Within an ABA program, there will be many opportunities for prompting a child with autism to succeed. It is sort of the cornerstone for a child with autism to learn and to succeed. If a therapist never prompted, a child will be incorrect and therefore motivation to learn drops. Prompting is just another word of helping or assisting the child to a correct response.
In an ABA program, children with autism learn effectively with discrete trial teaching. Essentially, discrete trial teaching or discrete trial format (DTT/DTF) maximizes learning by systematically breaking skills down into easy to learn components.
Therapist should think of reinforcement as part of shaping a desired response. In the teaching phase, reinforcement is delivered in large amounts for close approximation.
The use of ABA therapy to teach child autism has changed the way we look at treatment for these individuals. In the past, some parents were told that these children did not learn and will not function in society. Limited options were given to parents of children with autism such that most children were institutionalized.
