The primary purpose of this study was to evaluate the generalization of mands during functional communication training (FCT) and sign language training across functional contexts (i.e., positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement). A secondary purpose was to evaluate a training procedure based on stimulus control to teach manual signs. During…

Six autistic children were trained to use their sign repertoire to make spontaneous requests of adults. Training consisted of imitative prompting, fading, and differential reinforcement, with aspects of incidental teaching. Ss displayed increased rate and variety of spontaneous sign requests and generalization of spontaneity across different…

A program to involve institutional staff in developing manual sign language skills with six profoundly retarded persons was evaluated. Results indicated that all participating residents learned to communicate with signing during structured interactions on their living unit and the skills maintained during follow-up assessments ranging from 39 to…

The study assessed effects of a transfer of stimulus control procedure on acquisition and cross-setting generalization of manual signs with four profoundly retarded young adults. Results showed that individuals acquired the trained signs and maintenance and generalization across settings and persons occurred but was highly variable between and…

Four nonverbal autistic children (10-15 years old) were taught expressive sign labels for common objects, using a training procedure that consisted of prompting, fading, and stimulus rotation. (Author/BD)