Volume : 1, Issue : 2, July - 2012

Effects of Mand Training on Negative Behaviours and Verbal Behaviour Development: A Case Study

Prasanna V, Sunila John, B Rajashekhar

Abstract :

Socially, communication happens through Verbal behaviour which is a class of behaviour that is reinforced through the mediation of others. Verbal operants as Skinner described, are the units of analysis of verbal behaviour which can be classified as elementary and secondary. Children with communication disorders who are nonverbal in nature often exhibit socially unacceptable negative behaviours such as crying, injuring, and snatching instead of manding. In the field of communication disorders, though there is rich number of descriptive studies, only very few efficacy studies of therapy approaches have been reported. The present study is an effort towards improving evidence for the efficacy of Mand training on the negative behaviours exhibited by a child aged 2 years 3 months diagnosed with delayed speech and language skills with poor communicative intent and to highlight the importance of functional unit analysis in similar cases