Santino was encouraged to wait in the lobby area, and await my arrival. This afforded the opportunity to present the visual schedule to indicate that I was the "first" teacher in the sequence for the day.
He immediately initiated eye gaze in response to my social greet and then once again as he followed my line of regard to reference my picture on the schedule. He easily placed the back pack on his shoulders and was guided to place it on the designated "cow" pillow upon entrance into the room. He rapidly reached for a desired toy immediately, and once again indicated the desire to repeat the familiar sequence that had been presented previously. Familiar communicative temptations were again provided in cycles of 6. Expanded use of immediate echolalia was again facilitated to encode color +object in a series of 2/6, 3/6, 4/6 . Indication to repeat the cycle via use of verbal "again" following a model was noted x4. Subsequent cycles were paired with single picture of the item to facilitate picture exchange as a means to establish increased intentional requesting . Single picture exchange was facilitated ( x2 with hand over hand, x4 with a visual cues, and x4 independent ) via placement of the picture in my hand in exchange for the desired item. Referencing was indicated 6/10 trials. All verbal prompts were declarative and as per protocol, and completion of the exchange cycle was noted with validation and comment "you asked for .....".
Awareness of the exchange and implementation of the exchange cycle were extremely successful. Use of pecs is encouraged across tasks to expand intentionality paired with social referencing during instances of requesting desired items/actions.
Yes/no to indicate personal choice was again a focus, and was successfully implemented via use of the element of sabotage and absurdity following repeated sequenced cycles within tasks.
Santino once again smiled and laughed as the incorrect item was presented as the next choice, and imitated "no, silly silly " x4/6. Additional steps within the sequence to include movement and sensory input( Techniques from Handle and Brain Gym ) were once again followed by strong periods of increased social referencing to include 3-4 seconds across 6 cycles of exchange.
Session closure was indicated by a familiar clean up song, removal of my picture from the schedule, hand over hand placement of the picture in the pocket and referencing the next teacher. Santino then looked to the window clearly anticipating Dorothy's arrival.
Strong session, as Santino remained engaged and seated for the full hour once again.