Beyond “Do This”: Supervising Staff to Teach Imitation Through Connection, Communication, and Play

Beyond “Do This”: Supervising Staff to Teach Imitation Through Connection, Communication, and Play is a 3 hour interactive supervision workshop designed to help behavior analysts and clinical leaders teach, coach, and support staff in the implementation of Reciprocal Imitation Training (Ingersoll, 2010) also known as RIT.

Traditional imitation training often relies on adult directed instructions such as “do this,” structured trials, physical prompting, and reinforcement for copying adult models. While many practitioners were trained in this approach, it does not always reflect how imitation develops as part of early social communication, play, shared attention, and reciprocal engagement. RIT offers a more naturalistic and developmentally informed approach by teaching imitation within child led routines, reciprocal play, and naturally reinforcing interactions.

In this workshop, participants will learn both the clinical components of RIT and the supervision practices needed to help staff implement the protocol with fidelity and responsiveness. Participants will examine the limitations of traditional imitation training, review the core components of RIT, and practice breaking those components into teachable staff behaviors. The workshop will focus on how supervisors can train staff to observe learner interests, imitate the learner, use playcasting, model actions and gestures, support turn taking, respond to learner attempts, and maintain engagement without turning the interaction into compliance based instruction.

Participants will work through case scenarios, identify staff training needs, practice giving feedback, create coaching plans, and troubleshoot common implementation challenges. Participants will also apply the content to learners and teams they currently support, with emphasis on supervision strategies that promote staff competence, learner assent, contextual fit, and socially meaningful imitation.

By the end of the workshop, participants will leave with practical tools for teaching RIT to staff, observing implementation, giving performance feedback, and supporting staff as they shift from directive imitation training to reciprocal, play based, communication centered intervention.

Learning objectives

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

1. Describe the clinical and developmental rationale for using Reciprocal Imitation Training instead of traditional “do this” imitation training, including differences in learner engagement, social communication, play, and reciprocal interaction.
2. Identify the core staff behaviors required to implement RIT, including observing learner interests, imitating the learner, playcasting, modeling actions or gestures, supporting reciprocal turns, acknowledging attempts, and continuing the interaction naturally.
3. Develop a staff training plan for RIT implementation, including how to introduce the rationale, model the procedure, rehearse the steps, observe implementation, and provide feedback.
4. Use behavioral skills training and performance feedback strategies to support staff implementation of RIT, including instruction, modeling, rehearsal, feedback, and in vivo coaching.
5. Evaluate staff implementation of RIT using fidelity and responsiveness indicators, including whether staff are following the learner’s lead, matching language level, avoiding unnecessary demands, supporting engagement, and responding to learner communication attempts.
6. Problem solve common supervision challenges related to RIT implementation, including staff reverting to “do this,” over prompting, missing learner cues, using too much language, selecting low interest materials, or prioritizing compliance over reciprocal engagement.