Naturalistic Teaching Strategies (NATS) in ABA Therapy
Along with Discrete Trial Teaching, Naturalistic Teaching Strategies (NATS) are amongst the most widely utilized strategies in a well-rounded ABA program. NATS involves using the child’s current interests and activities to guide instruction.
What Makes NATS Unique
Below are several components of Naturalistic Teaching Strategies that make it unique to each child:
Unstructured Approach
Unlike DTT, which is typically done more rigidly, NATS are largely unstructured and “loose.”
Natural Environment
NATS can be conducted in the child’s daily environment,s such as home, school, or other community locations
Variety of Instructions
You can mix it up! NATS can be used to teach a variety of instructions, questions, and responses, which makes each session different
Motivation-Based Rewards
The rewards are specific to the child’s current motivation. This also means that to keep your NATS session going, it is of the utmost importance that you recognize when the child may want a different item
Goals of Naturalistic Teaching
There are several things we want to increase in Naturalistic Teaching Strategies, which are important to keep in mind:
Natural Antecedents
Increase natural antecedents before behaviors
Appropriate Responding
Increase appropriate responding (e.g., appropriate manding, intraverbal behavior, tacting, etc.)
Generalization Across People and Settings
Increase the number of people and settings involved: You want your client to be able to perform their skills with a variety of individuals in a multitude of places! This makes for more well-rounded communication and works to avoid rote verbal behavior
Motivation to Learn
Increase motivation to learn: We want NATS to be FUN! Motivation is a key component of NATS. Without it, you will not achieve a high number of independent responses from your client
Independent Use of Skills
Increase independent use of new behaviors in novel settings
How to Run a NATS Session
How do you run a NATS session? The first key is to be aware of when your client wants something. Once they are engaged in a behavior, such as reaching towards an item or pointing, you can use that moment to require your client to engage in a target response, such as a mand or echoic response, depending on your client’s programming needs.
Creating Teaching Opportunities
You can create these opportunities by placing things out of reach, only giving them part of an item, by placing things in a container that they need assistance to open, or by implementing a time delay, such as pausing before opening a cabinet. Be proactive about setting up your environment in a manner that requires assistance in order to get items, and avoid giving away items for free. By doing so, your client will have an increased number of opportunities to work on their communication skills or other target skills in their natural environment.
Successful Implementation With Behavior Frontiers
NATS are often more difficult for people to understand because they are innately less structured. This is a skill set that requires a high degree of attention to your client and to their indications that they want or need something.
If you’re struggling to find opportunities for this form of teaching, ask your Behavior Supervisor or Case Manager for additional modeling of this skill. Asking the right questions is of benefit to both you and your client, and your NATS sessions will be more effective (and fun!) for everyone involved.