What is the first step in Incidental Teaching?

The first step in Incidental Teaching is to set up the environment in a way that promotes natural communication opportunities. This means arranging materials, activities, and interactions so that the individual is prompted to communicate as part of a meaningful context. By establishing a rich and engaging environment, practitioners can encourage the learner to express their needs and desires more naturally.

This step is crucial because it lays the foundation for the subsequent components of Incidental Teaching, which focus on guiding the learner's communication in contextually relevant situations. A well-set environment maximizes the chances of the learner initiating communication, which can be further facilitated by other strategies in the teaching method.

In Incidental Teaching, control over the environment and materials is intentionally utilized to elicit communication, while the concepts of looking, pausing, and discussing are usually implemented after the initial environment is established. Setting up the context first creates the right conditions for effective communication and learning to occur.