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Didactic Approaches

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Encyclopedia of Autism Spectrum Disorders

Synonyms

ABA; Adult/clinician/teacher-directed approaches; Behavioral approaches; Direct instruction

Definition

A didactic approach to teaching refers to a manner of instruction in which information is presented directly from the teacher to the pupil, in which the teacher selects the topic of instruction, controls instructional stimuli, obligates a response from the child, evaluates child responses, and provides reinforcement for correct responses and feedback for incorrect ones. Intervention methods for early communication in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are often divided into three categories: didactic, naturalistic, and pragmatic or developmental.

Didactic approaches utilize a variety of concepts from behavioral theory, including massed trials, operant conditioning, shaping, prompting, chaining, and reinforcement. Difficulty with the generalization and maintenance of behaviors learned through this method along with the passive communication acquired by many children...

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References and Readings

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Correspondence to Sarita Austin MS, CCC-SLP .

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© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Austin, S. (2013). Didactic Approaches. In: Volkmar, F.R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Autism Spectrum Disorders. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1698-3_2005

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1698-3_2005

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-1697-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4419-1698-3

  • eBook Packages: Behavioral Science

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