Incidental Teaching and Autism Ranking:

Aims and Claims

Aims

The aim of incidental teaching is to increase and improve communication skills. For example, according to Hart and Risley (1982),

“Incidental teaching is used to get elaborated language by waiting for another person to initiate conversation about a topic and then responding in ways that ask for more language from that person.”

Claims

There have been various claims made for incidental teaching used with autistic people. For example

• Carr and Kologinsky (1983) reported an increase in the rate and variety of spontaneous sign language along with a decrease in self-stimulatory behavior
• Farmer-Dougan (1994) reported an increase in appropriate requesting and verbalisations
• Kroeger and Nelson (2006) reported  increased language production

Updated

17 Jun 2022

Last Review

20 Jul 2016

Next Review

01 Apr 2023