Incidental teaching is used to increase communication from a person by waiting for the person to initiate conversation about a topic and then responding in ways that encourage more language from that person.
For example, a child might request “want car.” The therapist might then ask the child whether he wants the blue car or the red one. The learner would then receive the car if he demonstrated more elaborate language by asking for the red one.
In combination with other teaching methods, incidental teaching procedures are effective teaching procedures for increasing communicative language in individuals with autism.