Common Misconceptions Regarding Mand Training for Your Child!

Enjoy this quick tip video where we discuss common mistakes made regarding mand training and teaching you child how to request things! Specifically teaching vague mands!

Presented by: Gina Ballone, MS, BCBA, LBA – Clinical Director of ABA Services

Transcription:

Hi. Today I’ll be presenting a quick video on common mistakes that are made regarding Mand training. And today I’m going to be diving into mistakes regarding teaching vague mands. So let’s go through some examples here.

Examples of Common Misconceptions

Let’s say a child runs up to you and mands a gift. Do you know what they want? Probably not. You’re in the grocery store, and your child signs More. Do you know what they want? You’re in the kitchen, and your child mands What. Do you know exactly what they want? You’re in the therapy room, and your child mands Please.

So with all of these examples, we don’t know what they want. So we look at a breakdown analysis from a behavioral perspective, and we’re going to look at that if the audience or listener doesn’t know how to honor the mand or reinforce, then we might delay reinforcement.

Avoid Vague Words

We could potentially create unnecessary frustration, and we know that that can trigger problematic behavior. And these are things that we don’t want to do. That’s why it’s so important that we teach specific words for learners when they start communicating. So I look at a functional communication that is understood by the audience.

Use Specific Words

So using those vague words, scenarios, now we’re using specific words, and you could see how the mand could quickly get honored by the audience, the listener. A child runs up to you and mands Up, so you pick them up. You know exactly what they want. You’re in the grocery store, and your child signs Cracker, you need to go to the cracker aisle. You’re in the kitchen, and your child mands Juice, so you pour them some juice. You’re in the therapy room, and your client mands Dino, so you immediately bring out the dinosaurs.

So this is just a quick synopsis of why it’s so important to teach specific words to children, especially when they’re first learning to communicate. And this way, we can lessen any problematic behavior but also increase their language repertoire so that we can understand them and that they get reinforced for the communication. Thank you so much.

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