Teaching Interactions
Teaching Interactions (TI’s) are another instructional format that can be invaluable in teaching children skills. This instructional technique was developed at the University of Kansas as part of the Teaching Family Model for delinquent youth. TI’s have several benefits as it allows for structured training of more complex, often sophisticated skills in a highly natural, interpersonal, expanded conversational format. TI’s are designed to teach complex skills (e.g., social skills, problem solving, etc.). They utilize shaping and reinforcement to teach a skill and rely on a task analysis format. The teaching style is typically conversational and flexible in nature, providing the student multiple opportunities to participate in the teaching process. Although flexible, the technique approaches teaching skills systematically, and requires planning for generalization. Following are the 6 steps of a TI and both guidelines and considerations when utilizing this teaching technique.
- Initiation & Labeling
- Rationale
- Demonstration
- Practice
- Feedback
- Consequences
This is part of a guest series by Autism Partnership founders Ron Leaf, John McEachin and Mitchell Taubmann. Established in 1994, Autism Partnership is one of the nation’s premier agencies dedicated to providing intensive behavior intervention for children with autism and their families. They offer a comprehensive program and a variety of proven services, including in-home, in-classroom and one-on-one, as well as lectures and workshops. All programs are handled by expert staff and tailored to each individual child, family and caregiver, with the goal of helping that child achieve their best life. For more information, visit www.autismpartnership.com.