Strategies for Promoting Response Variability in the Verbal Behavior of Young Children with Autism

Language development and the ability to access reinforcement in young children with autism may be impeded by lack of behavioral variability in verbal behavior. In this presentation, I will present two studies recently completed at Utah State University on this topic. In the first study, we examined the effectiveness of extinction alone and extinction in combination with sequentially teaching three new mands on the mand variability of young children with autism. In the second study, we investigated the effects of simultaneously teaching multiple mand forms in combination with extinction on producing varied mands in young children with autism. When these procedures failed to produce sufficient variability, we developed and tested antecedent-based strategies for promoting varied manding. The results of these studies and their implications for early intensive behavioral interventions for young children with autism will be discussed.