Facilitating the emergence of intraverbal tacts in children with autism spectrum disorder: A preliminary analysis

Rodriguez et al. (2022) worked with children with autism.

They first taught six small skills, like naming items and answering simple questions.

When all six skills reached mastery, the team watched to see if the kids could now say what something was called when they heard its name—an intraverbal tact.

Every child produced the new intraverbal tacts without extra teaching.

The kids only needed the six mastered parts; no new drills were required.

At least four of the six parts seemed necessary for the jump to happen.

Aragon et al. (2024) copied the same plan and got the same jump, but added a quick fix. When a child had the six parts yet still stayed quiet, two short steps that sharpened listening skills finished the job.

Smith et al. (2016) and LaLonde et al. (2020) also saw new intraverbal answers pop up, but they used bingo games instead of the six-part pack. Same outcome, different road.

Walpole et al. (2007) warned that most old programs skip checks for divergent control. Rodriguez’s six-step list builds those checks in, so the new talk stays flexible.

You can add this six-skill chain to your verbal program this week. Run the probes, master each piece, then pause and test for the new intraverbal tacts before you write extra lessons. If the child stalls, borrow Aragon’s two listening fixes instead of starting over. This saves hours and keeps the kid moving.