Below is a general skill sequence for helping learners labeling the likes and dislikes of others.
Learners shouldn’t simply be fluent in language to carry on a conversation. They also should have the ability to understand people—especially that there are dislikes and likes among a variety of people (and that those things vary by individual). This skill area seeks to help the learner ask on and understand likes and dislikes of others. As the learner gains fluency here, this may increase the potential for more meaningful conversations and social interactions.
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 9-M, Answers 25 different what questions (e.g., What do you like to eat?)
Intraverbal, IV 10-M, Answers 25 different who or where questions (e.g., Whose your friend? Where is your pillow?)
AFLS (Assessment of Functional Living Skills)
Basic Communication, BC10, Labels common people (actual individuals, not professionals)
Basic Communication, BC12, Labels locations (locations in home, community, school)
Basic Communication, BC16, Answers "Where" questions regarding home, school and community (e.g. where items are found within the home, activities done in home, etc.)
Basic Communication, BC17, Answers "What" questions regarding home, school and community (e.g. "what" questions regarding items found in the home, school and community)
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 the likes and dislikes of one familiar individual when asked to do so.
Learner will label the likes and dislikes of three familiar individuals when asked to do so.
Learner will label the likes and dislikes of five familiar individuals 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 label the likes/dislikes of others. 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 Therapist’s Favorite Thing To Do
How to Run
Gain the attention and motivation of the learner.
Ask them to label your favorite thing to do. “What do I like to do?”
Learner should label your favorite thing to do. “You like to go kayaking!”
Reinforce accordingly.
Additional Notes
In instances where the learner errors and labels something that someone else likes, run the program again but prompt them to label you first before asking them again.
Materials
Research/Resources
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#2 Labels Therapist’s Favorite Food
How to Run
Gain the attention and motivation of the learner.
Ask them to label your favorite food. "What is my favorite food?"
Learner should label your favorite food. "Your favorite food is pizza!"
Reinforce accordingly.
Additional Notes
In instances where the learner errors and labels something else as your favorite food, run the program again but prompt them to label you first before asking them again.
Materials
Research/Resources
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#3 Labels Therapist’s Favorite Drink
How to Run
Gain the attention and motivation of the learner.
Ask them to label your favorite drink. "What is my favorite drink?"
Learner should label your favorite drink. "Your favorite drink is coffee!"
Reinforce accordingly.
Additional Notes
In instances where the learner errors and labels something else as your favorite drink, run the program again but prompt them to label you first before asking them again.
Materials
Research/Resources
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#4 Labels Therapist’s Favorite Place to Go
How to Run
Gain the attention and motivation of the learner.
Ask them to label your favorite place to go. "Where do I like to go?"
Learner should label your favorite place to go. "You like to go to the beach!"
Reinforce accordingly.
Additional Notes
In instances where the learner errors and labels somewhere else as your favorite place to go, run the program again but prompt them to label you first before asking them again.
Materials
Research/Resources
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#5 Labels Therapist’s Loved Person
How to Run
Gain the attention and motivation of the learner.
Ask them to label the person that the therapist loves. "Who do I love?"
Learner should label the person that the therapist loves. "The therapist loves their mom!"
Reinforce accordingly.
Additional Notes
In instances where the learner errors and labels someone else as the person the therapist loves, run the program again but prompt them to label the therapist first before asking them again.
Materials
Research/Resources
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#6 Labels Therapist’s Least Favorite Thing To Do
How to Run
Gain the attention and motivation of the learner.
Ask them to label what the therapist doesn't like to do. "What do I not like?"
Learner should label what the therapist doesn't like to do. "You don’t like to clean."
Reinforce accordingly.
Additional Notes
In instances where the learner errors and labels something else as what the therapist doesn't like to do, run the program again but prompt them to label the therapist first before asking them again.
Materials
Research/Resources
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#7 Labels Therapist’s Least Favorite Food
How to Run
Gain the attention and motivation of the learner.
Ask them to label what the therapist doesn't like to eat. "What don't I like to eat?"
Learner should label what the therapist doesn't like to eat. "You don't like to eat broccoli."
Reinforce accordingly.
Additional Notes
In instances where the learner errors and labels something else as what the therapist doesn't like to eat, run the program again but prompt them to label the therapist first before asking them again.
Materials
Research/Resources
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#8 Labels Therapist’s Least Favorite Drink
How to Run
Gain the attention and motivation of the learner.
Ask them to label what the therapist doesn't like to drink. "What don't I like to drink?"
Learner should label what the therapist doesn't like to drink. "You don't like to drink Sprite."
Reinforce accordingly.
Additional Notes
In instances where the learner errors and labels something else as what the therapist doesn't like to drink, run the program again but prompt them to label the therapist first before asking them again.
Materials
Research/Resources
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#9 Labels Therapist’s Least Favorite Place to Go
How to Run
Gain the attention and motivation of the learner.
Ask them to label where the therapist doesn't like to go. "Where don't I like to go?"
Learner should label where the therapist doesn't like to go. "You don't like to go to the dentist."
Reinforce accordingly.
Additional Notes
In instances where the learner errors and labels somewhere else as where the therapist doesn't like to go, run the program again but prompt them to label the therapist first before asking them again.
Materials
Research/Resources
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#10 Labels Primary Caregiver’s Favorite Thing To Do
How to Run
Gain the attention and motivation of the learner.
Ask them to label their primary caregiver's favorite thing to do. "What does your Mom like to do?"
Learner should label the primary caregiver's favorite thing to do. "My Mom likes to read."
Reinforce accordingly.
Additional Notes
Materials
Research/Resources
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#11 Labels Primary Caregiver's Favorite Food
How to Run
Gain the attention and motivation of the learner.
Ask them to label their primary caregiver's favorite food. "What does your Mom like to eat?"
Learner should label the primary caregiver's favorite food. "My Mom likes to eat pasta."
Reinforce accordingly.
Additional Notes
Materials
Research/Resources
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#12 Labels Primary Caregiver's Favorite Drink
How to Run
Gain the attention and motivation of the learner.
Ask them to label their primary caregiver's favorite drink. "What does your Mom like to drink?"
Learner should label the primary caregiver's favorite drink. "My Mom likes to drink coffee."
Reinforce accordingly.
Additional Notes
Materials
Research/Resources
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#13 Labels Primary Caregiver's Favorite Place to Go
How to Run
Gain the attention and motivation of the learner.
Ask them to label where their primary caregiver likes to go. "Where does your Mom like to go?"
Learner should label where their primary caregiver likes to go. "My Mom likes to go to the park."
Reinforce accordingly.
Additional Notes
In instances where the learner errors and labels somewhere else as where their primary caregiver likes to go, run the program again but prompt them to label their primary caregiver first before asking them again.
Materials
Research/Resources
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#14 Labels Primary Caregiver's Loved Person
How to Run
Gain the attention and motivation of the learner.
Ask them to label who their primary caregiver loves. "Who does your Mom love?"
Learner should label who their primary caregiver loves. "My Mom loves my Dad and me."
Reinforce accordingly.
Additional Notes
Materials
Research/Resources
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#15 Labels Primary Caregiver's Least Favorite Thing To Do
How to Run
Gain the attention and motivation of the learner.
Ask them to label what their primary caregiver doesn't like to do. "What does your Mom not like to do?"
Learner should label what their primary caregiver doesn't like to do. "My Mom doesn't like to clean."
Reinforce accordingly.
Additional Notes
In instances where the learner errors and labels something else as what their primary caregiver doesn't like to do, run the program again but prompt them to label their primary caregiver first before asking them again.
Materials
Research/Resources
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#16 Labels Peer's Favorite Thing To Do
How to Run
Gain the attention and motivation of the learner.
Ask them to label their peer's favorite thing to do. "What does Brandon like to do?"
Learner should label their peer's favorite thing to do. "Brandon likes to play soccer."
Reinforce accordingly.
Additional Notes
Materials
Research/Resources
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#17 Labels Peer's Favorite Food
How to Run
Gain the attention and motivation of the learner.
Ask them to label what their peer likes to eat. "What does Brandon like to eat?"
Learner should label what their peer likes to eat. "Brandon likes to eat pizza."
Reinforce accordingly.
Additional Notes
Materials
Research/Resources
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#18 Labels Peer's Favorite Drink
How to Run
Gain the attention and motivation of the learner.
Ask them to label what their peer likes to drink. "What does Brandon like to drink?"
Learner should label what their peer likes to drink. "Brandon likes to drink lemonade."
Reinforce accordingly.
Additional Notes
Materials
Research/Resources
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#19 Labels Peer's Favorite Place to Go
How to Run
Gain the attention and motivation of the learner.
Ask them to label where their peer likes to go. "Where does Brandon like to go?"
Learner should label where their peer likes to go. "Brandon likes to go to the park."
Reinforce accordingly.
Additional Notes
Materials
Research/Resources
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#20 Labels Peer's Loved Person
How to Run
Gain the attention and motivation of the learner.
Ask them to label who their peer loves. "Who does Brandon love?"
Learner should label who their peer loves. "Brandon loves his mom and dad."
Reinforce accordingly.
Additional Notes
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.
Coming Soon!
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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Labels Personal Likes & Dislikes
Labels Favorite People, Places, & Things