The Application of General-Case Instruction to the Requesting Repertoires of Learners with Severe Disabilities

Abstract

General-case instruction has contributed substantially to the improvement of generalized responding by learners with severe disabilities. Although these procedures have been used with success across a wide variety of behaviors (e.g., street crossing, dressing, grocery store purchasing), applications of these procedures to communicative behaviors are lacking. This paper proposes an application of the stimulus-control features of the general-case model to enhance the communicative behavior of learners with severe disabilities. Specifically, the relationship between stimulus control and the pragmatic function of requesting is elaborated. Two examples of the general-case process for specifying the range of relevant stimulus and response variations within instructional, or communicative, universes are offered.