Increasing Single‐Word Requests to Multiword Requests in Children with Autism and Related Disabilities

Abstract

Initial language training with children with autism often focuses on the production of single‐word requests (i.e., mands). As a child progresses in treatment, it is desirable to increase the mean length of utterance (MLU) of requests. The present study examined treatment outcomes of behavioral intervention designed to increase the MLU of requests in a larger sample of children with language delays (n = 30). Intervention consisted of prompts and differential reinforcement for lengthier requests, and trials were conducted flexibly throughout the treatment session. A non‐concurrent multiple baseline across participants design was utilized to establish experimental control, and MLU intervention consisted of a baseline and treatment phase for each participant. Nonoverlap of all pairs (NAP) was employed to estimate an effect size. Overall treatment effects were medium to large (average NAP = 0.89; average d = 2.36), and the majority of the sample (70%) demonstrated strong treatment effects. Results suggest that targeted behavioral intervention to increase the length of requests can be effective for children with autism and associated language delays. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Supporting AAC Use for Preschoolers With Complex Communication Needs

“…Providing the child with two or more choices when asking the question can also be valuable. This strategy is especially useful to encourage the child to engage in the activity (Watkins et al, 2017) and use new vocabulary, such as learning to use “I want” to make a request (Yosick et al, 2016). Avoiding simplistic questions that can be answered by a simple “yes” or “no” is important, because these questions do not require extended child responses (De Rivera et al, 2005).…”

“…If the child has difficulty using the AAC system, an effective strategy is to provide a verbal, visual, or physical prompt to assist the child in acquiring or engaging in the use of the AAC system (Yosick et al, 2016). A verbal prompt can be provided by giving a direction of how to communicate (e.g., "You can point to triangle if you want the triangle").…”

Teaching Advanced Manding Skills to Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder Using Systematic Instruction, Speech-Generating Devices, and Skinner’s Analysis of Verbal Behaviour

“…To date, few studies (Choi, O'Reilly, Sigafoos, & Lancioni, 2010;Shillingsburg, Powell, & Bowen, 2013;Yosick, Muskat, Bowen, Delfs, & Shillingsburg, 2015) have addressed teaching mands for actions to an individual who communicated using an SGD. For example, Sonnenmeier et al examined communication across several verbal operants (e.g., mands, tacts, intraverbals) and engagement within the general education setting with a focus on the educational team (i.e., using a structural model for educational team planning), rather than the participant.…”

“…To this end, few studies that have investigated procedures for teaching children with ASD to mand for actions (Choi, et al, 2010;Shillingsburg, Powell, & Bowen, 2013;Yosick, et al, 2015). While each of these three studies reported successful acquisition of mands for actions by some of the participants, there would seem to be need for extending this work to focus more explicitly on using the BCIS to teach mands for actions to additional children and specifically to children using SGDs because the evidence-base on teaching actions mands is limited.…”

“…Each participant acquired the mand for removal. Interestingly, two participants in this study were taught the mand Move please, which could be classified as a mand for action Yosick et al (2015). focused on teaching multiword mands, which included mands for actions (e.g., Give me juice, Stack Lego, Press play, Open book, etc.).…”