Responding to “What” Greetings
Responding to “What” Greetings

Responding to “What” Greetings

Below is a general skill sequence for helping learners respond appropriately to greetings where someone asks them what they are doing.

As learners become proficient in labeling their own behavior and vocally responding appropriately to the greetings of others, it might be appropriate to focus on tailoring their responses to conventional questions encountered during greetings. Often, a peer or another individual might pose the question, "What's up?" in various forms. This skill area not only emphasizes the learner's ability to label their own behavior but also instructs them to reciprocate by inquiring about the greeter's day. Once proficiency in this area is achieved, the learner can then be guided to respond to the ubiquitous "How are you?" greeting.

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)

  • Social Behavior and Social Play, SBSP 13-M, Intraverbally responds to 5 different questions or statements from peers (e.g. verbally responds to What do you want to play?)
  • Intraverbal, I 10-M, Answers 25 different who or where questions (e.g., Whose your friend? Where is your pillow?)
  • Intraverbal, I 10-M, Spontaneously emits 20 intraverbal comments (can be part mand) (e.g., Dad says, I’m going to the car, and the child spontaneously says, I want to go for a ride!)

AFLS (Assessment of Functional Living Skills)

  • Phone, PH3, Returns greetings over phone
  • Social Awareness & Manners, SA1, Returns appropriate greetings
  • Social Awareness & Manners, SA18, Greets and interacts in a socially acceptable manner
  • Basic Skills, BS38, Greets other employees
  • Retail, RT17, Greets and assists customers

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.
  • A3, Deficits in developing, maintaining, and understanding relationships, ranging, for example, from difficulties adjusting behavior to suit various social contexts; to difficulties in sharing imaginative play or in making friends; to absence of interest in peers.

CDC’s Developmental Milestones

  • 3 Years, Language/Communication, Talks with you in conversation using at least two back-and-forth exchanges.
  • 3 Years, Language/Communication, Talks wells enough for others to understand, most of the time.
  • 4 Years, Language/Communication, Says sentences with four or more words.

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 accurately label their own, current behavior when another individual asks them “What’s up?”.
  • Learner will accurately label their own, current behavior and ask another individual the same question when that individual greets them with “What’s up?”.
  • Learner will accurately label their own, current behavior and ask another individual the same question when that individual greets them with a “What…” question for five different “What…” questions.

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.

Skill Possibilities

Below is a possible skill sequence for working on increasing your learner’s ability respond to “what” greetings. 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 current behavior in response to “What’s up?”
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#2 Labels current behavior and asks “What’s up?” for “What’s up?”
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#3 Labels current behavior in response to "What are you up to?"
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#4 Labels current behavior and asks “What’s up?” for “What are you up to?”
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#5 Labels current behavior in response to "Whatchya doin'?"
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#6 Labels current behavior and asks “What’s up?” for “Whatchya doin’?”
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#7 Labels current behavior in response to "What's going on?"
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#8 Labels current behavior and asks “What’s up?” for “What’s going on?”
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#9 Labels current behavior in response to "What's happening?"
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#10 Labels current behavior and asks “What’s up?” for “What’s happening?”

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.

Labels Own BehaviorLabels Own BehaviorGreetings (Verbal)Greetings (Verbal)Intro to Eye ContactIntro to Eye ContactLabels Favorite People, Places, & ThingsLabels Favorite People, Places, & Things

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.

Responding to “How” Greetings (Coming Soon!)

Labels Personal Likes & DislikesLabels Personal Likes & Dislikes

Follow the link below to better understand component-composite analysis.

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Research and Resources
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