Communication Training for Children with Autism

1. Communication Training for Children with Autism Combining Applied Verbal Behavior and Social-Emotional Approaches By Tracy Vail, MS,CCC/SLP Let’s Talk Speech and Language Services, Inc

2. Basic Goals of Teaching • Learning is Fun! • Base new learning on old learning • Communication is valuable • Keep the child successful • People are fun to be with!

3. Learn the Child • How does the child respond to a variety of smells? • What does the child like to look at? • How does the child respond to a variety of touches/textures? • How does the child respond to a variety of sounds? • How does the child respond to a variety of tastes?

4. Be a Provider of “All Good Things” • Based on what you learn about the child, provide their favorite things with no demands. • Engage the child in play with favorite things. Never let the child play with the items alone. • Produce sounds/words consistently while engaging with the toys. • Once the child is engaged, he/she is ready to learn!

5. Engagement

6. Produce Sounds While Playing

7. Reinforce all Attempts to Vocalize

8. Teach The Child To Request • Gives the child the power of communication • Teach “I talk, I get”. • Replaces maladaptive behaviors • Serves as the basis for teaching all other functions of communicating.

9. Choosing a Response Form • Vocal- For children who can produce sounds and/or word approximations. • Sign Language- For children who can imitate motor movements but aren’t yet talking. • Picture Exchange/Object Exchange- For children who are unable to learn signs or used in conjunction with signs. • Voice Output Devices- For children with poor motor control and unable to use other methods.

10. Shaping Vocal Requests

11. Shaping Vocal Requests

12. Moving from Signs to Vocal

13. Teaching Concepts through Requesting

14. Teach the Child to Request Information

15. Teach Concepts through Requesting

16. To Teach Signs • Provide a great deal of touch during play so the child can tolerate hand over hand prompting. • Teach the child to imitate gross motor movements. • Say the word when you model the sign, as you prompt the child to produce the sign, and as you give them the item.

17. Pairing Signs with Favorite Toys

18. Model Choices

19. Provide Full Prompts then Fade

20. Combining Signs

21. Don’t Drop Signs Too Quickly!

22. Watch for Confusion as Vocals Develop

23. Teaching PECS • Requires two people for initial teaching. • Be sure to say nothing before picture is given. • Say the name of the item as the child hands you the picture and as you deliver the item. • Gradually add in distractor pictures and fade the prompts.

24. Picture Exchange Communication System

25. Picture Communication Boards

26. Teach the Child to Imitate • Imitation of motor movements leads to spontaneous imitation of others in the natural environment. • Imitation is very important to increase incidental learning. • Teach both motor and vocal imitation.

27. Vocal Imitation

28. Use Mastered Requests to Teach other Functions of Language • Receptive Responses- Touch, find, get the, give me (child responds to directions) • Labels- fill-ins first then ask questions. The child does not get the item for labeling • Labels can be taught from requests because the child’s behavior is the same. • Most children who learn to request first, will label as they receptively identify objects.

29. Fill-ins with Books

30. Fill-ins with Books

31. Fill-ins with Songs

32. Fill-in Songs

33. Mix Receptive, Labeling, Imitation and Requesting

34. Once Mastered with Objects, Move to Pictures

35. Teach “Links” between Words • Teach features of objects- Adjectives, parts • Teach functions of objects- what do we do with things? • Teach classes of objects- How can things be grouped? • Begin by having the child fill-in the word after you provide the FFC. • Then, fill in the FFC when you provide the word.

36. Intensive Teaching of FFCs

37. Use Favorite Videos to Teach Story Comprehension