Below is a general skill sequence for helping learners follow gestures with consistency.
Manding for actions is a crucial skill area for learners who have already achieved fluency in manding for preferred items. Unlike some other skill areas, manding for actions does not follow a specific sequence, as learners may not always be motivated to perform the same action. As such, it's essential to pick and choose which manding programs and treatment plan goals you will use based on your learner's preferences. To increase opportunities for manding for actions, consider incorporating the following skills into your teaching: requesting help, indicating a need for a break, asking for more information, asking for clarification, asking for a turn, asking for a hug or high five, and expressing interest in an activity. By offering more manding opportunities and varying the types of actions requested, learners can continue to build their communication skills and increase their independence.
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:
When motivated for a specific action, learner will mand for the action.
When motivated for a specific action, learner will mand for the action across three different actions.
When motivated for a specific action, learner will mand for the action across five different actions.
When motivated for a specific action, learner will mand for the action across ten different actions.
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.
Intro to Reinforcer/Preference Expansion
Intro to Manding
Echoic-to-Mand TransfersSkill Possibilities
Below is a possible skill sequence for working on increasing your learner’s ability to mand. 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.
Manding for Attention
Mands for Escape
Manding for Actions 
Mands for Missing ItemsComposite 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.
Manding for Locations
2-3 Word Mands Follow the link below to better understand component-composite analysis.
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