Increasing requests by adults with developmental disabilities using incidental teaching by peers

Area of Science:

• Behavioral Psychology
• Developmental Disabilities
• Autism Spectrum Disorder Interventions

Background:

• Individuals with moderate to severe intellectual disability or autism often face challenges in appropriate social communication.
• Effective teaching strategies are crucial for improving requesting skills in this population.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate a peer-delivered incidental-teaching procedure for enhancing appropriate requesting skills.
• To assess the maintenance of these skills after the withdrawal of training.

Main Methods:

• A peer-delivered incidental-teaching procedure was implemented with three pairs of group-home residents.
• Training focused on increasing appropriate requesting, prompting, and responding during meal preparation.
• Data were collected on incidental-teaching episodes, appropriate requests, and overall verbalizations.

Main Results:

• The number of incidental-teaching episodes increased significantly during training and remained elevated post-training.
• Peer learners demonstrated an increase in appropriate requests and overall verbalizations during the intervention.
• These improvements in requesting and verbalizations were maintained after training withdrawal.

Conclusions:

• Peer-delivered incidental teaching is an effective method for improving requesting and communication skills in adults with moderate to severe intellectual disability or autism.
• The learned skills show good generalization and maintenance, suggesting long-term benefits.
• This approach offers a practical and sustainable intervention strategy for supported living environments.