Abstract
The purpose of the present study was to teach two 8-year-old boys with autism some of the skills for using a telephone. Because the telephone-using skill and other communication skills have the same functionality of information media, it was expected that the training would enhance their communication skills. Two telephone tasks corresponding to the skills of receiving and sending were taught in turn. The first task consisted of receiving a call for his mother at home, and informing her of it. The second one was making a call from a pay phone, using a prepaid telephone card, to inform his father at home that he was coming home. In teaching these skills, we applied the script concept to their telephone manual. The manual described stereotyped verbal and non-verbal behaviors involved in telephone communication. After we observed the two boys' baseline level of behavior, they were exposed to the training with these manuals, including rehearsal opportunities at real settings, both in their homes and in a public telephone booth. Each boy effectively maintained his telephone skills across settings, times, and persons without the manual for over 1 year. About 5 years after the training, their mother was interviewed by the first author about the improvement of their communication skills in their daily lives.
