Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who have limited speech are often taught to communicate using a speech‐generating device (SGD). We evaluated procedures for teaching a mand for information (i.e., Where is [item]?) using an interrupted behavior chain procedure. In Experiment 1, all participants (3 children with ASD who communicated using an SGD) acquired the target mand but transfer to a novel stimulus did not occur. In the second experiment, 2 participants were taught to approach alternative communication partners when the first partner did not provide the information. The second experiment also included procedures to test whether the responses were under the control of appropriate motivating operations (MOs). Generalization across communication partners occurred with both participants, but transfer across behavior chains with only 1 participant. The results of both experiments suggest that teaching multiple behavior chains and evaluating MO control may be necessary to establish generalized manding for information.
We identified and analyzed studies that were aimed at teaching children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) manding skills using behavior chain interruption strategies. A systematic search of databases, reference lists, and journals identified 15 studies that met the inclusion criteria. Included studies were then summarized in terms of (a) participant characteristics, (b) dependent variables, (c) type of behavior chain interruption strategies used, (d) prompting procedures, (e) communication modality, (f) research design, (g) results, and (h) certainty of evidence. The most commonly used type of behavior chain interruption strategy was the missing item format. All of the studies used systematic prompting and fading procedures, most commonly modeling and time delay. All of the included studies reported gains in targeted communication skills. Results suggest that behavior chain interruption strategies can be effective for teaching manding skills to individuals with ASD. Implications for practitioners and suggestions for future research are discussed.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.