Phase
VI – Responsive and Spontaneous Commenting
Objective:
The
student expands communicative functions to include commenting, expression of
feelings, likes and dislikes, etc.
Preparing
for Phase VI:
|
create
pictures for “I see”, “I like”, “I feel”, etc. |
|
reinforcers
should match the communicative act (i.e., tangibles for requests and social
responses for comments) |
|
use
the pictures when you communicate with the student to model how to use them
for these expanded functions (you can either use the sentence strip or point
to the pictures) |
|
colour
coding may be helpful at this stage |
Training
Procedure:
|
create
opportunities for commenting during naturally occurring activities |
|
for
example, during snack time, you could make a comment “mmmm, I like
cookies” (using the child’s pictures), “What do you like?” |
|
another
example could be “I feel happy”, “How do you feel?” |
|
at
the end of this phase, the student may be ready to start pointing to the
pictures; however, the student needs to bring the communication book/board
to his/her communication partner while pointing so the person-to-person
interaction is still occurring |
Colour/Size/Location
Concepts
|
the
student should learn to use these concepts in communicative functions within
his/her current repertoire (i.e., rather than just saying “I want the
ball”, the child can add “I want the red ball” or “I want the
big ball” or “I want the big red ball”) |
|
this
can be taught in a more structured format as well as within natural contexts |
|
the
student learns to answer both “Do you want______?” and “Is this a
_____?” questions |
|
remember,
the reinforcers for the “Do you want” questions should be tangible and
the reinforcers for the “Is this a” questions should be social |
References:
Frost,
L., and Bondy, A. (1994). The picture exchange communication system: Training
manual. Pyramid Educational Consultants, Cherry Hill, N.J.
