Below is a general skill sequence for helping learners label common items across multiple examples.
This skill domain underscores the learner's capability to assign labels to a few examples for each common item in the fifth grouping. It's critical for the learner to demonstrate proficiency in basic scanning, matching, responding to simple gesture prompts, and receptively identifying these items within an array. Moreover, they should be equipped with the skills to label a basic example of each item. Achieving fluency in this skill domain is key, as it serves as a building block for labeling additional items, activities, locations, and individuals.
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?”
Tact, T 7-M, Tacts across 3 exemplars of 50 items
Linguistic Structure, LS 6-M, The child’s articulation of 10 tacts can be understood by familiar adults who cannot see the item tacted.
AFLS (Assessment of Functional Living Skills)
Basic Communication, BC9, Labels common objects
Community Knowledge, CK17, Identifies items in the community
Household Mechanics, HM21, Labels objects in common rooms
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 three examples of 65 different common items when presented to them in 2D or 3D.
Learner will correctly label three examples of 70 different common items when presented to them in 2D or 3D.
Learner will correctly label three examples of 75 different common items 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 label common items. 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 Multiple Examples of a Tree
How to Run
Gain the attention and motivation of the learner.
Hold up a picture or 3D representation of a tree (rotating between at least three pictures/3Ds of a tree with every trial). Point to it if necessary.
Ask the learner “What is this?/What is it?”
Learner should correctly label the corresponding picture.
Reinforce accordingly.
Additional Notes
For this program, start by working on only one picture of a tree, as the learner answers and labels this picture correctly, begin introducing a different picture of a tree with every trial (don’t wait until mastery). You should then rotate through at least three different pictures of a tree so that the learner doesn’t see the same picture at each trial.
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 memorizations, and could expedite mastery and fluency.
Hold up a picture or 3D representation of bread (rotating between at least three pictures/3Ds of bread with every trial). Point to it if necessary.
Ask the learner “What is this?/What is it?”
Learner should correctly label the corresponding picture.
Reinforce accordingly.
Additional Notes
For this program, start by working on only one picture of bread, as the learner answers and labels this picture correctly, begin introducing a different picture of bread with every trial (don’t wait until mastery). You should then rotate through at least three different pictures of bread so that the learner doesn’t see the same picture at each trial.
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 memorizations, and could expedite mastery and fluency.
Hold up a picture or 3D representation of an airplane (rotating between at least three pictures/3Ds of an airplane with every trial). Point to it if necessary.
Ask the learner “What is this?/What is it?”
Learner should correctly label the corresponding picture.
Reinforce accordingly.
Additional Notes
For this program, start by working on only one picture of an airplane, as the learner answers and labels this picture correctly, begin introducing a different picture of an airplane with every trial (don’t wait until mastery). You should then rotate through at least three different pictures of an airplane so that the learner doesn’t see the same picture at each trial.
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 memorizations, and could expedite mastery and fluency.
Hold up a picture or 3D representation of a fish (rotating between at least three pictures/3Ds of a fish with every trial). Point to it if necessary.
Ask the learner “What is this?/What is it?”
Learner should correctly label the corresponding picture.
Reinforce accordingly.
Additional Notes
For this program, start by working on only one picture of a fish, as the learner answers and labels this picture correctly, begin introducing a different picture of a fish with every trial (don’t wait until mastery). You should then rotate through at least three different pictures of a fish so that the learner doesn’t see the same picture at each trial.
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 memorizations, and could expedite mastery and fluency.
Hold up a picture or 3D representation of pants (rotating between at least three pictures/3Ds of pants with every trial). Point to it if necessary.
Ask the learner “What is this?/What is it?”
Learner should correctly label the corresponding picture.
Reinforce accordingly.
Additional Notes
For this program, start by working on only one picture of pants, as the learner answers and labels this picture correctly, begin introducing a different picture of pants with every trial (don’t wait until mastery). You should then rotate through at least three different pictures of pants so that the learner doesn’t see the same picture at each trial.
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 memorizations, and could expedite mastery and fluency.
Hold up a picture or 3D representation of a sink (rotating between at least three pictures/3Ds of a sink with every trial). Point to it if necessary.
Ask the learner “What is this?/What is it?”
Learner should correctly label the corresponding picture.
Reinforce accordingly.
Additional Notes
For this program, start by working on only one picture of a sink, as the learner answers and labels this picture correctly, begin introducing a different picture of a sink with every trial (don’t wait until mastery). You should then rotate through at least three different pictures of a sink so that the learner doesn’t see the same picture at each trial.
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 memorizations, and could expedite mastery and fluency.
Hold up a picture or 3D representation of a couch (rotating between at least three pictures/3Ds of a couch with every trial). Point to it if necessary.
Ask the learner “What is this?/What is it?”
Learner should correctly label the corresponding picture.
Reinforce accordingly.
Additional Notes
For this program, start by working on only one picture of a couch, as the learner answers and labels this picture correctly, begin introducing a different picture of a couch with every trial (don’t wait until mastery). You should then rotate through at least three different pictures of a couch so that the learner doesn’t see the same picture at each trial.
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 memorizations, and could expedite mastery and fluency.
Hold up a picture or 3D representation of a bowl (rotating between at least three pictures/3Ds of a bowl with every trial). Point to it if necessary.
Ask the learner “What is this?/What is it?”
Learner should correctly label the corresponding picture.
Reinforce accordingly.
Additional Notes
For this program, start by working on only one picture of a bowl, as the learner answers and labels this picture correctly, begin introducing a different picture of a bowl with every trial (don’t wait until mastery). You should then rotate through at least three different pictures of a bowl so that the learner doesn’t see the same picture at each trial.
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 memorizations, and could expedite mastery and fluency.
Hold up a picture or 3D representation of a shoe (rotating between at least three pictures/3Ds of a shoe with every trial). Point to it if necessary.
Ask the learner “What is this?/What is it?”
Learner should correctly label the corresponding picture.
Reinforce accordingly.
Additional Notes
For this program, start by working on only one picture of a shoe, as the learner answers and labels this picture correctly, begin introducing a different picture of a shoe with every trial (don’t wait until mastery). You should then rotate through at least three different pictures of a shoe so that the learner doesn’t see the same picture at each trial.
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 memorizations, and could expedite mastery and fluency.
Hold up a picture or 3D representation of a fork (rotating between at least three pictures/3Ds of a fork with every trial). Point to it if necessary.
Ask the learner “What is this?/What is it?”
Learner should correctly label the corresponding picture.
Reinforce accordingly.
Additional Notes
For this program, start by working on only one picture of a fork, as the learner answers and labels this picture correctly, begin introducing a different picture of a fork with every trial (don’t wait until mastery). You should then rotate through at least three different pictures of a fork so that the learner doesn’t see the same picture at each trial.
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 memorizations, and could expedite mastery and fluency.
Hold up a picture or 3D representation of a train (rotating between at least three pictures/3Ds of a train with every trial). Point to it if necessary.
Ask the learner “What is this?/What is it?”
Learner should correctly label the corresponding picture.
Reinforce accordingly.
Additional Notes
For this program, start by working on only one picture of a train, as the learner answers and labels this picture correctly, begin introducing a different picture of a train with every trial (don’t wait until mastery). You should then rotate through at least three different pictures of a train so that the learner doesn’t see the same picture at each trial.
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 memorizations, and could expedite mastery and fluency.
Hold up a picture or 3D representation of a bathroom (rotating between at least three pictures/3Ds of a bathroom with every trial). Point to it if necessary.
Ask the learner “What is this?/What is it?”
Learner should correctly label the corresponding picture.
Reinforce accordingly.
Additional Notes
For this program, start by working on only one picture of a bathroom, as the learner answers and labels this picture correctly, begin introducing a different picture of a bathroom with every trial (don’t wait until mastery). You should then rotate through at least three different pictures of a bathroom so that the learner doesn’t see the same picture at each trial.
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 memorizations, and could expedite mastery and fluency.
Hold up a picture or 3D representation of a kitchen (rotating between at least three pictures/3Ds of a kitchen with every trial). Point to it if necessary.
Ask the learner “What is this?/What is it?”
Learner should correctly label the corresponding picture.
Reinforce accordingly.
Additional Notes
For this program, start by working on only one picture of a kitchen, as the learner answers and labels this picture correctly, begin introducing a different picture of a kitchen with every trial (don’t wait until mastery). You should then rotate through at least three different pictures of a kitchen so that the learner doesn’t see the same picture at each trial.
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 memorizations, and could expedite mastery and fluency.
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
Labels Multiple Examples of Common Items 1.0
Labels Common Items 5.0 
Matches Common Items in 2D Array 5.0 (Non-Identical)
Receptively IDs Common Items in 2D Array 5.0 (3 Examples)