Teaching a Non-Verbal Preschool Student to Use a Modified Picture Exchange Communication System: Effects of Fading Prompts on Rate of Communication and Generalization to a Communication Board

Abstract

IntroductionTypical toddlers can use spoken language to communicate their wants. However, some children are non-verbal and do not have a functional mode of communication that is easily understood by those who can fulfill their wants. This type of condition can be found across a wide range of ranging from todlers who have autism to those who deaf. As a result, these children can resort to behaviors that they do know how to perform that have worked in the past to communicate and gain attention from people. These behaviors can include, but are not limited to: crying, screaming, and refusals. Many times, these behaviors are understood as problematic rather than communicative in nature, and thus become subjects of behavior interventions to eliminate the behavior (Olney, 2001). Some alternative modes of communication for these non-verbal children are sign language, picture