Communication by changing figures and conditional relations with students with autism

Abstract

People with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) may have difficulty learning appropriate communication skills, and many of them are non-vocal. For these more severe cases, a compensatory strategy would be the use of Alternative and Augmentative Communication, as the communication by exchange of figures. The purpose of this study was to investigate if the first three phases of the Picture Change Communication System could be presented in a single phase, where correct answers of attempts to choose according to the identity model (MTS) with the communication figures, to produce access to the specific reinforcement, represented by each figure. Four students with ASD, aged between four and 13 years participated. The procedure was evaluated from a multiple baseline scheme among participants and started with preference assessment, baseline, followed by teaching with MTS attempts of identity and use of physical and visual cues, and return to baseline. In general, students moved from null repertoires evaluated in the pre-test to up to seven responses on return to the baseline. This means that they have learned to issue spontaneous picture-exchange responses to gain access to the reinforcing item. The data show an economic viability in the teaching of communication by exchanging figures, by teaching several responses simultaneously, rather than teaching each response individually. Suggestions for conducting future studies are proposed.