"The little boy is four or five years old. He sometimes makes sounds but he doesn’t speak in words. Right now he’s working on fitting four nesting cups together. He puts together the two biggest and two smallest, then takes them apart and tries to wedge the second-biggest into the third-biggest. A therapist sits beside him, watching. Another therapist stands behind him, gently moving the boy’s hands back down to his sides each time he waves or flaps them. After several seconds, the therapist at the table steps in to help the boy fit all the cups together. The therapist says, “Good job!” and raises both palms—the boy has achieved the goal of staying on task. The little boy smiles and gives him two high-fives."

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This two-year-old likes to interact with her family.  She smiles and makes eye contact, but speaks in stilted sentences that often mimic what others have said.  She is picky​ about what foods she eats.  She also becomes very upset when her brother moves her toys, or her mother puts a new shirt on her.  Her therapist asks her hundreds of questions about a variety of concepts each hour, using different language structures.  The therapist also spends time asking her to touch a new T-shirt her mom bought for her.  The little girl eats some of her favourite cookie after very small pieces of a novel food are consumed.

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This 9-year-old boy is non-verbal. While typically a very happy child, he becomes frustrated when he cannot play with his favourite things, and he often hits his mother.  His therapist is teaching him to request using a picture-exchange system and prompts an alternate behaviour when he attempts to hit.  When the boy's mother sits in on therapy sessions, the therapist will coach her through the use of the picture-exchange system and show her how to prompt the alternate behaviour. The therapist collects data on the boy's attempt hits and on is effective use of pictures to communicate.  She also makes notes about his mom's training goals.

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