Naturalistic Teaching Methods

In the past, a communication intervention often meant placing a child in a separate therapy room and using drill-and-practice techniques to teach specific responses to questions or statements. Nowadays, it is strongly recommended that a child be
taught communication (and other skills) in the midst of real-life settings and activities (Leister, Koonce, & Nisbet, 1993). This
follows a general trend in which children with disabilities are no being longer removed from their peers and taught in isolation,
but integrated into the regular classroom. Studies have found the following to be true about learning in natural environments,
typically the regular education classroom:

Because the settings and activities are real, the communication skills being taught are practical and meaningful, and, as a consequence, more motivating.

Peers are available as models. Children with disabilities not only learn new vocabulary, but are being clued into the entire social routine surrounding a communicative exchange. A child can have mastered a large number of messages—and many became
experts at outputting messages upon demand in a one-to-one therapeutic situation—but have no idea how to communicate with
them in real circumstances. For example, a child may learn to say "I am fine" to the teacher’s "How are you?" but when approached
by a smiling, waving peer in the hallway who says "Hey, how’s it going?" be at a loss as to how to respond (Westling & Fox, 1995).

Children tend to learn more efficiently by using communication to accomplish things, rather than being taught about the messages
(i.e. receiving a description of what a word means and how it is used). In other words they learn what messages mean by using
them, even though, at times, they may not even be exactly sure what the words mean. (This is called the pragmatic approach.)
(Light, Collier, & Parnes, 1985).

Because children are learning the general circumstances under which communicative exchanges occur, they are better able to
use their knowledge even when faced with a completely new situation. (This is called generalization.) For example, a child learning
to communicate while playing at school, may, then, be able to successfully use these skills while playing at home or at a friend’s
house. Children who learn through drill-and-practice are often unable to transfer their knowledge anywhere outside the therapy
room because the surrounding factors are so different.

With training and support, peers can be included in an AAC program. Peer-mediated communication interventions can be very effective (Romski, Sevcik, Robinson, & Bakeman, 1994; Romski, Sevcik, & Wilkinson, 1994).

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Special Education Services Plano Independent School District

Naturalistic Teaching Methods

Special Education Services
Plano Independent School District