The relative efficiency of two orders for training autistic children in the expressive and receptive use of manual signs.

Using simultaneous communication (speech plus gesture), each of four nonverbal autistic children were taught the receptive and expressive use of eight signed words. In a within-subject comparison, each child was taught four words expressively (signing) first and then receptively, and four other words receptively first and then expressively (signing). The results indicated (1) that it took fewer trials to teach expressive and receptive use when teaching was done in the order expressive then receptive; (2) the teaching of expressive use facilitated the learning of receptive use; (3) the teaching of receptive use interfered with the learning of expressive use; and (4) by the end of training, good receptive control by the spoken word alone, had developed.