Comparison of Three Procedures for Teaching Retelling Stories and Answering Questions

Abstract

Retelling stories previously read (a type of intraverbal) represents common aca­demic demand in regular school and family context. This repertoire may be challenging for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), who show difficulty in intraverbal acquisition and interaction with peers. The goal was to compare the efficiency of three procedures (for­ward chaining - FCP; backward chaining - BCP; script fading - SFP) in establishing intraver­bals in the form of retelling short stories in a 6-year-old child with ASD. Each story involved four parts with scene and sentence (SFP with sentences only). During the teaching with FCP, each part could be retold independently from the beginning and, when necessary, corrections were applied. In the case of BCP, the first three parts were presented to the child and the last part could be retold without cues. With time, cues related to third, second and first part (in this order) were removed as well. In the case of SFP, the child had to read each sentence of the story, and, with time, the words were gradually omitted. All procedures were effective, but the FCP was the most efficient because 14 training sessions were needed for the establishment of retelling stories without errors. However, 16 and 19 sessions were necessary for BCP and SFP, respectively. It was discussed the influence of a previous history with FCP, to which the child was exposed before the onset of the research in clinic and home setting. In parallel, the teach­ing of answering questions about the stories was conducted with manipulation of a different type of prompt for each case (tact; echoic; tact and echoic combined). All cues were similarly effective and efficient.