Using teleconsultation to teach expressive number discrimination through stimulus fading and reinforcement

Strategies such as reinforcement and stimulus fading have been shown to be effective in the acquisition of skills, particularly for individuals with developmental disabilities. Teleconsultation is a promising service delivery modality to support teachers and staff in the implementation of effective strategies to address the needs of underserved and remote communities. The authors examined the use of teleconsultation, with a teacher and paraprofessional, for the instruction of expressive number discrimination through stimulus fading and reinforcement with a child receiving special education services under the category of Autism. A concurrent multiple baseline design across three number cards was used. Results showed an increase in acquisition and mastery of number identification using stimulus fading to reduce errors while promoting discrimination between stimuli. High levels of treatment integrity and acceptability of the teleconsultation process were also noted.