Teaching mands for actions to children with autism spectrum disorder using systematic instruction, behavior chain interruption, and a speech-generating device

Objective: Evaluate the use of procedures to teach three nonvocal children with autism spectrum disorder to use a speech-generating device to mand for actions. Method: A multiple probe across participants design was used to evaluate the effectiveness systematic instruction and the use of a behavior chain interruption. Results: All three participants acquired the target mand. However, generalization to an untrained item only occurred for one participant. Conclusion: Results suggest that mands for actions expressed with a speech-generating device can be taught to children with autism spectrum disorder using systematic instruction and behavior chain interruption strategies.