Natural Language Paradigm

Natural Language Paradigm (NLP) is based on the understanding that learning can be helped by deliberate arrangement of the environment in order to increase opportunities to use language. NLP emphasizes the child’s initiative. It uses natural reinforcers that are consequences related directly to the behavior, and it encourages skill generalization. For example, a child who is allowed to leave after being prompted to say “goodbye” has a greater likelihood of using and generalizing this word when compared with a child who receives a tangible item for repeating this word. NLP transfers instruction from the therapy room to the child’s everyday environment with the interest of the child serving as the starting point for interventions.

As defined by Autism Intervention Research Network