Autism is a neural developmental disorder witnessed in infants and children. The condition may develop during pregnancy, but the symptoms become evident as early as from six months of life although most parents and physicians notice it at the age of two or three years. At this age, the child is expected to exhibit some social interaction and communication skills, but autistic children do not. Autistic children also keep repeating some behavior. In this state, their cognitive skills prove to be relatively poor and therefore require special education techniques that differ from other children.
The most common education techniques for these children are the Discrete Trial Training and naturalistic environment teaching. These two forms of training differ in various aspects including methods, and effectiveness. The differences are a point of interest for many researchers and stakeholders interested in the education and development of autistic children.
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Discrete Trial Training
Discrete Trial Training, abbreviated as DTT is an instructional method that involves passing information and skills in small bits that are simplified and follow laid out procedures and steps. The small steps are the trials while the discreteness is associated with the simplicity and structural aspects of the instructional process. It is systematically organized and could be considered the formal education system for learners with autism.
The instructor needs to document the procedure of instruction and ensure that they strictly adhere to the script for efficiency and evaluation. It is mainly conducted by trained personnel and in a classroom setting ( Young, 2012) . However, it is also applicable in a home situation.
In this method, the instructor breaks down the content into small units, teaching each at a time and only goes to the next item once they have confirmed that the learner has grasped the concept, after passing the trial phase ( Young, 2012) . It involves a lot of repetition to meet the competency of the special learner, which due to the condition, it is substantially low.
DTT happens in three phases the first one being the identification of a stimulus that shall evoke a response from the learner (Young, 2012) . For example, an instructor could ask the learner to look at the object he is holding, maybe a set of toys. Once the learner looks at the direction of the teacher, then it said that he or she has responded. From then, the instructor may evoke a further response by asking the learner to identify a model of a motor vehicle from the collection of toys.
The instructor could ask the learner to pick an ambulance. If the learner picks the right toy, the teacher gives reinforcement by congratulating the learner with a ‘well done' kind of message. If the answer is wrong, the instructor goes ahead to provide an idea to the learner by pointing at the correct answer, and the learner picks on it. Once this is done, the tutor again is supposed to reinforce and motivate the learner by congratulating them. After a while, the teacher may present only two models of vehicles and as the learner to identify the ambulance once again.
This teaching strategy has been found to be useful as learners can learn a lot of skills and content outside their usual environment. The exposure boosts their socialization skills as they can identify the world their common background. It is however costly and engaging to the learner.
Naturalistic Environment Teaching
Naturalistic Environment Teaching (NET) on the other hand is less formal and occurs in the immediate environment of the learner. The content of the study is drawn from the naturally occurring environment of the learner especially objects, skills, and concepts that they interact from time to time ( Ingersoll 2010) . The learner is expected to apply the academic content in the immediate context as well.
Unlike DTT, NET does not emphasize the formal planning and documentation. It is therefore applicable from home, and a parent, guardian, caregiver or any other adult could do it. It does not emphasize any assessments like DTT although it is repetitive as well. For NET, the tutor shall use locally available materials to create content in a context of the typical day to day life of the child ( Ingersoll 2010) . For this case, the tutor adjusts to the lifestyle of the learner and has to fully identify with the environment so that he clicks with the child.
For example, the tutor may be forced by circumstances to become the learner’s playmate and in the process of the play passes some knowledge. They may engage in a video game or the game of building blocks. In the course of the play, the tutor may teach the child on simple etiquette, for example, using polite words like thank you whenever he receives something from another person. The child is likely to emulate the tutor and with time shall pick the behavior, which turns out to be an essential aspect of social relations.
The effectiveness of DTT and NET
In both methods, there is a high possibility of the autistic learner gaining some cognitive skills. However, the performance of each may vary due to different factors. Some of these factors include; the cognitive capability of the learner, the relationship between the learner and the tutor, the prowess of the tutor in using the method, the social context for the learning, and the general learning environment.
Though autistic, a learner may be able to grasp some content through repetition and consistent reinforcement. For this condition, DTT would work best especially in the case where the teacher is a trained education profession ( Young 2012) . A layperson may lack the reinforcement skills or even the will to keep repeating a concept to the learner.
Also, the learner could be clicking well with particular persons and not with others. Bearing in mind that the autistic learners have a problem with social skills, they may be unable to form formidable relationships with particular persons, and no matter how professional they might be at teaching even the autistic learners, if the attitude remains constantly negative, there is a high possibility of the learning sessions being futile. For example, a child may be very close with the mother and may fail to entertain anyone else. In such a case, the best option is having the mother teach the child through NET. Alternatively, a tutor may also apply specific criteria of teaching and develop a good relationship with the learner but the fact that they cannot relate with anything outside their homes, the teacher may be forced to apply NET ( Young 2012) .
In other cases, the environment around a child also determines the teaching method to apply. For instance, a child from a quiet home with no toys or materials that can be used as teaching aids for NET may be forced to apply DTT ( Kassardjian et al., Jun 2013). On the other hand, a child who cannot access DTT may be forced to use the NET method.
Literature Review
In light of the factors discussed above, researchers have ventured into establishing the most effective method of teaching autistic children. Some have argued for DTT while others have defended NET. Those that argue for DTT claim that it helps the learner get exposure to a lot of things outside their environment while the NET is only centered on the environment of the child ( Fazzio, 2008) . They also cite instances of the tutor being able to identify the areas of significant weaknesses since it comprehensively evaluates the potential of the child in getting all skills.
Researchers that support NET, on the other hand, try to consider the relatively low cognitive potential of the autistic child, claiming that they should not be bombarded with a lot of unnecessary information and tutors should only stick to content that is directly applicable to the lives of the learners ( Kassardjian et al., Jun 2013) . Besides, researchers like Young (2012) cite the expensive costs of DTT as it requires additional resources into the environment of the learner although some are drawn from the natural environment of the learner.
This research shall engage in finding more about the effectiveness of DTT since to some point it incorporates NET, therefore, proving to be a better method than NET. The baseline is that when practicing DTT, not all content is drawn from a foreign environment and the learner could as well associate the elements of the unfamiliar environment with the local environment. The research seeks to find the major strengths of DTT and add to the volume of existing knowledge about the topic.
Proposed Research
This research shall go further to interrogate the effectiveness of either method in real life practice. The participants shall be a group of 12 autistic children between the age of three and eight years, with the consent of their parents. The group shall be split into two subgroups of 8 participants each. The first group shall have their caregivers trained on using NET to teach their children while the second group’s parents shall be recruited on the application of DTT. Findings shall be made and recorded for the 24 months after recruitment of the parents and the execution of the plans. At the expiry of the study period, an oral assessment involving a qualified teacher shall be conducted with the teacher asking basic questions from the expected content.
Summary
The debate about the most effective instructional method for autistic persons seems to be endless with each side citing strong propositions to support their standpoints. However, many lack the evidential and empirical support. Moreover, many parents and tutors are at crossroads on which method to apply and sometimes end up using both methods on a child resulting in confusing the child. In light of this, vast research on the topic would go a long way in determining which method between DTT and NET is the most effective since the existing literature is yet to provide a solution.
References
Fazzio, Daniela. (2008). Training tutors and parents to implement discrete-trials teaching with children diagnosed with autism University of Manitoba (Canada), ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, NR36260.
Ingersoll, Brooke R. (Jan 2010): Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions; Austin Vol. 12, Iss. 1, 33-43
Kassardjian, Alyne; et al. (Jun 2013): Education and Training in Autism and Developmental Disabilities; Arlington Vol. 48, Iss. 2, 245-257.
Young, Kristen L (2012). Evaluating a Self-Instructional Package on Discrete - Trials Teaching with Parents of Children with Autism University of Manitoba (Canada), ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, NR92448.
