Evidence shows that when children are able to ask for what they want and need, problem behavior is significantly reduced. This workshop will demonstrate how incorporating B. F. Skinner’s analysis of verbal behavior, as well as an understanding of how to capture & contrive motivation, promotes the development of functional communication. Specifically, parents & caregivers will be given the following:

• The technical definition of “positive reinforcement” & strategies for identifying their child’s reinforcers
• An explanation of components of language
• Criteria for determining if a child would benefit from an augmentative communication system
• Guidelines for selecting first words
• Teaching, prompting, and error-correction procedures to be utilized when conducting “mand” training