Below is a general skill sequence for helping learners increasing imitation with multi-functional objects.

Imitation is a fundamental skill and a building block for teaching a variety of other skills. This particular skill area focuses on increasing the learner's ability to imitate actions with multi-functional toys, which can be used for a variety of different purposes. Unlike uni-functional toys, which have a single use, it can be harder to infer what to do with multi-functional toys, requiring the learner to attend closely to the model provided by the therapist.

Teaching Listener Responding and Imitation Programs? Take a Look at This.

A month or so back, I introduced a well-received article on the first steps to teaching a learner to match in an array. I was provoked to write the article thanks to seeing so many clinicians start by having a learner match pictures in small arrays.

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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 imitate three separate actions with three different toys or objects that can be used for multiple functions (i.e. a ball).
• Learner will imitate six separate actions with three different toys or objects that can be used for multiple functions (i.e. a ball).
• Learner will imitate nine actions with three different toys or objects that can be used for multiple functions (i.e. a ball).
• Learner will imitate 12 actions with four different toys or objects that can be used for multiple functions (i.e. a ball).

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.

Obviously imitation is one of the cornerstone, verbal operants. If kiddos can learn to imitate, this opens the door to a variety of other actions. But what opens the door to imitation? Before we can get started with imitating with uni-functional toys, we’ll want to make sure our learners are fluent in (or at least becoming fluent in) imitating actions with preferred items/activities and imitation during familiar routines is where we’ll start.

Intro to Reinforcer/Preference Expansion

Imitates Actions with Preferred Items

Imitates Actions During Familiar Routines

Imitation with Uni-Functional Toys

Skill Possibilities

Below is a possible skill sequence for working on increasing your learner’s ability to imitate with multi-functional toys. 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.

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.

Imitation with Uni-Functional Toys

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.

Performs Action with Multi-Functional Toys

Intro to Writing Utensils (Coming Soon!)

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

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