INTERVENTION METHODS FOR

CHILDREN WITH PRELINGUISTIC

COMMUNICATION AND EMERGING
LANGUAGE

REMEMBER THAT YOU ARE REQUIRED TO READ THE

ARTICLE:

PAUL, RHEA. "INTERVENTIONS TO IMPROVE

COMMUNICATION IN AUTISM." CHILD AND ADOLESCENT
PSYCHIATRIC CLINICS OF NORTH AMERICA 17.4 (2008):
835-856.
INTERVENTION APPROACHES FOR COMMUNICATION

Interventions for early communication in autism are generally divided

into three major categories:
1. Didactic approaches
teacher‐directed methods that are based on behavioral theory
2. Naturalistic behavioral approaches
using similar principles of Didactic approaches but in more natural
settings, often trying to incorporate the child's natural motivations.
3. Developmental or pragmatic approaches
it uses everyday interactions between caregivers and children to
promote communication.
Parents and caregivers follow their children's leads or interests and
respond to children's communication attempts.
DIDACTIC APPROACHES

• They are based on behavioral theory and use behavioral

techniques such as operant conditioning, shaping,
prompting, and chaining
* it refers to a manner of instruction in which information is presented
directly from the teacher to the student, in which the teacher selects the
topic of instruction, controls instructional stimuli, obligates a response from
the child, evaluates child responses, and provides reinforcement for correct
responses and feedback for incorrect ones.
• Teaching sessions using these approaches involve high
levels of adult control, repetitive periods of drill and
practice, precise antecedent and consequent sequences
( A----B-----C), and a passive responder role for the client.
• The adult directs and controls all aspects of the interaction.
NATURALISTIC APPROACHES

• They attempt to incorporate behaviorist principles in more

natural environments using functional, pragmatically
appropriate social interactions

• they attempt to get clients to initiate communication, rather

than casting them always in a responder role.

• Naturalistic approaches focus on the use of “intrinsic,”

rather than tangible or edible reinforcers.

• Intrinsic reinforces include the satisfaction of achieving a

desired goal through communication (the client says, “I
want juice” and gets juice).
IN GENERAL: DIDACTIC AND NATURALISTIC
APPROACHES
• They are based on Behavioral Interventions and Techniques
• Behavioral interventions and techniques are designed to
reduce problem behaviors and teach functional alternative
behaviors using the basic principles of behavior change.
These methods are based on behavioral/operant principles of
learning; they involve
1. Examining the antecedents that elicit a certain behavior,
2. Examining the consequences that follow that behavior,
3. Making adjustments in this chain to increase desired
behaviors and/or decrease inappropriate ones.
Behavioral interventions range from one-to-one discrete trial
instruction to naturalistic approaches that may focus on
communication, educational programming, or on replacing
maladaptive behaviors.
IN DEPTH
1. Didactic approaches (behavioral approach)
2. Naturalistic approaches ( behavioral approach)
3. Developmental or pragmatic approaches
DIDACTIC APPROACHES

A large body of research has demonstrated that didactic

approaches are an effective means of :

1. initially developing attention to and understanding of

language

2. initiating speech production in preverbal children with

ASD.
DIDACTIC APPROACHES:

Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA): principles

• ABA techniques are used with ASD to help build and

generalize a variety of skills (e.g., communication, social
skills, self-control, and self-monitoring)

• ABA can be used in both structured (e.g., classroom) and

everyday (e.g., family dinnertime) settings and in one-on-one
or group instruction.

• ABA works with people of all ages, but it is best to start as early as
possible.

• Most children are between 2 and 6 years old when they begin ABA
treatment.
DIDACTIC APPROACHES:

Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA): principles

• If a child starts at age 2, ABA can help him develop better

communication skills and help him learn to follow directions and
simple commands, to prepare him for pre-school.

• For older children, ABA is often used as part of the child’s

education, to teach social skills, daily living skills or to help change
problem behaviors.

• Intensive programs total from 25 to 40 hours per week for 1 to

3 years.
ABA
• ABA is customized, based on the individual's needs,
interests, and family situation.

• It’s individualized to each child and it focuses on

systematically teaching small , measurable units of behavior

• Every skill that the child does not demonstrate (from very
small simple responses like waving hello, to more complex
acts like communication and social interaction) is broken
down into small specific steps .

• Each step is systematically taught one by one , until the

individual is able to demonstrate the whole skill in the natural
environment
ABA
It is important to note that there is considerable overlap
between the many different treatment approaches. For
example, strategies based on ABA are an integral part of many
interventions, such as early intensive behavioral intervention,
picture exchange communication system, and pivotal response
treatment
IMPORTANT ASPECTS OF AN ABA
PROGRAM
1. REPEATED OPPORTUNITIES OF LEARNING
2. SHAPING BEHAVIORS
3. REINFORCEMENT
4. INCREASING MOTIVATION TO LEARN
5. GENERALIZATION OF SKILLS
ABC MODEL OF BEHAVIOR
This model outlines all learning and behavior.
In ABA, the ABC model is used to make
teaching as clear as possible.
There are three main components of the
model:

Antecedent Behavior Consequence

(A) (B) (C )

The antecedent acts to elicit the The behavior should be:

behavior of interest.
• Observable
• Measurable
• Motor or verbal responses
• A behavior immediately follows the
antecedent stimuli
ABC MODEL OF BEHAVIOR
CONSEQUENCE (C)
A consequence is anything that follows a behavior
and alters the probability for future occurrences of
the behavior.
Consequences effect behavior in one of three ways :
1. Reinforcement: strengthens the behavior
2. Punishment: weakens the behavior
3. Extinction: behavior that was previously
reinforced is no longer reinforced, resulting in
long term termination of the behavior.
Example :All of the kids used to laugh when Bob
threw the toys at the teacher. Now, no one laughs
anymore when he does that. In time, Bob will stop
throwing the toys at the teacher.
ABA: STRUCTURED TEACHING STRATEGIES
DISCRETE TRIAL TRAINING (DTT)

• Discrete trial training is one of the more frequently used

ABA techniques.
• Discrete trial teaching is based on the ABC model of
behavior.
• Typically, the desired behavior is broken down into smaller
steps, each of which is then taught (often many times)
using prompts and rewards, which are then gradually faded
over time.
DTT
Skills are taught in very short intervals called trials.
Each trial has a minimum of 4 and maximum of 5 components:

Components of a trial:

Discriminativ Prompt
e stimulus Behavior Inter-trial
(as Conseque
(SD) Interval
necessary (B) nce (C )
(IT)
(A) ) (P)
DTT: EXAMPLE
A: If you are trying to have the child say the word orange
you might hold out an orange and ask “what is this?”

B: There would then be a behavior from the child (e.g., saying

the word for orange or just reaching for it or maybe just
making a sound)

C: and then a consequence (giving the child the orange if he

says the word or some approximation or even some sound—
depending on the child—but withholding it if he does not).

Inter-trial Interval: such as 5 second pause before the next

trial
VIDEO
ABA DTT trial
videos Module5
treatment\2_ObservationABA_Wells32mos.wmv
READ: DTT TRIALS
DTT: COMPONENTS OF A TRIAL:
PROMPTS
PROMPTING: 1. PHYSICAL MODEL
PROMPTING: 2. VERBAL MODEL
 CONT. PROMPTING

3.

4.
DTT: PROMPTS
DTT: TYPES OF TRIALS
CONT. DTT: TYPES OF TRIALS
CONDUCTING EFFECTIVE TRIALS
CONT. CONDUCTING EFFECTIVE
TRIALS
CONT. CONDUCTING EFFECTIVE TRIALS
VIDEO

ABA Autism Training - Chapter 1 - The Discrete Trial

https://youtu.be/7pN6ydLE4EQ

This video provides an overview of the components of a discrete

trial -- the discriminative stimulus, the response from the child or
prompt from the therapist, and finally, reinforcement or
correction.

file://localhost/Users/hanadybanihani/Desktop/ASD course 2017

2018/treatment /treatment 2/ABA Autism Training - Chapter 1 -
The Discrete Trial.mp4