Icon Exchange:

The Basics

Distance & Persistence

• Everyone of us has seen the little kid in the grocery store tugging on their parent’s pant leg repeating, “I want candy! I want candy! I want candy!”

• We’ve also seen the tattletale at the park who’ll run across the entire playground just to tell mommy that brother climbed up the slide…

• Call us crazy, but the ultimate goal of phases 2-2F is to turn quiet kids into a combination of:– A) The relentlessly persistent communicator from the

supermarket and– B) The communicator from the park who is willing to travel in

order to talk

Persistence

• Persistence can be a necessary part of communication – Parents can’t devote their full attention to one child at all

times• Example: Dinner burning on the stove, phone ringing, and

two siblings running wildly around the kitchen.

• Little Sammie, who has autism, holds up his ‘bathroom’ icon to his busy mother juggling the kids and dinner

– Think Mommy’s gonna notice???

• Now if he is tugging at her pant leg & jabbing her with the icon, don’t you think she’s more apt to pay attention?

– Persistence= getting someone’s attention

DistanceDistance

• What if Sammie is struck by the urge to pee and his parents are not around?

– Like most children with autism, Sammie has to be taught to travel short distances in order to communicate

– In addition to being persistent, phases 2-2F also aim to teach this skill

Distance Training

• Runners build stamina for marathons, we build stamina for communication!

– Phases 2-2B gradually increase distance between child & tutor

– Phases 2C-2E increase distance from child to communication book

– Phase 2F increases distance from child to book to tutor Child Tutor

Book

Distance Training Cont.

• Whenever possible, 2 tutors should be used for phases 2-2F

• Students need to be able to discriminate “who’s got the goods”– If tutor 1 has the reinforcer, we want child to approach that

tutor (not tutor 2 who does not have reinforcer)

Even More Distance Training

• What if my child approaches the “wrong” tutor!? (tutor without reinforcer)– DO NOTGESTURALLY PROMPT child

• I.E.- Do NOT POINT to the “correct” tutor

• PHYSICALLY GUIDE child to “correct” tutor (tutor with reinforcer)

1. When we talk about “persistence” in communication, we mean:a. Getting someone’s attention in order to communicate with themb. Traveling short distances in order to communicate with someonec. Both a & b are correct

2. In the “distance” training phases of PECS, we are trying to:a. Prepare the child to run a marathon raceb. Teach the child to travel short distances in order to communicate

with someonec. None of the above

3. If child approaches the “wrong” tutor during distance training, that tutor should:

a. Physically guide the child to the “right” tutorb. Point to the “right” tutorc. Take the icon from the child & complete the trial

Pop Quiz

Phases 3-3A: Discrimination

• Goal of Phases 3-3A:– Child discriminates between icons of preferred & non-

preferred items• Number of icons used depends on phase

• The childs choosing of a non-preferred icon will result in a mildly aversive stimulus (non-preferred item)– If child chooses wrong (non-preferred) icon, use 4

step error correction– Make sure you have a non-preferred item before you

start the trial• i.e. do an assessment for a preferred and a

non preferred

Non-Preferred Items

• Assessing whether an item is non-preferred can be difficult– How to tell if item is non-preferred:

• Child pushes item away or drops item• Child does not engage/play with item for at least 15

seconds• Child does not attend to item at all

– Be sure you have child’s attention when you present item

Neutral Item

• If child uses item functionally, item is neutral

– Example: Give child tissue & they wipe their nose» Tissue is neutral because child used it

appropriately» Do NOT use a neutral item as a reinforcer!

Phases 3B-3C: Discrimination

• Goal of Phases 3B - 3C:– For the child to discriminate between multiple preferred

items• How do we do this?• CORRESPONDENCE CHECKS!

– Example: Child gives tutor ‘cookie’ icon– We want to make sure that child actually wants a cookie so we

hold out the cookie and another preferred item » This is the CORRESPONDENCE CHECK» Do NOT label item during correspondence check!!!

– If child takes the cookie, they really wanted the cookie– If they take the other preferred item (instead of the cookie),

then they aren’t discriminating between preferred icons» Use 4 step error correction

4. Name 2 things a child could do during a preference assessment that would indicate an item is non-preferred?

5. True or False: If you give your child a sock during a preference assessment and they put it on their foot, then sock is a non-preferred item?

6. True or False: If child uses an item functionally during a preference assessment (wipes nose with tissue), it is okay to use this item as a reinforcer?

7. True or False: You should label the item during the correspondence check?

Pop Quiz

4 Step Error Correction

• Phases 3 - 3C use 4 Step Error Correction – Used when child makes incorrect response

• Used in place of the prompt hierarchy

• 4 Step Error Correction consists of up to 3 complete cycles of:1. Model2. Practice3. Distract4. Repeat

STEP 1 MODEL• For phases 3-3C, if your child responds:

CORRECTLYo Lucky you, reinforce just as you normally would & move on to

the next trial!OR

INCORRECTLYo First, POINT to the correct correct with a gestural prompt

REMEMBER: This trial is the 1st of 10 INITIAL trials o Your child’s response (correct/incorrect) in the initial trial

determines whether you: Reinforce their behavior & move on to the next initial trial (correct

response) or go through the 4 step error correction (incorrect response)o 4 step error correction is NOT part of the initial trialo If you have to use 4 step error correction, it means your child

got the initial trial wrong

8. True or False: The child’s response in the ‘initial’ trial determines whether you reinforce their behavior & move on to the next trial, or go through 4 step error correction?

9. True or False: If you have to use 4 step error correction, it means your child got the initial trial wrong?

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STEP 2 PRACTICE• In step 1, you modeled the correct response for the child by

pointing to the icon they ‘should’ have chosen. Now, allow the child an opportunity to PRACTICE giving you the correct icon

• If the child performs the correct response during ‘practice’, proceed to step 3 of error correction– DO NOT PROVIDE CHILD WITH REINFORCER AT THIS TIME, EVEN

THOUGH THEY RESPONDED CORRECTLY» They already got the trial wrong… this is just PRACTICE

• If the child responds incorrectly during ‘practice’, go through prompt hierarchy– You already gesturally prompted the correct response during ‘model’

in step 1, so now use a partial physical prompt » DO NOT PROVIDE CHILD WITH REINFORCER AT THIS TIME, EVEN

IF THEY RESPOND CORRECTLY» If the child still doesn’t respond correctly, full physically prompt

the correct response

STEP 3 DISTRACT

• In steps 1 & 2, you modeled the correct response for your child & then allowed them an opportunity to practice the correct response

• Now you need to briefly distract the child before moving on to step 4– Flip over the communication book so it is face

down, and do an ELO

STEP 4 REPEAT• Step 4 provides student with an opportunity to respond

independently (without prompts) & receive a reinforcer– If child responds correctly, give reinforcer!– If child responds incorrectly, go through 4 step error correction

again

4 step error correction cycle can be repeated up to a total of 3 times if necessary • If you complete 2 full cycles of the 4 step error correction and the

child still has not responded correctly, remove the incorrect icon and do the 4 step once more so the child cannot respond incorrectly, and we do not punish their responding

Step 4 Cont.

• Note: If you do 3 consecutive initial trials & have to go through the maximum 3 full cycles of 4 step error correction each time, STOP THE PROCEDURE & GET IT CODED!

– This means in 3 trials, you would’ve gone through a total of 9 cycles of 4 step error correction (3 full cycles for each of 3 initial trials)

Taking data on the 4 Step Error Correction

• Only take data on initial 10 trials of procedure– Should only be 10 “+/-” marks on data sheet at end of

procedure– Do not take data on any part of 4 step error correction!

• 4 step error correction is not part of INITIAL trial; it is a corrective procedure

– If child responds incorrectly on initial trial, mark it as wrong • Begin 4 step error correction

– Child may respond correctly sometime during 4 step error correction, but initial trial was still wrong (you’ve already taken data for this trial!)

» DO NOT TAKE DATA ON ANY PART OF 4 STEP ERROR CORRECTION!

10. How many times can you complete the full cycle of 4 step error correction in 1 trial (if necessary)?

11. How many “+/-” marks should you have when you finish running PECS?

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4 Step Error Correction in the Flesh

Phases 4 – 4G

• Goal of Phases 4 - 4G:– Child uses “sentence” to request items

• Child will use “I want” icon & sentence strip for first time in phase 4

– We use backwards chaining to teach using a sentence

• Tutor will ask child “What do you want?” and prompt child to put chosen icon on the sentence strip

• Note: “I Want” icon is already on strip

– Once the icon is on the strip prompt the child to hand over the whole sentence strip

• Length of delay is phase specific for asking “what do you want”

Phases 5 – 5B

• DO NOT START PHASE 5 WITHOUT CARMEN’S APPROVAL!– Not all children proceed to these phases

• These phases teach the child ‘tacting’ (labeling items)– All phases before taught ‘manding’ (requesting

items)

• Child will use “I see” icon instead of “I want”• Hold up non-preferred/neutral items for child

to identify

Phase 6 – 6A

• This phase switches back and forth between asking “what do you see”, and “what do you want”– Start generalizing both around the

classroom