Intraverbal tacts are an example of multiply controlled verbal behavior. More specifically, they are verbal responses under control of both a nonverbal (visual) stimulus (e.g., a green ball) and a verbal (auditory) stimulus (e.g., "What color?" vs. "What shape?"). Studies have shown that verbal behavior training can be arranged…

Teaching tact and intraverbal responses based on function-feature-class to children with language delays can result in the emergence of untrained relational responses. The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of compound stimuli in discriminated operants (i.e., different combinations of hear, see, touch, and taste) on the acquisition…

This study examined if listener behavior and responding by exclusion would emerge after training 3 participants with autism to tact stimuli. Tacts for 2 of 3 stimuli were directly trained using discrete trial training methodology and were followed by an auditory-visual discrimination probe in which auditory-visual discrimination by naming (i.e.,…

Objective: This retrospective case study of an eight year old female with autism illuminates how alteration of the training environment using florescent objects under blacklight conditions, may have been the facilitating impetus that increased her interaction with objects over time. Methods: This study approach was chosen to best correspond with…

Studies on teaching tacts to individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have primarily focused on visual stimuli, despite published clinical recommendations to teach tacts of stimuli in other sensory domains as well. In the current study, two children with ASD were taught to tact auditory stimuli under two stimulus-presentation arrangements:…

Sketchnoting--a method of recording ideas visually as one reads or listens to information that's popular in the tech world--is finding its way into K-12 education as a technique to help engagement and comprehension. Given that students on the autism spectrum struggle with comprehending and retaining information, sketchnoting might help some of…

Teaching toilet training skills to children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can be challenging. Many techniques use Azrin and Foxx's Rapid Toilet Training method (RTT). However, some children with ASD find the first RTT step of entering the bathroom or restroom to be challenging due to the relatively loud sound of the toilet flushing. Although…

We compared the acquisition of receptive labeling using stimuli delivered via tablet and via flashcards during discrete trial instruction in three preschoolers with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Using an adapted alternating treatments design, we compared the number of sessions required to meet a mastery criterion for receptively identifying stimuli…

Purpose: Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and complex communication needs are increasingly taught to use tablet-based speech-generating devices (SGDs). An important issue in designing such interventions is the selection of an appropriate format for displaying vocabulary. The purpose of this study was to determine (a) whether young…

Studies using hierarchical patterns to test global precedence and local-global interference in individuals with ASD have produced mixed results. The current study focused on stimulus variability and locational uncertainty, while using different attentional modes. Two groups of 44 children with and without ASD completed a divided attention task as…

This multiple probe across participants design evaluated the effectiveness of teaching early number sense skills (ENS) to young children (age 4) with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) using Number Talks with supports. Following participation in Number Talks with supports, young children with ASD learned the ENS skills of subitizing, one-to-one…

Children with autism spectrum disorder may experience different levels of social and behavior deficits in the early elementary years. Behavioral deficits may impact the development of appropriate interpersonal problem-solving skills and peer acceptance, supporting the need for instructional support. This column discusses the implementation of a…

The researchers conducted an exploratory, qualitative case study to describe a combination of mathematics teaching strategies for a sixth-grade student with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder as he engaged with sixth-grade level mathematics. The interventions utilised in this study combined the use of visual representations with a variation…

Echoic, tact, and textual transfer procedures have been proven successful in establishing simple intraverbals (Braam and Poling "Applied Research in Mental Retardation," 4, 279-302, 1983; Luciano "Applied Research in Mental Retardation," 102, 346-357, 1986; Watkins et al. "The Analysis of Verbal Behavior," 7, 69-81,…

Individuals with developmental disabilities may fail to attend to multiple features in compound stimuli (e.g., arrays of pictures, letters within words) with detrimental effects on learning. Participants were 5 children with autism spectrum disorder who had low to intermediate accuracy scores (35% to 84%) on a computer-presented compound matching…