Developing Discriminative Requesting Using Natural Environment Training in Two Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

The use of touchscreen devices for communication purposes has been shown to be effective in the literature; however, there is little research in the effectiveness of applying naturalistic teaching approaches in developing discriminative requesting in young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Two participants between the ages of 3 and 5, who were non-vocal, were taught to select a target symbol when presented with varying number of non-target symbols. Behavioral therapists who frequently interacted with the participants were trained to implement the intervention during playtime within their natural environment.