Why learn about features?
It’s important for children to understand the features of objects, especially children in preschool, on the Autism spectrum, or those with learning disabilities. Teaching features in ABA and speech therapy helps children :
- expand their vocabulary and learn new words,
- improve their communication skills because, by learning about features, children will have more opportunities to communicate with others. Children with autism and other developmental delays that learn features, functions, and categories can talk about more things to more people.
- build the association between objects and their features.
Children with limited vocabulary and knowledge about the world around them will be less likely to make friends and carry out conversations with others.
How can ABA help learn the features of objects?
Learning features does not come naturally and easily to children with Autism and special needs. We need to guide them through this process and the first step in learning features is the sorting activity (beginner and advanced).
The teaching procedure of ABA dictates that the level of difficulty should increase gradually and follow the student’s learning speed.
In teaching features, we start by asking the student to show or name an item among 3. but by the end of the learning process, the child should be able to point or name two or more items among 7.
The student is expected to show or name objects when given the feature depending on the level of speech he is currently at:
- for a nonverbal child, we expect that he shows the items on the task card when given the feature.
- for a verbal child that has a good vocabulary and a good understanding of features, we expect that he labels or names the items when given the feature.
What are some examples of features of objects in ABA and speech therapy?
Here are 32 examples of features of objects that are included in this activity :
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- objects that have wheels
- objects that have eyes
- objects that have buttons
- objects that have a lid
- objects that have a handle
- objects that have feather
- objects that have batteries
- objects that have seeds
- objects that have windows
- objects that have bristles
- objects that have lenses
- objects that have leafs
- objects that have light
- objects that have 12 numbers
- objects that have wings
- objects that have a zipper
- objects that have a screen
- objects that have stripes
- objects that have a tail
- objects that have a pocket
- objects that have legs
- objects that have a frame
- objects that have a cable
- objects that have a print
- objects that have a door
- objects that have a hole
- objects that have a straw
- objects that have fur
- objects that have a drawer
- objects that have a flame
- objects that have a chain
- objects that have a lace
- objects that have shelves
You can find more examples of features and objects that belong to a specific category of features in ABA and speech therapy here:
For each one of these features, the child answers the question: “Which one has ?”. Example: Which one has eyes? Which one has wheels?
How to teach children to answer features questions in ABA?
In order to introduce this exercise, you can follow these steps:
- Print and laminate the activity file (at the bottom of this page), then cut the different boards or task cards,
- Ask the question on the task card and let the child answer by either naming or showing you the object, depending on his level. There are three types of task cards included in the activity :
- Choosing (C38 select by feature) or naming (G16 label by feature) an item with a specific feature among 3 (see the file below)
- Choosing (C38 select by feature) or naming (G16 label by feature) an item with a specific feature among 5 (see the file below)
- Choosing (C38 select by feature) or naming (G16 label by feature) 2 or 3 items with a specific feature among 7 (see the file below)
- Reinforce or correct the answer, if necessary, using the ABA procedure.
Download the flashcards’ pdf file
- Free flashcards to learn to Select or label an item by feature in ABA (choose 1 from 3).pdf
- Free flashcards to learn to Select or label an item by feature in ABA (choose 1 from 5).pdf
- Free flashcards to learn to Select or label an item by feature (choose 2 from 7).pdf
ABLLS-R Program aligned Activities:
- C38 select by feature (Score 1, 2, 3, and 4)
- G16 label by feature (Score 1, 2,3, and 4)
