EESA WORK PACKET
STEP 2: Using TASK 1 info, complete Worksheets A and B.
• Left column: Circle Group level you selected above as the best starting point.
• Then, use TASK 1 info and Decision Box info above to select starting target SC.
WorksheetA - StartingTargets -SyllableComplexity
Circle one Group Circle number(s) below for starting target SC
Info from STEP 1 above Different V sounds Different C sounds Syllables
Group 1 1 0 1 1 2
Group 2 1 1 2 3 2
Group 3 2 3 1 2 3 4
Worksheet B- StartingTargets -Length ofSyllableCombinations
Groups4 -5
Circle a syllable range for starting targets (info from TASK2 Decision Box for Groups 4 and 5)
2-3 3-4 4-5 5-6 6+
Examples
Syllable combo range Lower rangeexample Upper rangeexample
2-3 puppy one puppy
3-4 taco time it's taco time
4-5 peanut butter some peanut butter
5-6 jump over the rocks Eve jumped over the rocks
6-7 let's go to Grandma's house let's not go to Grandma's house
7-8 I count 7 bananas I count 17 bananas
25 EESA Protocol
EESA WORK PACKET
Mini-Program Plan
In grid below, brainstorm some appropriate starting targets.
Use TASK 2 info to help.
Also, see EESA Guide, Chapter 1.
Syllable range SC for echoic prompts Ideas for verbal targets
See circled range Max # Max Max (such as mands, tacts, intraverbals)
from Worksheet B Syllables diff Cs diff Vs
See next TASKS to develop these ideas into speci c targets
How do echoic skills foster other language skills?
These targets could serve as echoic prompts to
strengthen the same vocal response in other vocal-
verbal contexts such as mand, tact, or intraverbal.
Prompts will need to be faded during training, but
initially these prompts should be effective in
evoking an echoic response.
Why?
Because the targets are based on skills already
denonstrated by the learner on EESA-R test items.
TASK 2
STARTING TARGETS
done
X
EESA, Barbara E. Esch, Ph.D. 26
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EESA WORK PACKET
TASK 3-SYLLABLE TRACKER (seeEESAGuide,Appendx A for alternativeform options)
Purpose: The Syllable Tracker helps identify syllables that are "available" as speech targets.
Info sources:EESA-R test items, informal observations of vocalizations
Directions
• Put anX in the boxes of all syllables the learner can say.
o Find intersections of vowels (V) and consonants (C).
o Mark X in shaded top row if syllable is a single vowel only.
• Syllable Tracker information will be used in TASK 5.
SYLLABLE TRACKER
Mark if vowel-only →
Vowels ee ih ay eh ae ah uh oh 00 Ow a
(as in...) see itch say bed cat top bug go boo pow eye boy
Mark boxes (below) of any C &V syllablesobserved ( nd intersections of C&V)
W or wh
p or b
tor d
kor g
m
ng
S or Z
forV
th
sh
ch orj
sh
y (you)
Thisform and associated documentation are o 2023 by Barbara Eschand published
TASK 3
subject to the MIT License, a copy of which is available online
at [Link] This copyright notice shall be included in
all copies or derivative works, and any person making modi cotions or derivative works
SYLLABLE TRACKER X
shall identify and disclose any changes or modi cations from this publishedversion. done
27 EESA Protocol
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EESA WORK PACKET
TASK 4 -PREFERENCESLIST
Purpose: The Preferences List can inform potential speech targets as vocal-verbal mands.
Info sources: Preference tests, informal observations of high-preference items
Directions
• List potential reinforcers in the boxes below.
Activities Items People, places
Note: This list of reinforcers promotes training vocal-verbal targets as
x
TASK 4
mands or mand-tacts.
PREFERENCES LIST
The list should be expanded to include words or phrases that are done
important to learn, but that may not have particular reinforcing value
at rst. Example: items used daily (fork, soap, shoes).
This will cue instructors to train target topographies in other verbal
contexts. See the sample Vocabulary Feeder List and 7-Skills BOB Form
in EESA Guide, Chapter 4 and Appendix A.
EESA, Barbara E. Esch, Ph.D. 28
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EESA WORK PACKET
TASK 5- SKILLS-PREFERENCES MATCH-UP
Purpose: Speech skills can be matched with preferences that "sound like" syllables the learner can echo.
Info sources: EESA-R test results, Syllable Tracker (in EESA Guide, Chapter 4 and Appendix A)
Directions
Write any syllable comnbinations from Syllable Tracker (TASK 3) that "sound like" preferred items on
on Preference List above.
Syllablecombo(s) Soundslike Syllablecombo(s) Soundslike
1 11
2 12
3 13
A 14
5 15
6 16
7 17
18
19
10 20
TASK 5
SKILLS-PREFS MATCH-UP
done x|
EESA Protocol
29
EESA WORK PACKET
TASK 6 - PROGRAMTARGETS
Info sources: Step 4c combinations, Shells info (in EESAGuide, Chapter 4 and Appendix A)
Directions
Write syllable approximations (if needed) from current skill to nal target.
In training, reinforce vocals at each step, moving toward the terminal target.
Example: "movie" in 4 steps: (1) oo (2) 00-ee (3) moo-ee (4) moo-vee
Key: T = target
T1_ T2 T3 T4
End End End End
Start Start Start Start
T5_ T6 T7 T8
End End End End
Start Start Start Start
T9 T10 T11 T12
End End End End
Start Start Start Start
TASK 6
PROGRAM TARGETS
done
x
EESA, Barbara E. Esch, Ph.D. 30
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PROGRAM SUPPORT
EESAProtocol - Review
An appropriate speech and language program for an early learner can be daunting to achieve.
It's an especial challenge if the learner has weak vocal skills, making it dif cult to reliably evoke
echoic (vocal imitation) responses that can be used as prompts for other verbal skills. The EESA
Protocol activities were designed to help.
Throughout, the focus is to make program planning user-friendly for any instructor and relevant
to the needs of any early speech learner. The tasks included in this Protocol were designed as an
assessment and "start-up kit for those who are responsible for teaching learners to achieve use-
able speech in meaningful contexts.
Although the Protocol does not, and should not, replace or preclude input from speech-language
professionals, it does serve as a launch point for program planning.
Protocol activities Initial speech acquisition program
Echoic skills assessment
Emphasis on arranging training settings and tasks
Test results analysis that will provide reinforcement of vocal skills in
Target selection guide critical verbal language contexts
Initial target selection (mand, tact, intraverbal)
Program support tools
VerbalContexts: Learning and Skills Tracking
It is critical to identify verbal contexts that gobeyond an [Link] can't assume that if
we teach a learner to echo what we say, they will automatically start "using" the words in all lan-
guage contexts (see the discussion in EESA Guide, Chapter 1). We know this often isn't the case.
A common example is when a learner has acquired good listener response skills and can point
to many items but doesn't say those words in other language contexts (asking for it, naming it,
having conversations about it). This suggests a weak speech-language repertoire that program
planning must address.
How do we do this? For many learners, we have to speci cally arrange for any particular word(s)
to be strengthened in all relevant usage contexts. Then we must track acquisition across those
various contexts, to ensure the learner's repertoire is as strong as possible.
Although the EESA is not a how-to teaching manual, it is intended to provide enough tools to help
instructors get started with this task. The EESA Guide's Chapter 4 and Appendix A contain a
variety of such materials.
EESA Protocol
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PROGRAM SUPPORT
One in particular, the 7-Skills BOB Form, can help with the context issue.
The 7-Skills BOB Form is a skills-tracking tool that can be used in any speech-language program
where the goal is to help the learner say a word aeross multiple verbal (language) contexts
and, furthermore, say related words across those same contexts.
Teaching multiple (contextual) responses for a group of related words can support having conver.
sations, a language activity that can be thought of as "talking about related things"
Ifa learner currently can only echoa word, but doesn't say that word in other language contexts
without an echoie prompt, the 7-Skills BOB Form helps by identifying non-echoie key language
functions (skill sets). This allows instructors to identify skill gaps, plan programming to ll in the
gaps, and track those skills as they are acquired.
Skills tracked
Available in Appendix A
1) Match to sample (images, text)
7-SKILLS BOB FORM
2) LR: Listener responding (selecting
Basic Operant Building: 7 longuoge skl oreas, 56 sub skils
named item)
Directions: Write target word in gray box. Date each skill box when target is mastered.
3) Mand (requesting or negating/re-
WORD
jecting)
4) Tact (commenting, naming)
Skills
Echoic skills are not tracked on this form but are a prerequisite for vOcal-verbal leamers
5) LR by feature, function, class (FFC)
Match to sample Listener Responding Mand Tact
easy complex 1 leadi any lead array of3 array of 5+ school home trained novel 6) Intraverbal (4 skills across FFC)
7) Tact (4 skills across FFC)
LRFFC Intraverbal (V) and Tact (advanced)
Listener Responding
Fill in WH or HOW Reverse WH Set member Note: The BOB Form can also be
(advanced)
used to track language context
lass Tact Tact V Tact IV Tact IV
acquisition ("functions;" see EESA
Guide, Chapter 1) by nonvocal
Function
learners, such as those who sign,
Feature
write, or use other alternatives to
speaking.
Feature
Feature
Feature
For more info: EESA Chapter 4. Also, see Teoching Language to Children With Autism or Other Developmentol Disabilities
(Sundberg & Partington, 1998/2010).
This form and associated documentation are copyright 2023 by Barbara Esch and published subject to the MIT License, a
copy of which is available online at [Link] This copyright notice shall be included in all
copies or derivative works, and any person making modi cations or derivative works shall identify and disclose any changes
or modi cations from this published version.
EESA, Barbara E. Esch, Ph.D. 32
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PROGRAM SUPPORT
T's evident from the 7-Skills BOB Form that many skills are involved in building a broad reper-
toire for any given word. Addressing all these skills requires careful planning for comprehensive
toir
coverage.
o help, the 7-Skills BOB Reference List shows examples of 30 sub-skills tracked on the BOB
Borm. The examples below show the breadth of skills needed for a strong language repertoire for
the topography (word) cookie.
7-Skills BOB Reference List
Available in Appendix A
VERBAL SKILL EXAMPLE
1 Listener responding Teacher: Where's the cookie, can you point to it?
2 Mand Learner asks for. (Can l have a cookie ?)
3 Tact Learner comments. (( smell cookies/)
4 Listener responding by feature Point to the one with chocolate chips.
s Listener responding by function Circle the one we eat.
6 Listener responding by class Find a food/snack.
7 Tact ll-in by feature (Picture array) I see some chocolate chips in the
s Tact ll-in by function (Pic) We can eat a
9 Tact ll-in by class (Pic) One ind of food/snack is a
10 Tact WH by feature (Pic) What's something with chocolate chips?
11 Tact WH by function (Pic) What's something we eat?
12 Tact WH by class (Pic) What's the name of a food/snack?
13 Tact reverse WH by feature (Pic) What could we put in a cookie?
14 Tact reverse WH by function (Pic) What are cookies for?
15 Tact reverse WH by class c (Pic) What group/category is a cookie part of?
16 Tact set member by feature (Pic) What are all the pictures with chocolate chips?
17 Tact set member by function (Pic) Tell me some things we can eat.
18 Tact set member by class (Pic) Can you name some foods/snacks?
19 Intraverbal ll-in by feature (No pic) I found chocolate chips in my
20 Intraverbal ll-in by function We can eat a
21 Intraverbal ll-in by class One kind of food/snack is a
22 Intraverbal WH by feature What's something with chocolate chips?
23 Intraverbal WH by function What's something we eat?
24 Intraverbal WH by class What's the name of a food/snack?
25 Intraverbal reverse WH by feature What could we put in a cookie?
26 Intraverbal reverse WH by function What do we do with cookies?
27 Intraverbal reverse WH by class Cookies are part of what category/group?
28 Intraverbal set member by feature Tell me some things with chocolate chips.
29 Intraverbal set member by function What are some things we can eat?
30 Intraverbal set member by class Can you name some foods/snacks?
Additional discussion about strengthening language skills, the BOB tracking form, and the BOB
Reference List can be found in the EESA Guide's Chapter 4 and Appendix A.
33 EESA Protocol
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PROGRAM SUPPORT
For further support..
Need Infosource Infoavailable
Background Information
Typical speech-language EESA Guide: Chapters 1 and 3 Quick VB Tutorial, terminology,
development; verbal behavior examples; early skills to prioritize
Syllable complexity (SC) EESA Guide: Chapter 2 SC components, examples, how
to code SC, using SC codes to
select and sequence targets
Phonetic transcription EESA Guide: Chapter 2 and Practice worksheets/examples
Appendix A Phonetics Cue Card
Why assess echoic skill & role in EESA Guide: Chapters 1 and 3 Discussion of echoic role in early
language learning speech-language learning
Prelim skills before EESA-R & EESA Guide: Chapters 3 and 4 EESA Pretest; list of readiness
EESA Pretest activities; treatment suggestions
Typical speech development EESA Guide: Chapter 1 Discussion of skills acquisition
Scoring
Scoring procedures EESA Guide: Chapter 3 and Descriptions by group (1-5)
EESA Protocol
Point values (1, %, 0) EESA Guide: Chapter 3 Scoring description and
examples for each point value
Testing and Test Interpretation
EESA-R errors: What to do, EESA Guide: Chapter 4 Strengthening skills info for each
depending on kind of error of the 5 EESA-R groups
How to translate EESA-R info EESA Guide: Chapter 4 IEP/SMARTgoal statements for
into IEP goals EESA-R Groups
EESA, Barbara E. Esch, Ph.D. 34
PROGRAM SUPPORT
Program Planning
Initial tasks for speech program EESA Guide: Chapter 4 List: activity and process for each
planning
Questions to ask throughout EESA Guide: Chapter 4 List of 5 guidance questions, with
assessment & program planning discussion and suggestions for
support forms/worksheets
How to write program targets EESA Guide: Chapters 2 and 4, Target sequencing explanations
Appendix A, and EESA Work Shells forms (blank & samples)
Packet and Work Packet tasks
How to match preferences to EESA Guide: Appendix A Target Selection Worksheet
"available sounds"
Which vowels/consonants to EESA Guide: Chapter 4 and Vowel-Consonant Chart
select Appendix A Vowel Neighborhoods chart
Syllable Tracker
How to fast-track new skills EESA Guide: Chapter 4 Example and discussion
How to track language progress EESA Guide: Chapter 4 and 7-Skills BOB Form
Appendix A 7-Skills BOB Reference List
Supplementary Forms and Materials
Explanation of Appendix A forms EESA Guide: Chapter 4 Snapshot and description of each
form found in Appendix A
Support forms & worksheets for EESA Guide: Appendix A Reproducible forms and
program planning worksheets
When to use supplementary EESA Guide: Appendix A List of forms and their usage
forms and worksheets
Syllable Tracker form options EESA Guide: Appendix A 3 form options & marked sample
Other
Frequently Asked Questions EESA Guide: Appendix B Answers to FAQS
E-version of EESA EESA Guide: Appendix B How to locate e-version
Translations EESA Guide: AppendixC Requirements; contact info
EESA-Ras part of VB-MAPP EESA Guide: Chapter 3 How EESA-R ts into VB-MAPP;
how to report scores
EESA Protocol
35
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