Verbal Behavior and Communication Training

Abstract

Communication deficits are a defining characteristic of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Thus, it is not surprising that improving communication skills is the primary focus of virtually all early intervention programs for children with ASD. Many of the most effective teaching strategies for building language come from the field of applied behavior analysis (ABA). Applied behavior analysis-based intervention programs typically use well-established behavior-analytic teaching/intervention techniques such as positive reinforcement, shaping, prompting/prompt fading, chaining, extinction, imitation, modeling, and other behavioral procedures to teach communicative behavior to children with ASD. Skinner proposed a classification system organized into functional categories based on the different environmental conditions that control different types of language. Skinner outlined several primary categories of language that he termed "elementary verbal operants." Four of these, echoics, mands, tacts, and intraverbals, warrant particular discussion here because of their utility in assessing and teaching language to children with ASD. For example, mands are verbal behavior under the control of specific motivational variables (called motivating operations or MOs) and specific behavioral consequences. That is, mands are specific requests made by a speaker that produce desired outcomes. A primary reason for adopting Skinner's model of verbal behavior, rather than traditional linguistic structures, as a programming guide for intervention programs for children with autism is because there is some evidence of functional independence between the different types of verbal operants. Given the disconnect that is often present between children with autism and the social world, teaching manding may be a way of building an initial bridge across this social chasm and connecting the child with the social world. As will be seen in subsequent sections, mands can also be used to facilitate the acquisition of other forms of verbal behavior. Much of the research on Skinner's analysis of verbal behavior has focused on mand training. Because of its importance to early language training for children with autism, the research on mand training will be emphasized in this chapter. In the sections that follow, we will briefly describe general teaching techniques for establishing echoics, mands, tacts, and intraverbals and present some of the recent research on each. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved). (chapter)