Human beings are social animals. Our well-being depends on having healthy relationships and interactions with other people. And the foundation of healthy relationships and interactions is communication. We express our feelings and thoughts through communication, both verbally and nonverbally, every day to interact with the people in our community.
Enhancing Communication Skills in Individuals with Autism: An ABA Approach
By Blain Hockridge
For people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), though, the communication that most of us take for granted may be extremely difficult. This challenge deprives them of a vital, enriching part of the human experience. Luckily, Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) has developed many empirically validated techniques to help those with autism communicate more effectively.
Verbal Behavior Training
Verbal Behavior Training involves connecting a person’s words with their purpose or “function.” It was developed by the behaviorist B.F. Skinner, who classified language into individual skills, or “operants.” The main operants include mands, echoics, and tacts.
Manding, or requesting, is the first skill taught in Verbal Behavior programs and one of the most important. The function of a mand is to obtain something that the learner wants, such as food or toys. A therapist or caregiver will contrive opportunities for the learner to vocally or gesturally (such as by pointing) indicate what they want, and then deliver that item to the learner. Manding is an essential skill, as it allows the learner to indicate what they want to others.
An echoic is simply the act of vocally imitating. Teaching this involves providing reinforcement for successfully repeating a sound or word that the teacher emits. This is a crucial skill to acquire for a learner, as imitating others is how we learn new sounds and words. Teaching echoics is often used in conjunction with teaching mands, by getting a learner to successfully repeat a word (such as “toy”) and then rewarding them when they say the word in the presence of the item that the word represents; in this case, by giving them the toy.
Tacting involves the learner labeling something in their environment to obtain a caregiver or peer’s attention. Tacting is usually taught by showing pictures or providing items to learners in their natural environment and then vocally praising them for successfully labeling the item.
Functional Communication Training
Related to Verbal Behavior Training is a method of teaching communication called Functional Communication Training (FCT). This involves replacing a learner’s undesirable behaviors, such as aggression, with functional communication skills to provide the learner with positive tools to achieve their wants and needs.
This is done primarily through a tactic called differential reinforcement, which is when a teacher ignores or redirects the learner’s undesirable behavior and then prompts a functionally equivalent communication skill. This can help reduce the frustration that can occur when a learner can’t communicate what they want. The communication skill can be vocal or involve Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC).
Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC)
Augmentative and Alternative Communication simply refers to various ways of communication that don’t involve vocal speech. AAC can be “no-tech,” “low-tech,” or “high-tech.” A “no-tech” AAC can include gesturing, signing, or facial expressions. These behaviors are “shaped” to reinforce successive approximations of the desired behavior. For example, moving a fist towards a desired item may be reinforced initially until a full finger point is required to obtain the item.
A “low-tech” AAC may use a Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS). PECS involves using a book or board containing pictures of items the learner must hand to a teacher or caregiver to obtain the desired item. A “high-tech” AAC may be a tablet that a learner can use to vocalize the desired speech when the appropriate button is pressed.
A whole world of possibilities opens up when we first learn to communicate. Suddenly, we have more control over our environment and no longer depend on others to determine what we want. While typically functioning people may take this ability for granted, for millions of people with autism, communication can be a real struggle. Luckily, with the help of Applied Behavior Analysis, increased awareness of autism, and caring psychologists and caregivers, these people can obtain the vital communication skills that provide a better and more enriching life.
