Verbal Behavior Analysis: Inducing and Expanding New Verbal Capabilities in Children with Language Delays (Paperback)

~ R. Douglas Greer (Author), Denise E. Ross (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Help children develop language and verbal functions! "This is definitely a book I will be purchasing for my professional use. I supervise student teachers in home-based programs as well as school programs and this book will be a perfect fit for the program implementation we currently present. Greer and Ross have produced an excellent accumulation of research compilation, assessment and program descriptions for implementation by professionals training and working with autistic children and adults." -Dr. Irfa Karmali, Shelby Residential and Vocational Services "Overall, a very technically accurate book and one well suited to accompany a practicum component in verbal behavior. Very comprehensive and [does] a good job of covering most questions, concerns and issues [for] training others to implement verbal behavior strategies. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it." -Janet Goodman, University of West Georgia Responding to the overwhelming demand for effective language development tools for children with no language and severe language delays related to autism and other disabilities, Douglas Greer and Denise Ross present newly identified methods to assist teachers and parents in their efforts to provide verbal capabilities to children. In their book Verbal Behavior Analysis, Doug and Denise describe how to help children produce novel and spontaneous verbal functions, acquire language incidentally, and become socially verbal. They carefully integrate the latest research, including many new findings, and present readers with a clear outline of the current state of the science of verbal behavior and its application to children with real needs. Behavior analysts, parents, and teachers will find the procedures applicable to all forms of language (signs, pictures, and voice-generating devices) while maintaining a strong emphasis on the vocal production of a child's speech. *Describes how to teach children to be literate listeners, reducing the number of instructional times required to teach basic skills from four to ten times. (Chapter 3). *Presents the necessary procedures to teach children to become observational learners. (Chapter 5 and 7). *Offers practitioners methods for teaching children to acquire novel language and language usage incidentally, allowing children to expand their language without direct instruction. (Chapters 3, 5, and 6). *Demonstrates helping children to move from emergent speakers to readers, and learn to enjoy books in free time, and to read. (Chapter 6). *Introduces a verbal developmental scheme to guide instruction and aid practitioners in determining which children need particular interventions and when they need them, along with alternative tactics and strategies for solving learning problems. (Chapters 2 and 7).

From the Back Cover

Help children develop language and verbal functions with the help
of Douglas Greer and Denise Ross!

 

“This is definitely a book I will be purchasing for my professional use. I supervise student teachers in home-based programs as well as school programs and this book will be a perfect fit for the program implementation we currently present. Greer and Ross have produced an excellent accumulation of research compilation, assessment and program descriptions for implementation by professionals training and working with autistic children and adults.” 

-Dr. Irfa Karmali, Shelby Residential and Vocational Services

 

 “Overall, a very technically accurate book and one well suited to accompany a practicum component in verbal behavior. Very comprehensive and [does] a good job of covering most questions, concerns and issues [for] training others to implement verbal behavior strategies. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.” 

-Janet Goodman, University of West Georgia

 

 

Responding to the overwhelming demand for effective language development tools for children with no language and severe language delays related to autism and other disabilities, Douglas Greer and Denise Ross present newly identified methods to assist teachers and parents in their efforts to provide verbal capabilities to children. In their book Verbal Behavior Analysis, Doug and Denise describe how to help children produce novel and spontaneous verbal functions, acquire language incidentally, and become socially verbal. They carefully integrate the latest research, including many new findings, and present readers with a clear outline of the current state of the science of verbal behavior and its application to children with real needs. Behavior analysts, parents, and teachers will find the procedures applicable to all forms of language (signs, pictures, and voice-generating devices) while maintaining a strong emphasis on the vocal production of a child’s speech.

• Describes how to teach children to be literate listeners, reducing the number of instructional times required to teach basic skills from four to ten times. (Chapter 3).
• Presents the necessary procedures to teach children to become observational learners. (Chapter 5 and 7).
• Offers practitioners methods for teaching children to acquire novel language and language usage incidentally, allowing children to expand their language without direct instruction. (Chapters 3, 5, and 6).
• Demonstrates helping children to move from emergent speakers to readers, and learn to enjoy books in free time,  and  to read. (Chapter 6).
• Introduces a verbal developmental scheme to guide instruction and aid practitioners in determining which children need particular interventions and when they need them, along with alternative tactics and strategies for solving learning problems. (Chapters 2 and 7).

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Allyn & Bacon; 1 edition (May 11, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0205458378
• ISBN-13: 978-0205458370
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #527,036 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good but maybe technical for an intro to Verbal Behavior, March 28, 2008

By	Regina F. (Eugene, OR) - See all my reviews

I am the parent of a child with autism who has had ABA and VB programming for some years.
If I were a parent unfamiliar or new to applied behavior analysis, I think that this (text)book might be an overwhelming introduction and too technical as a starting point or as a basic "how-to" of verbal behavior. That said, having attended some workshops and read the basic manuals and parent-oriented texts on verbal behavior, I find this a useful next step and reference that adds nuance and sophisticated information such as autoclitics, use of graphical information for instructional decisionmaking, detail of the transfer process across verbal operants, multiple and joint control, a nice hierarchical progression of speaker behavior, WH questions, why "self-talk" is a prerequisite skill target towards functional conversation, and integrating textual information as a scaffold for vocal and conversational behavior (including conditioning books as reinforcers and using yoked contingencies to shape reading and writing behavior), etc. There are many descriptions and examples of specific instructional tactics and data collection, as well as appendices of data collection forms, graphical data collection, and a glossary.
So while technical, I believe that it is a valuable text as an intermediate step between the fairly descriptive but not necessarily comprehensive or detailed materials usually available and the really professionally-oriented journal articles. For professionals and students of behavior analysis, this could be at a useful and more immediately applicable level.
If I had a real criticism, it might be in the layout. Some information might be more accessible to those unfamiliar with the subject matter if the chapters included interspersed sub-summaries before the end of chapter summaries for allow some pause to contemplate and integrate the material. Perhaps some practice problems or exercises would be useful.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Just read this book, January 26, 2008

By	Jan Smith - See all my reviews

As the mother of a three year old Autistic son, I have purchased and read alot of books on ABA. When I found a book on VBA I was very excited. As I was reading this book, I became more and more disappointed and frustrated. It is all in technical terms. Even simple things that could of been explained very easily, where put into the most complex formats. The back cover states that it is a book for PARENTS and professionals/teachers, but when you read the preface, it states it is for professionals. I feel the marketing on this book is very decieving. Warning to parents...if you don't have many years of ABA/VBA under your belt already(or an extended education in these fields), this book will be a complete waste of time for you.

4.0 out of 5 stars A book one of its kind, January 8, 2009

By	FILIP Marius "adna" (Bucharest, ROMANIA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is very good in many respects:
1) it introduces the reader in the underlying theory of VBA.
2) it gives data extracted from research, so the reader knows that what he reads is scientifically proven.
3) it outlines plans that one may use to develop a full-fledged therapy.
4) it provides criteria for checking a child's progress.

It's main drawback is the content presentation: poorly organized, it does not have clear boundaries between the categories mentioned above. This makes reading more difficult than it should be.

But the results pay off the effort. "Verbal Behavior Analysis" clearly contains the latest research in the field of Verbal Behavior and no one interested in VB should overlook this book.