Mand training is often a primary focus in early language instruction and typically includes mands that are positively reinforced. However, mands maintained by negative reinforcement are also important skills to teach. These include mands to escape aversive demands or unwanted items. Another type of negatively reinforced mand important to teach…

The advantages of emphasizing discrete trials "teaching" over discrete trials "training" are presented first, followed by a discussion of discrete trials as a method of teaching that emerged historically--and as a matter of necessity for difficult learners such as those with autism--from discrete trials as a method for laboratory research. The…

Prompting, positive and negative reinforcement, and a gradually extended reinforcement schedule were used with three autistic clients (two six-year-olds and one adolescent) to teach them to maintain on-task behaviors without constant supervision. Results indicated that appropriate behavior could be successfully maintained with only infrequent and…