Deficits in language and communication skills are defining attributes of an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) diagnosis. Therefore, explicit instruction is often required to help children with ASD develop vocal mand repertoires. The present study extended Plavnick and Vitale’s (2016) study comparing the effects of two mand training procedures. Using an adapted alternating treatment design, the present study compares the effects of in vivo modeling and video modeling on the acquisition and mastery of vocal mands in two preschool aged children with ASD attending an early intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI) center. The results showed that both in vivo mand training and video-based mand training were effective in teaching children with ASD a variety of vocal mands. These findings indicate that when effective, an in vivo model is likely the most efficient and convenient method for teaching vocal mands. However, a video model may be appropriate in mand training when individuals have a history of vocal prompt dependency or when a child is struggling to acquire mands using in vivo mand training procedure.
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