This article really hit home for me. I have a child on the Autistic spectrum. He is currently in a Verbal Behavior classroom under the Umbrella of the Pennsylvania Verbal Behavior Project. This class is basically 7 non-verbal children,most of whom have never been in a verbal behavior program, so therefore are speaking/communicating very little to not at all.

Mastery is an integral part of the program. I was skeptical at first as to the repetetiveness of some of the targets. Since we are basically starting from scratch,my son did not have a cache of mastered objectives to sprinkle throughout the target objectives. Basically they began with 10 different objectives, and would not move on/add until he mastered any of those. But in your blog you say, “in a demanding classroom,we don’t get stuck in a routine of doing the same work over and over”. This is really key. And it is exactly what I wanted to prevent in my son’s program, all the while staying on course towards the
mastery of objectives.

I noticed that they were drilling him with targets that I know Max can say/sign on some level. I felt that it was equivelant to showing neurotypical kindergartener a square, a circle and a triangle all day,from 9:00 am to 3:00pm. I felt Max was bored. This is why an open, working IEP is so imperative with feedback from all involved, including family that knows the child best. We decided to pepper Max’s intensive training sessions with objectives, that may not be mastered in the true sense of the word, but uses at home usefully. In Max’s case, it is about 50 photo flash cards that he can label,either by verbal approximation or by sign language. He also enjoys these drilling exercises. So,during his intensive training, he is drilled with these “knowns” and the targets will be slipped in. This concept works at home, and I feel that it will be successful at school as well.

Great article, Sara. I’m amidst an overhaul of my child’s IEP; I’ve really been finding your blogs interesting, informative and very helpful!