Relative infrequency of communication initiation, particularly initiations that involve attention-
sharing or other social purposes, appears to negatively impact the later-life outcomes of
children with autism. Strategies to improve or encourage initiation skills in autism are
hampered by the need for the behaviour to be spontaneous (ie unprompted by a partner).
One potential approach that addresses the spontaneity issue is to extrinsically motivate
initiations by changing aspects of the child's environment such that they merit, or even …