Naturalistic Teaching: The Building Blocks Approach To Learning

Naturalistic Teaching aims to improve the behaviors of autistic children in their natural environment, promoting motivation, functional relationships, generalization and maintenance.

The objective is to use a child’s natural environment to encourage them to initiate or participate in conversation. It’s a very personalized approach, where the child’s normal daily activities and routines dictate the way the therapist works with them.

Below are some examples of Naturalistic Teaching.

Incidental Teaching

The goal of this teaching strategy is to encourage and motivate the child to speak. A therapist will prompt a child to say something they’ve taken a liking to, like a toy or book. The therapist then tries to encourage conversation using nonverbal gestures, images or spoken words.

If the child isn’t responding, the therapist may remove the item for a short while to prompt a response. When they respond correctly, they will be rewarded.

Pivotal Response Training

This type of natural teaching looks at the things that motivate their behavior, including:

• their response (or lack of)
• social interaction
• how they manage (or don’t manage) their feelings

For example, if a child makes an attempt to request a toy, the reward is the toy – not a candy or another unrelated reward.

The idea is to address the root of the behaviors instead of the behaviors themselves, and the child is rewarded for making an effort, even if it is not 100% perfect.

Natural Language Paradigm

This type of Natural Teaching is ideal for children who are predominantly nonverbal. The therapist will sit opposite the child and offer them a choice of three toys, games, or activities. The child will pick one. The therapist then teaches the child words that identify or describe the item. After that, the child is given the chance to play with the item.

Then, the therapist takes it away and prompts the child to use the words they were taught in order to get it back.

If they do so correctly, the item is returned. It’s an amazing reward system because it gives the child a real reason to communicate verbally.

Naturalistic Teaching improves language and communication development for children with autism. It’s a fun way to incorporate lessons into their everyday life that get them to learn and willingly communicate

The licensed therapists at Triangle ABA utilize naturalistic teaching techniques.

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