Below is a general skill sequence for helping learners label hot and cold items.
Conceptualizing the contrast in stimuli is not only important for language development. It is also important in keeping learner’s safe. This skill area seeks to work on having learners label common items as hot or cold. If the learner generally understands the concept of “hotness”, then labeling certain items around their environment as “hot” or “cold” may prevent injury. As the learner develops an understanding of “hot” and “cold”, more advanced descriptives can be taught such as “long” or “short and “big” and “tall”. Great care should be taken to keep learner’s safe at all times.
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 6-M, Tacts 25 items when asked “what’s that?”
Intraverbal, IV 8-M, Completes 25 different fill-inblank phrases (not including songs) (e.g., You eat…You sleep in a …Shoes and…)
Health, Safety & First Aid, HS6, Labels things that could be hot
Health, Safety & First Aid, HS7, Checks to see if things are hot
Workplace Safety, WS7, Avoids dangers related to hot items
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?”
4 years, Language/Communication Milestones, Answers simple questions like “What is a coat for?” or “What is a crayon for?”
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 label 5 common items as hot when asked to do so.
Learner will label 5 common items as cold when asked to do so.
Learner will label 15 common items as hot or cold when asked to do so.
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 Sun as “Hot”
How to Run
Present a picture of a sun (or point to it in real life—ensure that the learner doesn’t directly look into it).
Ask the learner what it is.
Contingent upon their naming it correctly, ask them if it is hot or cold. “Is the sun hot or cold?”
Learner should identify the sun as a hot object.
Reinforce accordingly.
Additional Notes
When working on labeling hot items in real life, ensure that the learner doesn’t look at it them directly (in the case of the sun) or get so close that they could get hurt.
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.
Problem? Question? Suggestion? We want to hear from you!
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
FFC-Labels Common Features 
Labels Clean & Dirty 
Labels Wet & Dry 
Intro to Faucets/Dials
Labels Sharp & Dull