Teaching requests for food and drink to children with multiple disabilities in a graphic communication mode

Graphic communication modes are often considered for children with multiple disabilities as an alternative to speech or gestures. However, there have been few empirical studies demonstrating effective procedures for teaching graphic mode requests to young children with multiple disabilities. In the present study, two children with multiple disabilities were taught to request preferred food and drink items by pointing to corresponding line drawings. Time-delay, prompting, reinforcement, and error correction procedures were implemented in a multiple-probe design to establish discriminated and generalized requests for preferred foods and beverages during morning snack time. The procedures were effective in teaching generalized and discriminated use of the food and drink symbols. Although effective in teaching children to request offered items, the procedures used in the present study need further development to ensure requests are controlled by the more natural conditions of hunger and thirst