Most to Least Verbal Prompting

Most to Least Verbal Prompting

Most to least verbal prompting involves giving your learner enough verbal cues to accomplish whatever response you are asking them to make. Most to least verbal prompting can be used for teaching Gaining Attention, Requesting, Teaching Labeling, Answering Questions, Asking Questions and others.

The Basic Premise

The basic premise behind most to least verbal prompting is to use the learner's ability to echo speech, to help them produce appropriate responses in teaching settings. For example, when teaching Requesting, initially you might hold something the learner wants (a reinforcer) just out of reach (e.g. a ball), and prompt, "Say Ball" or just "Ball." Whether or not you use the preface "Say" depends on whether your learner understands to echo "ball" vs. repeating the whole phrase inappropriately (eg. they echo "Say ball."). When they produce the sound, you immediately deliver the ball or reinforcer.

Fading the Verbal Prompt

After the learner catches on to what is expected of them, you take away the verbal prompt gradually. Some effective ways of doing this is to prompt the first word of the response, if it is a phrase, or the first syllable or sound of the word if it is a single word you are prompting. For example, when teaching Answering Questions, you might set them up with the cue "Where's the dog?" The answer you are looking for is "In the box." You might have started by prompting "In the box." You can fade to "In the b-." Then "In the ___." Then "In ___." Then "I-." Or you can use a combination of prompts--you might switch to a gestural prompt (E.g. Just point to the box and say nothing, or point to the box and give a partial verbal prompt.) If you have the basic idea of prompting an prompt fading, you can adapt to the learner's skill and situation.

Something important to keep in mind

Verbal prompts are the easiest to get dependent on, and the hardest to fade. There are a couple of good reasons for this. First, they are the easiest to give. For teachers, opening our mouths and spitting out prompts when learners are struggling is really easy to do. It's hard for us to sit back and watch learners struggle to put it together. So guard yourselves. Another issue for our learners, is that sometimes our teaching lulls them into being passive responders. They are encouraged to wait to answer questions, and haven't always been encouraged to trust their own responses through thoughtful reinforcing. Too often, by prompting or reinforcing just one appropriate answer, we encourage them to think that the only correct answer is the one that we are prompting them. So watch yourself and your tendencies to jump in and prompt very carefully.

Gestural/visual prompts are easier to fade, so if you can get an appropriate response with using a gesture, picture, or sign, use it in preference to verbal prompting. We like the idea of teaching labeling, for example, with a total communication approach. Say it and sign it. You can then fade the verbal prompt, and keep the sign, until your learner is ready to produce the response on their own.

For specific examples of most to least prompting, see The Early Learner at Home video.