A comparison of textual and echoic prompts on the acquisition of intraverbal behavior in a six-year-old boy with autism.

A comparison of textual and echoic prompts was conducted to determine which form of prompts was more effective for teaching intraverbal behavior to a 6-year-old boy with autism. A multiple baseline design across three sets of questions measured (a) the number of full-sentence target answers, (b) partial answers that made sense, and (c) partial answers that did not make sense, or no response, to direct questions asked. A fading procedure using either scripted textual or scripted echoic prompts was employed to evoke the child's correct answers. Although both forms of prompts were effective, results indicated that textual prompts were much more effective. These findings suggest that textual prompts may be effective in teaching complex skills to children with autism.