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.

Notes:

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

Differentiate yes/no request vs. yes/no label

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.