Direct instruction is considered to be an effective strategy for supporting the development of speech / communication and other forms of discrimination and knowledge acquisition. Some applications such as Discrete Trial Teaching (DTT) require a stringent adherence to technical guidelines. While keeping procedural integrity is essential it may result in missing critical clinicians’ subtleties to “hidden students’ precursors” throughout the learning process. DTT and ABA are mistakenly perceived as synonymous by some professionals and parents. Nevertheless, it is suggested that clinicians will base their programs on behavioral philosophy and use their ABA knowledge to implement direct instruction effectively. Discriminations and instructional skills that are beyond the technical protocols will be demonstrated in this presentation. Such skills may be taught as part of ABA preparation courses and supported by advisors and supervisors during in-service. Examples of experiences contributing to the development of fine stimulus control in teaching academic skills will be provided.
