Referent-Based Instruction to Strengthen the Verbal Behavior of Early Learners with Autism and Related Language Disorders

Abstract

The current study evaluated the use of precision teaching to address the verbal behavior deficits of children with autism and other language disorders. From 2013 to 2018, a high-research-activity doctoral university in the south-central United States operated a free clinic that provided applied behavior anlaysis services to early learners in the local community. Participants received referent-based verbal behavior instruction to strengthen their functional language skills by systematically transferring stimulus control across 4 primary verbal operants: mands, echoics, tacts, and sequelics. Referent-based instruction is premised on the notion that proportionate levels of strength among these 4 operants provide the relational flexibility of naturalistic speaking observed in typical language development. This article details the language gains made by 49 participants who received 13 weeks of intervention for 90 min a day, 4 days a week. Relative strengths and weaknesses were identified in the verbal repertoire of each participant, and individualized fluency aims were subsequently developed. Results of pretest and posttest comparisons show that there was a large effect size within the verbal behavior gains of participants who received precision teaching. Implications for implementing referent-based instruction, as well as future areas of research, are discussed.