Making the Leap from Words to Sentences – Getting to the Intraverbal

Autism Spectrum Disorder is typified by lack of language skills development.   Very often children/students with this diagnosis are able to learn to communicate, but many do not make the leap from receptive and even expressive labeling to social conversation.  This workshop will address how to help students develop this skill, also known as development of intraverbal language,  through systematic teaching which can be done in both home and school settings.  Specifically the following will be addressed:

• What prerequisite skills are needed before you can begin teaching intraverbals
• The importance of categorization and the part it plays in learning intraverbal skills
• How to use matching/sorting as a teaching technique
• Introduction to Relational Frame Theory 

In order to get the most from this workshop, a working knowledge of B.F. Skinner’s analysis of verbal behavior is helpful.