Teaching Functional Language to the Handicapped: An Integrative Model of Natural Environment Teaching Techniques

Abstract

Almost without exception, language training programs for moderately and severely handicapped individuals recommend use of structured sessions in distraction-free settings. Although these procedures may be necessary to teach some prerequisites of language, they may not facilitate generalization to the natural environment where language is actually used. It is recommended that early in the program the context of training be changed from a special training setting to the everyday setting (e.g., home, school, ward). Three different, but overlapping, training procedures have been developed and proven experimentally to produce language in the everyday setting. Each procedure is described and discussed in terms of how it contributes to an integrative model of natural environment language training.