Teaching the Use of a Multipage Direct Selection Communication Board to an Adult with Autism

Abstract

A 23-year-old adult with autism was taught to use a portable multipage direct select communication device. Prior to training, the learner had been reported to use several sign approximations perseveratively and out of context. Training procedures involved teaching the use of a generalized request symbol, a variety of object labels, a sequential searching strategy to locate the symbol(s) required to communicate a message, and the use of two-symbol requests. The learner requested and provided information during elicited generalization probes. He frequently was observed to request spontaneously but rarely self-initiated comments. A discussion of implications for future attempts to train the discriminative use of pragmatic language functions is included.