Greetings (Non-Verbal)
Greetings (Non-Verbal)

Greetings (Non-Verbal)

Below is a general skill sequence for getting learner’s started with greeting others.

Greetings often serve as the initial steps in social reciprocation. Beginning with a straightforward gesture, such as a wave, can pave the way for more advanced social interactions in the future. For successful initiation, it's essential that the learner can orient themselves towards another stimulus when guided by the speaker's voice. Additionally, developing fluency in maintaining eye contact can be advantageous for the learner. It's crucial to ensure that the experience is highly reinforcing, which will, in turn, strengthen the association of social interactions with positive reinforcement.

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 wave at a peer when greeted in exchange for a highly preferred item or activity.
  • Learner will wave at a peer when greeted in exchange for social reinforcement.

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.

Intro to Reinforcer/Preference ExpansionIntro to Reinforcer/Preference ExpansionSingle Actions with Common ToysSingle Actions with Common ToysFollowing GesturesFollowing GesturesIntro to Eye ContactIntro to Eye Contact

Skill Possibilities

Below is a possible skill sequence for working on increasing your learner’s ability to complete nonverbal greetings. 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.

#1 Orients Toward Therapist for High-Value SR+
#2 Orients Toward Another Adult for High-Value SR+
#3 Waves at Therapist for High-Value SR+
#4 Waves at Another Adult for High-Value SR+
#5 Waves at Peer for High-Value SR+
#6 Waves at Another Adult for High-Value SR+ (10 feet)
#7 Waves at Peer for High-Value SR+ (10 feet)
#8 Waves at Another Adult for Mod-Value SR+ (10 feet)
#9 Waves at Peer for Mod-Value SR+ (10 feet)
#10 Waves at Another Adult for Continuation of High-Value SR+ (10 feet)
#11 Waves at Peer for Continuation of High-Value SR+ (10 feet)
#12 Waves at Another Adult for Social Praise (10 feet)
#13 Waves at Peer for Social Praise (10 feet)

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.

Intro to PeersIntro to PeersIntro to Sitting Intro to Sitting Intro to HandholdingIntro to HandholdingIntro to Token EconomiesIntro to Token EconomiesApproaching Others When AskedApproaching Others When Asked

Composite Skills

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.

Greetings (Verbal)Greetings (Verbal)

Follow the link below to better understand component-composite analysis.

Research and Resources
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