Three language-delayed autistic children (6-11 years old) were taught expressive use of prepositions to describe the location of preferred edibles and toys. Traditional highly structured training and incidental teaching procedures were used in a classroom setting, and generalization was assessed during free-play sessions. Results clearly indicated…

Successful inclusion is facilitated when children with autism fit in and interact in meaningful ways with their typical peers. However, deficits in conversational language likely limit the social attractiveness of children with autism to their classmates. This study evaluated an incidental teaching approach to promoting use of age-appropriate…

Two autistic children (5 and 13 years old) acquired functional sight-word reading skills in a play activity. Ss gained access to preferred toys by selecting toy labels in tasks requiring increasingly complex visual discriminations. Ss showed comprehension on probes requiring reading skills to locate toys stored in labeled boxes. (Author/CL)

Three typical preschoolers were trained as peer tutors for three young children with autism. Tutors used incidental teaching to obtain verbal labels of preferred toys by children with autism. Adult supervision and assistance were faded systematically with resulting maintenance of increased reciprocal interactions. (Author/JDD)

This article describes the Walden Toddler Program, a comprehensive early intervention model designed to be used for toddlers with autism in the natural environments of a child care center and children's homes. It reviews the program's philosophical foundations and describes key components of the model's incidental teaching. (Author/CR)