S.

Saradha priyadarshini
Assistant Professor
NIEPMD, Chennai.
 Teaching approaches are often a core feature of the overall
treatment plan for children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder
(ASD). A wide range of approaches is available to support the
teaching and learning process for them and there are no conclusive
studies showing that one approach is better than another. Also, a
single approach will not be successful for teaching all students,
because, students’ needs change over time which makes necessary
for parents and teachers to try other approaches too.
All children does not respond the same way to the same
treatment, and children have individual learning styles,
strengths, and challenges. Therefore they have to look at all
of the approaches and decide on what strategy, or
combination of strategies best fit their child . Some of the
important teaching approaches that have proved successful
for teachers working with children autism are described
below
 Behavioural Approach – LOVAAS, ABA, DTT,
VBA
 Developmental Approach – Floor time,
Montessori
 Structure & Visual Supports
 Naturalistic Approach – Pivotal Response
Training
 Ecletic Approach
Structured teaching via the TEACCH (Treatment and
Education of Autistic and related Communication handicapped
Children) method is a clinical, training, and research program
based at the University of North Carolina – Chapel
Hill. TEACCH, developed by Drs. Eric Schopler and
Robert Reichler in the 1960s, was established as a statewide
program by the North Carolina legislature in 1972, and has
become a model for other programs around the world.
Autistic individuals often have difficulty with receptive
and expressive language, sequential memory, and
handling changes in their environment. The TEACCH
method provides the individual with structure and
organization. This method relies on five basic principles
namely,
 Physical Structure

Physical structure refers to the actual layout or

surroundings of a person's environment, such as a
classroom, home, or group home. The physical
boundaries are clearly defined and usually include
activities like: work, play, snack, music, and
transitioning.
 Individualized schedules

Individualized schedule or planner indicates what the

person is supposed to do and when it is supposed to happen.
The person's entire day, week, and month, is clearly shown
to the person through words, photographs, drawings, or
whatever medium is easiest for the person to comprehend.
 Work system
The work system tells the person what is expected of
him/her during an activity, how much is supposed to be
accomplished, and what happens after the activity is
completed. The goal is to teach the person to work
independently. The work system is also organized in such
a way that the person has little or no difficulty figuring out
what to do. For example, the activity or task should be
performed from top to bottom and from left to right.
 Routine

According to the TEACCH method, the most functional

skill for autistic individuals is a routine which involves
checking one's schedule and following the established
work system. This routine can then be used throughout the
person's lifetime and in multiple situations.
 Visual structure
Visual structure refers to visually-based cues regarding
organization, clarification, and instructions to assist the
person in understanding what is expected of him/her. For
example, a visual structure may involve using coloured
containers to assist the person in sorting coloured materials
into various groups or displaying an example of a stamped
envelope when the person is asked to place stamps on
envelopes.
PECS was developed in 1984 by Lori Frost, MS, CCC/SLP

and Dr. Andrew Bondy. Picture Exchange Communications

System (PECS) is a program which teaches children and

adults with autism and other communication deficits to

initiate communication. People using PECS are taught to

approach another person and give them a picture of a

desired item in exchange for that item.

By doing so, the person is able to initiate communication. A

child or adult with autism can use PECS to communicate a

request, a thought, or anything that can reasonably be

displayed or symbolized on a picture card. PECS works

well in the home or in the classroom. There are various

phases of PECS.
  Phase I: How to communicate
The child with autism learns to exchange single pictures for items or
activities they really want.
 Phase II: Distance and Persistence
Still using single pictures, the child with autism learn to generalize this new
skill by using it in different places, with different people and across
distances. They are also taught to be more persistent communicators.
 Phase III: Picture Discrimination
The child with autism learns to select from two or more pictures to ask for
their favourite things. These are placed in a communication book, a ring
binder with Velcro strips where pictures are stored and easily removed for
communication.
  Phase IV: Sentence Structure
The child with autism learns to construct simple sentences on a
detachable sentence strip using an "I want" picture followed by a picture
of the item being requested
 Phase V: Answering Questions
The child with autism learns to use PECS to answer the question, "What
do you want?"
 Phase VI: Commenting
The child with autism is taught to comment in response to questions
such as, what do you see? What do you hear? And what is it? They learn
to make up sentences starting with I see, I hear, I feel, It is a, etc.
Pivotal response treatment was developed in the 1970s by
educational psychologists Robert Koegel, Ph.D., and Lynn
Kern Koegel, Ph.D., at the University of California, Santa
Barbara. Pivotal Response Treatment (PRT) is derived from
applied behavioral analysis (ABA). This treatment is play
based and child initiated. Its goals include the development
of communication, language and positive social behaviors
and relief from disruptive self-stimulatory behaviors.
Rather than target individual behaviors, the PRT therapist

targets “pivotal” areas of a child's development. These include

motivation, response to multiple cues, self-management and

the initiation of social interactions. The philosophy is that, by

targeting these critical areas, PRT will produce broad

improvements across other areas of sociability,

communication, behavior and academic skill building.

Motivation strategies are an important part of the PRT

approach. These emphasize “natural” reinforcement. For

example, if a child makes a meaningful attempt to request,

say, a toy elephant, the reward is the toy elephant – not a

candy or other unrelated reward.

The Developmental, Individual Difference, Relationship-Based
Model of Intervention (DIR) developed by the late Dr. Stanley
Greenspan provides a developmental framework for
interdisciplinary assessment and intervention for autism
spectrum and related disorders. It is a comprehensive foundation
model that utilizes affect-based interactions and experiences
tailored to individual needs to promote development. Floor time
meets children where they are and builds upon their strengths
and abilities through creating a warm relationship and
interacting.
Frequently children with special needs are challenged
by neurobiological factors, which make it difficult to
participate and enjoy early emotional interactions
with their parents. These shared interactions between
parent and child that are meaningful, positive and
pleasurable create the foundation necessary for all
development.
The DIR Floortime model training supports parents in
their natural and pivotal partnership with their child –
promoting their development across a wide range,
including regulation, joint attention, communication and
language, motor skills, cognition, ideation and execution,
and social problem-solving. The “Floortime Model”
essentially means joining the child where they are,
revisiting previously missed growth opportunities and
moving forward.
Discrete Trial Training (DTT) is a method of teaching in
simplified and structured steps. Instead of teaching an
entire skill in one go, the skill is broken down and “built-
up” using discrete trials that teach each step one at a time
(Smith, 2001).
The Basic Concept
It might be helpful to initially think of DTT as a series of
“teaching attempts” with each “attempt” called a “discrete
trial” or sometimes just a “trial”. As an example, say we’re
teaching a child, to learn to identify the colours red and
blue by asking her to point to red or blue cards placed on
her desk. Each teaching attempt or “discrete trial” might
be scripted (structured) like this:
Discrete Trial One
 Teacher places one red and one blue card on the table
in front of the child
 The teacher then says “point to red”
 Child responds by pointing to the red card
 The teacher would say “That’s right! Great job!”
 There would be a very short pause before a new
discrete trial would begin
Discrete Trial Two
 Teacher places one red and one blue card on the table in
front of the child
 The teacher then says “point to blue”
 Child responds by pointing to the blue card
 The teacher would say “You’re right! That’s Brilliant!”
 There would be a very short pause before a new discrete
trial would begin
Within DTT, each trial has a very specific set of steps that
are clearly defined and scripted, and always need to be
followed. Clearly defined steps allow the teachers and
programme supervisors to identify what specific teaching
methods or “tactics” are working and which ones are not.
There are 5 parts to a discrete trial (e.g. Malott& Trojan-
Suarez, 2006; Smith, 2001). As it is helpful to show that
there are two possible consequences (parts 4 and 5 above)
and is needed to be clearly defined, the step is separated
into two, but it is usually regarded as just one part.
 Antecedent
The antecedent is the first part of the discrete trial and it
“sets up the response”.
 Prompts
Prompts are supplemental teaching aids and there are
numerous types that could be used.
 Response
The response, sometimes called the “target behaviour” or
“behaviour,” comes after both the antecedent and the
prompts.
 Consequence for Correct Responses: Reinforcement
Correct responses receive positive reinforcement which may
be in the form of verbal praise and/or through a token
economy or delivery of tangible reinforcers like chocolates.
The type and amount of reinforcement must also be defined
and adhered to as it can be an integral part of the success of
educational programmes. The amount or type of
reinforcement to be given is called a “Schedule of
Reinforcement”.
 Consequence for Incorrect Response: Correction
If the child has given an incorrect response, the teacher
says “No,” looks away, removes teaching materials, or
otherwise signals that the response was incorrect’
 Inter-Trial Interval
The inter-trial interval comes after the consequences,
whether correct or incorrect. As the name suggests, it is an
interval that comes between trials and signifies the ending
of that trial. It is not written out into the discrete trial
script as it is something that will always happen and does
not need to be defined unless there is a specific time
interval that needs to be followed for a certain
programme.