The use of instructive feedback for teaching language skills to children with autism

Instructive feedback (IF) is a teaching strategy in which extra information is presented to a student during teaching trials for other target skills. Research has shown that when IF is utilized with students with disabilities, they acquire additional skills without additional instructional time (fewer trials and sessions), resulting in more efficient instruction. Only one published study has focused specifically on the effectiveness of IF for children with autism, and demonstrated that the inclusion of IF resulted in more efficient teaching during 1:1 instruction for four preschoolers with autism/developmental delay. The current pair of studies seeks to replicate and extend the findings of Reichow and Wolery. In Study 1, we examined the effectiveness of IF with older students with autism with greater levels of impairment. Out of four students, only one showed more efficient acquisition with IF than without IF during 1:1 instruction. In Study 2, the student who demonstrated positive effects with IF in Study 1 participated in dyad instruction with IF. The effectiveness of IF for that student did not extend to the dyad context for this student.

► We evaluated instructive feedback during discrete trial instruction. ► We taught novel tacts and related features with expansion IF. ► Participants had variable responses to the IF procedure. ► We examined the use of IF with dyad instruction. ► Results were mixed and do not match previously published robust findings.