Below is a general skill sequence for helping learners label familiar people.
This skill area teaches the first stages of labeling familiar individuals. It's crucial for the learner to have proficiency in elementary scanning, matching, as well as be skilled in responding to simple gesture prompts before embarking on this skill area. Additionally, learners may need to be fluent in receptively identifying these family members as well from large arrays. Achieving fluency in this competency is fundamental, as it lays the groundwork for introducing the labeling of loved ones across examples and may open the door for further communication.
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)
Tact, T 5-M, Tacts 10 items (common objects, body parts, pictures, or people)
Tact, T 6-M, Tacts 25 items when asked “what’s that?”
AFLS (Assessment of Functional Living Skills)
Basic Communication, BC10, Labels common people (actual individuals, not professionals)
Community Knowledge, CK4, Expressive identification community helpers
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
30 months, Language/Communication Milestones, Names things in a book when you point and ask, “What is this?”
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 correctly label 5 familiar people when presented to them in 2D or 3D.
Learner will correctly label 10 familiar people when presented to them in 2D or 3D.
Learner will correctly label 15 familiar people when presented to them in 2D or 3D.
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 follow instructions 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.
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#1 Labels Primary Caregiver/Caregiver #1
How to Run
Gain the attention and motivation of the learner.
Hold up a picture of the learner’s most primary caregiver. Point to it if necessary.
Ask the learner “Who is this?/Who is it?”
Learner should correctly label the corresponding picture.
Reinforce accordingly.
Additional Notes
Make sure to be working on multiple tacting/labeling goals at once to ensure that the learner doesn’t develop a rote/memorized response that generalizes across all future pictures.
As the learner gains the ability to engage in multiple trials at once, have a stack of multiple pictures and cycle through them in a “flashcard” like process. This will increase trial rates, prevent rote memorization, and could expedite mastery and fluency.
Materials
A picture of the learner’s most primary caregiver.
Therapist will need to obtain multiple pictures of the primary caregiver from family of learner and have a copy of each picture
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#2 Labels Caregiver #2
How to Run
Gain the attention and motivation of the learner.
Hold up a picture of the learner’s second primary caregiver. Point to it if necessary.
Ask the learner “Who is this?/Who is it?”
Learner should correctly label the corresponding picture.
Reinforce accordingly.
Additional Notes
Make sure to be working on multiple tacting/labeling goals at once to ensure that the learner doesn’t develop a rote/memorized response that generalizes across all future pictures.
As the learner gains the ability to engage in multiple trials at once, have a stack of multiple pictures and cycle through them in a “flashcard” like process. This will increase trial rates, prevent rote memorization, and could expedite mastery and fluency.
Materials
A picture of the learner’s second primary caregiver.
Therapist will need to obtain multiple pictures of the second primary caregiver from family of learner and have a copy of each picture
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#3 Labels Primary Grandparent #1
How to Run
Gain the attention and motivation of the learner.
Hold up a picture of the learner’s primary grandparent. Point to it if necessary.
Ask the learner “Who is this?/Who is it?”
Learner should correctly label the corresponding picture.
Reinforce accordingly.
Additional Notes
Make sure to be working on multiple tacting/labeling goals at once to ensure that the learner doesn’t develop a rote/memorized response that generalizes across all future pictures.
As the learner gains the ability to engage in multiple trials at once, have a stack of multiple pictures and cycle through them in a “flashcard” like process. This will increase trial rates, prevent rote memorization, and could expedite mastery and fluency.
Materials
A picture of the learner’s primary grandparent.
Therapist will need to obtain multiple pictures of the primary grandparent from family of learner and have a copy of each picture
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#4 Labels Primary Grandparent #2
How to Run
Gain the attention and motivation of the learner.
Hold up a picture of the learner’s second primary grandparent. Point to it if necessary.
Ask the learner “Who is this?/Who is it?”
Learner should correctly label the corresponding picture.
Reinforce accordingly.
Additional Notes
Make sure to be working on multiple tacting/labeling goals at once to ensure that the learner doesn’t develop a rote/memorized response that generalizes across all future pictures.
As the learner gains the ability to engage in multiple trials at once, have a stack of multiple pictures and cycle through them in a “flashcard” like process. This will increase trial rates, prevent rote memorization, and could expedite mastery and fluency.
Materials
A picture of the learner’s second primary grandparent.
Therapist will need to obtain multiple pictures of the second primary grandparent from family of learner and have a copy of each picture
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#5 Labels Sibling #1
How to Run
Gain the attention and motivation of the learner.
Hold up a picture of the learner’s sibling. Point to it if necessary.
Ask the learner “Who is this?/Who is it?”
Learner should correctly label the corresponding picture.
Reinforce accordingly.
Additional Notes
Make sure to be working on multiple tacting/labeling goals at once to ensure that the learner doesn’t develop a rote/memorized response that generalizes across all future pictures.
As the learner gains the ability to engage in multiple trials at once, have a stack of multiple pictures and cycle through them in a “flashcard” like process. This will increase trial rates, prevent rote memorization, and could expedite mastery and fluency.
Materials
A picture of the learner’s sibling.
Therapist will need to obtain multiple pictures of sibling #1 from family of learner and have a copy of each picture
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#6 Labels Sibling #2
How to Run
Gain the attention and motivation of the learner.
Hold up a picture of the learner’s sibling. Point to it if necessary.
Ask the learner “Who is this?/Who is it?”
Learner should correctly label the corresponding picture.
Reinforce accordingly.
Additional Notes
Make sure to be working on multiple tacting/labeling goals at once to ensure that the learner doesn’t develop a rote/memorized response that generalizes across all future pictures.
As the learner gains the ability to engage in multiple trials at once, have a stack of multiple pictures and cycle through them in a “flashcard” like process. This will increase trial rates, prevent rote memorization, and could expedite mastery and fluency.
Materials
A picture of the learner’s sibling.
Therapist will need to obtain multiple pictures of sibling #2 from family of learner and have a copy of each picture
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#7 Labels Sibling #3
How to Run
Gain the attention and motivation of the learner.
Hold up a picture of the learner’s sibling. Point to it if necessary.
Ask the learner “Who is this?/Who is it?”
Learner should correctly label the corresponding picture.
Reinforce accordingly.
Additional Notes
Make sure to be working on multiple tacting/labeling goals at once to ensure that the learner doesn’t develop a rote/memorized response that generalizes across all future pictures.
As the learner gains the ability to engage in multiple trials at once, have a stack of multiple pictures and cycle through them in a “flashcard” like process. This will increase trial rates, prevent rote memorization, and could expedite mastery and fluency.
Materials
A picture of the learner’s sibling.
Therapist will need to obtain multiple pictures of sibling #3 from family of learner and have a copy of each picture
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#8 Labels Sibling #4
How to Run
Gain the attention and motivation of the learner.
Hold up a picture of the learner’s sibling. Point to it if necessary.
Ask the learner “Who is this?/Who is it?”
Learner should correctly label the corresponding picture.
Reinforce accordingly.
Additional Notes
Make sure to be working on multiple tacting/labeling goals at once to ensure that the learner doesn’t develop a rote/memorized response that generalizes across all future pictures.
As the learner gains the ability to engage in multiple trials at once, have a stack of multiple pictures and cycle through them in a “flashcard” like process. This will increase trial rates, prevent rote memorization, and could expedite mastery and fluency.
Materials
A picture of the learner’s sibling.
Therapist will need to obtain multiple pictures of sibling #4 from family of learner and have a copy of each picture
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#9 Labels Aunt
How to Run
Gain the attention and motivation of the learner.
Hold up a picture of the learner’s aunt. Point to it if necessary.
Ask the learner “Who is this?/Who is it?”
Learner should correctly label the corresponding picture.
Reinforce accordingly.
Additional Notes
Make sure to be working on multiple tacting/labeling goals at once to ensure that the learner doesn’t develop a rote/memorized response that generalizes across all future pictures.
As the learner gains the ability to engage in multiple trials at once, have a stack of multiple pictures and cycle through them in a “flashcard” like process. This will increase trial rates, prevent rote memorization, and could expedite mastery and fluency.
Materials
A picture of the learner’s aunt.
Therapist will need to obtain multiple pictures of aunt from family of learner and have a copy of each picture
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#10 Labels Uncle
How to Run
Gain the attention and motivation of the learner.
Hold up a picture of the learner’s uncle. Point to it if necessary.
Ask the learner “Who is this?/Who is it?”
Learner should correctly label the corresponding picture.
Reinforce accordingly.
Additional Notes
Make sure to be working on multiple tacting/labeling goals at once to ensure that the learner doesn’t develop a rote/memorized response that generalizes across all future pictures.
As the learner gains the ability to engage in multiple trials at once, have a stack of multiple pictures and cycle through them in a “flashcard” like process. This will increase trial rates, prevent rote memorization, and could expedite mastery and fluency.
Materials
A picture of the learner’s uncle.
Therapist will need to obtain multiple pictures of uncle from family of learner and have a copy of each picture
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#11 Labels Pet #1
How to Run
Gain the attention and motivation of the learner.
Hold up a picture of the learner’s pet. Point to it if necessary.
Ask the learner “Who is this?/Who is it?”
Learner should correctly label the corresponding picture.
Reinforce accordingly.
Additional Notes
Make sure to be working on multiple tacting/labeling goals at once to ensure that the learner doesn’t develop a rote/memorized response that generalizes across all future pictures.
As the learner gains the ability to engage in multiple trials at once, have a stack of multiple pictures and cycle through them in a “flashcard” like process. This will increase trial rates, prevent rote memorization, and could expedite mastery and fluency.
Materials
A picture of the learner’s pet.
Therapist will need to obtain multiple pictures of pet #1 from family of learner and have a copy of each picture
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#12 Labels Pet #2
How to Run
Gain the attention and motivation of the learner.
Hold up a picture of the learner’s pet. Point to it if necessary.
Ask the learner “Who is this?/Who is it?”
Learner should correctly label the corresponding picture.
Reinforce accordingly.
Additional Notes
Make sure to be working on multiple tacting/labeling goals at once to ensure that the learner doesn’t develop a rote/memorized response that generalizes across all future pictures.
As the learner gains the ability to engage in multiple trials at once, have a stack of multiple pictures and cycle through them in a “flashcard” like process. This will increase trial rates, prevent rote memorization, and could expedite mastery and fluency.
Materials
A picture of the learner’s pet.
Therapist will need to obtain multiple pictures of pet #2 from family of learner and have a copy of each picture
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#13 Labels Pic of Home
How to Run
Gain the attention and motivation of the learner.
Hold up a picture of the learner’s home. Point to it if necessary.
Ask the learner “Who is this?/Who is it?”
Learner should correctly label the corresponding picture.
Reinforce accordingly.
Additional Notes
Make sure to be working on multiple tacting/labeling goals at once to ensure that the learner doesn’t develop a rote/memorized response that generalizes across all future pictures.
As the learner gains the ability to engage in multiple trials at once, have a stack of multiple pictures and cycle through them in a “flashcard” like process. This will increase trial rates, prevent rote memorization, and could expedite mastery and fluency.
Materials
A picture of the learner’s home.
Therapist will need to obtain multiple pictures of the home from family of learner and have a copy of each picture
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#14 Labels Therapist #1
How to Run
Gain the attention and motivation of the learner.
Hold up a picture of the learner’s therapist. Point to it if necessary.
Ask the learner “Who is this?/Who is it?”
Learner should correctly label the corresponding picture.
Reinforce accordingly.
Additional Notes
Make sure to be working on multiple tacting/labeling goals at once to ensure that the learner doesn’t develop a rote/memorized response that generalizes across all future pictures.
As the learner gains the ability to engage in multiple trials at once, have a stack of multiple pictures and cycle through them in a “flashcard” like process. This will increase trial rates, prevent rote memorization, and could expedite mastery and fluency.
Materials
A picture of the learner’s therapist.
Therapist will need to obtain multiple pictures of therapist #1 and have a copy of each picture
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#15 Labels Therapist #2
How to Run
Gain the attention and motivation of the learner.
Hold up a picture of the learner’s therapist. Point to it if necessary.
Ask the learner “Who is this?/Who is it?”
Learner should correctly label the corresponding picture.
Reinforce accordingly.
Additional Notes
Make sure to be working on multiple tacting/labeling goals at once to ensure that the learner doesn’t develop a rote/memorized response that generalizes across all future pictures.
As the learner gains the ability to engage in multiple trials at once, have a stack of multiple pictures and cycle through them in a “flashcard” like process. This will increase trial rates, prevent rote memorization, and could expedite mastery and fluency.
Materials
A picture of the learner’s therapist.
Therapist will need to obtain multiple pictures of therapist #2 and have a copy of each picture.
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#16 Labels Teacher
How to Run
Gain the attention and motivation of the learner.
Hold up a picture of the learner’s teacher. Point to it if necessary.
Ask the learner “Who is this?/Who is it?”
Learner should correctly label the corresponding picture.
Reinforce accordingly.
Additional Notes
Make sure to be working on multiple tacting/labeling goals at once to ensure that the learner doesn’t develop a rote/memorized response that generalizes across all future pictures.
As the learner gains the ability to engage in multiple trials at once, have a stack of multiple pictures and cycle through them in a “flashcard” like process. This will increase trial rates, prevent rote memorization, and could expedite mastery and fluency.
Materials
A picture of the learner’s teacher.
Therapist will need to obtain multiple pictures of teacher from family of learner and have a copy of each picture
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#17 Labels Physician
How to Run
Gain the attention and motivation of the learner.
Hold up a picture of the learner’s physician. Point to it if necessary.
Ask the learner “Who is this?/Who is it?”
Learner should correctly label the corresponding picture.
Reinforce accordingly.
Additional Notes
Make sure to be working on multiple tacting/labeling goals at once to ensure that the learner doesn’t develop a rote/memorized response that generalizes across all future pictures.
As the learner gains the ability to engage in multiple trials at once, have a stack of multiple pictures and cycle through them in a “flashcard” like process. This will increase trial rates, prevent rote memorization, and could expedite mastery and fluency.
Materials
A picture of the learner’s physician.
Therapist will need to obtain multiple pictures of physician from family of learner and have a copy of each picture
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#18 Labels Dentist
How to Run
Gain the attention and motivation of the learner.
Hold up a picture of the learner’s dentist. Point to it if necessary.
Ask the learner “Who is this?/Who is it?”
Learner should correctly label the corresponding picture.
Reinforce accordingly.
Additional Notes
Make sure to be working on multiple tacting/labeling goals at once to ensure that the learner doesn’t develop a rote/memorized response that generalizes across all future pictures.
As the learner gains the ability to engage in multiple trials at once, have a stack of multiple pictures and cycle through them in a “flashcard” like process. This will increase trial rates, prevent rote memorization, and could expedite mastery and fluency.
Materials
A picture of the learner’s dentist.
Therapist will need to obtain multiple pictures of dentist from family of learner and have a copy of each picture
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 Scanning 
Intro to Matching (Visual Perception) 
Following Gestures
Matches Common Items in 2D Array 1.0 (Identical)
Receptively IDs Common Items in 2D Array
Labels Common Items 1.0
Matches Familiar People in 2D Array (Identical)
Receptively IDs Familiar People in 2D Array 
Labels Community Helpers in 2D
Labels Multiple Pics of Familiar People 
Labels Emoticon Expressions in 2D