Below is a general skill sequence for helping learners mand with more than a single word.
Manding serves as the foundation of verbal behavior and is a critical first step in teaching effective communication. However, the advantages of manding extend beyond just its foundational role. There are notable fringe benefits that can emerge as a result of emphasizing mand training. For instance, an increase in manding may lead to a decrease in anxious behaviors and mitigate problem behaviors that are often linked to ration strain. Furthermore, as individuals develop more intricate and advanced mands, it may contribute to holistic language development. In order to thrive in this skill area, it may be helpful to have proficiency with one-word mands. Once this foundational skill is mastered, it may lay the groundwork for more intricate mands, leading to richer and more complex language abilities."
How this skill area relates to your assessments!
This skill area aligns with various assessments and their respective domains, with milestone and domain codes provided for reference. Additionally, DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for Autism are included to help clinicians identify how this skill area potentially supports medical necessity in relation to the diagnosis.
VB-MAPP (Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment and Placement Program)
Mand, M 8-M, Emits 5 different 2 word mands (not including “I want”).
Social Behavior and Social Play, S 7-M, Spontaneously mands to peers 5 times (e.g., My turn, Push me, Look! Come On.) . (timed observation 60 minutes)
Linguistic Structure, LS 8-M, Emits 10 different 2-word utterances per day of any type except echoic (e.g., mand, tact).
AFLS (Assessment of Functional Living Skills)
Health, Safety & First Aid, HS17, Seeks assistance for serious cuts, burns, or injuries.
Social Awareness & Manners, SA4, Says “excuse me” to request others to move.
Meals at Home, MH22, Asks for food to be passed (doesn’t reach/steal).
DSM-V Diagnostic Criteria for Autism
A1, Deficits in social-emotional reciprocity, ranging, for example, from abnormal social approach and failure of normal back-and-forth conversation; to reduced sharing of interests, emotions, or affect; to failure to initiate or respond to social interactions.
CDC’s Developmental Milestones
2 Years, Language/Communication Milestones, Says at least two words together, like “More milk”
30 Months, Social/Emotional Milestones, Shows you what she can do by saying, “Look at me!”
30 Months, Language/Communication Milestones, Says two or more words together, with one action word, like “Doggie run”
Treatment Plan Goal Ideas
This is a list of treatment plan goals. These are different from the goals you will find in the skill sequence below. Your treatment plan goals encompass any number of goals from the skill sequence. Sometime they will include multiple goals from the sequence (”Learner will label 5 toys”) and sometimes the treatment plan goal will be simply consist of a really important goal from the skill sequence (”Will label caregiver”). An analogy I like to use goes as follows: Each skill sequence goal (commonly known as a “target”) represent each stair in a flight of stairs. The treatment plan goal is the flight itself.
Treatment plan goal ideas for this particular skill area are as follows:
Learner will mand for a preferred item or activity with at least two words across all high value activities.
Learner will mand for a person’s attention or presence with at least two words.
Learner will mand for a preferred item or activity with at least three words across all high value activities.
Learner will mand for a person’s attention or presence with at least three words.
Learner will mand to go to a preferred location or person with at least three words.
Component Skills
Your learner may need to be fluent in these component skills first before introducing this goal/skill area. Component skills for this skill sequence may include skill areas that are fundamental to other areas. Fluency in the skill areas listed below may increase the likelihood that your learner will succeed in this skill sequence and those afterward.
Below is a possible skill sequence for working on increasing your learner’s ability to mand. Note that every learner is different and that you likely will need to tweak and vary some programming to their needs. Click the triangle icon to view the full description for each skill in the sequence/area.
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#1 Mands w/ “Give me”
How to Run
Note when a learner is motivated for a preferred item. For example, they provide a single word or gestured mand (or a variation).
Present/show/bring the preferred item to them but wait to allow access.
Prompt learner to then mand with “Give me!”
Grant access to the preferred item upon their vocalizing the two-word mand.
Fade prompts as responses become stronger.
Additional Notes
Be careful not to punish existing one-word mands.
Materials
Research/Resources
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#2 Mands w/ “Want (item)”
How to Run
Note when a learner is motivated for a preferred item. For example, they provide a single word or gestured mand (or a variation).
Present/show/bring the preferred item to them but wait to allow access.
Prompt learner to then mand with “Want…” and whatever the item is. Ex: “Want iPad!”, “Want ball”, “Want cracker”, etc.
Grant access to the preferred item upon their vocalizing the two-word mand.
Fade prompts as responses become stronger.
Additional Notes
Be careful not to punish existing one-word mands.
Materials
Research/Resources
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#3 Mands w/ “Play (item/activity)”
How to Run
Note when a learner is motivated for a preferred item/activity. For example, they provide a single word or gestured mand (or a variation).
Present/show/bring the preferred item to them but wait to allow access.
Prompt learner to then mand with “Play…” and whatever the item/activity is. Ex: “Play iPad!”, “Play ball”, “Play chase”, etc.
Grant access to the preferred item upon their vocalizing the two-word mand.
Fade prompts as responses become stronger.
Additional Notes
Be careful not to punish existing one-word mands.
Materials
Research/Resources
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#4 Mands w/ “Do (activity)”
How to Run
Note when a learner is motivated for a preferred activity. For example, they provide a single word or gestured mand (or a variation).
Present/show/bring the learner near the preferred activity but wait to allow access.
Prompt learner to then mand with “Do…” and whatever the activity is. Ex: “Do iPad!”, “Do chase”, “Do tickles”, etc.
Grant access to the preferred activity upon their vocalizing the two-word mand.
Fade prompts as responses become stronger.
Additional Notes
Be careful not to punish existing one-word mands.
Materials
Research/Resources
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#5 Mands w/ “Come here”
How to Run
Note when a learner is motivated for a preferred activity. For example, they provide a single word or gestured mand (or a variation).
Present/show the item or activity to the learner.
Move a reasonable and safe distance a way from the learner with the item/activity clearly visible.
Prompt learner to then mand with “Come here!”.
Quickly bring the item/activity over to the learner.
Contrive another mand for the item once you are with the learner.
Allow full access to the preferred item/activity upon their vocalizing this mand.
Fade prompts as responses become stronger.
Additional Notes
Note that you have the potential to contrive 2-3 mands in this sequence.
Materials
Research/Resources
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#6 Mands w/ “Look (name)”
How to Run
Note when a learner is motivated for a preferred item/activity. For example, they provide a single word or gestured mand (or a variation).
Gain access to the item or activity but pivot away from the learner with the item/activity in hand to indicate to them you are not attending. Note: Ensure that the learner is safe when doing this.
While pivoted, prompt learner to then mand with “Look…” and then your name or similar. “Look Ashley!” or “Look here!”.
Upon their manding to you to look, quickly pivot back to them and ask them what they want. “What is it?”/”What’s up?”
Learner should offer a mand (of any kind) for the preferred item/activity.
Allow full access to the preferred item/activity upon their vocalizing this mand.
Fade prompts as responses become stronger.
Additional Notes
Note that you have the potential to contrive 2-3 mands in this sequence.
Make sure that you aren’t punishing/overlooking one-word mands as we should continue to teach and shape these.
Materials
Research/Resources
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#7 Mands w/ “Give me (item)”
How to Run
Note when a learner is motivated for a preferred item. For example, they provide a 1-2 word or gestured mand (or a variation).
Present/show/bring the preferred item to them but wait to allow access.
Prompt learner so that they mand with “Give me…” and then include the name of the item. Ex: “Give me iPad”, “Give me crackers”, etc.
Grant access to the preferred item upon their vocalizing the three-word mand.
Fade prompts as responses become stronger.
Additional Notes
Be careful not to punish existing one and two word mands. Instead, continue to shape this.
Materials
Research/Resources
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#8 Mands w/ “I want (item/activity)”
How to Run
Note when a learner is motivated for a preferred item/activity. For example, they provide a 1-2 word or gestured mand for it (or a variation).
Present/show/bring the preferred item/activity to them but wait to allow access.
Prompt learner so that they mand with “I want…” and then include the name of the item/activity. Ex: “I want iPad”, “I want puzzles”, etc.
Grant access to the preferred item/activity upon their vocalizing the three-word mand.
Fade prompts as responses become stronger.
Additional Notes
Be careful not to punish existing one and two word mands. Instead, continue to shape these.
Materials
Research/Resources
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#9 Mands w/ “Let’s/Come play (activity)”
How to Run
Note when a learner is motivated for a preferred item/activity. For example, they provide a 1-2 word or gestured mand for it (or a variation).
Present/show/bring the preferred activity to them but wait to allow access.
Prompt learner so that they mand with “Let’s play…” and then include the name of the activity. Ex: “Let’s play legos”, “Let’s play puzzles”, etc.
Grant access to the preferred activity upon their vocalizing the three-word mand.
Fade prompts as responses become stronger.
Additional Notes
Be careful not to punish existing one and two word mands. Instead, continue to shape these.
Materials
Research/Resources
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#10 Mands w/ “Let’s do (activity)”
How to Run
Note when a learner is motivated for a preferred item/activity. For example, they provide a 1-2 word or gestured mand for it (or a variation).
Present/show/bring the preferred activity to them but wait to allow access.
Prompt learner so that they mand with “Let’s do…” and then include the name of the activity. Ex: “Let’s do legos”, “Let’s do puzzles”, etc.
Grant access to the preferred activity upon their vocalizing the three-word mand.
Fade prompts as responses become stronger.
Additional Notes
Be careful not to punish existing one and two word mands. Instead, continue to shape these.
Materials
Research/Resources
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#11 Mands w/ “Look at me/Look over here”
How to Run
Note when a learner is motivated for a preferred item/activity. For example, they provide a single word or gestured mand (or a variation).
Gain access to the item or activity but pivot away from the learner with the item/activity in hand to indicate to them you are not attending. Note: Ensure that the learner is safe when doing this.
While pivoted, prompt learner to then mand with “Look…” and then your name or similar. “Look at me!” or “Look over here!”.
Upon their manding to you to look, quickly pivot back to them and ask them what they want. “What is it?”/”What’s up?”
Learner should offer a mand (of any kind) for the preferred item/activity.
Allow full access to the preferred item/activity upon their vocalizing this mand.
Fade prompts as responses become stronger.
Additional Notes
Note that you have the potential to contrive 2-3 mands in this sequence.
Make sure that you aren’t punishing/overlooking 1-2 word mands. Instead, we should continue to teach and shape these.
Materials
Research/Resources
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#12 Mands w/ “Go to (person/place)”
How to Run
Note when a learner is motivated for a preferred item/activity. For example, they provide a single word or gestured mand (or a variation).
Ensure that another person normally has possession of this item (they should know this and know their name) OR ensure that the item is always kept in an alternate location. For example, the TV is always in the rec room or Kara always gives us the iPad.
Prompt learner to then mand with “Go to…” and then the name of the person or the location of the item/activity. “Go to playroom!”, “Go to Kara!”, “Go to bathroom!”.
Upon their manding to you to look, quickly take them to the desired person/location.
Once you’ve arrived, learner should offer a mand (of any kind) for the preferred item/activity.
Allow full access to the preferred item/activity upon their vocalizing this mand.
Fade prompts as responses become stronger.
Additional Notes
Note that you have the potential to contrive a few mands in this sequence.
Make sure that you aren’t punishing/overlooking 1-2 word mands. Instead, we should continue to teach and shape these.
Materials
Research/Resources
Concurrent Skills
Working on these skills at the same time could help with goal mastery. Maybe your learner has mastered these skills already. Perhaps they are already listed as component skills above. That’s okay! Targeting other learning channels might help your learner.
These are the possible next steps for learners who have mastered, or are mastering, the skills listed above. Note that new skill areas may require fluency in other component skills not listed above. Also, you can introduce composite skill sequences prematurely to keep your learner progressing, as generativity may occur earlier than expected.
Follow the link below to better understand component-composite analysis.
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Research and Resources
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Disclaimer
Consistent with ethical obligations outlined by the Behavior Analysis Certification Board (BACB), users acknowledge that goal selection/direction is the responsibility of the BCBA. Users understand that goals should be tailored to the learner while ultimately involving the input of clients/stakeholders. Users understand their ethical obligations to the client/stakeholder concerning the selection, implementation, design, and minimization of risk regarding behavior change interventions as outlined in BACB Code. As such, this skill sequence serves as a general framework for generating ideas around this particular skill area and not as an assessment or curriculum.
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Intro to Manding
Echoic-to-Mand Transfers
Manding for Actions 
Manding for Attention
Mands for Escape
Manding for Locations
Mands for Missing Items
Manding with “Where”
4-5 Word Mands