Teaching requesting and rejecting sequences to four children with developmental disabilities using augmentative and alternative communication

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of teaching an integrated requesting–rejecting sequence. Four children with developmental disabilities were taught to request missing items and reject wrong items using either speech-generating devices (SGD) or picture-exchange (PE) communication. Data showed that the introduction of the teaching procedures were associated with acquisition of the targeted requesting and rejecting responses. The newly acquired rejecting responses generalized across two untrained activities and were maintained for up to four weeks following intervention for three of the four participants. The missing-item and wrong-item formats can be successfully combined to teach an integrated sequence of requesting and rejecting to students with developmental disabilities who use speech-generating devices (SGD) or picture-exchange (PE) communication.