Below is a general skill sequence for helping learners receptively identify familiar people in a large array.
This skill domain centers on the learner's capacity to receptively recognize family members and loved ones within an extensive array. It's essential for the learner to be adept in fundamental scanning and matching, as well as effectively respond to basic gesture cues. Gaining fluency in this skill is foundational, paving the way for the labeling of loved ones if pertinent to the learner's objectives.
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)
- Listener Responding, LR 3-M, Looks at, touches, or points to the correct family member, pet, or other reinforcer when presented in an array of 2 for 5 different reinforcers (e.g., Where’s Elmo? Where’s Mommy?)
- Listener Responding, LR 7-M, Generalizes listener discriminations (LDs) in a messy array of 8, for three different examples of 50 items (e.g., The child can find three examples of a train.
AFLS (Assessment of Functional Living Skills)
- Basic Communication, BC10, Labels common people (actual individuals, not professionals)
- Basic Communication, BC18, Names people and activities previously observed
- Health, Safety & First Aid, HS9, States difference between a "friend," "acquaintenance", and a "stranger”
- Community Knowledge, CK3, Receptively identifies community helpers.
DSM-V Diagnostic Criteria for Autism
- A2, Deficits in nonverbal communicative behaviors used for social interaction, ranging, for example, from poorly integrated verbal and nonverbal communication; to abnormalities in eye contact and body language or deficits in understanding and use of gestures; to a total lack of facial expressions and nonverbal communication.
CDC’s Developmental Milestones
- 2 Years, Language/Communication, Points to things in a book when you ask, like “Where is the bear?”
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 receptively identify 5 familiar people when presented in an array of 15.
- Learner will receptively identify 10 familiar people when presented in an array of 15.
- Learner will receptively identify 15 familiar people when presented in an array of 15.
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 Scanning 
Intro to Matching (Visual Perception) 
Following Gestures
Matches Common Items in 2D Array 1.0 (Identical)
Receptively IDs Common Items in 2D Array
Matches Familiar People in 2D Array (Identical)Skill Possibilities
Below is a possible skill sequence for working on increasing your learner’s ability to receptively ID familiar people. 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.
Matches Familiar People in 2D Array (Identical)Receptively IDs Common Items in 2D Array
Matches Familiar People in 2D Array (Non-Identical)Composite 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.
Receptively IDs Familiar People in 2D Array (3 Examples)
Labels Familiar People
Receptively IDs Emoticon Expressions in 2D ArrayFollow the link below to better understand component-composite analysis.
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