Teaching verbal behavior change to a 3-year-old boy diagnosed with autism is challenging. Consequently, a behavior change procedure that uses discrete trial training (DTT) is applied. According to Sam (2016), DTT breaks down one skill at a time and imparts it to the child, moving on to the next skill only after the child masters it. Specifically, mand, echoic, and tact are in use within the behavior change procedure.
A banana will be the word in use in the behavior change procedure. Hariharan, Padmaja, & Rana (2018) argue that c hildren living with autism have a low attention span. It is, therefore, prudent to get words that pique their interest. Banana is one such world since it is an edible fruit. The assumption here is that the child is aware that the banana is sweet, but does not know its name.
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The first step is to hold up the banana in front of the boy: teaching as a tact. Teaching as a tact first tries to find out what the child thinks an object is. If they find it to be wrong, then this is the point of correcting the child. It is mixed with teaching as a mand because, in this way, a child gets rewarded for getting it right (Ward, & Shukla Mehta, 2019) . Upon seeing the banana, the boy might say “cake.” The teacher should then correct the boy by saying, “banana.” At this point, the correction is then followed by teaching as echoic. For echoic, the child echoes what is said by the other person several times (Löhr, & Gil, 2015) . With the teacher saying “banana,” the boy will repeat the word “banana” many times. It should not, however, be for too long, and under a minute is sufficient. Eventually, mand comes in as the child gets the banana, which is a consequence of getting the world right. The consequence acts as a reinforcement, and they will be able to identify the banana even at home.
References
Hariharan, M., Padmaja, G., & Rana, S. (2018). Neurofeedback as an Effective Intervention for Academic Performance in Children with Problems in Attention and Concentration. In Psychosocial Interventions for Health and Well-Being (pp. 145-156). Springer, New Delhi.
Löhr, T., & Gil, M. S. C. D. A. (2015). Learning by playing: echo and tact in expanding the verbal repertoire of infants. Paidéia (Ribeirão Preto) , 25 (60), 77-84.
Sam, A. (2016). Discrete Trial Training (DTT). EBP Brief Packet. National Professional Development Center on Autism Spectrum Disorders .
Ward, K. D., & Shukla, Mehta, S. (2019). The Use of a Stimulus Control Transfer Procedure to Teach Motivation-Controlled Mands to Children With Autism. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities , 1088357619838273.
