Abstract:
Brief functional analysis methodology was applied to the assessment of emerging language in children with an autistic spectrum disorder. The aim was to investigate how effectively shortened language assessments could identify the functions of verbal behaviour, and how results could be used to inform the development of language teaching programmes. Participants were five children between the ages of five and ten, who were diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. Participants had limited verbal language, but could reliably emit at least one vocal response. During the assessment, the rate of target responding for each participant was compared across conditions aligned with each of Skinner’s (1957) main verbal operants – the mand, tact, intraverbal and echoic. Assessment results showed that brief functional analyses were able to identify at least one function of the target response for each participant. Based on assessment findings, individual teaching programmes were developed for each participant. Teaching sessions involved training the use of the target response under novel maintaining conditions associated with a different verbal operant. Teaching results showed increases in target responding for four participants, which persisted in follow up sessions. These results suggest that brief functional analysis can provide sufficient information on emerging language, from which to select and develop individualised language teaching strategies. The implications of brief language assessments for teachers and clinicians are discussed, as well as possible future research on implementing functional analyses of language.