Teaching children with autism spectrum disorder to mand for answers to questions via telehealth: A caregiver implementation

Three families joined Zoom from home. A BCBA on the screen taught the parents how to coach their own child.

The goal was simple. The child would learn to say, "I don’t know, please tell me" when they needed information.

Parents practiced the steps with the BCBA, then tried them with their child while the BCBA watched and gave tips.

Every child began to use the full IDKPTM phrase on their own.

The children still used the phrase weeks later, even when new toys and new people were around.

Simacek et al. (2017) did something close. They also used parent coaching on Zoom to teach early communication to toddlers with severe delays. Their kids learned first words and requests. Swensson’s kids learned a longer, more advanced sentence. The two studies line up like steps on a ladder.

Agiovlasitis et al. (2025) tried the same skill—asking questions—but with high-school students in class using Pivotal Response Treatment. Two of three teens jumped from almost no questions to many. Swensson shows the same jump can start at home years earlier, with parents instead of teachers.

Shawler et al. (2021) looked like a clash at first. They trained teachers via Zoom and saw more speech-device use, not spoken words. Different tool, same route: coach the adult, boost the child’s voice. No real conflict—just a different mouthpiece.

You can add IDKPTM mand training to your telehealth toolbox today. Teach the parent the four-step script, watch them run a trial, give live feedback, and leave the data sheet in the cloud. One week later the child may be asking, "I don’t know, please tell me" instead of screaming or walking away. That single sentence opens doors to every other question the child will ever need.