Introduction to Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) Online Tutorial
	Module 7: DTT and Naturalistic Teaching Incidental Teaching Here’s an example of using incidental teaching: A parent sees her child looking at a dinosaur puzzle. She picks up the puzzle, and prompts her child to request the item by [the mother] saying, “Puzzle.” The child repeats “Puzzle” and the parent says, “Good asking for puzzle!” and gives the puzzle to the child. She and the child take all of the pieces out, and the parent holds on to several of the pieces. Similar to the prompt method above, she requires the child to say, “Dinosaur” to receive each piece. These prompts should eventually be faded over time. Over time, the child’s language could be expanded by prompting and requiring him to say, “I want dinosaur” or requesting dinosaurs by color (“Brown dinosaur” or “green dinosaur”). Other ways to use this dinosaur puzzle might be to: Count the dinosaur pieces. After the child has counted all of the dinosaurs, he gets to put them all in. Label the back of each dinosaur with its name. Work on learning letters by having the child identify one (or more) letters in the dinosaur's name before being handed each piece. It takes some quick and creative thinking on a teacher or parent’s part to use incidental teaching. What I do is keep in mind each child’s social, communication, and academic goals, and how these can be taught using a child’s favorite materials or special interests. According to the Texas Guide for Effective Teaching, benefits of Incidental Teaching for students with autism include: Teaching in a natural environment (such as the child’s home using favorite toys) is likely to promote generalization of skills, The child-directed nature of the intervention makes it enjoyable for the student, Social initiations (rather than just responses to adult questions) are targeted as part of the intervention, and It can easily be incorporated into a family or school daily routine. You can view the Texas Guide for Effective Teaching Section about Incidental Teaching including a summary and examples here: http://www.txautism.net/uploads/target/IncidentalTeaching.pdf. Please read this guide before continuing with the tutorial. References: Charlop-Christy, M. H., & Carpenter, M. H. (2000). Modified incidental teaching sessions: A procedure for parents to increase spontaneous speech in their children with autism. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 2, 98-112. McGee, G. G., & Daly, T. (2007). Incidental teaching of age-appropriate social phrases to children with autism. Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities, 32, 112-123. Next --> Pivotal Response Treatment (PRT)