Communication deficits are often evident in students with moderate-to-severe developmental disabilities. For these students, basic communication needs, like asking to use the restroom, requesting food or expressing discomfort are a challenge. Frustration caused by communication deficits can lead the student to express interfering behaviors, which may interrupt student learning. This paper identifies and describes evidence-based practices (EBPs) used to increase functional communication skills for students with moderate-to-severe developmental disabilities. This review focuses on functional communication training (FCT) and the picture exchange communication system (PECS) and their use to increase functional communication skills. The study also explains how to implement FCT and PECS and the results and challenges that may take place during the implementation process. This is an informative paper intended for special education teachers who work with students with moderate-to-severe disabilities.

Abstract Social communication skills play a central role in the developmental outcomes for young children with autism. Due to deficits in social communication skills, many young children with autism develop problem behavior. Providing these children with the right tools to communicate properly may decrease their problem behavior. This study examines the impact of contingency mapping intervention on problem behavior and functional communication skills in three children with autism, using a multiple-baseline design. Before implementation of contingency mapping, verbal contingency was implemented in the first phase of intervention, which was associated with minimal increases in communication skills and decreases in problem behavior across children. Further increases in communication skills and decreases in problem behavior in the contingency mapping condition indicate that the use of the contingency map as a visual aid may be an effective way to augment the effects of contingency instruction.