hand to the child’s mouth. The second issue is that
both reinforcers involve consumption of a food item (i.e., both are
swallowed). Therefore, it’s usually prudent to only teach one of these
responses (usually “eat”), until the child has learned to mand for other
reinforcers that are associated with different types of motivational
conditions (e.g., visual, auditory, olfactory, or tactile stimulation).

Remember that the main concept is to teach the child to request his
specific reinforcers. The child will only mand for things that he wants
and only when he wants them. Therefore, it is not appropriate to try to
teach the child to ask for items or activities that the parents want him to
ask for (e.g., to ask to use the bathroom, or go to bed)!

What NOT to Teach as First Mands

There are several requests that are not desirable to teach a child for his
first mands. Many parents and professionals attempt to teach certain
requests that seem to be functional for the child, but often cause
unanticipated problems. One such problem occurs when the child is
taught to request a “break” or “no” to stop an interaction. Keep in mind
that it’s important to establish a positive working relationship with the
child so that he is motivated to participate in learning activities that will
allow him to learn with others. If he’s engaging in behavior that
indicates he doesn’t desire to maintain the teaching interaction, then the
instructor must consider why he isn’t motivated to participate in the
activity and make appropriate adjustments to her approach (see Chapter
2). Specifically, it’s counterproductive to teach the child to tell his
instructor to stop interacting with him when those interactions are
critical for his development. Unless he’s older and has a significant
history of physically hurting himself or others, it’s not desirable to teach
others to leave him alone (Carr & Durrand, 1985).

Another mistake that instructors often make when selecting a first

mand to teach is in the attempt to teach a child “yes” and “no.” Although
most typically developing young children learn at an early age to
indicate that they do or do not want something using these words, they
have also developed many other specific requests (e.g., “up,” “juice”)
prior to using “yes” and “no” to respond to offers from others. The child
will often indicate through his actions that he either is interested or not
interested in a specific item by either reaching for or pushing away the
item. However, it’s often very difficult to teach a child to listen to and
answer questions as to whether or not he wants a specifically named
item or event. Besides, it must be remembered that we want the child to
learn to ask for specific items or events, not just use a word to describe
what should be obvious from observing his reactions of interest or
disinterest to items and events. As indicated above, we also don’t want
to reinforce a child for telling us “no” so that we allow him to avoid
activities that are necessary for him to acquire skills that are critical for
his development.
 Another common mistake is to attempt to teach the child requests
of “more,” “please,” or “want.” These non-specific requests may be easy
to teach in a certain context, but they do not specify the particular item
or activity desired by the child. As a result, both the instructor and the
child will often become very frustrated when the child attempts to gain
access to a reinforcer outside of the context in which that response was
originally taught.

Reasons Not to Teach “More,” “Please,” or “Want” as a First Mand

Many parents and professionals have attempted to teach children who

don’t have control of their vocal musculature to use signs such as
“more” or “please” as a first mand (i.e., request). For example, while
sitting at a table eating a snack, a child may be prompted to make the
sign “more” and then is reinforced with a small amount of a preferred
food item. After 10 to 15 of such mands for the food item, he continues
to make the sign “more” without any prompts. In addition, that same
sign may also be used for other reinforcers (e.g., when the child is being
tickled). The instructor is usually very excited to report that the child
quickly learned the response and began to spontaneously use it.
However, the initial excitement is often followed by some very serious
complications.
 The major issue of concern is that the child has only learned that
making the particular physical movement (i.e., the sign we call “more”)
will result in the continued receipt of the item that is currently being
delivered. The child with such limited language skills is not likely to
“understand” that he is requesting a greater amount of the item. As such,
the major problem that often arises is that the child will use the sign in
different locations and at times when the desired reinforcing item or
activity can’t be determined by the caregiver (e.g., food item or tickle).
For example, when the child is in a different situation (e.g., not at a table
where he was eating a snack, on the floor where the child was being
tickled) and makes the sign “more,” the caregiver would be unable to
identify the motivation for the mand. Additionally, because the child has
learned to do that movement (i.e., the sign we call “more”), he often
continues to use that sign despite efforts to teach him other more
specific mands. In essence, his history of being reinforced for that
movement makes it a strong response that interferes with the acquisition
of new signs for other specific items and activities (e.g., “tickle,”
“music,” “open”).

Consideration of Specific Items vs. Specific Motivation

As was previously discussed, it’s crucial to teach a child to ask for a

specific item or activity (e.g., “balloon,” “push”) rather than teach non-
specific mands (e.g., “more”). However, when attempting to teach the
first few mands, it’s necessary to make a decision as to just how specific
the request should be. For example, when a child is unable to ask for
something to eat when he is hungry, he could be taught to ask for “eat.”
This response is both simple to say and is a relatively easy ASL sign to
make (i.e., moving fingertips of one hand to the mouth). Although it
identifies the motivation for the child’s response (i.e., he’s hungry), it
doesn’t specify the exact food item that he wants at that moment (e.g., a
cracker, an apple, pizza).

There are several advantages for teaching the mand “eat” rather
than teaching each specific food item. The first advantage is that when a
child is hungry, he can make a request and get something to eat. Once
his parents know that he wants something to eat, they can offer him one
or more of the items he frequently eats and he can then select from the
available options. Thus, one request gains access to one or more options
associated with the motivation of hunger. On the other hand, if he only
learned to request “apple,” he wouldn’t be able to gain access to other
food options until he learned to request those specific items. In short, he
may be hungry but may not want an apple. Similarly, teaching a child to
mand for a “movie” versus asking for a specific movie (e.g., a specific
“Mickey Mouse” movie or a specific “Dora the Explorer” movie) can be
problematic. If he can request “movie,” he can then select from the
available options, whereas, if the specific movie wasn’t available, he
could still get to watch something else. Once he has learned several
mands related to a variety of motivators (e.g., hunger, activities that
include visual, auditory, and tactile stimulation), it then is appropriate to
teach him to request specific items and activities associated with those
motivational conditions (e.g., “ ‘Dora’ movie”).

It should be noted that some clinicians argue that it’s better to teach
the child very specific requests (e.g., “apple”) rather than those
associated with the general motivation associated with the request (e.g.,
“eat”). Even when provided with the highest quality interventions,
children vary considerably in their ability to acquire language skills such
as manding for their reinforcers. While some children will quickly
acquire a variety of specific mands, others with significant delays have
been observed to never learn more than a few. If a child can receptively
discriminate a variety of different specific items (e.g., point to or get a
variety of movies or food items) he might very well be able to quickly
learn to mand for those specific items. However, some children who are
learning to mand are unable to select specific items on request, and may
have greater difficulty acquiring the specific mands. If a child isn’t able
to learn more than a few mands, his access to a broader range of
reinforcers would be limited.

However, if he were to successfully learn mands associated with a

variety of motivational conditions (e.g., “eat” for hunger, “movie” for
visual stimulation), he would also be more likely to be able to learn to
mand for more specific items associated with those motivational
conditions. Thus, until research is conducted to identify which children
should be taught more specific mands from the beginning, it seems that
it is most prudent to teach children to make requests related to the
motivational condition prior to teaching mands for very specific items.

Specific Procedures for Various Response Forms

The procedures to teach requesting skills (i.e., mand training) described

below will be divided into four sections based on the child’s entry level:
> Procedures for teaching requesting skills (i.e., mands) to a child who
has no, or only very limited, vocal and motor imitation skills.

> Procedures for teaching signed requesting skills to a child who has
some motor imitation skills.

> Procedures for teaching vocal mands to a child who has some vocal
imitation skills (i.e., echoics).

> Procedures for teaching pointing to pictures as mands for a physically

involved child who cannot echo sounds or imitate actions.

1. Beginning Mand Training for Children Who Cannot Echo or

Imitate

For children who don’t cooperate with instructions from adults,

including those that don’t require him to understand spoken instructions
(e.g., resists even being physically prompted to walk with the adult), it
will be necessary to initiate a “pairing procedure” and start to develop
some initial instructional control. One of the easiest ways to get the child
to start to go along with the instructor is to identify one of his strongest
reinforcers (e.g., a grape), hold the reinforcer so that the child clearly
sees the item, and begin to reinforce him for merely approaching and
taking a small amount of the reinforcer from the adult (A 1). Because
the child’s approach behavior is reinforced, he will continue to approach
the adult to gain access to the reinforcer as long as the motivation to
receive that reinforcer remains strong.

After the child has experienced several reinforcers for merely

approaching, the adult can slowly begin to shape additional behaviors (A
5). Now that the child will come to the adult, the delivery of the
reinforcer can be delayed for a second or two. For example, the child
approaches and reaches to get a grape from the adult, but now while the
child is looking at the adult, she says, “Eat” and models the ASL sign
for “eat” before giving the grape to the child. After a few similar trials,
the child will have learned that he’ll receive the grape—but only after
looking at the adult while she says and signs “Eat.” The next step in the
shaping process includes the adult taking the child’s hand and then
saying and signing, “Eat” with her other hand prior to delivering the
grape. Thus the child has now learned that the taking of his hand and the
model of the sign and word precede him getting a grape. The final step
involves taking the child’s hand and physically prompting him to make
the ASL sign following the adult’s model of the sign. Once the child is
allowing the adult to physically prompt the imitation of the ASL sign (A
5 & 6), it is then possible to continue with the mand training procedure
that follows.

Mand Training Utilizing ASL Signs with a Somewhat Cooperative

Child
If a nonverbal child is somewhat cooperative and has some identifiable
reinforcers, but cannot echo or imitate, then procedures to teach the first
mand should be implemented. Several variables can be manipulated that
will increase the probability of successfully teaching a child who fits this
description to mand.

The most important teaching tools are:

> The use of strong forms of reinforcement

> Relative motivation (specific times when the reinforcers are especially
strong)

> The behavioral techniques of prompting and fading

In addition, the use of sign language will probably result in faster

acquisition of an understandable mand (i.e., request), because the trainer
can physically prompt the response, which can’t be carried out with
speech. This basic training procedure will be described below.

Teaching the First ASL Mand Using Physical Prompts

The teaching procedure for a non-imitative child consists of using

physical prompts (along with other prompts) to assist him in making a
successful response. This prompted response will allow the child to
immediately come in contact with a reinforcer (e.g., eating a cookie,
watching a movie). The first step is to select a sign to teach (Figure 6-1).
This sign should be for a strong reinforcer (e.g., food, book, music), or
for a highly desired activity (e.g., a push on a swing, being lifted up),
and training should be conducted when the motivation (establishing
operation) for the reinforcer is strong. Also, the sign should be
physically easy for the child to make, easy for the instructor to
physically prompt, and relatively iconic (i.e., resemble the item or
activity it stands for).

Mand training is more likely to be successful if the procedure

involves the simultaneous use of a number of different prompts and
consequences. The top panel of Figure 6-2 contains a diagram of eight
potential (independent) variables and their relationship to the signed
response (the dependent variable). Six of these variables precede the
response and are technically referred to as antecedent events, and two
follow the response and are termed consequent events. Although this
chart lists many types of prompts and reinforcers, it should be noted that
an instructor should use only the fewest prompts (i.e., variables)
necessary to get the response to occur. In addition, it may be that some
children have a unique history that makes a specific type of prompt
inappropriate for that child. (Some children are tactilely defensive so
physical prompts would be contraindicated; others may have a defective
history in relation to specific verbal prompts such as “What do you
want?” so this verbal prompt should not be used.) However, the goal of
the procedure is unprompted (spontaneous) communication, therefore all
prompts should be eliminated as soon as possible.

Teaching the sign “eat,” for example, should begin in the following
manner. When the child is hungry (motivated) show him the item of
food (nonverbal stimulus) and say “What do you want?” or “Sign eat,”
(two different verbal prompts), and model the sign “eat” (imitative
prompt). It is unlikely that the child will correctly respond at this point
(since the child has not been able to imitate in the past), so the instructor
(or a second adult) should then physically prompt the child by moving
his hand to his mouth (as in making the sign for eat). This fully
prompted interaction should then be reinforced with praise (e.g., “Eat!”)
and the food item (e.g., a grape). It should be noted that whenever the
child does sign “eat,” or provides an approximation of the sign, without
the physical or verbal prompts, he should be immediately reinforced.

Teaching a Request (Mand) Using Sign Language

Figure 6-2: Teaching to Request (Mand) Using Sign Language

Please click on the above symbol to be redirected to a corresponding,
printable image of the above figure in your Internet browser.
In Figure 6-2, the top panel identifies all the critical elements that could
be used (antecedent variables) to help the child make the response “eat.”
The dashed lines in the second panel illustrates the fading of the
physical prompts that were used to initially develop the child’s sign for
the word. The additional panels suggest a sequence for eliminating the
other prompts and the presence of the items that were used to develop
the mand response.

How Much of the Reinforcer to Provide

When delivering a reinforcer following the child’s mand, it is important

to consider how much of the reinforcer to deliver. The amount should be
sufficient to have a strengthening effect so that he will want to repeat the
request (i.e., actual reinforcer). However, it shouldn’t be so great that he
doesn’t want to request it again for quite some time. (i.e., satiation
occurs). In general, the reinforcer should be the smallest amount
necessary to have him continue to mand for that reinforcer. For example,
when a child requests something to eat (i.e., mands “eat”), he can be
given a few raisins or a half of a potato chip. He will quickly consume
the food, but still be sufficiently hungry to continue to make more
requests for something to eat. If however, he is given a bag of raisins or
potato chips, he could simply make the first request and not be
motivated to ask for something to eat for quite some time. Remember
that the process of teaching him to mand for reinforcers depends upon
him being able to practice this skill.
Fading the Physical Prompt

The next step is to fade out (gradually remove) the physical prompt
(Figure 6-2, Panel 2). The entire sequence should be repeated (i.e., all
prompts and the grape presented), but this time the instructor should try
to give slightly less of a physical prompt (for more information on
fading physical prompts the reader is referred to Martin & Paer, 2002).
This procedure may need to be repeated many times to see any reduction
in the physical prompt needed. However, for some children a response
without physical prompts may occur very quickly. The main objective
here is to eliminate the need for physical prompts as quickly as possible,
while insuring that the child is successful in obtaining reinforcement.
Once the child can make (i.e., emit) an approximation of the sign for
food (e.g., independently moving a finger toward his mouth), physical
prompts should be dropped. However, the prompts may be needed later
to get the behavior going again when there has been a time lapse
between correct responses or training sessions. The instructor should try
to conduct as many teaching trials as possible each session, and each
day. The critical feature of this procedure is the careful shaping and
fading of the prompts necessary to develop the sign. Hence, this
particular procedure is most effective when carried out by individuals
who have some experience in prompting, fading, and the reinforcement
of successive approximations.

Approximations That Are Shaped

Note that the child’s sign can be an approximation of the sign being
modeled by the instructor. Although it’s desirable to have the child
make an accurate sign, remember that the most important issue is that
he’s able to make a specific response that lets others know what he
wants. At first, it’s okay to accept a response that is somewhat close to
the one desired. As he starts to regularly use that approximation to gain
access to the reinforcer, the instructor can “shape” a more accurate
response by gradually increasing the requirement for the child to make a
more accurate sign before delivering the reinforcer. If the response is not
“accurate enough” to warrant the delivery of a reinforcer, it should not
be reinforced. If the child is allowed access to reinforcers following a
“sloppy” response, then his accuracy will not improve.

Error Correction When Fading Prompts

When any type of prompt is being faded, there will often be some errors
made when the child responds after being given a lower level of prompt.
When an error occurs, it is important to implement a correction
procedure. Following the incorrect manding response (e.g., made the
wrong sign, said the wrong word, gave a partial response), the instructor
should immediately re-present the trial using a higher level of prompt to
get the child to make the correct response. The child should be praised
for making the correct response, and then he should immediately be
presented with the opportunity to respond to the initial level of prompt.
The child’s mand should be reinforced if he is able to respond correctly.
If he still doesn’t respond correctly at the lesser prompt level, the
correction procedure should be repeated again (See Figure 6-3).
 Figure 6-3: Correction Procedure for Errors When
Requesting/Manding

Please click on the above symbol to be redirected to a corresponding,

printable image of the above figure in your Internet browser.

Beginning to Fade the Imitative Prompt

Once the child can emit the sign without physical prompts, the instructor
should begin working on fading the imitative prompt for the sign (See
Figure 6-2, Panel 3). The sequence of prompt fading will now be
described for the child who can imitate signs.

2. Mand Training With Signs for an Imitative Child: Fading out the
Imitative Prompt

If a child has some motor imitative skills (or has reached the point of not
needing physical prompts with a sign), then the mand training procedure
should begin without the use of physical prompts, but may include any
or all of the other variables previously mentioned and outlined in Figure
6-2, Panel 2. That is, training should occur when the child is hungry,
reinforcers are present, and verbal and imitative prompts are given. If he
started with physical prompts, then the following procedure is the next
step for him. Several trials should be given at this point (before attempts
to fade the imitative prompt) to allow the child to be successful with the
training procedures. The instructional task at this point is to teach him to
make the sign without the imitative prompt (see Figure 6-2, Panel 3).

The instructor should hold up the food item and ask, “What do you
want?” Or say, “Sign eat.” (Note that for some children both verbal
stimuli may be unnecessary, or verbal stimuli needs to be limited. If this
is the case, use only the “Sign eat” prompt, or even just the specific
word “eat” along with the imitative prompt.) By increasing the delay (by
as little as three to five seconds) between the presentation of the
question (or when the food item is held up in front of him) and the
delivery of the prompt, the imitative prompt can be faded out (Halle,
Baer, & Spradlin, 1981; Martin & Paer, 2002). The imitative prompt can
also be faded out by decreasing the intensity or physical characteristics
of the prompt (e.g., only give part of the sign), or a combination of both
fading procedures. For example, to fade the imitative model for the sign
for “eat,” the instructor can first move her hand so that her fingers come
to within two inches of her mouth, then only come to within four inches,
and finally, only make a slight upward motion of the hand. Correct signs
or approximations should be immediately reinforced with praise (e.g.,
“Eat!”) and the food item. Hence, the next time the food item and the
verbal prompt “Sign eat” are presented, the child is more likely to emit
the sign without the imitative prompt.

The elimination of the imitative prompts is the primary objective of

this phase of mand training. Therefore, greater amounts of reinforcement
should be provided following unprompted responses than prompted
responses. The elimination of the imitative prompts may occur in a few
trials if the motivators and reinforcers are strong, and the child has a
reasonable imitative repertoire. If the child mands for the reinforcer
several times in a row, it may be possible to quickly fade out all of the
prompts within that one series of interactions. The next time the
opportunity for the child to mand for that reinforcer is made available, it
may be necessary to use some prompts to get the child to make the
correct response. However, the prompts should be faded faster with each
successive opportunity to mand for it, and the prompt level needed to get
the first mand (in a sequence of mands) should be less over time.
Sometimes, if the child has multiple opportunities to mand for a
reinforcer throughout his day, by the end of the day, he will be able to
spontaneously mand for the item as the opportunity is presented.

Once the behavior occurs without the imitative prompt the child is
making, the request is still controlled by multiple variables. These
include the fact that he wants to get the item (i.e., motivational variable),
the presence of the item (i.e., a nonverbal stimulus), and partially by the
remaining verbal prompts. Eventually, it is important that the child be
able to independently (spontaneously) sign “eat” under the control of
each of the above variables when they are presented independently.

When to Fade the Remaining Prompts

It’s a major accomplishment when a child no longer requires either a

physical or imitative prompt to request an item or activity. At some
point, it will be necessary to eliminate the remaining prompts. He should
eventually be able to ask for things even when they are not present and
nobody is asking him if he wants anything.

It should be remembered that when teaching a child to request an

item, only the minimum prompts necessary should be used to get him to
make the response. Whenever possible, these prompts should even be
eliminated between successive requests. Therefore, the prompts “What
do you want?” and “sign _______” may no longer be needed except on
an occasional basis. However, if these prompts require additional
procedures to eliminate their use, those procedures are described in
greater detail later in this chapter (See the section “Fading Out the
Verbal Prompts”).

At this point in the training, the item may still need to be present in
order for the child to request it. Until he is taught that he can ask for
items when he can’t see them, the child may simply not know that he
can get those items. (The procedures to fade the items associated with
the request are described in the section “Fading Out the Object”.)
However, before starting to fade the presence of the item, there is often
much work that can be done to improve other components of the child’s
requesting skills.

Continued Development of Imitation and Echoic Skills

The process of teaching a child to mand presents a great opportunity to

improve his ability to imitate both motor movements and vocalizations.
Because the child is responding to obtain a highly desired reinforcer, it
is possible to use his motivation to “shape” those skills (i.e., reinforce
successively closer approximations of the modeled actions and sounds).
As has been discussed earlier, an instructor should always be attempting
to teach the child to pay attention to not only the actions of others, but to
attend to exactly how those actions are being performed. By withholding
reinforcement for those responses that are not as close to the original
model, and by reinforcing the more accurate responses, the child will
develop more precision in his imitative responses.

Because speech is the desired response form, the child can also be
prompted to, and reinforced for, including a vocalization along with the
signed mand (Ross & Greer, 2003). Echoic skills (i.e., vocal imitation)
should always be a part of a nonvocal child’s overall programming. As
he is working to develop his echoic skills, vocalizations that are
approximations of the word being taught as a mand should also be
required before reinforcement is delivered. If the child has extremely
weak echoic skills, rather than requiring the vocalization, instructors can
merely provide greater amounts of praise and the specific reinforcer
when the child spontaneously imitates an approximation of the
instructor’s vocalizations (e.g., the child says “EE” after the adult has
said “eat”). However, once the child is consistently able to make that
sound, it can be required to be made along with the sign for the
reinforcer.

As the child is able to make a vocalization along with the sign for
the reinforcer, it is important to continue requiring him to make the sign
until his vocalizations are accurate enough to be understood by others
who are not familiar with him. One mistake that instructors sometimes
make is dropping the requirement for the sign too soon. There is often
excitement that the child is now “talking.” However, if his speech is still
not clear, his use of the sign along with the vocalization will increase the
child’s success in obtaining reinforcers.

Adam’s Story

After two years of intensive ABA intervention, Adam still had not
developed the ability to vocally imitate any sounds or words, was able to
imitate only a few simple gross motor responses, and was unable to
mand for items. His team had unsuccessfully tried to teach him to mand
for items using both signs and pictures.
 While participating in an intensive program at our clinic, Adam
approached me while I was holding a bag of potato chips. As he reached
for the bag (indicating that he would like one), I said “Eat” and handed
him a half of a chip. After he finished eating it, he reached toward the
bag again (speech and language pathologists refer to this action as
“communicative intent”). I then said “Eat” and modeled the ASL sign
for “eat,” then quickly took his hand and totally physically prompted
him to do the sign “eat” and again said “Eat,” and gave him another half
of a potato chip. He did not resist my physical prompting. Each of the
next three times he reached for the bag of chips, I repeated that
sequence. On the next trial (when he reached for a chip), I said, “Eat” as
I modeled the ASL sign for “eat” then partially lifted his hand toward
his mouth. Adam independently finished moving his fingers to his
mouth. I immediately and excitedly said “Eat!” and handed him a whole
potato chip because he had made the desired response. On the very next
trial, I just said, “Eat” and modeled the sign, and he independently
imitated the sign without me providing any physical prompt. I repeated
that same sequence on the next trial and he successfully imitated the
sign and received a half of a chip. The next time he reached for the bag,
I just said, “Eat” and he immediately and independently made the sign
for “eat.” I excitedly said, “Eat!” and gave him two potato chips
because he now did not require either a physical or an imitative prompt.
The next time he looked toward me with my bag of chips, I just looked
at him for about two seconds and he independently made the sign for
“eat.” Once again, I excitedly said “Eat!” and gave him two potato chips
because he had now spontaneously manded for the food. He had several
more independent mands (now only giving him one chip per mand)
before I stopped giving him chips. The whole process to teach his first
 independent mands took only 10 minutes of instruction.

Adam’s mother had watched the teaching session and was quite excited.
I told her not to get too excited just yet, because he was just repeating a
simple motor movement that resulted in him getting the chips. I told her that
we might need to do the same teaching process the following day. The next
morning when Adam and his mother entered the clinic, the mother said, “I
didn’t know that Adam liked corn.” I asked her what she meant by her
comment. She told me that on the previous evening, Adam approached her as
she was preparing some corn on the cob and spontaneously made the sign for
“eat.” It was exciting that he used the new sign to request a different food.
Much to my surprise, when I pulled out the bag of chips for the first time that
morning, Adam immediately walked to me and spontaneously made the sign
for “eat” without me saying anything to him! Not only did he quickly learn
the sign, but also he was also able to use it for other food items. Over the
following four weeks, he learned to mand for five other items and activities.

Dealing with a Child’s Refusal to Respond

When teaching a child to mand for reinforcers, we are teaching him a

new way of getting items and activities that he may have previously
received without having to do a specific response. Because he is now
being required to produce a specific response, he may attempt to engage
in behaviors that have previously worked to get the reinforcer. For
example, he may walk away from the instructor to see if he can get the
reinforcer when the adult isn’t paying attention, or he may engage in
disruptive behavior. Because the child currently wants the reinforcer and
the instructor has control of it, it’s crucial that the old behaviors not be
reinforced. If the child walks away, perhaps the motivation to do
something to get the reinforcer isn’t strong enough at that moment. The
solution is to maintain control of the reinforcer until the motivation to
obtain it is stronger.

A child may have previously learned that he actually gains access

to reinforcers following engagement in disruptive behavior (e.g., crying,
fussing, tantrumming). During a teaching session, if the child begins to
engage in disruptive behavior, the adult should make sure that the
disruptive behavior is not reinforced. If the behavior is only a little
fussing, this behavior can easily be ignored, and the child can be given
greater amounts of the reinforcer when calmly manding than he would
receive when he fusses. If he engages in more significant disruptive
behavior (e.g., grabbing at the adult, falling to the floor and crying), the
adult should stop trying to get the child to mand until he is calm. When
he is calm, training can resume, and when it does, the adult should
ensure that the level of prompts provided are sufficient to ensure that the
child is likely to be able to give a mand response that can be reinforced.

Multiple Sessions per Day/Limiting Access

Remember that a child should only be taught to ask for his reinforcers
when the motivation to receive that reinforcer is strong (i.e., when he
wants it), and instructors must limit the child’s access to that reinforcer.
If he has free access to the reinforcing item, there’s no need for him to
learn to ask for it. By limiting the child’s access to toys or other
reinforcing activities (e.g., electronic pads, videos, books, music,
preferred food items) the adult will increase his motivation to get them.
Therefore, the reinforcer should only be made available at times when
the child is being taught how to mand for it. For example, he will only
be hungry after he has not eaten for a while. Thus, after a few hours
without having access to food, the child will be hungry, and that is the
time to attempt to teach him to mand for something to eat. The child can
then be given a small amount of a preferred food item each time he is
prompted to mand “eat,” either by using the sign for “eat” or by saying,
“eat.” After the child appears to be not as interested in obtaining more of
the food item as indicated by not giving an accurate or effortful
response, the session should be stopped, and training can be resumed at
a later time in the day when the motivation to respond for that reinforcer
is strong. There should be several sessions conducted each day that are
specifically devoted to teaching the child the mand “eat.”

Introducing the Second Sign

As the child is able to mand for the first reinforcer without the need for
any physical or imitative prompts, a second sign should be introduced.
The new sign should also be related to a strong form of reinforcement,
be iconic (the sign resembles the object or an action associated with it),
and be easy to produce. It should also look very different from the first
sign, and involve a different motivator and type of reinforcement (e.g., if
the first sign was “eat” perhaps “book” could be a second sign, but only
if the child enjoys looking at books). If the two signs look alike or
rhyme, or if they both involve hunger and the delivery of food, then they
will be harder to acquire. Training on the two signs should alternate, and
be interspersed with other responses that are strong in the child’s
repertoire (e.g., receptive instructions, matching-to-sample). The same
training procedure described above should be used for establishing the
new sign, and the procedures described later should be used to further
develop the first sign.

Error Correction for Wrong Sign

When a second mand is introduced, it’s not uncommon for the child to
use the wrong response for the desired reinforcer (e.g., signs for “eat”
while reaching for a book). Following an incorrect manding response
(e.g., made the wrong sign, asked for the wrong item), some instructors
may want to give the child what he asked for anyway. However, when
it’s obvious what the child wants, the instructor should just ignore the
incorrect response and prompt him to make the correct response (the
sign for “book”). The instructor should state what the child is wanting
and prompt him to make the correct response (e.g., “Book, you want
‘book’…sign ‘book’” along with an imitative model of the sign). The
child should be praised for making the correct (prompted) response, and
then he should immediately be presented with the opportunity to mand
for the item or activity without the prompts. His mand should be
reinforced if he is able to respond correctly. If he still doesn’t respond
correctly without the prompts, the correction procedure should be
repeated again.

Solving a “Scrolling” Problem

Sometimes a child will engage in what is commonly referred to as
“scrolling” in which he starts to make the signs in a one-after-the-other
manner that has been used in the past to get various reinforcers. This
type of error is usually a result of attempting to teach too many mands
prior to developing at least two strong mands that consistently occur
only under the appropriate motivational condition. When “scrolling” of
mands is observed, instructors must ensure that the child doesn’t receive
a reinforcer immediately after a sequence of two or more different mand
responses. Instructors should consider these multiple responses as an
error and begin the standard error correction procedure. That is, prompt
the correct mand response and after the child makes the prompted
response, immediately ask him, “What do you want?” and reinforce a
correct unprompted response. If the problem continues, a procedure for
teaching each response within a specific context is often effective in
reducing the scrolling behavior.

An additional procedure can be used for a child who continues to have

difficulty learning which sign to use to mand for each of the two or more
reinforcers. One method that has helped children learn which sign to use
involves teaching him to mand for each of the reinforcers in
significantly different contexts. For example, for the child who isn’t
always using the sign “eat” when food is present and “book” when a
book is the reinforcer, instructors can ensure that the mand for book is
(at first) always available only in the family room, and that food is only
available in the kitchen. Basically, each of the two responses is only
used in one specific context (different rooms). As a result, the
discrimination of which sign to make is multiply controlled by both the
presence of the reinforcer and the room where the child is manding for
the item. When the child learns to mand for the book only when in the
family room and mand for food only when in the kitchen, the contexts
(i.e., locations) where he is able to mand for the reinforcers should be
gradually varied until he is able to mand for those reinforcers in any
situation.

The data sheet in Figure 6-4 provides a simple method for measuring the
child’s ability to mand for reinforcers, recording each instance in which
the child mands for a reinforcer. Note that during the process of learning
a new mand (i.e., requesting a specific reinforcer), he will often require
some prompts to make the desired response. If the adult is required to
totally physically prompt the response, then the child has merely
allowed the adult to move his hands and arms. Because the response
didn’t require him to do anything other than cooperate with the full
prompt, it really isn’t necessary to record those events. However, if the
child did finish a partially prompted response, his actual response could
be recorded with an “l” to indicate that he did some actual responding on
his own. If he was able to mand for the item by imitating a sign modeled
by an adult, his datasheet could be marked with a “+” for each of those
imitatively prompted mands. Whenever the child is in the presence of
the reinforcer and either independently uses the sign to mand for the
reinforcer, or mands for it when asked, “What do you want?” an “S”
could be recorded to indicate that he spontaneously manded for it (i.e.,
no physical or imitative prompts were needed). In addition, if he
spontaneously manded for the item and also said the word or a sound
associated with the reinforcer, a “W” should be recorded (indicating the
child said the (W)ord or an approximation of it).

As the child’s use of the mand continues to develop, additional

methods of recording data may also be desired. For example, it is
possible to record instances in which the child approached an adult and
then manded for an item or activity. In this situation, the child made the
request when he was not actively engaged in a session to teach the skill.
It might also be beneficial to record the number of times that the child
mands for various reinforcers at home or at school, or to record the
instances in which he mands for an item that is not in his presence. Each
of these types of data can be used to track the development of the child’s
manding skills.

Figure 6-4: Collecting Mand Data

 Please click on the above symbol to be redirected to a corresponding,
printable image of the above figure in your Internet browser.

One of the easiest ways to collect data on the acquisition of a mand is to

simply record the number of responses each day. Although one could
collect data on all the times the child was prompted to make the sign, it
is not necessary to record all of the responses that were totally
physically prompted as the instructor did all the work for those trials.

The data in this sample only include those trials in which the child
completed at least a part of the response by himself (only a partial
physical or an imitative prompt). It is possible to record all trials, but the
method presented in this sample demonstrates the child’s own
responses.

Placement of the data sheet on the family’s refrigerator makes it

convenient for both parents to record the data!

Fading Out the Verbal Prompts

Once the child has been successful with the first two signs, and can
accurately use them to mand for those reinforcers (without imitative or
physical prompts), it is necessary for instructors to begin to fade out the
specific verbal prompt (i.e., “Sign eat,” or “Sign book.”), and only
provide a general verbal prompt such as “What do you want?” when
necessary. The selection of new signs should follow the criteria
previously described, and the training procedures for the third sign
should be similar to those for the previous two signs. Note that the
acquired signs need not be perfectly executed (the responses can be
reasonable approximations while the child continues to develop his
motor and vocal imitation skills), or independently provided under each
source of control before moving on to additional signs. However, the
responses should be strong under a combination of motivation,
nonverbal, and verbal control (i.e., reliably occurring without any
imitative or physical prompts).

In order to further develop the first two signs, the next step is to
carefully begin to fade the verbal prompts, “Sign eat,” and “Sign book.”
The child should be able to emit these signs without physical or
imitative prompts, but the other four antecedent variables may still be
present (i.e., the motivation, the object, and the two verbal prompts). It
is now important to free the response from these multiple sources of
control because they will not always occur together in the natural
environment (see Figure 6-2, Panel 4). For example, if a child responds
only when verbal prompts are given, his verbal abilities will be greatly
limited. In order to fade out the verbal prompt “Sign eat,” and transfer
stimulus control to the motivation, the object, and the verbal prompt
“What do you, want?” the instructor should present the child with the
object (when the motivation is strong) and say “What do you want?” and
simply wait a few seconds. If an appropriate response occurs,
immediately reinforce it. If a response fails to occur within five to10
seconds, give the verbal prompt “Sign eat,” and reinforce a correct
response. Repeat the trial within a few seconds, and wait. Often, after a
few trials, the child will begin to respond prior to the verbal prompt (i.e.,
transfer of stimulus control). When he does so for the first time, he
should receive extra reinforcement.

Adding More Signs For Reinforcers

New signs can be added at this point, but the instructor should proceed
with caution, making sure that the early signs are strong before adding
too many new signs. The number of new signs should not exceed five to
10 until the next step in the training is complete (fading out the object,
producing the sign with only the verbal prompt “Sign...”).

The child’s communication abilities are rather fragile at this point

and introducing many signs too rapidly can weaken previously
established signs. A common problem with early signers is that new
signs are often added to the training program too quickly (imitative
prompts are not sufficiently eliminated), and the child’s signs become
mixed up (i.e., appears to be guessing or “scrolling”). Think of the
thousands of times a toddler emits his first few words before other
words develop. Instructors should provide a sufficient number of
training trials to insure that the initial responses will remain strong when
new signs are introduced. The new signs should be those for strong
forms of reinforcement for the child (e.g., music, ball, book, bubbles,
car, boat, cracker, drink, candy, milk), and added one-by-one in the
manner described above.
Fading Out the Object

The next step with the previously established signs is to teach the child
to ask for the item (e.g., food) in the absence of that item (Figure 6-2,
Panel 5) (F 6). The instructor should show the child that she has the
reinforcer and then place the food behind her back, or in a bag, and ask
the child “What do you want?” The instructor should then wait for at
least three to five seconds before presenting a prompt, which should
consist of bringing the food item out in front of the child. Since he can
already mand for “eat” when a food item is present, the response should
quickly occur. Reinforce his response with food and repeat the trial.
Place the food item out of sight and ask “What do you want?” Usually,
within a few trials, the response will occur under the control of the
motivation and the verbal prompt.

Eventually, the verbal prompt also should be faded out (Figure 6-2,
panel 6) in the same manner as described above. When this occurs, the
child has emitted a “pure” mand, that is, the response is controlled solely
by the motivation (e.g., hunger) and the specific reinforcement (e.g.,
receiving the desired food item). (Note that the fading procedures need
not occur in the order suggested here: fading the two verbal prompts,
then the nonverbal prompt. The opposite order may be more effective
and appropriate for some individuals; however, it is important at some
time to fade out all of these prompts in order to establish “spontaneous”
requests [See Figure 6-2, Panel 7]. In addition, it isn’t necessary that all
signs occur as pure mands before additional training on the other types
of language training are conducted.)
Pure Spontaneous Mands

Ideally, the child will be able to ask for items and activities when he
wants them, even when the items or activities associated with them are
not present. As mentioned above, a “pure mand” is one in which the
response is controlled solely by the motivation (e.g., hunger) and the
specific reinforcement (e.g., receiving the desired food item). Some
clinicians wouldn’t consider the child to be “spontaneously manding”
for items unless his responses are “pure mands.” That is, the item should
not be present when the child asks for the reinforcer. However, many
times in life, we do see items or come in contact with other associated
stimuli (i.e., see items, hear others talk about items or events) that
remind us that a certain reinforcer could be available. These stimuli may
increase our tendency to ask for that reinforcer. If the reinforcer is
present, and the child requests that item or activity without having been
asked or otherwise prompted to mand for the reinforcer, it may still be
appropriate to consider that response (that was not prompted by another
person) as a spontaneous mand, even though it is not technically a “pure
mand.”

From a strictly technical perspective, in order to be a “pure mand,”

the response should only occur in the presence of the “motivational
operation” and be reinforced by the delivery of the reinforcer. Thus,
praise that usually follows the response would not be delivered.
However, when interacting with a child, there is really no need to
eliminate the excitement and acknowledgement that usually
accompanies the delivery of the reinforcer that he requested. When any
child mands for a reinforcer, an adult’s typical reaction usually includes
a comment such as “Eat, here’s a grape.” As was described in Chapter 2,
the presentation of the reinforcer along with the words spoken by the
adult help to establish the reinforcement value of both the words and the
adult. Thus, from a practical perspective, there is really no need to
eliminate the praise that is provided along with the actual reinforcer.

Training in the Natural Environment

To further build the child’s communication skills for future real-life

application, the training procedures from specific training sessions must
be carried over to the child’s natural environment. These teaching
procedures can be easily conducted during his normal day and will most
likely increase the speed of acquisition. The child should be required to
use his new mands whenever the motivation for the reinforcer is strong.
Parents, staff, and friends should all encourage him to mand using the
signs when appropriate and reinforce his attempts to do so. It is
important that these other individuals also provide the child with
opportunities to sign when their motivation is strong, and to watch out
for satiation (e.g., they are no longer hungry or interested in a certain
toy). Language is maintained by the verbal community (i.e., the people
around the child who communicate with him) and if he leaves a training
session and goes to an environment where the signs are not used or
required, and the previous inappropriate behavior gets reinforced (e.g.,
whining to get food), progress will probably be much slower. Parents
and staff are often concerned about themselves having difficulty in
learning signs, but in this early stage of training they should be able to
learn the signs at least as fast as the child. In addition, if the child is
successful, it often motivates the adults to acquire more signs.
Teaching a Child to Approach and Then Mand

It must always be remembered that the goal of mand training is to get

the child to request items and activities when the motivation for them is
strong. Because the teaching of the responses necessitates that an adult
be near him, it’s important to teach the child that he can mand for
reinforcers even when the adult does not initiate the interaction. In short,
the child can learn to approach the adult and then mand for a reinforcer.
To help him learn this process, the adult can stand away from the child
(e.g., across the room) and show him an item that is likely to currently
serve as a reinforcer. The child will usually approach the adult to get the
item. As he approaches, the adult could use a prompt to get the child to
use his new sign to mand for the item (e.g., “What do you want?). After
he is reinforced for approaching and manding for the item, the adult
should then move to another location that is still within sight of the child
and again show him that she is holding his reinforcer. After several such
interactions, it is possible for the adult to also start fading out the object
using the procedures described above (e.g., show him the reinforcer and
as he gets close, move the reinforcer behind the back).

Teach a Child to Mand to Peers

A child should also be taught to use his manding skills to obtain

reinforcers from his peers (L 18 & 19). Because mand training is usually
conducted by adults, the child has a history of being reinforced for
manding to adults. A history of successfully manding to the child’s
peers also needs to be established. Although under normal free-play
circumstances, peers may not be as likely to give up a reinforcer to the
child, it is important that adults prompt other children (most often
typically developing children including classmates and siblings) to
deliver reinforcers when the child mands for items. It is an important
part of the development of both social skills and manding skills to be
able to request items from one’s peers.

3. Mand Training For a Child Who Has Some Echoic Skills

Speech is the most desired way of communicating, and if a child has

some echoic responses, then efforts should be made to teach him vocal
words as mands. Children who have some developing echoic and
imitative skills may benefit from a combination of vocal mands and
signed mands. The training procedure is diagrammed in Figure 6-5 and
is essentially the same as that used for sign language training, except
words versus signs are used, and there are two less prompt levels
available. As with sign training, the first word should be for a strong
form of reinforcement, and training should be conducted when the
motivation for that reinforcer is strong. The word should also be one that
the child can echo or reasonably approximate so that most individuals
would be able to understand him.

All the considerations that were described for teaching mands using
sign language also pertain when teaching a child to vocally mand. It is
equally important here to eventually fade all the prompts, teach the skills
in multiple sessions each day, and develop strong mands that occur only
under the correct motivational conditions (i.e., no errors). The correction
procedures for errors when prompts are faded and when the child gives
the wrong response are almost identical except the required responses
are vocalizations rather than signs. Programming is necessary to ensure
that the child is able to mand for reinforcers to a variety of adults and
peers during his normal daily interactions. The child should also be
taught to approach individuals and spontaneously mand for reinforcing
items and activities even when the items are not present. Additionally,
any disruptive behavior or other refusals to respond should be
approached in the same manner as described in the teaching signed
mands section of this chapter.

Teaching the First Vocal Mand

The transfer of the echoic response to the motivational variable is the

main focus of this intervention. Training should begin with all the
antecedent variables present (Figure 6-5, Panel 1). Specifically, if the
targeted response is “eat,” the child should be hungry, and the desired
food item should be present. The instructor should hold up the food item
and say to the child, “What do you want?” (a general verbal prompt to
respond), and “Say eat.” or simply “Eat.” (echoic prompt). (Note that the
echoic prompt “Eat” is the most important variable that must be
presented. When starting to teach a specific mand, it is not always
necessary to ask the child, “What do you want?”) If the child says “eat”
or an approximation of the word, immediately deliver praise and an item
of food along with praise (e.g., excited “Eat!” or “Eat, yes eat!”). An
incorrect response, or no response, should be followed by a re-
presentation of the original trial (Panel 1). The child should respond
since his echoic skill is strong (at least for the target word) and there is
some current motivation for the food item. If he continues to fail to
respond, try a different food item or a different time of day when his
motivation may be stronger. If he continues to fail to respond, consider
the procedures described in the cooperation sections above, or possibly
consider the use of sign language in this early stage of training (only if
the child has some motor imitation ability).

Figure 6-5: Teaching to Request (Mand) Using Speech

 Please click on the above symbol to be redirected to a corresponding,
printable image of the above figure in your Internet browser.

Fading the Echoic Prompt

The procedure for actual training of a vocal mand begins in Panel 2 of

Figure 6-5 where the echoic prompt is faded out. The fading procedures
are similar to those described above for sign language. The instructor
could use a delay procedure or a partial prompt procedure. The
combination of these two techniques may also be effective. For
example, the instructor could show the food item, ask the child, “What
do you want?” then wait two or three seconds. If he didn’t respond
during the delay, the instructor would then give a partial echoic prompt
(e.g., “Say E…” as a partial prompt for the word “eat”). The objective at
this point in the training is to get the child to say, “eat” prior to the
delivery of the partial echoic prompt. When this occurs, he should be
immediately reinforced (perhaps with a larger piece of food if it is the
first time, or a high quality response).

The main objective of this current instruction is to eliminate the

need for echoic prompts as quickly as possible while insuring that the
child is successful in obtaining reinforcement. For some children, a
response without echoic prompts (i.e., vocal model) may occur very
quickly within a session (i.e., he asks for “eat” multiple times in a short
period of time). However, when there has been a time lapse between
those unprompted responses in an earlier session, it may be necessary to
use some prompts to get the behavior going again.
 The overall desired outcome is for the child to be able to
independently mand for that reinforcer (i.e., no partial echoic prompts
necessary) whenever he wants it. Therefore, the instructor should try to
conduct as many trials as possible each session, and each day. The
critical feature of this procedure is the careful shaping and fading of the
prompts necessary to develop the vocal mand. This particular procedure
is most effectively carried out by individuals who have some experience
in prompting, fading, and the reinforcement of successive
approximations.

Error Correction When Fading Prompts

Whenever any type of prompt is being faded, there will often be some
errors in the child’s response when given a lower level of prompt. When
an error occurs, it is important to implement a correction procedure.
Following the incorrect manding response (e.g., said the wrong word,
gave a partial response), the instructor should immediately re-present the
trial using a higher level of prompt to get the child to make the correct
response. The child should be praised for making the correct response,
and then he should immediately be presented with the opportunity to
respond to the initial level of prompt. The child’s mand should be
reinforced if he is able to respond correctly. If he still doesn’t respond
correctly at the lesser prompt level, the correction procedure should be
repeated again.

Introducing a Second Vocal Mand

The next step is to introduce a second word. The criteria for selecting
additional words in the early stages of mand training is similar to the
criteria recommended for selecting new signs. These first words should
be for items that are strong forms of reinforcement, and involve sounds
that are already established in the child’s echoic repertoire. The words
should not rhyme with each other and should be for very different types
of reinforcers. Training on the second word should be alternated with
the training on the first word, as well as interspersed with trials on other
types of language related skills such as echoic, imitation, and receptive
trials (see Chapters 3, 4, and 5).

Once the child is successfully manding for two or three items,

procedures should be implemented to fade out the object as a source of
control (Figure 6-5, Panel 3). Procedures to fade out the object are
similar to those used to fade out the object for the signer. The object
could be placed behind the instructor’s back, or placed in a box or bag.
Correct responses should be immediately followed by the presentation
of praise and the object. Incorrect responses should be followed by a
repeat of the procedure and only partially hiding the item (e.g., leave it
sticking out of the box). Eventually, the child must be able to ask for
things when they are not present (a pure mand). However, for some
children the removal of the object may result in the complete loss of
interest in manding. While the ultimate goal is to eliminate the object,
for these children it is probably best to continue to add new words and to
keep the objects in view. However, this procedure should not last too
long (e.g., 10 words) before the child is required to ask for items that are
out of view, otherwise there is risk of becoming prompt bound (i.e., a
prompt will always be required to get the response to occur). If the
verbal prompt “What do you want?” has been used to teach the mands,
the last step in the early mand procedure is to fade out that prompt
(Figure 6-5, Panel 4). This last step is less important than the previous
three, but if the goal is to obtain spontaneous requesting (a pure mand)
then this step must be completed.

Error Correction for Saying the Wrong Word

When a second mand is introduced, it’s not uncommon for the child to
use the wrong response for the desired reinforcer (e.g., saying “eat”
while reaching for a book). Following an incorrect manding response,
some instructors may want to “give him what he asked for.” However,
when it is obvious what the child wants, the instructor should just ignore
the incorrect response and prompt him to make the correct response
(e.g., “Say book”). The child should be praised for making the correct
(prompted) response, and then he should immediately be presented with
the opportunity to mand for the item or activity without the prompts
(i.e., “What do you want?”). The child’s mand should be reinforced if he
is able to respond correctly. If he still doesn’t respond correctly without
the prompts, the correction procedure should be repeated again.

Teaching New Vocal Mands in Specific Contexts

As was described for children who are learning to mand with signs,
vocal children sometimes have difficulty saying the correct word when
manding for one of two or more reinforcers. One method that has helped
children make this discrimination is to teach the child to mand for each
of the reinforcers in significantly different contexts. For example, the
child who is not always saying “Eat” when food is present and “book”
when a book is the reinforcer, instructors could ensure that the mand for
book is (at first) always available only in the family room, and that food
is only available in the kitchen. Basically, each of the two responses is
only used in one specific context (e.g., different rooms). As a result, the
discrimination of which word to say is multiply controlled by both the
presence of the reinforcer and the room where the child is manding for
the item. When he learns to mand for the “book” only when in the
family room, and mand for “eat” only when in the kitchen, the contexts
(i.e., locations) where the child is able to mand for the reinforcers should
be gradually varied until the child is able to mand for those reinforcers
in any situation.

Specific Issues Related to the Establishment of Vocal Mands

Shaping the Accuracy of Vocal Mands

When starting to teach a child to vocally mand for reinforcers, it’s often
necessary and desirable to reinforce the child’s vocalizations even if
they are only approximations of the word being modeled by the
instructor. In fact, because he is momentarily highly motivated to
receive a specific reinforcer, this moment presents a great opportunity to
shape his vocal imitation skills. A child who may not be highly
motivated to practice saying certain sounds under other conditions (e.g.,
sessions to develop echoic responses), is often much more cooperative
when conducted as a part of mand training procedures.

Although it’s desirable to have the child say the word with good
articulation, remember that the most important issue is that he is able to
make a specific response that lets others know what he wants. At first,
it’s okay to accept a response that is somewhat close to the desired
response (e.g., “Moo” for movie). As the child starts to regularly use
that approximation to gain access to the reinforcer, the instructor can
“shape” a more accurate response by gradually increasing the
requirement for the child to make a more accurate vocalization before
delivering the reinforcer (e.g., “Moo-EE” for movie). When he says
“Moo-EE” for “movie” within a certain context, most adults would
recognize the word as being “movie.” As the child develops greater
control over his vocal musculature, he should eventually be required to
accurately say the word “movie”. However, at any point in the process
of learning this skill, if a child’s response is not “accurate enough” to
warrant the delivery of a reinforcer, it shouldn’t be given. If he is
allowed access to reinforcers following a “sloppy” response, then his
accuracy will not improve.

What is a “Close Enough” Vocal Mand?

When teaching a child to say a particular sound upon request, the

instructor will often hear the child produce variations of that sound.
Many instructors report being unsure as to which of those variations are
“close enough” to the actual sound to be reinforced. There are two main
issues that need to be considered. The first is the child’s history of
making that sound, and the second is the strength of the current
reinforcer.

If the child is just starting to make the sound, almost all

approximations of the target sound should be reinforced. The desired
outcome of the reinforcement is to increase his ability to make
approximations of that sound. As he is consistently able to make an
approximation upon request, the instructors should use a “shaping
procedure” to improve the accuracy of the vocalization. This procedure
involves the reinforcement of those responses that are closer to the
targeted sound while not reinforcing sounds that are less accurate.
Therefore, the accuracy or what is considered to be “close enough”
should be constantly changing; as the child is able to make more
accurate vocalizations, the reinforcement will only be provided
following examples of his best responses.

The child may start a mand training session making only a rough
approximation of the word. Because his best responses are reinforced,
he will be most likely making more accurate sounds by the end of that
session. However, at the start of the next session his responses may not
be as accurate as they were at the end of the previous session. Therefore,
it’s often necessary to initially go back to reinforcing a few of the lesser
quality responses, but then immediately start to raise the criterion to
require and reinforce his best responses from the previous day. As each
day progresses, the overall accuracy should keep increasing until the
child is able to clearly imitate the targeted word on the first trial of each
day.

During this process of shaping the accuracy of the response,

remember that the child’s motivation to make an accurate sound (or
word) is dependent upon the strength of the reinforcer. If he isn’t
motivated to receive the item or activity that is being used as a potential
reinforcer, there is no reason for him to make an effortful response to get
it. In this situation, when the instructor recognizes that the child isn’t
highly motivated, she should avoid the temptation to reinforce lesser
quality responses. If the child learns that even lower level
approximations will be reinforced, there is no reason for him to make a
more accurate vocalization. The best option is to stop trying to get an
accurate response until the motivation to gain access to that reinforcer is
strong. Remember that it is always best to stop an interaction after the
reinforcement of a high-quality response rather than trying to keep a
session going as the responding becomes less accurate.

How Far to Push

As discussed in Chapter 5 (Teaching Vocal Imitation Skills), when

attempting to get a child to more precisely imitate a sound or word, he
shouldn’t be pushed so much that his attempts to imitate result in
consistent failure. The main considerations regarding vocal mands are
how many times a vocal model should be presented and at what point
the child’s vocalization is “close enough” to be reinforced. When a child
is attending to a vocal model and is attempting to imitate that sound, he
may be successful after a few attempts. However, if he isn’t able to
produce a higher quality vocalization after several attempts, it’s
probably best to stop trying to get him to make that sound so that he
doesn’t “become frustrated” with the activity. (In behavioral terms, his
attempted responses are “on extinction” in that no reinforcement is
forthcoming, and his probability of making further attempts is
decreasing.) Therefore, as a general rule, it is probably best to present
the vocal model for a mand no more than three times. In this situation,
because he continues to attempt to make the desired higher quality
vocalization, his compliance with an instruction to vocally imitate
should be reinforced. However, there is still motivation to make a more
accurate vocalization because if he is able to imitate the vocalization
following one of the earlier models, the reinforcer will be delivered
sooner. Note that it is also important that the reinforcers provided
following the best vocal responses should be more powerful (or
delivered in greater quantity) than the reinforcers that are provided
following the less accurate vocal responses. Thus, there is incentive both
to comply with instructions and to accurately imitate the desired sound.

You Can’t Always Get What You Want!

As a child is learning to mand for a variety of items and activities, it is

important to reinforce his mands as often as possible. The lesson being
taught is that he is able to receive reinforcers when he uses his signs or
vocalizations to ask for them. However, once he has mastered the ability
to mand for several different reinforcers, he’ll also need to learn that not
all of those mands will be reinforced.

As was mentioned earlier in this chapter, there is often a decrease

in instances of frustration and disruptive behavior that occurs when a
child learns to request items and activities. In the past, some disruptive
behaviors may have been due to the child’s inability to let others know
what he wanted. He may exhibit fewer instances of these behaviors now
that he has learned how to gain access to his reinforcers by simply
manding for them. However, he also must learn that he is not able to get
those reinforcers every time he asks for them.

Not receiving requested items is something that every child

experiences in life. He must learn that even if he engages in disruptive
behavior he still will not get what he has requested (Foxx, 1982;
O’Neill, Horner, Albin, Sprague, Storey & Newton, 1997). For example,
if a child asks for a movie at bedtime, he shouldn’t be allowed to watch
a movie, but rather should be made to go to bed. This lesson of not
getting everything he asks for is an important one in the child’s
development.

Parents sometimes are concerned with the re-emergence of problem

behavior. In reality, the current disruptive behavior is actually much
different than the earlier behavior, and presents as a “better problem”
rather than not knowing what is bothering the child. When a child
engages in disruptive behavior because his mand didn’t get reinforced,
parents now know exactly why and are able to deal with it as if the child
was typically developing. Specifically, they will not “give in” and let
him have what he asked for because they know that he just needs to “get
over” being upset. (In technical terms, his current mand is on
extinction.) However, when it is an appropriate time for him to gain
access to the reinforcer, his mands will be reinforced. (As the Rolling
Stones song suggests “…but if you try sometimes, you just might find,
you get what you need.”) Through this process of reinforcing some
mands, but not others, the child experiences the same learning
experiences as every other child.
4. Teaching Manding to a Physically Disabled Child Who Cannot
Echo or Imitate

Some children do not have the manual dexterity to produce signs, or the
vocal control to emit words. For these children, who may have cerebral
palsy or a traumatic brain injury, the response for mand training should
consist of pointing to a picture or an object. Other children who cannot
echo sounds or imitate actions but can do exceptionally well on
matching-to-sample task, may also benefit from a pointing system. (A
word of caution is warranted here: many children who cannot imitate or
echo can still be taught words or signs with the procedures described in
this chapter, and due to the many advantages of speech and signs
[topography-based vs. selection-based systems], every attempt should be
made to teach them to communicate with these less restrictive types of
communication).

The pointing response in a picture communication can be made in a

number of different ways depending on which muscle group the child
can control (e.g., a head pointer, a mouth pointer, eye movements, or
hand movements). The selection of the first pictures to teach, and the
conditions under which the teaching should be conducted, would be
exactly the same as those described above for signed and vocal mands.
Start with pictures that represent highly reinforcing items or activities,
and only conduct training when the motivation for those activities is
strong. A correct response, or an approximation of a correct response
should be immediately reinforced with praise and access to the
reinforcer.
 The types of prompts available for training this type of mand are
similar to those described for signs and words. Pointing has some
advantages over speech in that physical prompts and imitative prompts
can be used (but obviously not echoic prompts). To start training, the
instructor should place a single picture representing the reinforcing item
on the table or the tray of the child’s wheelchair. Then the instructor
should hold up the reinforcing item (e.g., a radio) and prompt the child
with the verbal prompts, “What do you want? Point to radio,” and
provide the imitative prompt of pointing to the picture. If the child does
not respond, then physical prompts should be used. A fully prompted
response should be reinforced with access to the reinforcer (e.g., a
minute or two of listening to the radio). The procedure should then be
repeated. On the next trial, the instructor should attempt to fade out the
physical prompt (See Figure 6-2, Panel 2). Approximations of the
correct responses should be successively reinforced (i.e., shaped), with
constant effort on the instructor’s part to give fewer and fewer physical
prompts.

The next step in training is to eliminate the imitative prompt

(Figure 6-2, Panel 3). The instructor should again present the object
when the motivation is strong along with the verbal prompts, “What do
you want, point to radio,” and the imitative prompt. Approximations
should be immediately reinforced and incorrect responses followed by
repeating the verbal and imitative prompt. On each successive trial, the
trainer should attempt to fade out the imitative prompt. Once the child
can point to a picture without physical or imitative prompts, then new
pictures should be introduced. The criteria for introducing new pictures
and the fading of verbal prompts are similar to that described for signs
and speech. Choose only reinforcing items for the first five to10 words,
alternate mand responses with each other, and intersperse with the
different types of language trials (i.e., receptive, echoic, imitation).

The picture exchange communication system (PECS) may be more

beneficial for some students than a picture pointing system. PECS has
the advantage of requiring the child approach and give a picture to the
instructor. Thus, the adult must interact with the language system by
actually receiving the pictures in her hands. This element may have
substantial advantages over a pointing system that does not require adult
interaction with the communication system. The procedures for the use
of PECS also involve early mand training and have been described in
detail by Frost and Bondy (1994).

Summary

The first type of expressive language to begin teaching a nonverbal child

should be the mand (i.e., request). This type of language directly
benefits the child by allowing him to gain access to desired reinforcers.
It allows him to let others know what he wants, and makes the
individuals who give him those items and activities more important to
him.

The method by which he learns to ask for items depends on his

ability to control his vocal musculature. Speech is always the most
preferred method of communication. If a child is able to repeat words or
say reasonably close approximations, he can be taught to ask for items
by speaking. If his vocal imitation skills are not adequate, he can learn to
request items initially using sign language until he is able to say words.
 Training also begins by identifying and then teaching the child to
request specific items. Non-specific requests such as “more” and
“please” should be avoided as they often hinder the development of
requesting skills. The specific procedures for teaching early mands
effectively require a number of important considerations, and the careful
use of prompts and reinforcement. After the child learns his first request,
additional requests need to be carefully added so as to avoid causing
confusion for the child. As each request is learned, the accuracy of the
child’s sign and word is always being developed using a behavior
shaping procedure.

Potential Learning Objectives Related to the Development of

Requesting/Manding Skills

The following objectives are provided to assist a parent or teacher in

targeting specific skills that may be appropriate for a child’s intervention
plan. Please see the ABLLS-R® to assess the child’s skills and to
identify additional objectives for further skill development.

Each child is a unique individual and requires input from a variety of

people who know him and are familiar with effective programming
strategies. Therefore, these learning objectives are not being prescribed
for any particular child, but rather are being provided as examples of
objectives that are consistent with the skills described in this chapter.

F5

(Child’s name) will ask for at least 10 items or activities that he wants
using a specific response (spoken word or with an American Sign
Language sign) when the items are present.

F7

(Child’s name) will make eye contact when asking a person for items or
actions at least 80% of the times that he makes requests.

F8

(Child’s name) will be able to ask others to perform at least six specified
actions (e.g., ask others to “come” with him, “stand up,” “sing,” “open,”
“push,” “(pick) up”).

F 29

(Child’s name) will spontaneously request objects or actions at least 20

times per day.

Teaching Visual Performance

Tasks

One important set of skills involves a child being able to look closely at
items, and especially those that he is asked to manipulate to complete a
task. He must be able to pay close attention to the items that he sees in
his environment. For example, he needs to be able to identify his jacket
and backpack among those that belong to others. He also needs to be
able to pay close attention to the different characteristics of a dog and a
cat to be able to learn to name each animal. If a child is to learn common
daily activities such as matching socks or putting away silverware, he
must also be able to “match” or sort identical items. He must learn to
watch what he is doing while he is manipulating various objects. For
example, if he is to learn how to use a zipper to close his coat, or to pour
juice into a cup without spilling, he must pay attention to his actions
with the items involved in those tasks.

Thus, one of the important sets of skills a child needs to learn

includes what professionals often refer to as “visual performance” tasks.
These tasks require the child to carefully look at items as he performs
actions involving them. It is important he can be directed to look at
specific items, and be able to maintain focused attention on them while
they are being manipulated by others (C 3-5). These skills are critical to
be able to learn many more advanced tasks involving the manipulation
of objects.

There are a variety of everyday tasks that require a child to attend

to objects as he manipulates them. These tasks include such activities as
completing puzzles (B 1, 10-11, 14-15), matching objects (B 3-7),
sorting objects by categories (B 8, 17-19), replicating block designs (B
9, 12 & 23), and arranging items in order (e.g., smallest to largest) (B
25).

Visual performance tasks require the development of several

critical skills. In order to perform such activities, the child must be able
to scan displays of items. He needs to be able to focus his attention on
multiple items and must attend to the similarities and differences among
them. He must also be able to pay attention to his actions as he engages
in the coordinated motor movements necessary to adjust the positioning
of items. Furthermore, he must be able to identify when his actions have
been successful in completing the desired outcome.

There are several types of tasks that are often used to teach these
visual performance skills. These tasks include using single-inset-piece
puzzles (B 1), putting pieces into shape-sorter boxes (B 2), matching
identical (B 3-7), and non-identical objects and pictures (B 8).

Developing Focused Attention to Objects

Many children with language delays have deficits in their ability to

maintain focused attention on the manipulation of objects. In order for a
child to learn a wide variety of tasks, it is important that parents and
instructors be able to direct his attention to specific objects. Once he is
able to attend to items that are shown to him, he must maintain focused
attention while those objects are being manipulated. There are two
procedures that help facilitate the development of these skills. The first
is following directions to look at objects held in various positions, and
the second is to track the movement of items.

Following Directions to Look at Items in Various Positions

Children need to be able to follow instructions to look at items that the

instructor holds in any of a variety of positions in front of them. The
adult should be able ask a child to look at an item that is held in his field
of vision whether it be on the left or right side of him, or whether it is
above his head, or held so that he is required to look downward to see it.
He should be able to quickly look at the object (e.g., within three
seconds) without requiring any additional prompts.

To teach a child to follow such directions, it is often helpful to start

by asking him to look at one of his reinforcers. Because the child likes
the item, he is more likely to look at it than an object that is not one of
his reinforcers. Thus by using his interest in reinforcing items, it is often
fairly simple to get him to comply with the instruction to visually locate
the held item. When the child quickly follows the instruction to look at
the item, his looking can be reinforced with that reinforcer. For example,
if the child likes raisins, he can be asked to look at the box of raisins
held by his instructor. She can sit across a table in front of him, and then
ask him to “look” as she moves the box to a position on her right side. If
he looks at the box, she can reinforce his looking by saying, “Good
looking” and then give him a few raisins. After he has finished eating
the raisins, she could then tell him to look at the box that she is now
holding out to her left side. Reinforcement for his quick looking should
be provided when the reinforcing item is held to either side at his eye
level, or above or below his eye level.

Regardless of the position in which the reinforcer is held, he should

be able to look at it within a few seconds. If at first he doesn’t look at
the item within a few seconds, the instruction can be re-presented along
with a prompt. The prompt may involve saying additional words such as
“over here” as the instructor also points to it with her other hand or taps
the item with the fingers of the hand that is holding it. These initial
responses that require prompting can be reinforced with access to the
item (e.g., raisins). However, as with the use of any prompt, it must be
faded as quickly as possible. Once the child has followed directions
without prompts to look at the item on multiple occasions, it will then be
necessary to withhold reinforcement when the child doesn’t look quickly
or requires additional prompts. Thus, the child will learn that he gains
access to the reinforcer only when he responds quickly to the
instructions.
 After the child quickly and consistently looks at reinforcers held in
a variety of positions, he can also learn other related skills. For example,
he could be taught to attend to reinforcers held in successive positions
prior to reinforcement. He would be provided with praise for looking at
it in the first position and, then instructed to look again when it is moved
to a second location. Another extension of the skill would be to reinforce
his looking at the reinforcer in an initial position and continuously
watching it as it moves from that position to another (i.e., tracking its
movement). The same prompting, fading prompts, and reinforcement of
quick looking procedures would be used to develop these additional
skills. Additionally, this process can also be used to teach the child to
look at common objects (e.g., a shoe, a spoon), except that now his
quickly looking at the object will continue to be reinforced with praise
(e.g., “Good looking”) and an existing reinforcer (e.g., raisin).

Teaching to Track the Movement of Objects

As was just described, the child can also be taught to track the
movement of items. This skill is important because many of the skills a
child needs to learn will require that he maintain his attention on items
and how they are being manipulated. Tracking the movement of items
for short periods of time requires that the child maintain focused
attention on an object.

Similar teaching procedures can be used to teach the child to track

items. As with looking at items, it is often helpful to start by instructing
a child to watch a reinforcer. One such method to develop this skill is to
place an existing reinforcer (e.g., a raisin) on a paper napkin under an
overturned transparent plastic cup. In this manner, the child is able to
see the reinforcer that is covered by the cup. He should then be
instructed to “watch” as the napkin, reinforcer and cup are moved on the
table. At first, the child’s watching the movement for a few inches
should be reinforced with praise and the reinforcer under the cup. The
behavior that is being reinforced is the child’s tracking the movement of
the reinforcer. As the child is successful in tracking the reinforcer for a
few inches, the length of time he must track it can be slowly increased
(e.g., by a second or two at a time), and the movement of the cup can
also involve changes in direction. Once he is able to track the movement
of the cup when the reinforcer is present, it is also possible to teach him
to watch the movement of a non-see-through cup after he has observed
the reinforcer being placed under it.

How to Teach a Child to Do Inset Puzzles

Figure 7-1.

Several types of inset puzzles.

One activity that requires a child to attend to his manipulation of objects
involves inset puzzles. Completion of these types of puzzles requires the
placement of uniquely shaped pieces into their counterpart cutout
sections on a board. (See Figure 7-1 for examples of inset puzzles.)
Sometimes these boards use puzzle pieces of different shapes (e.g.,
square, circle and triangle) or different sizes of a specific shape (e.g., all
triangles). Other inset puzzles may have pictures of an object (e.g., a car,
an apple, or a cat) with a matching picture of the item in the cutout
section of the puzzle board so that the child can match the puzzle piece
to the picture on the board.

There are several skills involved in being able to position objects in

an inset puzzle board. The first skill involves being able to scan the
board to see the potential places where a piece can be inserted. The child
must also then look at the puzzle pieces that are in front of him and
determine which of the holes in the board will accommodate each of the
pieces. He must then be able to pick up the pieces and physically place
them in their corresponding positions on the board. The main
requirement is that the child “looks and places” the piece in the correct
hole. It is not sufficient for him to move the piece and let it drop into the
correct position without watching what he is doing. Although many
typically developing children can quickly learn to complete such
puzzles, any or all of the steps involved in the task may need to be
specifically taught to a child with developmental delays.

Figure 7-2.
Teacher covers other holes with hand to help child select the location to
insert the puzzle piece.

At first, it may be necessary to only remove a single piece from the

board and then teach the child to pick up and manipulate that piece into
its opening. Some children may require numerous prompts (e.g.,
physical, verbal, gestural) just to pick up the piece and move it to the
open hole in the board while the instructor covers the other pieces with
her hand (See Figure 7-2). However, once the piece is over the open
hole, the child may not be able to turn it so that it slides into the board.
Once again, the instructor may need to prompt the child to “turn it” or
“look” so that it drops into the opening. If the child has picked up the
piece, but isn’t looking at it or at the location where it is to be placed, he
must be stopped and the task should be re-presented. He should then be
given whatever prompts are necessary to get him to attend to each of the
critical factors involved in the task.

Figure 7-3.

Circle removed from inset puzzle.

One method for simplifying the task is to carefully select the first
few pieces to be taught. It is often beneficial to select a circle as the first
piece to be taught as circular pieces will drop into the board regardless
of how they are turned (Figure 7-3). Pieces in other shapes (e.g., a
square, triangle) that require the child to attend to how they are oriented
can then be taught. Squares or triangles with sides of equal sizes are
easier than rectangles or triangles with varying sized sides as those
shapes require manipulation into the specific positions that allow them
to fit into the board.

With the easier types of pieces, the child may be able to readily
position them without being required to closely watch what his hand is
doing. However, it is important that as he continues to develop these
skills, the child learns to look at the pieces as he manipulates them to fit
into the holes in the board. Reinforcement should be provided for his
watching his hand as he places the piece into the corresponding hole. He
should not be allowed to use a mere “trial and error” method of placing
the pieces. When he is able to look at both the pieces and the openings,
other variations such as those that have pieces with other unique forms
can be taught.

Figure 7-4.
 Two pieces removed from inset puzzle.

Another factor that can be adjusted is the number of pieces the

child is asked to insert. Initially, it is desirable to give him only a single
piece to place. When he correctly positions the piece in its hole on the
board, he can be given a reinforcer for his action. After he is able to
place a few pieces when there is only one open hole and each piece is
handed to him one at a time (while the other pieces are in their place), it
would then be appropriate to remove two of the pieces and then teach
him to locate the corresponding holes and place those items. This
additional step will make the task a little more difficult because the child
will be required to pay greater attention to pieces and the available
openings (See Figure 7-4).
 Keep in mind that the child will be learning several important skills
throughout the inset puzzle process. Putting individual puzzle pieces
into a frame that accommodates pieces of differing shapes or sizes
requires him to scan the board and the pieces in front of him. He must
also stay focused while moving each piece to its corresponding hole, and
must persist on manipulating the puzzle pieces so that they drop into the
corresponding holes in the board. He must also learn to make the
determination of where each piece goes and continue to place all the
pieces until the entire task is completed.

William’s Story

William’s parents were concerned about his failure to learn many basic
skills. He was in a school program, but he hadn’t acquired any
meaningful skills. He was nonverbal, was unable to imitate and didn’t
follow any directions. The staff had told his parents that he was severely
globally delayed and they were not optimistic about his future progress.

When I started to work with William, I noticed that he seemed to

be waiting for me to prompt him to do something for me. He was very
passive. His parents told me that in order to get him to do anything, they
pretty much had to totally prompt him to do the actions. I surmised that
his previous teaching interventions had not focused on getting him to
make independent responses. I explained to his parents that it looked
like he was always waiting for someone to “help him” do desired
actions. The problem of “being prompt dependent” is not a trait of the
child, but rather it is a result of the failure of his instructors to eliminate
their prompts. In essence, why should he do anything for himself when
others would do it for him?

I then proceeded to place a few small wooden blocks and a small

bowl on a table in front of him. I took one of the blocks and made sure
he was watching when I said, “Do this” and dropped the block into the
bowl. I immediately grabbed his hand and physically prompted him to
pick up a block and moved his hand over the bowl. I gave him a partial
physical prompt (i.e., moved his fingers) so that he dropped the block
into the bowl. He was praised and given a small food item for a
reinforcer. I repeated the task a few times and he was eventually able to
release the block after I had moved his hand over the bowl. After a few
similar successful trials, I merely had to model the action and he would
do the whole sequence of picking up and dropping the block in the bowl
by himself.

We then took out an inset puzzle and removed a wooden circular

piece. I told him to “Put in” the piece as I physically guided his hand so
that the piece slid into its hole on the puzzle board. He was given a
preferred food item and praise when the circle slid into the hole. I was
very careful not to allow the circle to slide into the hole unless he was
watching the movement of the circle. On the subsequent trials, I would
place the circle on the board so that all he had to do was push the piece
forward into the hole. But again, I wouldn’t allow him to move the piece
unless he was looking at it. After about four or five trials, William began
to push the piece into the hole without assistance.

The mother was so excited that she asked to be able to have him do
it for her. Not only did he consistently place the circle piece into the
board, but she also got him to slide a triangle into the board. His parents
both commented that they had never seen him focus his attention on
what he was doing like he did with that activity. I told them that the
reason he was able to do it was that we had carefully selected an easy
task that required minimal attention and effort for him to be successful,
and we had systematically reinforced his independent actions as we
gradually eliminated our prompts. The behaviors of looking at what he
was doing and moving the pieces into the corresponding hole were the
behaviors that resulted in reinforcement. In order to get independent
responding, those behaviors need to be reinforced. I explained that doing
tasks for him, and then allowing access to preferred items (i.e.,
reinforcers) only reinforces the behavior of passively letting others move
his arms and hands and doesn’t teach him to attend to the task and do the
necessary actions.

Developing Focused Attention to Objects

The same “look and place” skills involved in inset puzzles are necessary
to be able to place various shaped objects into a shape sorting can or
cube (See figure 7-5). The pieces used for this type of task are often
slightly more difficult for children because they must be more precise in
the manipulation of the pieces to get them to pass through an opening.
With inset puzzles, the pieces are flat which makes it possible to just
slide the pieces into the desired position. However, form boxes require
that not only the correct hole be identified, but also that the shape be
turned to the specific angle that will allow the piece to slide into the
hole. Once again, the child will only be able to complete this task if he is
able to maintain focused attention and persists in manipulating the
pieces until they slide into the container. As with inset puzzles, it may be
helpful for the instructor to cover some of the holes with her hand so as
to prompt the child to locate the correct hole (See Figure 7-6).

Figure 7-5: Form Box

Figure 7-6: Hand Prompt

 Child inserting a triangle piece in the correct hole of a form box.

Matching Objects to an Identical Object

The matching of objects is another visual performance task that requires

a child to attend to and manipulate objects. This activity is often referred
to as a “Matching-to-Sample” procedure by professionals. In this
activity, the child is presented with a display of several items. He is then
given an object that matches one of the items in the display (often
referred to as an “array”) and is told to put it with the matching item. He
must then look at the item he was given, scan the items in the display,
and then place the item next to, or on top of, the matching item.

Figure 7-7.

Sample display for matching objects to identical objects.

How to Teach Matching-to-Sample

There are several critical details involved in teaching a child to match

items (real objects or pictures). The details include the selection of
identical or similar objects or pictures of objects, the number of items
used in an array (i.e., a display), the positioning of those items, the order
of presentation of items to be matched, and the responses of the child.
 When selecting items to include in a matching to sample procedure,
it is often best to start with common objects that the child encounters in
his daily life. Some examples would include items such as a shoe, cup, a
plate, and a spoon (See Figure 7-7). When beginning such a procedure,
it is often beneficial to use real objects (B 3). As the child learns to
match real objects, he can then also be taught to match objects to
pictures of that same object (B 4). The same procedures are used to
teach a child to match pictures to identical and then non-identical
pictures (B 5 & 8). Most often, a therapist will begin by having the child
match identical objects, and once he’s able to match numerous identical
objects, he will be taught to match non-identical items (e.g., spoons that
vary slightly in size or pattern).

When beginning the matching to sample procedure, an instructor

will usually place a small display of items (i.e., an “array”) on a table in
front of the child. It is very common to start with only two or three
objects in the array. As the child improves his ability to match items, he
will need to learn to match items in a larger array.

These items should be placed the same distance from the child and
there should be some space in between the items. This clear separation
of objects is important in the early process of developing this skill. If
they are too close together, it may be difficult to determine if the child
actually made a correct response if he should place the object in between
two of the items in the display. The items should be placed in such a
manner that the child is required to actually move his arm and hands (at
least six to eight inches from the child) when placing an object with its
matching counterpart in the array. This distance is important because not
only does it require an effortful response on the part of the child, but it
also provides the instructor with the opportunity to intervene by using
prompts to teach the child how to correctly place the items.

When the matching to sample task is introduced to the child, the

instructor should first require him to look at each of the objects in the
array. He should then be given a matching object, be required to look at
it, and then instructed to put it with the matching item in the display.
When handing the item to the child, the instructor should say the name
of the item, have the child repeat it (if the child can imitate the word or
say an approximation of it), and then tell him to put the item with the
one matching it in the display.
 Child matching a shoe to a picture of a shoe.

A specific example would be the instructor saying “Shoe,”

requiring the child to say “shoe”, and the instructor then directing him to
“put with shoe.” As the child places the shoe with its match, the
instructor can also say something such as, “Shoe, nice putting shoe with
shoe.” In this manner, the name of the item is being paired with the sight
of the actual item allowing the child to hear the word with the item, and
say the word as he holds and places it. In essence, the word for the item
is being paired in a manner that is similar to what is required for him to
receptively identify and name the item. In some instances, this
matching-to-sample procedure that incorporates the child hearing and
(possibly) repeating the name of the item (i.e., if he is able to vocally
imitate the word) results in the child learning to receptively identify and
label the items (i.e., tact).

Teaching Tip: Pair Names with Items

Some instructors will tell the child to “Match,” or “Put with same.”
when presenting this task. However, those words do not pair the name of
the object with the item. Many children often identify what they are
supposed to do when handed an item when presented with an array of
items. Sometimes the child may even repeat those words (i.e., “Match.”
“Put with same.”). For a child with a limited vocabulary, it is better for
him to have the name of the objects paired with the items rather than
hearing words that really are not significant for the child’s development
of critical language skills.

Because the child has never been required to match objects, it is

important to use prompts to get him to place the object in the proper
location. Thus, an errorless teaching procedure can be utilized that
includes having the adult point to the matching item in the array with
one hand, and say “Put it here,” while using the other hand to physically
guide the child to place and release the object beside, or on top of, the
matching object. The child should be reinforced for going along with the
physically prompted matching response (i.e., the first “trial”).

After the first matching response, the adult should then remove the
item that was placed during the first trial, and repeat the process using a
different object. The items in the display should remain the same.
However, after the first two trials, it’s important to change the positions
of the items in the array. During the teaching of matching responses, the
learner should be placing the objects based upon the similarity of the
items. If the position of the items is not frequently changed, he may just
learn to place them based upon their usual location. Additionally, the
distance of the items from the child needs to be altered and the number
of items in the array increased. The main issue is that the child should be
developing his scanning ability so that he can find matching items no
matter where they are located on the table: far to the left or right,
directly in front of the child, etc. As the array gets larger, it’s also
important to ensure that the items are not always put in a line, but rather
that they are placed in more random arrangements.

During a matching to sample session (i.e., a series of ”trials” of

matching objects), the items to be matched must vary within the session.
Rather than working on a single item to be matched, the child should
match two or more (preferably three or more) items within the session
on a randomly alternating basis (See Figure 7-8). If he is only required
to match a single item over and over again, he won’t learn to scan and
will disregard the non-matching items. The skill involves not only
finding the matching item, but also the ”ruling out” of the other items
(Green, 2001).

Figure 7-8: Example of Teaching MTS Using Objects

 Notice that, in this example, the positioning of objects in the array
changes after several trials and the location of the matching object varies
in position (left, center, right) from trial to trial.

As mentioned earlier, when teaching a child to match objects, a

variety of prompts should be used during the first few trials. However,
keep in mind that whenever prompts are used to teach a skill, they must
be eliminated as quickly as possible. Thus, the full physical prompt of
moving the child’s hand and arm to place the object should be faded as
soon as it’s no longer needed. The prompt of pointing to the location of
the matching object can be maintained while the full physical prompt is
faded to a partial imitative prompt, and then eventually the physical
prompts can be eliminated.

Before each trial begins, the instructor needs to ensure that the
child has scanned the array (items should be frequently rearranged) and
has looked at the item being handed to him. As the instructor observes
that the child consistently scans both the item and those in the array, the
prompt of pointing to the target item (i.e., correct object) should also be
faded and eliminated.

Error Correction During Matching-to-Sample

During the teaching process, children often make mistakes. Some of

these mistakes occur while the various prompts are being faded, and
others occur after prompts are no longer being provided. In either case,
it’s important to implement a correction procedure following a child’s
incorrect response. The nature of the correction procedure will vary
depending upon the child’s response (See Figure 7-9).

One type of error that is frequently observed is due to the failure of

the child to scan the array and the item prior to placing the object. If the
instructor notices that the child isn’t adequately attending to the objects,
he should not be given the object (if it is still being held by the
instructor) or allowed to just randomly place it. When the instructor is
giving the item to the child, she should not release it until the child has
looked at the array and the item. By doing so, the instructor increases the
chance of the child making a correct response. However, if he did scan
all the items and does not begin to place it within a few seconds, the
adult should provide a prompt for him to respond (e.g., “match,” gesture
to item in the array). If he then correctly places the item, reinforcement
should be provided for the correct matching response. If his pattern of
responding during a matching to sample session is such that it requires
 numerous additional prompts after a trial has begun, it is necessary to
ensure that he is properly motivated to respond correctly the first time
the trial is presented. When he responds quickly and accurately, the
amount or value of the reinforcer that is delivered should be greater than
when a secondary prompt to respond is required. Thus, it is most
beneficial for the child to respond quickly and accurately as each trial is
presented.

In some situations, the child may start to play with the item after it
is handed to him or will just appear to stop attending to the task. In such
situations, it is usually best to remove the object from him and restart the
trial. It is not beneficial to allow the child to “go off task” for a while
before further prompting helps him to be successful and then he receives
a reinforcer. If such a pattern develops, the child will not be reinforced
for fully attending to and performing the task, but rather for not
attending and responding at his own pace (not beneficial for his
learning!).

Figure 7-9: Correction Procedure for Errors When Matching-To-Sample

 Please click on the above symbol to be redirected to a corresponding,
printable image of the above figure in your Internet browser.

Extending Matching-to-Sample Skills

After the child has been successful in being able to consistently match
any of at least 10 identical objects that are presented in an array of at
least three objects, the matching skills should be further developed along
several dimensions. One of the first extensions is to increase the number
of objects in the array. The size of the array can be systematically
increased so that there are at least six objects that are randomly placed in
a nonlinear arrangement. Additionally, the objects can be rotated (e.g.,
45o, 90 o, 180o) so that they have a slightly different appearance (See
Figure 7-10).

Figure 7-10.

Large non-linear array of pictures.

Now that the child can match numerous items, he should be taught
to fluently match items in succession (B 7). Rather than having him
place one item, remove it, then place a second item, he should now be
taught to place all three items in succession. Reinforcement should be
provided for the completion of the matching of the three objects.

When handing the child successive items to match, care must be

taken to ensure that he is given objects in an order that does not have a
predictable pattern (e.g., all sequences of trials begin on left, then center,
then right). For example, in the first sequence, the first item matches the
middle item in the array, the second matches the one on the left and the
third is placed on the right of the array. The next sequence begins with
the first item being placed on the right, and the next sequence begins on
the left, etc.

When the child is matching items in sequence, it is also important

that that he learns to quickly complete the matches. He should learn to
maintain focused attention and respond quickly (i.e., after he places one
item, he immediately takes and places the next item). The ability to stay
on task and complete multiple steps is critical for the development of
many other skills that he will need to learn.

At this time, the child can start to learn how to match non-identical
examples of those mastered items. The instructor may want to use an
errorless learning procedure by using pointing prompts when each of the
non-identical items is introduced. The first non-identical items should be
fairly similar to the original objects. Over time, the objects should be
increased along a variety of dimensions such as size, color, etc.

Figure 7-11.
 Sample display for matching objects to pictures.

After the child is able to match both identical and non-identical

objects, he can then be taught to match objects to a display of pictures
and pictures to displays of objects (See Figure 7-11) (B 4 & 5). He
should also be taught to match pictures of objects to both identical and
non-identical pictures. The teaching procedures and variances used in
the matching of pictures and objects should be the same as those used to
teach the matching of objects.

This basic matching-to-sample procedure really only requires the

child to attend to the visual stimuli (i.e., the pictures or items) in order to
be successful with the task. The words that are spoken to the child (i.e.,
“match” or “put with same”) are not very important in the matching
process in that the child learns to place the item in his hand with the
appropriate item in front of him on the table. After a few successful
trials with this type of procedure, the instructor doesn’t need to say
anything as she hands the item or picture to the child. The child has
learned what he is supposed to do in this situation and merely matches
the item to the one in the display.

Reverse Matching-to-Sample

Once the child is able to place objects with their matching items, there is
another procedure that can be used that incorporates many of those same
aspects to help teach the child to learn to receptively identify those
items. In a “reverse matching-to-sample” procedure, the instructor can
present an array of the same items that the child has matched in the
“forward matching-to-sample” procedure. Note that in the forward
matching procedure the instructor could be sitting either behind the child
or across the table from him. However, in the “reverse” procedure, the
instructor sits on the opposite side of the table across from the child, and
rather than give him the item to be matched to the one in the array, the
instructor holds up the item, says the name of the item, and instructs the
child to give the matching item to her. For example, the instructor puts
out a display of items (e.g., shoe, cup, plate, book), holds up an item that
matches one of those items (e.g., shoe) and then says “Shoe, give me
shoe.”
Child correctly responding to a Reverse-Matching-to-Sample procedure.

Because the child has already learned to match a shoe to one in an

array of items when instructed, “Shoe, put with shoe,” this task is almost
identical to the forward matching procedure. In this “reverse matching”
procedure, the child must also attend to the individual item (held by the
instructor rather than the child), scan the array of items, reach toward the
matching item in the display, and finally place the two matching items
together. However, in the reverse matching procedure, the child places
the item in the hand of the instructor instead of matching the items on
the table.

When the reverse matching procedure is being introduced, it is

often helpful to use a visual prompt to help teach the child what is now
being required of him. Specifically, when the adult says the name of the
item and then shows him the example item, she can immediately hold
her outreached palm in the direction of the matching item that the child
should select. This prompt of gesturing toward the item to be selected
can be quickly faded out as the child learns to look at the comparison
item being held by the instructor if she begins to delay the gesture
prompt after the first few trials are presented to the child.

The reverse matching-to-sample procedure is almost identical to a

receptive discrimination training procedure in which the instructor
places several items in front of the child, holds out her hand, and asks
the child to give her the item she requested. For example, in a receptive
discrimination procedure, several common items are placed on a table in
front of the child (e.g., shoe, cup, plate, book), and then the instructor
says, “Give me shoe.” The child then scans the items, selects the shoe
and hands it to the instructor. However, in the reverse matching-to-
sample procedure, the child can also see the item that is being requested
in the instructor’s hand. Thus, it is not a true receptive discrimination in
that the child doesn’t need to only respond to the words spoken by the
adult, but can also rely on the sight of the item to be selected and given
to the instructor. With the inclusion of one additional step, the reverse
matching-to-sample procedure can be changed to be a true receptive
discrimination procedure.
Programming a Delay in the Prompt

Once the child is able to do the reverse matching-to-sample

procedure, the next step is to teach him not to rely on the sight of the
items to be able to respond to the instruction to give the named item.
The goal is to have him hear the name of the item and then correctly
select it. The method for accomplishing this skill of listening to the word
involves the timing of when the child hears the word and when he is
shown the item by the instructor. In the reverse matching-to-sample
procedure, the item and the name of the item are presented together. In
the next step, the word for the item is said to the child before he is
shown the item to be selected from the array. At first, the instructor will
say the name of the item (e.g., “shoe”), then immediately bring the
example of the shoe into the child’s line of sight (i.e., raise the shoe
from a position below the table where it can’t be seen by the child to a
position above the table where it was previously held during the reverse
matching-to-sample procedure). The instructor will then say, “Give me
shoe” as she holds out her hand for the child to pass her the shoe. The
critical element is that the child hears the word of the item before he sees
the item. By carefully programming a slight delay between the time that
the child hears the word for the item and sees the item, it is possible for
him to respond by selecting the specified item only after hearing it
named (Touchette, 1968). In this manner, he will demonstrate that he
knows the name of the item that he is being asked to give to the
instructor.

There are several critical components that must be attended to by

the instructor as the delay is gradually increased during this procedure.
As with any instructional task, the adult must remember to ensure that
the child is sufficiently motivated to attend to the task stimuli (i.e., the
words spoken by the instructor, the items on the table, and the actions of
the adult). The instructions presented to the child need to occur only
when the adult has him clearly focusing on the teaching activities.
Additionally, the instructor needs to watch everything the child does as
he is responding to the task.

For example, when the child is motivated and attending to the

adult, the adult then says the name of the targeted item (e.g., “Shoe”),
and then brings the item (i.e., the shoe) into the child’s view. If the child
wasn’t attending to the spoken word “shoe,” the instructor will want to
regain his attention and re-present the word “shoe.” If the child doesn’t
orient to the instructor when the word is spoken, there is no way to
ensure that he is attending to the spoken word! If he was orienting
toward the instructor as the word was spoken, as the adult raises the item
into the child’s view, it is important to watch to see where the child
looks. Ideally, he will hear the word for the name of the item, and then
either scan the array of items or the one being held by the adult, and then
scan the array of items before he starts to reach for the named item. If he
doesn’t scan the held item or the items in the array, there is no need for
the adult to continue with that trial. It is undesirable to just let the child
make a random selection response. Even if he does select the correct
item, we don’t want to reward the poor attention to the task. Once again,
stop the trial if the child isn’t attending to the critical details of the task
and require the child to scan the items. If he is listening to the word for
the name of the object being requested, and is either scanning the held
example or scanning the array of items from which he is to select, and is
then selecting the appropriate (matching) item, the child’s behavior of
selecting the correct item needs to be reinforced.
Watching the Child’s Responses

The next detail for the instructor to attend to is what the child does
in between the time the word for the item is spoken and the matching
item is shown to him. If the child “hears” the word and then scans the
items and visually “locks-on” to the named item and begins to reach for
it, the instructor may not need to show him the example that matches the
named item. Under these circumstances, the instructor can merely wait
for him to select and hand her the item. However, if the child doesn’t
scan but begins to reach for an incorrect item, the instructor can use her
hand to block him from selecting the incorrect item as she shows him
the example of the item being requested. It is often useful to place the
objects on the side of the table closer to the adult, and to spread those
items apart so that the instructor has more time to watch where the child
is reaching and can better see which item he is attempting to select.
There is no need to let the child make an error and then tell him that the
item is not the one being requested. It is better to prevent the errors from
occurring by being extremely careful with the use of prompts and the
fading of those prompts during the teaching process.

Through the prompting and fading procedure just described, it is

possible to teach the child that if he doesn’t know the item that is being
requested of him, he can merely wait for the adult to show him the item
that he is being asked to select. However, once the child hears the name
of the item and “knows” which one is being requested, his selection
response will be reinforced faster if he doesn’t need to wait for the
instructor to show him the item. If the instructor is able to gradually
increase the delay between the time when the word is spoken and the
matching item is shown, the child will receive a greater amount of
reinforcers during an instructional session if he is able to respond after
only having heard the name of the item. Thus, this series of matching,
reverse matching and delayed prompts for reverse matching can often
lead to the development of some early receptive discrimination and
labeling skills. The child who was also able to vocally imitate saying the
names of the items involved in these tasks will often also learn to label
some of those items.

Summary

One important set of skills involves a child being able to look closely at
items, and especially those that he is asked to manipulate to complete a
task. He needs to be able to identify his jacket and backpack among
those that belong to others, and look closely to learn the difference
between a dog and a cat. If a child is to learn common daily activities
such as matching socks or putting away silverware, he must also be able
to “match” or sort identical items. He must also pay attention to his
actions if he is to learn how to use a zipper or to pour juice into a cup
without spilling.

Thus, one of important set of skills a child needs to learn includes

what professionals often refer to as “visual performance” tasks. These
tasks require the child to carefully look at items as he performs actions
involving them. They include such activities as completing puzzles,
matching objects, sorting objects by categories, replicating block
designs, and arranging items in order (e.g., smallest to largest).
 Performing such activities actually involves several skills. The
child must be able to scan displays of items, focus his attention on
multiple items, and must attend to the similarities and differences among
them. He must also be able to pay attention to his actions as he engages
in the coordinated motor movements necessary to adjust the positioning
of items. Furthermore, he must be able to identify when his actions have
been successful in completing the desired outcome.

There are several types of tasks that are often used to teach some of
these visual performance skills. These tasks include single-inset-piece
puzzles, putting pieces into shape-sorter boxes, and matching identical
and non-identical objects and pictures. A reverse matching-to-sample
procedure along with a delayed prompting procedure can also be used to
teach a child to receptively identify objects. The instructor must use and
then fade a variety of prompts that help the child learn all the separate
skills involved in performance of the tasks.

Potential Learning Objectives Related to the Development of

Requesting/Manding Skills

The following objectives are provided to assist a parent or teacher in

targeting specific skills that may be appropriate for a child’s intervention
plan. Please see the ABLLS-R® to assess the child’s skills and to
identify additional objectives for further skill development.

Each child is a unique individual and requires input from a variety of

people who know him and are familiar with effective programming
strategies. Therefore, these learning objectives are not being prescribed
for any particular child, but rather are being provided as examples of
objectives that are consistent with the skills described in this chapter.

B1

When given five uniquely- shaped puzzle pieces from an inset puzzle
presented as group; (Child’s name) will place each of the pieces into
their corresponding holes in a puzzle frame while looking and
positioning each piece (i.e., not trial and error placement).

B2

When provided a form box or shape sorter and its pieces, Child’s name)
will be able to put four pieces into their corresponding holes by looking
at piece then visually locating the corresponding holes in the form box
or shape sorter.

B3
 When given an object (Child’s name) will match that object to an
identical object presented in an array of three items.

B4

When given a common object, (Child’s name) will match at least ten objects
to a picture of the object when presented with an array of three pictures of
items.

B5
When given a picture of an object, (Child’s name) will be able to match at
least ten pictures to an identical picture when presented with an array of at
least three pictures.

C5
Upon instruction, (Child’s name) will readily touch a common item held in
any position (up/down/ left/ right) within 3 seconds of the request (e.g., a pen
held over head, off to side, etc.).

Appendix 1

> First 220 Nouns List

> Receptive & Labeling Skills Generalization Data Sheet

Appendix 1: First 220 Nouns List

Please click on the above symbol to be redirected to a corresponding,

printable image of the below worksheets in your Internet browser.
Appendix 1: Receptive & Labeling Skills Generalization Data Sheet

Please click on the above symbol to be redirected to a corresponding,

printable image of the below worksheets in your Internet browser.
 Appendix 2: PISA

The Partington Imitation Skills Assessment

The following assessment was developed to provide a comprehensive
review of imitation skills. It has been administered to typically
developing preschool age children who were able to do most of the
skills at slightly more than three years of age, and all of the skills before
reaching four and a half to five years of age (Partington, Doud &
Partington, 2011). Therefore, it can be used to identify responses to
teach a child who is in need of developing his ability to focus on a
model and then imitate a wide range of actions.

This list includes many different types of actions. Some of them

require the child to imitate actions that remain present (P) while the
child is imitating the response. For example, the instructor is still
clapping while the child claps. Other actions are presented and then the
model stops before the child is to respond (i.e., the model is gone–G).
For example, the instructor taps a drum three times and then gives the
child the drumstick to tap the same number of times. The list includes
actions requiring the use of numerous body parts, manipulation of
objects, and movement of the body to perform sequences of actions. It
also assesses the child’s ability to imitate a specific number of
responses, and to imitate actions with a specific speed or intensity.

To use this assessment, ask the child to imitate each of the actions.
The child should be scored a “+” if he accurately imitates the response.
A “-“ should be scored if he was unable to accurately imitate the
response, and a “/” should be scored if he was able to make a fairly good
approximation of the modeled response. In addition, it is often helpful to
note why the response was scored as being an approximation.
Please click on the above symbol to be redirected to a corresponding,
printable image of the below worksheets in your Internet browser.
 Appendix 3: Echoic Assessment

The following Vocal Imitation/Echoic Assessment is being provided for

a simple method of determining a child’s ability to say a variety of
sounds and words. It should be noted that there are a variety of
assessments that are available to help determine a child’s articulation
skills. Speech and language pathologists have more sophisticated
assessments that can determine the ability of a child to say specific
sounds (phonemes) and sound combinations. These evaluations assess a
child’s ability to produce sounds in the beginning, middle and end of
words, and use normative data to compare the articulation skills of a
child to those of his same-age peers.

This current assessment was developed with input from speech and
language pathologists who have considerable experience working with
children on the autism spectrum. It is not a replacement for those more
sophisticated assessments. However, it provides parents and teachers a
simple way to identify a child’s vocal imitation skills and to select
specific sounds and combinations to teach him. By completing this
assessment, it is possible to identify a wide variety of specific sounds or
words that a child can be taught and to track the development of his
vocal imitation skills.

The column on the left specifies a specific sound, letter, number,

word or phrase to be assessed. Some of the sounds are actually
variations of a particular sound. For example saying a short “mm” sound
Vs. an extended version of that sound “mmmmmmm.” Other items
assess the child’s ability to not only make the sounds, but also to listen
and repeat a sequence of two separate sounds (e.g., “ma”-“ma” vs.
“ma”-“me”). For many of the sounds, the next column provides an
example of a word that would include the specific sound to help the
evaluator determine the specific sound being reviewed (e.g., “duh” as in
the word ‘dug’). The third column allows the assessor to write what she
hears the child say when he can only make an approximation to the
sound or word. The remaining columns are for the assessor to indicate
at various points in time whether the child was able to accurately say the
sound (+), or was unable to make the sound (-). The child should only be
given credit for being able to make the sound if he is consistently able to
make the sound upon request.

Please click on the above symbol to be redirected to a corresponding,

printable image of the below worksheets in your Internet browser.
 Glossary

* Note that these definitions are not the technical descriptions of these
terms as they are written for parents and teachers to be able to
understand the concepts presented in this book.

Antecedent Any condition, stimulus, or event that is present or occurs

prior to a behavior.

Behavior Any observable or measureable act of an individual (also

called a response).

Behavioral objective A statement that indicates a proposed change in

behavior. An objective must include the expected behavior, the
conditions under which the behavior is expected to be performed, and
the criteria to evaluate the behavior.

Conditioned reinforcer A type of reinforcer that has acquired its

reinforcing function (i.e., it increases the behavior that preceded its
delivery) through the pairing of a previously neutral stimulus (now the
conditioned reinforcer) with an unconditioned or other conditioned
reinforcer. (See the definition of a reinforcer.)

Consequence Any stimulus or event that immediately follows a

particular behavior.

Dependent variable The behavior to be changed as a result of an

intervention.

Deprivation A condition in which a person has minimal or no access to

a desired reinforcer for a period of time.

Differential reinforcement Reinforcement is provided only under

certain conditions. Typically the reinforcement is provided when a
behavior meets a specific criterion for accuracy, or is performed at a
certain rate.

Discrimination The ability to differentiate among stimuli or

environmental events.

Discriminative stimulus (SD) A stimulus that indicates the current

availability of a reinforcer contingent upon the occurrence of a specific
behavior.

Echoic A type of verbal response that matches a vocal verbal stimulus.

It is often referred to a vocal imitation.

Emit To make or produce a response or action.

Errorless learning An instructional procedure that arranges
instructions and prompts to only result in correct responses.

Extinction The withholding of reinforcement for a previously

reinforced behavior or response. The procedure is used to decrease the
occurrence of the behavior.

Generalization The expansion of the child’s skills so that they will

occur under conditions that differ from the conditions under which the
original behavior was acquired.

Generalized conditioned reinforcer A reinforcer that is associated

with a variety of other learned and unlearned reinforcers.

Independent variable Any factor that is manipulated so as to have an

effect upon a behavior (the dependent variable).

Intermittent reinforcement Patterns of the delivery of reinforcement

in which some, but not all, responses are followed by a reinforcer.

Intraverbal A type of verbal behavior that is controlled by a verbal

stimulus and the response doesn’t match that verbal stimulus. It is often
referred to in relation to answering questions and talking about things
that are not present.

Maintenance The ability for the child to perform the response over an
extended period of time, even though there may not have been the
opportunity to engage in that behavior.

Mand A type of verbal behavior that is controlled by a motivational

operation and is reinforced with specific reinforcement. It is often
referred to as “requesting” or “asking.”

Modeling The demonstration of a behavior in order to prompt an

imitative response.

Motivational operation A change in the environment that results in a

change in the reinforcing value of a stimulus, object or event, and alters
the current frequency of the behavior that has previously been reinforced
by that stimulus, object or event.

Operant conditioning The arrangement of environmental variables to

establish a functional relationship between a voluntary behavior and its
consequences.

Pairing The simultaneous presentation of stimuli. It is a procedure that

is used to develop conditioned reinforcers by presenting neutral stimuli
immediately prior to, or at the same time as, presenting an existing
reinforcer. It is often used to increase the reinforcing value of an
individual who delivers reinforcers following desired behavior
performed by a child.

Primary reinforcer A stimulus that has reinforcing value without the

need for previous learning (e.g., food, water, warmth). These types of
reinforcers are also referred to as unlearned reinforcers.

Prompt A stimulus that is added to increase the probability that a

certain response will occur. There are a variety of types of prompts that
are often used in teaching skills to children, including: imitative,
gestural, verbal, positional, and physical.

Punisher A consequence that results in a decrease in the future rate or

probability of a certain behavior.

Rate The frequency of a behavior over a specified period of time.

Reinforcer The presentation of a stimulus or event following a

behavior
(a consequence) that results in the increased probability (rate) of that
behavior occurring under similar circumstances in the future.

Response Any observable or measureable act of an individual (also

referred to as behavior).

Satiation A condition that occurs when there is no longer a state of

deprivation.

Schedules of reinforcement The pattern in which reinforcers are

provided based on the number of responses or the timing of responses.
For example, every instance of a response may result in a reinforcer, or
the reinforcer may be delivered after a certain number of responses.

Secondary reinforcers Stimuli or events that obtained their

reinforcement value due to their pairing with other primary or
conditioned reinforcers. These reinforcers are often referred to as
learned reinforcers.

Selection-based response Behavior that involves a single type of

physical motor movement (e.g., point or pick up) to select one of several
possible options of items or pictures

Shaping A method for developing new behaviors by systematically

reinforcing responses that are closer to the desired performance of a
behavior. Often referred to as the differential reinforcement of
successive approximations to a desired behavior.

Social reinforcers A type of secondary or conditioned reinforcer that

includes statements of acknowledgement, praise, and facial expressions.

Stimulus Anything that is able to be detected by one of a person’s

senses (i.e., visual, hearing, smell, taste, felt).

Stimulus control The relationship between an environmental event or

stimulus that serves as a cue for a behavior to occur or not occur.

Tact A type of verbal behavior in which the response is controlled by a

nonverbal stimulus (item). It is often referred to as “labeling” or
“naming” an item that is seen, heard, smelled, tasted or touched by an
individual.

Task analysis A technique of breaking down sequences of responses

necessary to perform an activity into each of the stimuli and behaviors
involved in the task. It is the identification of each of the specific
responses involved in a more complex activity.

Topography A description of the physical movement of a motor action.

Topography-based response Behavior that involves unique physical

motor movements for each response (e.g., making the ASL sign for
‘shoe’ vs. the sign for ‘eat”).

Trial A discrete opportunity for a response to occur. It is defined by the

antecedent stimuli, the behavior, and the consequence that follows the
behavior.
Verbal behavior Behavior which is reinforced through the mediation of
another individual. It is generally thought of as speaking, but can also
include non-vocal behavior such as using sign language and typing or
writing.

Verbal stimulus A stimulus that is a result of somebody’s verbal

behavior (e.g., a spoken or written word, an ASL sign).

References

Alberto, P. A. & Troutman, A. C. (1999). Applied behavior analysis for

teachers. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merril Publishing Company.

American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical

Manual of Mental Disorders (5th Ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

Baer, D., Peterson, R., & Sherman, J. (1967). The development of

imitation by reinforcing behavioral similarity to a model. Journal of
Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 10, 405-416.

Beaulieu, L., Hanley, G. P., & Roberson, A. A. (2013). Effects of

responding to a name and group call on preschoolers’ compliance.
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 45, 685–707.

Becker, W. C., Engelmann, S., & Thomas, D. R. (1975). Teaching 2:

Cognitive learning and instruction. Chicago, IL: Science Research
Associates.

Bijou, S. W., & Baer, D. M. (1965). Child development II: Universal

stage of infancy. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Bloom, L. (1974). Developmental relationship between receptive and

expressive language. In R. L. Schiefelbusch and L. L. Lloyd (Eds.).
Language perspectives, acquisition, retardation, and intervention. (285-
311). Baltimore: University Park Press.

Carr, E. G. & Durand, V. M. (1985). Reducing behavior problems

through functional communication training. Journal of Applied Behavior
Analysis, 18(2), 111-126.

Catania, A. C. (1998). Learning, 4th edition. Englewood Cliffs, NJ:

Prentice-Hall.

Charlop M. H., & Trasowech, J. E. (1991). Increasing autistic children’s

daily spontaneous speech. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis. 24,
747–761.

Dube, W. V., Ahearn, W. H., Lionello-Denolf, K., McIlvane, W. J.

(2009). Behavioral momentum: Translational research in intellectual and
developmental disabilities. The Behavior Analyst Today. 10(2): 238-253.

Foxx, R. M. (1982). Decreasing behaviors of severely retarded and

autistic persons. Champaign, IL: Research Press.

Foxx, R. M. (1982). Increasing behaviors of severely retarded and

autistic persons. Champaign, IL: Research Press.

Frost, L. A., & Bondy, A. S. (1994). The picture exchange

communication system training manual. Cherry Hill, NJ: Pyramid
Educational Consultants, Inc.
Grandin, T. (2012). Personal communication, 7 September.

Green, G. (2001). Behavior analytic instruction for learners with autism:

Advances in stimulus control technology. Focus on Autism and Other
Developmental Disabilities, 16, 72-85.

Greer, R. D., & Ross, D. E. (2008). Verbal behavior analysis: Inducing

and expanding new verbal capabilities in children with language delays.
Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Grow, L. L., Carr, J. E., Kodak, T. M., Jostad, C. M., & Kisamore, A. N.
(2011). A comparison of methods for teaching receptive labeling to
children with autism spectrum disorders. Journal of Applied Behavior
Analysis, 44(3): 475–498.

Halle, J. W., Baer, D. M., & Spradlin, J. E. (1981). Teachers’

generalized use of delay as a stimulus control procedure to increase
language use in handicapped children. Journal of Applied Behavior
Analysis, 14, 389-409.

Hart, B., & Risley T. R. (1975). Incidental teaching of language in the

preschool. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 8, 411-420.

Howard, J. S., Sparkman, C. R., Cohen, H. G., Green, G., & Stanislaw,
H. (2005). A comparison of intensive behavior analytic and eclectic
treatments for young children with autism. Research in Developmental
Disabilities, 26, 359–383.

Jones, W. & Klin, A., (2013). Attention to eyes is present but in decline
in 2–6-month-old infants later diagnosed with autism. Nature
doi:10.1038/nature12715
Kent, L. (1974). Language acquisition program for the retarded or
multiply impaired. Champaign, IL: Research Press.

Laraway, S., Snycerski, S., Michael, J., & Poling, A. (2003). Motivating
operations and terms to describe them: some further refinements.
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 36(3): 407-14.

Lerman, D. C., Parten, M., Addison, L. R., Vorndran, C. M., Volkert, V.

M., & Kodak, T. (2005). A methodology for assessing the functions of
emerging speech in children with developmental disabilities. Journal of
Applied Behavior Analysis, 38, 303-316.

Lovaas, O. I. (1987). Behavioral treatment and normal educational and

intellectual functioning in young autistic children. Journal of Consulting
and Clinical Psychology, 55, 3–9.

Lovaas, I., Freitas, L., Nelson, K., & Whalen, K. (1967). Th

eestablishment of imitation and its use for the development of complex
behavior in schizophrenic children. Behavioral Research and Therapy,
5, 171-181.

Martin, G. & Pear, J. (2002). Behavior modification: What it is and how

to do it (7th Ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Michael, J. (1993). Establishing operations. The Behavior Analyst, 16,

191-206.

Michael, J. (1988). Establishing operations and the mand. The Analysis

of Verbal Behavior, 6, 3-9.

Mowrer, O. H. (1950). Learning theory and personality dynamics. New

York: The Ronald Press Company.

Nadel, J., & Peze, A. (1993). What makes imitation communicative in

toddlers and autistic children. In J Nadel, L Camaioni (Eds.), New
Perspectives in Early Communication Development (pp. 139-56).
London: Routledge.

National Research Council (2002). Educating children with autism.

Committee on educational interventions for children with autism.

Catherine Lord and James P. McGee, Eds. Division of Behavioral and

Social Sciences and Education. Washington, DC: National Academy
Press.

Novak, G. (1996). Developmental psychology: Dynamical systems and

behavior analysis. Reno, NV: Context Press.

O’Neill, R. E., Horner, R. H. Albin, R. W., Sprague, J. R., Storey, K., &
Newton, J. S. (1997). Functional assessment and program development
for problem behaviors. Pacific Grove: Brooks/Cole.

Osgood, C. E. (1953). Method and theory in experimental psychology.

New York: Oxford University Press.

Partington, J. W. (2010). Assessment of Basic Language and Learning

Skills-Revised: An assessment, curriculum guide and skills tracking
system for children with autism or other developmental disabilities.
Pleasant Hill, CA: Behavior Analysts, Inc.

Partington, J. W. (2008). Capturing the Motivation of Children with

Autism or Other Developmental Delays. Pleasant Hill, CA: Behavior
Analysts, Inc.

Partington, J. W., Bailey, A., Pritchard, J. K., Nosik, M. & Doerr, M.

(2010, January). An update of the data on the developmental patterns of
specific language and learning skills of typically developing children as
measured by the ABLLS-R. Presentation at the Association for Behavior
Analysis International 2010 Autism Conference, Chicago, IL.

Partington, J. W., & Bailey, J. S. (1993). Teaching intraverbal behavior

to preschool children. The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, 11, 9-18.

Partington, J. W., Doud, M. & Partington, S. W. (2011). Measuring the

Imitation Skills of Typically Developing Children to Assist in the
Development of Imitative Skills in Children with Autism. Presentation at
the Association for Behavior Analysis International Conference.
Granada, Spain.

Partington, J. W., & Mueller, M. M. (2012). The Assessment of

Functional Living Skills: Essential Skills for Independence at Home,
School, and in the Community. Pleasant Hill, CA: Behavior Analysts,
Inc.

Payne, S., Radicchi, J., Rosellini, L., Deutchman, L., & Darch, C.
(1983). Structuring classrooms for academic success. Eugene, OR:
Association for Direct Instruction.

Pelaez, M., Virues-Ortega, J., & Gewirtz, J. L. (2011). Reinforcement of

vocalizations through contingent vocal imitation. Journal of Applied
Behavior Analysis, 44(1), 33-40.

Risley, T. R. (1968). The effects and side effects of punishing the

autistic behaviors of a deviant child. Journal of Applied Behavior
Analysis, 1(1), 21-34.

Ross, D. E., & Greer, R. D. (2003). Generalized imitation and the mand:
Inducing first instances of speech in young children with autism.
Research in Developmental Disabilities, 24, 58-74.

Rogers, S., & Vismara, L. (2008) Evidence-based comprehensive

treatments for early autism. Journal of Clinical and Child and
Adolescent Psychology, 37(1), 8-38.

Sallows, G., & Graupner, T. (2005). Intensive behavioral treatment for

children with autism: Four-year outcome and predictors. American
Journal on Mental Retardation, 110(6), 417-438.

Schreibman, L. (2005). Are there Core Deficits in Autism?. In: The

science and fiction of autism. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard
University Press.

Siegel, B., (2003). Helping Children with Autism Learn. New York:
Oxford University Press, Inc.

Skinner, B. F. (1957). Verbal behavior. New York: Appleton-Century-

Crofts.

Slaughter, V. & McConnell, D. (2001). Emergence of joint attention:

relationships between gaze following, social referencing, imitation, and
naming in infancy. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 164(1), 54-71.

Sloane, H. N., & MacAuley, B. D. (Eds.) (1968). Operant procedures in

remedial speech and language training. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Spradlin, J. E. (1974). Development of receptive language. In R. L.
Schiefelbusch & L. L. LLoyd (Eds.). Language perspectives,
acquisition, retardation, and intervention. (285-311) Baltimore:
University Park Press.

Spradlin, J. E. (1963). Assessment of speech and language of retarded

children: The Parsons language sample. Journal of Speech and Hearing
Disorders Monograph, 10, 8-31.

Sundberg, C. T., & Sundberg, M. L. (1990). Comparing topography-

based verbal behavior with stimulus selection-based verbal behavior.
The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, 8, 31-41.

Sundberg, M. L., Michael, J., Partington, J. W., & Sundberg, C. A.

(1996). The role of automatic reinforcement in early language
acquisition. The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, 13, 21-37.

Sundberg, M. L., & Partington, J. W. (2013). Teaching language to

Children with Autism or Other Developmental Disabilities. Pleasant
Hill, CA: Behavior Analysts, Inc.

Terrace, H. (1963). Discrimination learning with and without “errors.”

Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 6, 1-27.

Tomasello, M. (2001). Perceiving intentions and learning words in the

second year of life. In M Tomasello, E Bates (Eds.), Language
Development: The Essential Readings (pp. 11-128). Oxford, UK:
Blackwell.

Thompson, T. (2011). Individualized Autism Intervention for Young

Children. Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co.
Thompson, T. (2007). Making Sense of Autism. Baltimore, MD: Paul H.
Brookes Publishing Co.

Touchette, P. E. (1971). Transferring of stimulus control: Measuring the

moment of transfer. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior,
15, 347-354.

Touchette, P. E. (1968). The effects of graduated stimulus change on the

acquisition of a simple discrimination in severely retarded boys. Journal
of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 11, 39-48.

Touchette, P. E. & Howard, J. S. (1984). Errorless Learning:

Reinforcement Contingencies and Stimulus Control Transfer in Delayed
Prompting. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 17, 175-188.

Van Riper, C. (1978). Speech correction principles and methods (6th

ed.). New York: Prentice-Hall.

Vaughan, M. E., & Michael, J. L. (1982). Automatic reinforcement: An

important but ignored concept. Behaviorism, 10, 217-227.

Volkert, V. M., Lerman, D. C., Trosclair, N., Addison, L., & Kodak, T.
(2008). An exploratory analysis of task-interspersal procedures while
teaching object labels to children with autism. Journal of Applied
Behavior Analysis, 41(3), 335–350.

Weiss, M. J. (1999). Differential rates of skill acquisition and outcomes

of early intensive behavioral intervention for autism. Behavioral
Interventions, 14(1), 3-22.

Whaley, D., & Malott, R. W. (1968). Elementary Principles of

Behavior. Kalamazoo, MI: Behaviordelia.

Wing, L. (2003). The autistic spectrum: A guide for parents and

professionals. London: Constable and Robinson, Ltd.

Winterling, V., Dunlap, G., & O’Neill, R.E. (1987). The influence of
task variation on the abberant behaviors of autistic students. Education
and Treatment of Children, 10, 105

Wolfberg, P. (2003). Peer play and the autism spectrum: The art of
guiding children’s socialization and imagination. Shawnee Mission, KS:
Autism Asperger Publishing Company.

Wolff, P. H. (1969). The natural history of crying and other vocalization

in early infancy. In B. M. Foss (Ed.), Determinants of infant behavior
(Vol. 4). London: Methuen.

Wraikat, R., Sundberg, C. T., & Michael, J. (1991). Topography-based

and selection-based verbal behavior: A further comparison. The Analysis
of Verbal Behavior, 9, 1-17.

Wynn, J. W., & Smith, T. (2003). Generalization between receptive and

expressive language in young children with autism. Behavioral
Interventions, 18, 245-266.