A client does not have to respond to an instructive-feedback target in the classic procedure. Staff present the secondary information and continue the primary teaching sequence. A spontaneous response can be acknowledged according to the written plan without turning it into a demand. When the team requires, prompts, corrects, or reinforces a specific secondary response, that target has moved into direct teaching and needs its own goals, consent, safeguards, and data.
Decide whether someone must respond to instructive feedback target presentation
The written plan should say no response is required, identify any neutral acknowledgment of spontaneous communication, and describe the transition back to the primary trial. Partner behavior should match that statement.
Handle spontaneous communication
A learner may comment, ask a question, repeat the information, use AAC, or decline. Respond naturally and protect communication. Avoid scoring the response as required performance unless a separately defined procedure authorizes that measurement.
Anchor the boundary
The research review says learners are not required to respond to secondary targets and practitioners withhold feedback related to any response. The play-skill study tested whether secondary play responses later emerged rather than requiring them during primary tact teaching.
Use ethics and access
The Ethics Code addresses client involvement, assent when applicable, assessment, and evaluation. ASHA supports continual AAC access. A pause or dissent message is communication, not a failed secondary response.
A practical example
Dara hears a secondary weather fact after a primary reading response and spontaneously selects rain on AAC. The partner acknowledges the comment and continues. A later probe tests the planned fact. Dara's spontaneous message remains communication, outside the required-response denominator.
Questions families can use
Does the plan explicitly say no response is required? What happens after spontaneous communication? Are prompts, praise, or correction being delivered? Has the target quietly become direct teaching?
Sources
- Behavior Analyst Certification Board, BCBA Test Content Outline, 6th edition
- Nottingham, Vladescu, and Kodak, Incorporating Additional Targets Into Learning Trials for Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorder
- Nottingham and colleagues, The Influence of Instructive Feedback Presentation Schedule
- Morton and colleagues, Emergent Control for Play Responses Following Instructive Feedback
- Behavior Analyst Certification Board, Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts
- American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Augmentative and Alternative Communication
Finni resources
