Simultaneous Prompting to Teach Initial Listener Responses to a Child with Down Syndrome

Cariveau and team worked with a young learners boy who has Down syndrome. He could point to objects but could not follow new one-step directions like "touch car."

The researchers compared two ways to teach these listener responses. One method gave the cue and the prompt at the same time (simultaneous prompting). The other waited a few seconds before giving the prompt (constant prompt delay).

The boy reached mastery in only 12 sessions with simultaneous prompting. The constant prompt delay took 38 sessions.

He also made fewer than half as many errors with the simultaneous method. The new skill lasted two weeks and showed up with new toys.

Dogan et al. (2002) used the same simultaneous prompting twenty years earlier. They taught kids to point to pictures of jobs. The fast learning seen in the new study matches that old result.

Jones et al. (2010) stretched the method further. They taught students with moderate intellectual disability to read short sentences, not just point. Their success shows the prompt type keeps working as tasks get harder.

Bosley et al. (2024) looks like a clash at first. They used a slow, step-up prompt hierarchy for preschoolers with language delays. Their kids improved too, but the method took more time. The difference is the goal: Bosley wanted richer back-and-forth talk, while Cariveau wanted fast first-time learning.

If you teach toddlers or preschoolers with Down syndrome, start with simultaneous prompting for brand-new listener skills. You can hit mastery in under 15 sessions and spare the child extra errors. Once the basics are firm, you can switch to other prompt styles for harder or more social goals.