Please view our detailed Shore Center Program Manual HERE.
The Shore Center, a program of the Bayshore Jointure Commission, is a New Jersey public school out-of-district placement for students with autism, ages 3-21. Although the foundation of our program is Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), the staff at The Shore Center is fully trained in implementing general education curriculum in all academic content areas aligned with the New Jersey Student Learning Standards (NJSLS). We look at the whole child, educating each student not just in academics, but also with a strong focus on functional communication, social-emotional learning, behavior intervention, and transition planning. We ensure that each student's individual needs are met by providing the appropriate modifications and accommodations. Additionally, each lesson is differentiated to address the unique levels and learning styles of every student.
Verbal Behavior (VB) began as a 1957 book by psychologist B.F. Skinner, who analyzes human behavior encompassing what is traditionally called language, linguistics, or speech. For Skinner, verbal behavior is simply behavior subject to the same controlling variables as any other operant behavior, although Skinner differentiates between verbal behavior, which is mediated by other people, and that which is mediated by the natural world. A growing body of research and applications based on Verbal Behavior has occurred since its original publication, particularly in the past decade.
The science of Verbal Behavior believes in teaching and generalizing all the meanings of a word. For example, if you are teaching a child about an"apple," you must have the child complete the following steps before the item is considered mastered:
Generalization occurs in steps and prevents the child from just learning how to only expressively label "apple" or how to only identify an apple among pictures and places. Verbal behavior places more emphasis on day-to-day involvement and understanding of what an apple is in context, versus teaching information out of context, hence making the teaching more functional.
Manding (Requesting)
Tacting (Expressively Labeling)
Echoic (Vocal Imitation)
Intraverbal (Answering a question, What is your favorite fruit?)
