Using scripts and script-fading procedures to promote bids for joint attention by young children with autism

A multiple-probe design across participants assessed the efficacy of using audiotaped scripts to promote the joint attention responses of young children with autism. A one-word script (“See”) was presented on button-activated voice recorders; recorders were attached to toys and photographs that were placed in areas of the school not typically used for instructional activities. Children were taught to activate the recorders, point to pictures and toys, orient toward a conversation partner, and say the script. After they reliably made these responses, scripts were removed from the recorders and then recorders were removed. All three children learned to make bids for joint attention and after the scripts were faded, bids for joint attention maintained and generalized to untrained materials and to non-training settings.