Teaching Reciprocal Tacting to Children With Autism

Abstract

Expanding tact repertoires in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is often emphasized in early intensive behavioral intervention. While there are empirically validated teaching strategies for increasing tact repertoires in learners with ASD, strategies to support the use of acquired tacts within a shared social experience is an area that is less established. The current study employed a multiple probe design across participants to teach three children with ASD to identify and reciprocally label items as a response to tacts emitted by a social partner (i.e., reciprocal tacting) using discrete trial teaching. Reciprocal tacting with a social partner was observed across participants as a result of the teaching procedure. After training, all participants generalized the skill of tacting in a novel and naturalistic social experience.