ACHIEVE Parent Training Curriculum
Category: Communication Skills
Introduction to Expressive Communication
ABOUT THIS LESSON
Expressive communication refers to how your child communicates with the world around her. This communication takes many forms and is not necessarily limited to spoken language. Many autistic children experience communication delays which range from differences in social communication to an inability to produce spoken language.
Communication delays, if not addressed, lead to the child engaging in challenging behavior as a way of communicating with those around her. Communication serves a purpose. We all engage in communication for a variety of reasons including to:
✔ Meet a need
✔ Share important information
✔ Engage socially with others
Communication is a complex behavior that is best taught by breaking it down into smaller pieces. In ABA, we focus on the purpose of the communication (or what the child "gets" out of the communication). We will concentrate on the basic components of communication in this training. These include:
✔ Requesting (in ABA we call this manding)
✔ Spontaneous vocal behavior and vocal imitation (in ABA vocal imitation is called echoics)
✔ Labeling (in ABA we call this tacting)
✔ Responding to your communication or that of someone else (in ABA we call this intraverbals)
In other lessons, we will go into more detail about each of these parts of communication and how to teach them to your child.
Think about how your child communicates with you. How does she:
✔ Tell you she wants something?
✔ Get your attention?
✔ Play with you?
Watch the video below for a quick overview of the different parts of communication.
References
Frost, L., & Bondy, A. (2006). A common language: Using BF Skinner's verbal behavior for assessment and treatment of communication disabilities in SLP-ABA. The Journal of Speech and Language Pathology–Applied Behavior Analysis, 1(2), 103.
Higbee, T. S., & Sellers, T. P. (2011). Verbal behavior and communication training. In International handbook of autism and pervasive developmental disorders (pp. 367-379). Springer, New York, NY.
Kelley, M. E., Shillingsburg, M. A., Castro, M. J., Addison, L. R., & LaRue Jr, R. H. (2007). Further evaluation of emerging speech in children with developmental disabilities: Training verbal behavior. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 40(3), 431-445.
Tincani, M., Miller, J., Lorah, E. R., & Nepo, K. (2020). Systematic review of verbal operants in speech generating device research from Skinner’s analysis of verbal behavior. Perspectives on Behavior Science, 43(2), 387.
Teaching Requesting (Manding in ABA)
ABOUT THIS LESSON
Autistic children often have communication deficits. Some children have only minor delays in social communication, others have some spoken language and still others say almost no words at all. Difficulty with communicating thoughts, ideas, and desires is one of the leading reasons autistic children engage in challenging behavior. Imagine if you couldn't communicate with the world around you. How would you get what you wanted and needed?
You can help your child reduce these problematic behaviors by teaching him to use communication to get what he wants, rather than relying on challenging behavior. Teach your child to request those things he enjoys most and give him a better alternative.
Requesting requires your child to be motivated for something. It's often easiest to start with items that are tangible, that you can see and touch. This makes teaching the request more concrete. Requests might be for:
✔ Something tangible such as food, clothing, or a toy
✔ Attention
✔ An activity such as tickles, a push on the swing, or blowing bubbles
✔ A missing item needed to complete a task
✔ Items not in sight
✔ Information
Teaching your child to request requires your child's motivation for a specific item, activity or interaction. If your child has unlimited access to everything he needs or wants, there's no reason for him to talk to you. Remember the money tree? He won't go to work for you if he has that money tree. Take a look at how having access to desired items reduces your child's motivation to communicate with you.
✔ It is a hot day and Lisa has been playing outside for an hour. You have a bottle of cold water on the counter for her when she comes in.
✔ If John does not eat lunch at 12:00pm then he begins throwing items around the kitchen until you serve him. Each day you make sure lunch is ready by 11:55Frank loves to color in his coloring book so you offer the book and crayons a few times a day.
References
Gutierrez Jr, A., Vollmer, T. R., Dozier, C. L., Borrero, J. C., Rapp, J. T., Bourret, J. C., & Gadaire, D. (2007). Manipulating establishing operations to verify and establish stimulus control during mand training. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 40(4), 645-658.
Jennett, H. K., Harris, S. L., & Delmolino, L. (2008). Discrete trial instruction vs. mand training for teaching children with autism to make requests. The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, 24(1), 69-85.
Lorah, E. R., Tincani, M., Dodge, J., Gilroy, S., Hickey, A., & Hantula, D. (2013). Evaluating picture exchange and the iPad™ as a speech generating device to teach communication to young children with autism. Journal of Developmental and Physical Disabilities, 25(6), 637-649.
Loughrey, T. O., Contreras, B. P., Majdalany, L. M., Rudy, N., Sinn, S., Teague, P., ... & Harvey, A. C. (2014). Caregivers as interventionists and trainers: Teaching mands to children with developmental disabilities. The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, 30(2), 128-140.
Sundberg, M. L. (2004). A behavioral analysis of motivation and its relation to mand training. Developmental disabilities: Etiology, assessment, intervention, and integration, 199220.
Wallace, M. D. (2007). A comprehensive analysis of mand training. The Journal of Speech and Language Pathology–Applied Behavior Analysis, 2(3), 278.
Expanding Spontaneous Vocal Behavior and Vocal Imitation (Echoics in ABA)
ABOUT THIS LESSON
While not every child communicates through vocal speech, most children make at least some speech sounds. This lesson will cover specific strategies for encouraging and expanding these sounds that your child produces. Each child develops at his or her own rate and this can be a slow process so it's best to use this process along with teaching your child other ways to communicate. Avoid the temptation to focus only on teaching your child to speak. Even people who can't speak often have a lot to say, just look at Stephen Hawking.
Often, encouraging your child's speech production can, and should, be incorporated into fun, everyday activities that your child enjoys. Watch the video below to learn the steps for shaping your child's vocal speech sounds.
Remember to stay positive and make this fun for your child. Give him a reason to make those speech sounds. Avoid pressuring him to speak and continue to encourage any speech sounds he makes.
References
Barry, L., Holloway, J., & Gunning, C. (2019). An investigation of the effects of a parent delivered stimulus-stimulus pairing intervention on vocalizations of two children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. The Analysis of verbal behavior, 35(1), 57-73.
Cividini-Motta, C., Scharrer, N., & Ahearn, W. H. (2017). An assessment of three procedures to teach echoic responding. The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, 33(1), 41-63.
da Silva, S. P., & Williams, A. M. (2020). Translations in Stimulus–Stimulus Pairing: Autoshaping of Learner Vocalizations. Perspectives on Behavior Science, 43(1), 57-103.
Drash, P. W., High, R. L., & Tudor, R. M. (1999). Using mand training to establish an echoic repertoire in young children with autism. The analysis of verbal behavior, 16(1), 29-44.
Gillett, J. N., & LeBlanc, L. A. (2007). Parent-implemented natural language paradigm to increase language and play in children with autism. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 1(3), 247-
255.
Kodak, T., & Clements, A. (2009). Acquisition of mands and tacts with concurrent echoic training. Journal of applied behavior analysis, 42(4), 839–843. https://doi.org/10.1901/jaba.2009.42-839
Shane, Joseph, "Increasing Vocal Behavior and Establishing Echoic Stimulus Control in Children with Autism" (2016). Dissertations. 1400. https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/dissertations/1400
Interacting with Others Through Labeling (Tacting in ABA)
ABOUT THIS LESSON
Labeling is an important part of interacting with those around you. Think about all the different ways you label every day. You label to:
✔ Show something interesting to someone else
✔ Comment on what someone else is doing
✔ Tell someone how you're feeling
✔ Point out something important going on in the environment
Labeling makes your communication more specific and clearer. This helps others understand what you're trying to communicate with them.
If it's in your environment, you can label it. You can label many different things including:
✔ Objects
✔ Actions
✔ Attributes such as color, shape, size or texture
✔ Smells
✔ Sounds
Labeling can be a fun way to play a game with someone. Did you ever play I Spy or the Purple Car Game? During I Spy, one person provides a description of something they see in the environment and the other person needs to guess what it is. When playing the Purple Car Game, you simply point out when you see a purple car. Whoever points out the most purple cars on the road trip wins. These simple games are fun because of the interaction they create with someone else. Teaching your child to label helps her take part in this interaction as well.
References
Arntzen, E., & Almås, I. K. (2002). Effects of mand‐tact versus tact‐only training on the acquisition of tacts. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 35(4), 419-422.
Egan, C. E., & Barnes‐Holmes, D. (2009). Emergence of tacts following mand training in young children with autism. Journal of applied behavior analysis, 42(3), 691-696.
Finn, H. E., Miguel, C. F., & Ahearn, W. H. (2012). The emergence of untrained mands and tacts in children with autism. Journal of applied behavior analysis, 45(2), 265-280.
Marchese, N. V., Carr, J. E., LeBlanc, L. A., Rosati, T. C., & Conroy, S. A. (2012). The effects of the question “What is this?” on tact‐training outcomes of children with autism. Journal of applied behavior analysis, 45(3), 539-547.
Partington, J. W., Sundberg, M. L., Newhouse, L., & Spengler, S. M. (1994). Overcoming an autistic child's failure to acquire a tact repertoire. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 27(4), 733-734.
Pérez-González, L. A., Cereijo-Blanco, N., & Carnerero, J. J. (2014). Emerging tacts and selections from previous learned skills: A comparison between two types of naming. The Analysis of verbal behavior, 30(2), 184-192.
Responding to the Communication of Others (Intraverbals in ABA)
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ABOUT THIS LESSON
Responding to someone else's communication makes up a significant amount of your interactions with those around you. You answer questions, comment on something they say, or even sing songs together. Once your child develops some more basic communication including requesting, imitating and labeling as well as some basic listener skills, begin to teach him to respond to the communication of others.
This verbal responding consists of several important components including:
✔ Fill-ins
✔ Answering questions
✔ Engaging in conversations
Each of these categories of responding builds on the one before. Begin with fill-ins, then gradually introduce more complex types of exchanges. Building skills gradually promotes success and reduces frustration.
Although this lesson uses the term "verbal responding," this includes any type of alternative communication your child may use including:
✔ Sign language
✔ PECS
✔ Communication app
References
Carroll, R. A., & Kodak, T. (2015). Using instructive feedback to increase response variability during intraverbal training for children with autism spectrum disorder. The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, 31(2), 183-199.
Eikeseth, S., & Smith, D. P. (2013). An analysis of verbal stimulus control in intraverbal behavior: implications for practice and applied research. The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, 29(1), 125-135.
Ingvarsson, E. T., & Hollobaugh, T. (2011). A comparison of prompting tactics to establish intraverbals in children with autism. Journal of applied behavior analysis, 44(3), 659-664.
Kodak, T., Fuchtman, R., & Paden, A. (2012). A comparison of intraverbal training procedures for children with autism. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 45(1), 155-160.
May, R. J., Hawkins, E., & Dymond, S. (2013). Brief report: Effects of tact training on emergent intraverbal vocal responses in adolescents with autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 43(4), 996-1004.
Vedora, J., Meunier, L., & Mackay, H. (2009). Teaching intraverbal behavior to children with autism: A comparison of textual and echoic prompts. The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, 25(1), 79-86.
Basic Listener Skills
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ABOUT THIS LESSON
Listener skills involve a physical response to something someone says. For example, in the image below, Sarah jumps when Gabriel says "jump." Sarah is exhibiting basic listener skills.
Often through teaching other language skills such as labeling and requesting, beginner listener skills emerge without direct teaching. Some children benefit from structured learning opportunities to practice these skills. Check to see what directions your child can follow. Can he:
✔ Point to pictures or objects you ask him to point to?
✔ Clap his hands when asked to do so?
✔ Wave when you say "wave" but don't wave back?
✔ Put his arms up when you say "show me arms up"?
✔ Sit, dance, or jump when you say the word?
✔ Stop when you ask him to stop?
Each of these skills builds to other important skills for your child. The ability to follow simple directions leads to improved social interactions and success in school, ultimately leading to improved independence and employability as an adult. As with teaching other skills, make this fun and meaningful for your child.
Asking your child to do things doesn't need to feel like work to him. Make it fun.
Teaching Complex Listener Skills (LRFFC in ABA)
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ABOUT THIS LESSON
Listening is an important part of any interaction you have with someone else.
It allows you to develop relationships, help others, and learn new skills.
Your child must be able to follow complex directions to be independent at school or later on in a job.
As your child masters basic listener skills, begin to introduce more complex listener tasks. Build the difficulty of the tasks gradually so you and your child don't become frustrated. Remember to make it fun and motivating for your child!
References
Causin, K. G., Albert, K. M., Carbone, V. J., & Sweeney-Kerwin, E. J. (2013). The role of joint control in teaching listener responding to children with autism and other developmental disabilities. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 7(9), 997-1011.
Kodak, T., & Paden, A. R. (2015). A comparison of intraverbal and listener training for children with autism spectrum disorder. The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, 31(1), 137-144.
Miguel, C. F., & Kobari‐Wright, V. V. (2013). The effects of tact training on the emergence of categorization and listener behavior in children with autism. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 46(3), 669-673.