Abstract
Following unsuccessful attempts to teach a 6-year-old, mute autistic-retarded boy to follow simple verbal instructions, an effort, described in the case study, was made to train the child to comply with gestural commands. It is reported that the latter part of the program worked well, resulting in the boy's ability to follow instructions to stand up, sit down, turn around, turn an object over, go to another person, and give an object to someone else. Also, other activities began to come under gestural control, and the child learned to instruct a person to stand up. It is further suggested that the acquired behavior did not require much time or effort to establish (24 one-hour sessions, none of which totally devoted to gestural training). The results and potentialities of the described training procedure are discussed in light of recent findings by other researchers.
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We wish to thank the mothers and teachers of the children for their interest and participation. We are also indebted to Cecelia and Gerald Smith for information and assistance, to Stephen Springer for sharing with us his knowledge of sign language, and to Mark Sherman for providing data on gestural vs. auditory control.
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Webster, C.D., McPherson, H., Sloman, L. et al. Communicating with an autistic boy by gestures. J Autism Dev Disord 3, 337–346 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01538541
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01538541