1.
Behavioural
Classification of Language
Carbone’s work is based on Skinner’s work
“Verbal Behaviour”, published in 1957. This was a seminal work that Skinner
started researching and writing in the 20s. He took notes for almost 30 years.
Sadly, mainly because Chomsky wrote a scathing commentary on it, it has not
been used much. A revival and great interest is now occurring in the field of
ABA, especially in the US, since Sundberg and Partington wrote their manual on
Verbal Behaviour in 1998. They, like Dr Carbone, were students of Dr Jack
Michael based at Western Michigan University. Sadly, many current ABA programmes
ignore this area of work, but we really do need to switch to language paradigms
to help teach children with autism use language effectively (either spoken or
sign).
The operants devised by Skinner (MANDs,
TACTs, Echoics, Intraverbals, TEXTUAL (written text) and RFFC) are important
because they are based on the speaker’s point of view rather than the hearer.
So, a MAND is highly motivating for a child not normally motivated to speak,
because they will GET something! Whereas, an RFFC, e.g. the tutor asks the
child to point to an animal, has no benefit for the child, other than social
praise. This is why Carbone emphasises MAND training. Many ABA programmes in
the past (ours included) have emphasised labels. So a child will be asked to
“touch the crescent moon” but cannot ask for milk!
First we teach MANDs and then TACTs of things
she MANDs for. Then we take pictures of the items she TACTs. Think of what
child needs for everyday life. Then RFFC and carrier phrases on those.
Intraverbals introduced quickly, and all operants are worked on once child has
a basic set of each kind.
2.
MANDs
MANDS are important because:
- The child is highly motivated to do MANDs (they get something, compared with RFFC, which only benefits the speaker);
- They encourage spontaneous speech, because with a MAND the child initiates the communication, rather than responding to an SD;
- MANDs, together with intraverbals, form the basis of conversation. For example, “how are you? Where did you go last night?” (MAND for information. Response: “I went to the cinema” (Intraverbal). This is how conversation works;
- A child who is not really proficient on MANDing and Intraverbal repertoires will never be able to have a conversation;
- A child who cannot MAND in a more sophisticated way for information cannot have a conversation with a peer.
- Note that most MAND training is done in the natural environment and not at the table.
3.
Reinforcers
You cannot change what reinforces a child – don’t try it! Work with what she likes instead, and pair yourself with the Reinforcer. It needs to be FUN.
Remember there are 3 types of Reinforcer:
1. Socially mediated positive e.g. I get nice things
2. Socially mediated negative e.g. I want to get away
3. Automatic positive e.g. self-stimulatory.
These can compete with each other, for example, a child could self-stim rather than pay attention to the video. The tutor needs to keep the Barney video (or whatever video he is using) going strong relative to types (2) and (3).
Remember also that bad things increase value of escape. Don’t let child fail – prompt rather than using No, No, Fail.
Remember mass trialling can cause boredom. We are not attracted to boring as human beings! Would you go to the boring-looking individual at a party and think, “wow, I must go and talk with that person!” – no!
4.
Length of
Utterance
In the Sundberg and
Partington model of ABA, you teach nouns first, then verbs and then adjectives.
Build up, so “It’s Baby Bop”, then“Baby Bop is running”. Then, “The small,
green Baby Bop is running”. Mix across stimuli, use pace and variety, don’t
itemise each taught thing – child needs to mix and match to produce ever-longer
utterances, to build her own language structures.
5.
Fluency
Every response must
be strong, loud, fast. A child asking another kid’s name in the playground
won’t hang around for 5 seconds before they respond! Allow max 2 seconds wait
time on mastered items. Also, research has shown that if an item is taught with
fluency there is less chance of the child forgetting it.
6.
RFFC (Receptive
by Function, Feature, Class)
7.
INTRAVERBALS
(see also section above on MANDs)
Teach visually first
“name 3 colours” and point prompt, gradually removing one. Keep the items same
order in the list. Soon the child will be able to add other than the 3 she was
taught. Remember matching is not a pre-requisite at all. It’s a different
skill.
NOTE: don’t be in
a rush to teach yes/no. It
is complex; it works in different ways:
·
Yes as a MAND:
e.g. “yes” ..(I want that car)
·
Yes as a TACT:
e.g. “yes” ..(it’s a book)
·
Yes as an
Intraverbal: e.g. “yes” ..(I can read a book)
These are taught
differently. E.g. Yes / No as a MAND is taught by setting up a highly
reinforcing activity e.g. for Brittany she loved the shower, they would ask,
“do you want to come out?” and prompt “no”. Conversely, they would ask, “do you
want to go back in?” and prompt “yes”. Brittany got this really quickly and it
was soon generalised to other MANDs.
To teach “what is
it?”: put down octopus,
lizard, crustacean….Tutor models, “what is this?” Then say, “your turn” to the
child and she asks “what is this?” and points to a picture.
To teach “what’s
in there?” Set u some toys
in a container / bag and model / prompt the question.
Must contrive motivation for teaching these wh questions. These techniques are reinforcing in themselves, whereas asking “what’s the boy doing?” probably wouldn’t be.
To teach
why/because: don’t ask why
is the boy up the tree type of stuff as this is not usually that reinforcing to
the child. Initially they are very egocentric. Do something silly and prompt,
“why did you do that?” Respond “I wanted to see if you would notice” or
something like that. Build in a reinforcer, e.g. hang a Barney toy on the lamp
and they get the Barney toy when they initiate the question. Motivation when
something is odd and unobtainable is good. For example, put a shoe on a plate
and prompt, “why is that there?” Turn off the television and look, prompting,
“why did you do that?” The reinforcer can be switching the TV back on. Thus talking
produces something tangible for the child.
To teach how: Use noisy cause-and-effect toys. Tutor makes
it do something, prompt child to ask, “how did you do that?” you need lots of
toys for this. Then go into the kitchen and try things out. Build the child’s
sense of curiosity. They need motivation to ask questions. Fade prompts – full
prompt, then “how”, then “h”. Also try putting a reinforcer into a container
the child cannot open. Prompt “how do you open this?” Needs lots of containers.
To teach where: hide things and prompt question. Evie is
already pretty strong on this, but we can ensure she can mix it in with new
“wh” questions we teach.
To teach which: Put Reinforcer in hand, swap, ask, “which
hand?” Or put under a cup and prompt, “which cup?”
8.
ECHOIC
9.
Natural
Environment
There is a greater likelihood the child will talk during a natural environment than during a “drill” type situation, hence why so much time is spent on natural environment training, especially paired with MANDs. Some kids grow to hate stimuli especially pictures, so don’t use them. Use the natural environment. Use what is reinforcing. Videos etc are great for Intraverbals e.g. asking “wh” questions, such as “what is that?”, “what does a tugboat float on?”, “what’s the tugboat’s name?”, “what’s he playing?”, “how do you play a harmonica?”, “what did he sit down on?”, “what’s that?”, “what sound does a bird make?” It’s all around a conversation piece, for example, the video. It’s just like leaving a coffee table book around to help people start to chat to each other!
10. Eye Contact
Generally speaking,
eye contact is not taught or required. We tend to get it because we start with
MANDing and working with paired Reinforcers, and the child naturally looks.
This is much preferable to forcing looking. It will then become a
punisher. In general, you pay attention
to people who hold Reinforcers! So, we require eye contact, but through a
natural process.
11. Non-Compliance and Problems
Screaming: put on extinction, use count-to-5 procedure, turning your back away and counting visibly on your fingers. So the child learns screaming gets me nothing. When child quiet, teach how to MAND.