The origins of incidental teaching are firmly grounded in the principles of learning that are the cornerstone of more traditional behavioral procedures. Incidental teaching evolved from the field of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), which has developed a form of language instruction that works well for many children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). This teaching methodology has the same principles of learning as found in discrete trial training. You present an antecedent, require a response, and follow with a consequence usually reinforcement of some kind. However, similar to components found in PRT, in incidental teaching you use your child's natural interests to encourage him to say or do something. It is a systematic protocol of instruction that is provided in the context of natural environments. It takes place in the settings in which the new skills targeted for teaching will be needed.
Incidental teaching is used to increase communication from a person by waiting for the person to initiate conversation about a topic and then responding in ways that encourage more language from that person (Hart & Risley, 1968). For example, a child might request "want car." The teacher might then ask the child whether he wants the blue car or the red one. The learner would then receive the car if he demonstrated more elaborate language by asking for the red one. Incidental teaching is most often thought of as a language promotion technique, but these teaching procedures apply equally well to domains such as social, self-care, and academic skills. The following principles of ABA are present in incidental teaching:
- The intervention is composed of operant conditioning techniques (reinforcement histories)
- The intervention goals are socially significant (meaningful skills)
- The intervention results are analyzed objectively by assessing each child's progress before, during, and after the intervention
In incidental teaching, the teacher or caregiver takes advantage of naturally occurring situations in which to provide language-learning opportunities for the child. The situation or activity is selected by the child, with the teacher or caregiver following the child's lead or interest. Incidental teaching strategies are designed to maximize reinforcement and facilitate generalization. Once a teacher or caregiver identifies naturally occurring situations in which a child expresses interest, she or he then uses a series of graduated prompts to encourage the child's responses. Four levels of prompts are associated with incidental teaching.
- The teacher or caregiver institutes a 30-second delay when a child displays an interest in a specific object or material to see what communicative intent the child naturally uses.
- The teacher or caregiver prompts the child to ask for the desired object.
- The teacher or caregiver requires a more elaborate request by the caregiver
- Level 4 - the correct response is modeled by the caregiver and the child is prompted to imitate the response
(Caregivers are taught to use the lowest level of prompt that would encourage the correct response by the child.)
Incidental teaching procedures have been shown to be effective in increasing language in individuals with autism. For example, many studies have shown increases specifically in the use of vocal communication in the following areas: peer interactions, polite/positive language, and spontaneous requests and comments. In combination with other teaching methods, incidental teaching procedures are effective teaching procedures for increasing communicative language in individuals with ASD.