Stop matrix training when the person withdraws, distress or safety concerns arise, communication or material access repeatedly fails, taught skills weaken, untaught combinations remain absent after the review rule, delivery is unreliable, goals are complete, or direct teaching fits better. Address immediate safety first. Close the grid version with final data, client and family input, transition decisions, and any follow-up or direct-teaching plan.
Know when to stop matrix training
Predeclare immediate stop conditions and planned review conditions. Immediate conditions may include medical concern, serious distress, loss of communication access, or unsafe materials. Review conditions may include weak acquisition, absent emergence, excessive time, or integrity failure.
Avoid endless expansion
Adding diagonals consumes remaining probe cells and changes the question. Set a limit for review before teaching more combinations. When a priority remains unlearned, a clear direct-teaching plan may be more useful than preserving it indefinitely as an emergence target.
Use evidence in proportion
The systematic review found generally strong aggregated single-case effects across varied skills, while the young-child study found varying degrees of recombinative generalization. Neither source requires continuation for a person with poor fit.
Preserve rights and access
The Ethics Code addresses client involvement, assent when applicable, risk, evaluation, discontinuation, and transition. ASHA supports continuous AAC access. A stop decision should preserve useful communication and supports.
A practical example
Sana receives 20/24 planned teaching opportunities and masters 3/3 trained cells, yet answers 0/6 held-out probes. Sana declines two later sessions. The stop rule activates; one meaningful combination moves to direct teaching after review, and the others retire.
Questions families can use
Which stop or review condition occurred? What did the person communicate? Which cells were taught, probed, or untouched? What support continues? Which priority moves to direct teaching, another service, or closure?
Sources
- Behavior Analyst Certification Board, BCBA Test Content Outline, 6th edition
- Curiel and colleagues, A Tutorial for Implementing Matrix Training in Practice
- Curiel and colleagues, Matrix Training for Expanding the Communication of Toddlers and Preschoolers With Autism Spectrum Disorder
- Niland and colleagues, Comparing Matrix-Training Procedures with Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder
- Frampton and colleagues, The Use of Matrix Training to Promote Generative Language with Children with Autism
- Simeone and colleagues, Miniature Linguistic Systems for Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
- Behavior Analyst Certification Board, Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts
- American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Augmentative and Alternative Communication
Finni resources
