MATRIX TRAINING OF PRELITERACY SKILLS WITH PRESCHOOLERS WITH AUTISM

Matrix training is a generative approach to instruction in which words are arranged in a matrix so that some multiword phrases are taught and others emerge without direct teaching We taught 4 preschoolers with autism to follow instructions to perform action-picture combinations (e g circle the pepper underline the deer) Each matrix contained 6 actions on 1 axis and 6 pictures on the other axis We used most-to least prompting to train the instructions along the diagonal of each matrix and probed the untrained combinations For 2 participants untrained responding emerged after the minimum amount of training The other 2 participants required further training before untrained combinations emerged At the end of the study 3 of the 4 participants performed the trained actions with previously known pictures letters, and numbers This study demonstrated that matrix training is an efficient approach to teaching language and literacy skills to children with autism