Natural Environment Teaching (NET)

Natural Environment Teaching (NET) emphasizes child-lead teaching in the context of the child’s natural environments (i.e., home, pre-school). NET utilizes the motivation of the learner to maximize learning opportunities in the context of play. The goal of NET is to establish and increase language by providing reinforcement for targeted verbal operants under naturalistic environmental conditions. Allocation of treatment time spent in NET is determined by the individual learner’s skill level and treatment needs.

Reference:

LeBlanc, L. A., Esch, J., Sidener, T. M., & Firth, A. M. (2006). Behavioral language interventions for children with autism: Comparing applied verbal behavior and naturalistic teaching approaches. Analysis of Verbal Behavior, 22, 49-60.