Incidental Teaching

Incidental teaching is a naturalistic teaching strategy rooted in ABA philosophies. With incidental teaching, an individual learns a skill or behavior in their typical environment where the goals are tailored to the individual’s likes and interests. This is thought to encourage success with achieving the goal or acquiring the skill. This method of teaching encourages the therapist to follow the lead of the individual and takes advantage of spontaneously-occurring opportunities that arise in order to teach a skill or behavior. 

Inclusive Classroom

An inclusive classroom is a classroom with both children with and without disabilities learning together. Classes delivered to inclusive classrooms are often taught by general education teachers. Trained paraprofessionals may or may not be present in an inclusive classroom during instruction.

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a federal law introduced in 1975 that, among other objectives, supports special education and related service programming for children and youth with disabilities. It is designed to ensure that children with disabilities have access to free, appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment. IDEA’s intention is to: 1) ensure that children with an identified disability receive special education and related services to address their individual needs; 2) ensure that children with disabilities are prepared for employment and independent living; 3) ensure that the rights of the children and their families are protected by the law; 4) assess and ensure institutions are putting forth effort to provide the necessary services and accommodations for persons with disabilities; and 5) provides assistance for the education of children with disabilities.

Individualized Education Plan / Program (IEP)

An Individualized Education Plan / Program (IEP) is an individualized curriculum plan that children, adolescents, or adults (usually up to 22 years of age) have if they are in special education. An IEP is a legal document that sets out a plan or program that is developed to ensure that a child with an identified disability is receiving specialized instruction and related services. IEPs are regulated federally through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). An IEP is developed by a team, which usually includes individuals from various educational disciplines, the child, family members / caregivers, and / or designated advocates. It typically includes various provisions and information related to: 1) involvement and progress of the child with the general curriculum; 2) ideally all related services that the child qualifies for; 3) educational accommodations necessary for the child’s success; 4) the child’s current level of educational performance; and 5) measurable annual goals and objectives for the child’s education. Children under three years old that are receiving services may also have an Individualized Family Services Plan (IFSP).

Individualized Family Service Plan

The Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) is a component of the process for accessing state-funded Early Childhood Interventions (ECIs). When an individual is eligible for an ECI, the IFSP is initiated to coordinate the following: 1) evaluation for program eligibility and referrals for intervention providers and; 2) a plan tailored to the family and individual that outlines goals to target as identified by problematic behaviors or concerns, baseline skills within target goals, progress evaluation towards meeting goals, types of treatment or therapy and logistics (number, length, and location of intervention sessions), and how the individual will transition out of ECIs.

Intermittent Reinforcement

Intermittent reinforcement is when reinforcement for a task or behavior is not given in every instance of that task or behavior occurring. Intermittent reinforcement provides rewards in an inconsistent and unpredictable manner. This, in turn, motivates the individual to work harder to receive the unpredictable reward. The goal of intermittent reinforcement is to encourage the behavior or successful completion of the task without a reinforcement (for example, a reward or praise) being given.

Intervention

An intervention is the plan of action or the strategy that will be used to change a behavior. An intervention is an effort made by a caregiver (professional, parent, relative, or otherwise) to improve the well-being of an individual. In the case of ABA treatment and individuals diagnosed with ASD, interventions focus on understanding how behavior operates in different contexts and using that understanding to increase behaviors that are beneficial to the individual and decrease behaviors that are not.

Intraverbal

An intraverbal is a building block to conversation skills as it is the ability to discuss, describe, or answer a question about something that is not physically present. It is an exchange or conversation where the speaker is responding to another person’s verbal stimuli. With an intraverbal, the response to the verbal stimulus has no point-to-point correspondence (they are not the same), but formal similarity may be present (the method of delivery is the same).