Incidental teaching is a form of teaching in which a teacher takes advantage of naturally occurring 'incidents' or situations to provide learning opportunities for the student.
Incidental teaching is based on the idea that students, including autistic children, are more willing to learn if the teaching is based around their own interests and preferences.
In incidental teaching the teacher organises the learning environment around a set of pre-planned learning objectives but taking into account the student's individual preferences. When the student demonstrates an interest in an item or activity, the teacher encourages that interest by questioning or prompting the student. For example, the teacher may place something that the student wants (such as a green car) just out of reach, so that the student has to communicate with the teacher in order to get it.
Incidental teaching can be used as a focussed (standalone) technique but it is also a key element in many comprehensive, multi-component programmes, such as the Early Start Denver Model, LEAP and the UCLA YAP model. It is also the main technique used in programmes run by the Walden Early Childhood Center at Emory University in Georgia, Atlanta.
There is enough research evidence to suggest that incidental teaching can increase and improve social communication, including both spoken and sign language, in some autistic children and young people, but only when used as part of a comprehensive, multi-component programme.
There is insufficient evidence to determine if incidental teaching provides any benefits when used as a focused (standalone) technique.
Future research should use randomised controlled trials to investigate the effectiveness of incidental teaching against active control groups (for example, by directly comparing incidental teaching with other interventions, relative to a no-treatment control group) using larger sample sizes.
It would also be helpful to identify the effectiveness of incidental teaching, where incidental teaching is a part of a wider programme, investigating whether and how incidental teaching adds value to the programme (for example, are there particular skills that are more receptive to being taught using incidental teaching techniques than others).
There is also a need for research which involves autistic people to review the efficacy and ethical basis of incidental teaching including individuals who may be non-verbal.
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Incidental teaching is used with a wide range of people, including autistic children and young people, and especially people who have social communication difficulties.
Those difficulties may include an inability or unwillingness to speak at all, an inability or unwillingness to use augmentative and alternative communication systems (such as sign language) or problems using language appropriately.
The aim of incidental teaching is to increase and improve communication skills. For example, according to Hart and Risley (1982),
“Incidental teaching is used to get elaborated language by waiting for another person to initiate conversation about a topic and then responding in ways that ask for more language from that person.”
There have been various claims made for incidental teaching used with autistic people. For example
Incidental teaching is a form of teaching in which a teacher takes advantage of naturally occurring 'incidents' or situations to provide learning opportunities for the student.
Incidental teaching is based on the idea that students, including autistic children, are more willing to learn if the teaching is based around their own interests and preferences.
In incidental teaching the teacher organises the learning environment around a set of pre-planned learning objectives but taking into account the student's individual preferences. When the student demonstrates an interest in an item or activity, the teacher encourages that interest by questioning or prompting the student. For example, the teacher may place something that the student wants just out of reach, so that the student has to communicate with the teacher in order to get it.
Incidental teaching can be used as a focussed (stand-alone) technique but it is also a key element in many comprehensive, multi-component programmes, such as the Early Start Denver Model, LEAP and the UCLA YAP model. It is also the main technique used in programmes run by the Walden Early Childhood Center at Emory University in Georgia, Atlanta.
According to ICAN. (Date unknown) there are eight key elements of incidental teaching
1. The teacher or parent chooses an educational objective, such as asking for a green car.
2. The adult arranges the natural environment to promote student motivation and interest in the materials related to teaching the objective. For example, the teacher puts the green car on a shelf where the child can see it.
3. The child shows interest in the materials through verbalization or gesture, thus initiating the teaching session. For example, the child points to the car and says, "car."
4. The adult encourages the child to elaborate on his or her initiation, based on the student's developmental level. For example, the teacher says 'What colour is the car?'
5. If the child responds correctly to the prompt, the adult provides specific praise and gives the child brief access to the desired materials i.e. the car.
6. If the child does not respond or responds incorrectly, the adult provides up to three more prompts, such as providing the necessary words. Once the child responds correctly, he or she receives specific praise and brief access to the materials.
7. The adult "takes a turn" with the materials (i.e., replaces them on the shelf or plays with them, or, says, "I want the green car" and picks up the green car). The steps begin again.
8. The incidental teaching session should end with success (i.e., child responds correctly and receives access to the materials). The session should be brief and end once the child loses interest.
Incidental teaching is very similar in some respects to milieu training, a form of teaching in which the teacher takes advantage of the child's interest in the things around them, the 'milieu', to provide learning opportunities for the child. When the child demonstrates an interest in an item or activity, the teacher encourages that interest by questioning or prompting the student.
Incidental teaching differs from milieu teaching in a number of respects
The costs of using incidental teaching will depend to a large extent on who provides the training, how long it takes to implement the intervention, and whether support materials are purchased.
Like many other interventions, the length and frequency of treatment will depend to a large extent on the needs of the individual. In some cases, the intervention will require many hours of work each day and be implemented over many years.
There are no known hazards for incidental teaching.
There are no known contraindications (something which makes a particular treatment or procedure potentially inadvisable) for incidental teaching.
There is no internationally recognised qualification for the delivery of incidental teaching. In practice, incidental teaching may actually be implemented by a variety of people, including parents and carers, as well as professionals such as teachers.
In theory, incidental teaching is only available from a small number of agencies in the US, such as the Walden Early Childhood Center at Emory University in Georgia, Atlanta. In practice, incidental teaching may actually be implemented by a variety of people, including parents and carers, as well as professionals such as teachers.
Incidental teaching for 'disadvantaged' children was first recognised by Hart and Risley in the US in the late 1970s. McGee and colleagues at the Emory Resource Center, part of Emory University, went on to develop incidental teaching as part of the Walden Program. It has since been incorporated into many comprehensive, multi-component programmes, such as the Early Start Denver Model, LEAP and the UCLA YAP model.
We have identified 16 scientific studies of incidental teaching as an intervention for autistic people in peer-reviewed journals published in English.
These trials included more than 60 individuals aged from pre-school children to adults. These individuals included people with autistic disorder, Asperger syndrome and pervasive developmental disorder - not otherwise specified.
The majority of studies reported positive results. For example,
Some of the studies compared incidental teaching with discrete trial training but reported differing results. For example
A minority of studies reported limited or mixed results. For example
There are a number of limitations to all of the research studies published to date. For example
There is enough evidence to suggest that incidental teaching can increase and improve social communication, including both spoken and sign language, in some autistic children and young people, but only when used as part of a comprehensive, multi-component programme.
There is insufficient evidence to determine if incidental teaching provides any benefits when used as a focused (stand-alone) technique.
Future research should use randomised controlled trials to investigate the effectiveness of incidental teaching against active control groups (for example, by directly comparing incidental teaching with other interventions, relative to a no-treatment control group) using larger sample sizes.
It would also be helpful to identify the effectiveness of incidental teaching, where incidental teaching is a part of a wider programme, investigating whether and how incidental teaching adds value to the programme (for example, are there particular skills that are more receptive to being taught using incidental teaching techniques than others?).
There is also a need for research which involves autistic people to review the efficacy and ethical basis of incidental teaching including individuals who may be non-verbal.
This section provides details of scientific studies into the effectiveness of pivotal response training for autistic people which have been published in English-language, peer-reviewed journals.
If you know of any other publications we should list on this page please email info@informationautism.org
Please note that we are unable to supply publications unless we are listed as the publisher. However, if you are a UK resident you may be able to obtain them from your local public library, your college library or direct from the publisher.
This section provides details of other publications on this topic.
You can find more publications on this topic in our publications database.
If you know of any other publications we should list on this page please email info@informationautism.org
Please note that we are unable to supply publications unless we are listed as the publisher. However, if you are a UK resident you may be able to obtain them from your local public library, your college library or direct from the publisher.