The use of a naturalistic approaches that involve matching combinations of verbal words, pictures, and sight words in natural environments for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) having minimal language have been reported as a successful language intervention in the literature. This investigation compared two treatment approaches in three adolescents with ASD to determine which approach was most effective to teach five semantic concepts of common, functional words and simple phrases through the use of matching stimuli. This study was conducted within the context of an alternating treatment single case research design. Treatment A represented matched stimuli consisting of tangible objects or real actions combined with the verbal word(s) and printed word(s). Treatment B represented matching stimuli consisting of pictures of objects or real actions matched with the verbal word(s) and printed word(s). Semantic concept word sets were unique for each participant and determined by each parent based on their functional relevance in the home environment. The investigation was conducted in the home of each participant. Data were collected and reported on three male adolescents diagnosed with ASD having minimal language. Each participant was evaluated by the primary investigator using language sample analysis, behavioral observations, and parent interview. No other baseline measurements were obtained prior to initiating the teaching protocol due to the individualized nature of the teaching materials. Treatment A was alternated with treatment B over six weeks and measurements were recorded using interval recording. Each session began with 10 minutes of teaching five semantic concepts and ended with 10 minutes of assessment. Percent of non-overlapping data analysis favored Treatment B as having superiority to Treatment A for two of three participants, while slope analysis favored Treatment A as having superiority to Treatment B for two of three participants. Measurements prior to initiating the teaching protocol established that the participants had minimal language and no known semantic knowledge of the words and concepts that were presented in the investigation. All participants met a mastery level of all five semantic concepts by the end of the first half of the study or sixth session. Data trend and slope were plotted on line graphs for visual representation of intervention effect size. This study provides preliminary data in support of the potential benefits of using matched stimuli to teach semantic language to adolescents with ASD having minimal language.
