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Abstract: In the current investigation, we reviewed the literature on mand training for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) in schools. Ninety-three studies met our inclusion criteria including 225 individual participants. Data were extracted related to participant demographics (e.g, age, disability, response form) and study variables (e.g., setting types, change agents, teaching procedures). Results indicated substantial support for the efficacy of interventions for teaching mands to individuals with IDD in schools. Limitations and implications for practitioners and researchers are discussed.
Students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) often face difficulties in acquiring communication skills essential to success in school and community environments as well as overall quality of life. These students are at an increased risk for low school achievement as they are more likely to receive instruction in segregated educational settings (Kleinert et al., 2015; Lauderdale-Littin et al., 2013), have less access to the general education curriculum (Kearns et al., 2011), and remain passively engaged during instruction (Kurth etal., 2016). In addition, these students may have fewer opportunities for peer interactions and the development of meaningful relationships (Feldman et al., 2016). These risks extend beyond the classroom, as researchers have demonstrated students with limited communication repertoires are three to four times more likely to be unemployed than those with little or no difficulties in communicating with others (Carter et al., 2012). Additionally, these individuals may have limited independence due to difficulties expressing their wants and needs, producing a reliance on others to access and engage in typical daily routines (Belva et al., 2012).
Some students with IDD have difficulty acquiring the most basic communication skills including the emission of vocal, signed, or picture-based mands (Pennington etal., 2016; Snell et al., 2010). Mands, commonly referred to as requests or protests, are one of the first communication responses emitted by infants and are critical to human development (Sundberg & Partington, 1998). Skinner (1957) defined the mand by its functional properties as a behavior evoked by a state of deprivation or aversive stimulation and reinforced by a characteristic consequence (e.g., deprivation of food evokes the response "cookie," which results in access to food). The early acquisition of mands establishes functional relations between speaker and listener behavior and provides a repertoire with which a learner has...