Association for Behavior Analysis International

Speakers from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds have been disproportionately identified with communication deficits, a defining feature of Autism Spectrum Disorder. Traditional approaches to language assessment focus on the topography of a response, without regard for the context in which it was emitted. In contrast, the functional analysis of verbal behavior offers a rigorous and innovative approach to language assessment that subsumes the cultural and linguistic diversity of the speaker. Through multiple-exemplar training, we demonstrate verbal operant experimental (VOX) analyses across different children with autism from a variety of culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. VOX analyses are used to identify specific functional language deficits, and differences in the strength of verbal operants are examined through non-parametric analyses. Moreover, the results can be used to develop an individualized treatment plan, using a most-to-least prompt hierarchy to shape a response topography specific to each unique verbal community. In this way, functional analyses of language are shown to be a verbal-community-centered approach to observing and measuring the verbal behavior of speakers from diverse backgrounds.

Practitioners (BCBAs, LSSPs, Educational Diagnosticians, etc) who work directly with children with autism from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Audience should be familiar with the concept of functional analysis and the verbal operants.

Functional analyses of language have been useful for measuring the strength of a speaker’s verbal repertoire, identifying verbal behavior deficits, and monitoring language development. An extension of the functional analysis methodology used to identify the variables that maintain challenging behavior, a verbal operant experimental (VOX) analysis is used to identify the variables that maintain a speaker’s verbal behavior. This presentation introduces the VOX analysis along with the procedures used to sample the speaker’s verbal repertoire. Using an English-speaking, three-year-old boy with autism as a case study, we demonstrate a pretreatment VOX analysis, describe how the results were used to develop an individualized intervention plan, and then show the results of a follow-up VOX analysis after six months of early intensive behavioral intervention. Whereas the pretreatment VOX results demonstrated examples of stimulus overselectivity, follow-up results show the development of more proportionate levels of stimulus control. Implications of VOX analyses for English-speakers with autism are discussed, and areas of future research are highlighted.

While all members of a verbal community speak a common language, not all speakers of a common language are members of the same verbal community. In addition to sharing a common language, members of a verbal community also share common reinforcing practices. Mere translation of an assessment into another language fails to address these critical issues of cultural and linguistic diversity. Consequently, topography-based language assessments provide an insufficient analysis of a speaker’s verbal behavior. Here we extend the research on functional analyses of verbal behavior to include speakers of a language other than English. Using a Spanish-speaking, five-year-old girl with autism as a case study, we demonstrate the use of a pretreatment VOX analysis conducted in the speaker’s native language, describe how the results were used to develop an individualized intervention plan, and then show the results of a follow-up VOX analysis after six months of referent-based verbal behavior instruction. Whereas the pretreatment VOX results demonstrated examples of stimulus overselectivity, follow-up results show the development of more proportionate levels of stimulus control. Implications of VOX analyses for Spanish-speakers with autism are discussed, and areas of future research are highlighted.

For speakers who belong to multiple verbal communities, functional analyses of verbal behavior allow for dynamic control of response topography. The simple practice of allowing the speaker the freedom to select the language of instruction minimizes cultural bias and hegemony. Here we extend the research on functional analyses of verbal behavior to include speakers of multiple languages. Using a multilingual, seven-year-old boy with autism as a case study, we demonstrate the use of a pretreatment VOX analysis, describe how the results were used to develop an individualized intervention plan, and then show the results of a follow-up VOX analysis after six months of behavior-analytic intervention. Notably, the follow-up VOX analysis was conducted in three different languages, and we compare the results of each. The results show a clear hierarchy of strength across English, Telugu, and Tamil, with overarching patterns across the three assessments. Implications of VOX analyses for multilingual-speakers with autism are discussed, and areas of future research are highlighted.

Within the context of cultural and linguistic diversity, speakers who use augmentative and alternative communication are often overlooked. The selection of augmentative/alternative communication (AAC) for non-vocal speakers with autism spectrum disorder has been described as more of an art than a science for the population of children with autism who do not develop functional speech. While the decision to use one AAC modality over another is largely subjective, what limited research exists primarily focuses on mand training. Here we extend the research on functional analyses of verbal behavior to include speakers who communicate with speech-generating devices. Using a non-vocal, five-year-old girl with autism as a case study, we demonstrate the use of a pretreatment VOX analysis conducted in which the speaker uses AAC, describe how the results were used to develop an individualized intervention plan, and then show the results of a follow-up VOX analysis after six months of early intensive behavioral intervention. Whereas the pretreatment VOX results demonstrated a functional mand repertoire, follow-up results show the development of more proportionate levels of stimulus control. Implications of VOX analyses for speakers with autism who use AAC are discussed, and areas of future research are highlighted.