IFFC, which stands for Intraverbal Function, Feature, & Class, is an Intraverbal program. 

Intraverbals are some of the most difficult programs to write and to teach, and are typically reserved for the ABLLS-R  advanced learners. An early learner or a nonverbal child wouldn’t be ready for the complexity of an intraverbal program.

"Intraverbal" is a VB term, and it refers to questions or statements that require a verbal response and have no stimuli --such as flashcards--present. An example of an intraverbal is responding “29” when someone asks “How old are you”? It’s very common that children in ABA programs start showing disruptive behaviors when intraverbal programs begin such as elopement, aggression, or noncompliance. The difficulty of the task is what’s causing the disruptive behaviors.

Intraverbals can be difficult to teach because they are difficult to learn. Much of ABA early learner skills require rote memorization. As a child progresses through ABA and moves being from an early, to intermediate, to advanced learner, the skill difficulty increases and the goal moves away from rote memorization to recall of information.

Intraverbals are the building blocks of language. If you pay attention to the language of most 3-5 year olds, it’s predominantly intraverbals: requesting information, describing things, talking about favorite objects or TV shows, etc. If a child with Autism does not have a strong intraverbal vocabulary they will be at a huge disadvantage when communicating with peers. Most young children immediately start conversations with intraverbals. Its interesting that as therapists we tend to teach our clients to greet others by saying “Hello”, yet most young children greet each other with questions, such as “What’s your name”. Intraverbal knowledge also leads to more extended social interactions. If a child with Autism can only answer simple “Yes” or “No” questions then their mean length of responses will be pretty short:

Therapist: “Are you hungry?”

Child: “Yes.”

Therapist: “Do you want to swing?”

Child: “No.”

I have successfully held 5-10 minute conversations with clients by just asking them about different IFFC mastered goals. It’s very easy to turn “Tell me something about a car” into a full conversation. First the child tells me about a car, then we talk about the color of my car, we point to cars in magazines, write the word car, draw pictures of cars, all while talking about what a car does and does not have. Intraverbals help an Autistic mind to make connections between things that are similar or dissimilar, which leads to the ability to jump topics in conversation and elaborate on topics…just like typically developing children do.

Intraverbals can be quite complex and are often  taught incorrectly. If you are an ABA therapist, you may need special training to learn how to teach intraverbals. If intraverbals are taught in the wrong order or without teaching  prerequisite skills first, then it’s very confusing to the learner. A great resource for understanding intraverbals better is the "Verbal Behavior Approach" by Mary Barbera. It’s an easy to understand book that breaks down all of the VB teaching operants.

I typically write IFFC programs for clients who have already mastered some intraverbal programs, can easily mand and tact items, have a good amount of spontaneous language, and have mastered the necessary prerequisite skills.

So what exactly does the IFFC program teach?

Function- understanding what things are used for, such as the function of a towel is to dry off.

Feature- understanding adjectives or how to describe something, such as a car has wheels.

Class - understanding categorization, such as both watermelon and pasta are in the class of food.

The IFFC program ties all 3 of these skills together, so the child must know how to receptively and expressively identify features, functions, and classes of items before you can begin teaching IFFC. Those prerequisites are necessary. IFFC can be taught receptively (RFFC) or expressively, just depending on what is easier for the child. The goal of the program is that the child will be able to describe an item/object to you, after you name the object. The SD would be “Tell me something about a ___”. The child should respond by stating a feature, function, and class of the item you named.  Here is what a successful teaching trial would look like:

Therapist: “Tell me something about a car”.

Child: “A car has 4 wheels, you drive it, and it’s a vehicle”.

Here are a few of the most common questions therapists ask me about IFFC programs:

1. “The child states the feature and function, but not the class”- Try using a verbal prompt, such as “What else” or “Tell me the class”. Be sure not to provide reinforcement until the child has correctly named all 3. If you reinforce after the child has said the feature and function, then over time they will think they don’t need to state the class.
2. “The child just repeats my SD and doesn’t say anything else”- First make sure the child has the prerequisites needed to learn this program. Be sure you aren’t asking the child to do far more than they are capable of. If they do have the prerequisites then use visual prompts. If your SD is “Tell me about a house” then have a photo of a house ready to be used as a prompt.
3. “The child gets very upset when we do intraverbal programs or tries to leave the table”- This isn’t unusual, and it happens a lot. Intraverbals are hard.  Magnify the reinforcement you use for intraverbal programs: use a bigger reinforcer or give the child more of it. Make sure you are prompting the child if they take more than 3 seconds to respond to you.
4. “The child does well with this program at the table but away from the table they don’t seem like they get it”- They probably don’t. Generalization must be incorporated into an ABA program…it doesn’t magically happen. Let’s say you are teaching the child to describe a cat in an IFFC program. Take the child to a pet store, or flip through a picture book together and when you see a cat stop and say “Look! It’s a cat. Tell me something about a cat”.
5. “The child will master an IFFC goal, but when we move on to the next goal they are still giving the responses for the old one”- Sometimes therapists push forward through this problem, and just expect that the child will take several weeks to learn each new IFFC target. It’s important not to just push through this error. It isn’t normal that for each new IFFC goal the child struggles, and continues to give you the wrong answer. What this is revealing is difficulty with discrimination. The child hears you say “Tell me something about a ____”, and they just toss out the last response they gave that was reinforced. If you see this happening, learning is not going on. Rote responding is going on.

Don’t be intimidated by teaching intraverbals! Some intraverbal programs can be very simple, such as Animal Sounds. IFFC is a bit more difficult to teach and understand, but the payoff is huge when you see how much easier it is for the child to socially interact and engage in meaningful conversation. If you have a Consultant or BCBA leading your ABA program I highly suggest you request additional training on how to teach intraverbals and how to correct common student errors. Even if you don’t have a regular Consultant, you can hire one part time or as needed to help you teach this difficult skill.

**Quick Tip: Many parents have a tendency to try and teach intraverbal responses to a child who is extremely unprepared for the task. Instead of the child making varied and appropriate responses they are taught 1 or 2 rote responses, which do little to help the child socially. I’ll give you an example: Teaching a child to respond “Fine” when Mom or Dad asks “How was school today?” Was school really fine today? Or is that just what the child has been taught to say? If the child got sick at school and threw up their lunch, will they still say their day was “Fine”? If so, that is completely missing the point of the question. When I ask parents why they taught their child to say “Fine”, they usually tell me they wanted the child to be able to have a social interaction about their day. Well, if that is your goal then write an intraverbal program where the child is taught to describe their day, who they played with, what they had for lunch, etc. Don’t settle for a robotic, rote response of “Fine” when what you really want is an actual conversation.

Read more »

Tameika Meadows, BCBA, Blog Author

"A Good teacher Explains ... A Superior teacher Demonstrates ... A GREAT teacher Inspires".
William Arthur Ward, Inspirational Author

Read more »

Tameika Meadows, BCBA, Blog Author

Clearly from the title and content of this blog, I respect and believe in ABA as a science that can be used to teach a variety of new behaviors, and reduce or replace (with safer, more feasible behaviors) old, entrenched, dangerous or harmful behaviors.

My backstory: I started in this field working in a rural area, as an in-home therapy provider to 2 families. This was before my state had an insurance mandate, which meant families paid professionals directly to work with their children. There were very few agencies or ABA centers, very few BCBAs, and public understanding of Autism was near zero. Both of my clients were boys, they went to the same school, were roughly the same age,  and they were about as different from each other as the day is from the night.

When I started in this field, I knew very little about Autism or ABA. I quickly got a crash course in behavior, motivation, the science of behavior analysis, sleep issues, feeding issues, toileting challenges, self-harmful behaviors, and special education/IEP meetings, from working with the Consultant who trained and supervised me.

As my knowledge, literature review, and clinical training increased so did my passion. I found the different children I worked with to be smart and capable, once you figured out how best to motivate them. I realized that even though they rarely spoke, they had lots on their mind. I learned to interpret and understand their behavior, how to get their attention, how to KEEP their attention, and things they hated that I should avoid doing (like wear perfume to therapy sessions).

 I quickly caught the ABA bug and became hooked on the Lightbulb Moment. What's the lightbulb moment? I'm glad you asked.

The lightbulb moment is when you have been painstakingly trying to teach a skill to for quite some time, and then one day out of the blue something clicks and the client just gets it. The clouds part, angels sing, and you happily yell "That's RIGHT!" Its an amazing moment, actually seeing someone understand something for the first time.

The more I learned about ABA the more I wanted to learn about ABA. 

I probably drove my first few client families insane, because long after my therapy sessions were over I would still be in their home asking question after question about Autism and ABA. There was just so much to learn. Thankfully those parents were patient with me and my endless curiosity.

As my love of ABA grew, I started to become aware that there are people out there who absolutely do not like ABA. 

Really? Yes, really.

There are even some who hate ABA. 

Hate it? Really? Yes, really.

Many of these people are adult Autistics, who advocate against 'conversion therapy'. Their beliefs about the detriments of ABA are just as strong and vocal as mine about the benefits of ABA. In no way is it my goal to demean or invalidate their voices or experiences. 

My blog isn’t about bashing or putting down other therapy methods, or attacking people who hate ABA. Not at all.


I think the best decisions are informed decisions. There are many reasons people dislike ABA, but there are also myths and outdated info that some people proclaim as facts. Which is dangerous, because for parents out there just trying to find help for their children, they may not know the difference between opinions and facts.

So hopefully, this information will shed some light:  

Reasons Why People Hate ABA

Think ABA is Just Discrete Trial Teaching/DTT- I've had new clients say to me they don’t want their child to be drilled 50 times to say “banana”, because cousin so-and-so told them that’s what ABA is. ABA is a broad term that covers a wide range of therapeutic approaches. Depending on the needs and learning style of the child, there are many ways to implement ABA therapy. Each method is unique, and has advantages and disadvantages depending on the specific treatment goals. If you don't want your child to be intensively drilled in a very structured manner, then don't use a Discrete Trial approach. There are many other ways to teach skills, and if you are working with a provider who refuses to implement anything other than DTT: that is a problem.

"ABA Therapy is an unnatural treatment!"- So here is the problem with this criticism: the science of ABA is all around you, all the time, whether you sign up for therapy or not. Behavior contingencies explain how you learned to answer a ringing telephone, why you say sorry when you offend someone, and why you reduce your speed when you drive past a police car. ABA is based in conditioning, which to put it simply is the fact that we learn what to do/what not to do by what consequences follow our behavior. All ABA therapy does is apply this science and research to create individualized strategies, that are taught in a precise way. So unless you plan to completely stop behaving (hint: that's impossible), then every single day you are adjusting your own behavior based on the consequences to your behavior.

Frauds/Shysters Exploit Desperate Families- Another criticism is that the field of ABA is full of amateurs claiming be experts. The national certification for ABA professionals has been around since 1998. Before that time, anyone who could convince people of it could label themselves an Autism Expert or Consultant. Accountability was very low. The ABA field established board certification specifically to protect the public from amateurs calling themselves experts, and to raise the requirements of working in this field. The BCBA certification process is difficult and lengthy, and in some states licensure is required on top of certification. My response to this criticism would be to look for credentialed and experienced professionals, and be very leery of programs with "pseudo-ABA" staff and not a single certified individual supervising or training them. 

ABA Creates Robots- You've probably heard this criticism before: ABA creates robotic learners incapable of spontaneous thought who can only spit out memorized responses. Some ABA programs do start off with rote memorization. That’s how many of us initially learned skills. How did you learn the multiplication tables? It was likely by memorizing it. At some point someone helped you move from memorizing to flexible learning. That’s what a quality ABA program does. I also must note that robotic, rigid, overly repetitive teaching can be an indicator of a poor quality ABA program. This resource should help you evaluate if you are receiving quality intervention or not.

Autism is a Medical Disorder and Should be Treated Medically – There is some truth to this criticism. Autism can affect the body and brain in many ways. The child can have toxic yeast, allergies, comorbidity (such as Autism & ADHD), etc. Each of those issues may require a separate treatment. Behavioral interventions also require a medical rule out, so your physician may recommend other treatments in addition to ABA therapy. OR, ABA just might not be needed for your child. That is okay too, if you do not enroll your Autistic child into ABA, and instead seek out medical treatments.

ABA Therapy is TOO intensive –  "Parent shaming" is not ok, as families struggle to make the best choices for their children that they can. Some parents want to start therapy as intensively as possible while the child is young. Other parents feel they want their child to enjoy being a child and not just shuffle from one therapy session to the next. While therapy should be balanced with other parts of the learners life, it is ultimately the intensity and severity of current challenges that determines how many hours of ABA should occur each week. No one should be forced to receive more therapy than they want their child to have, but also no parent should be attacked or shamed for deciding they DO want their child to have intensive treatment. This is far from a black-and-white issue, its quite nuanced.

ABA is about Erasing Autistic Traits and Forcing "Normal" Traits- The Autistic community has spoken out loudly against things like forced eye contact programs, reducing stimming, teaching neurotypical ways of play, etc. It is very, very important that the goals in the ABA program do not consist of "Autism erasure". It is a sad thing to view Autism as a disease to wipe out. Autism is a neurological difference that exists on a spectrum, meaning Alison will experience one type of Autism that will be very different from the type of Autism Jonathan experiences. Am I saying that no ABA provider, ever, anywhere on earth, has ever had the goal of making their clients as 'normal' as possible? I cannot say that. But, what I can say is that this should not happen. It is old, archaic, anti-disability thinking to view clients as problems to fix. Instead, ABA therapy should be about helping the individual (not just their parents) manage some of the more debilitating and difficult parts of the Autism diagnosis, while strengthening and celebrating areas where the client excels.   

Many of these criticisms are likely true for poor quality ABA programs, or unethical providers.
Does ABA still have a long way to go, in terms of public acceptance, ethics, reform, and accountability? Yes. 

We need to do better with listening to Autistic voices. We need to do better with training up practitioners. We need to do better with diversity, of race, cultures, genders, and of thought. We need to do better with explaining to the general public who we are and what we do.

The BACB recently revised the clinician Code of Ethics, specifically to move toward some of these very changes.

There is much work to be done, yes. But, there has also been great work achieved. 

Individual clients of varying ages, diagnoses, and needs, have learned specific skills that help them in their life. Challenging or harmful behaviors have been reduced or replaced with non- dangerous behaviors, to improve health outcomes. Individuals have learned coping skills and new behaviors that moved them from most restrictive to least restrictive settings.

Ethical, quality ABA services implemented with compassion, can have an amazing impact on someone's life. While the voices and dissent of Autistics and Autistic Allies should not be ignored, the way to move forward is with continued commitment to making ABA better and safer for the populations served.

Resources: Greg Hanley, 'Today's ABA'

What is the ABA Reform Movement?

Trauma Informed ABA

ABA Reform Movement (podcast episode) 

A Balanced View on ABA Therapy

The Controversy around ABA

Read more »

Tameika Meadows, BCBA, Blog Author

Take some time today to look for strengths in your child, student, or client with Autism.

“A disability is usually defined in terms of what is missing. … But Autism … is as much about what is abundant as what is missing.”

Paul Collins, Author of Not Even Wrong, Adventures in Autism

Read more »

Tameika Meadows, BCBA, Blog Author

This is pretty much an endorsement for motivation-based teaching, from one of the great philosophers:

"Do not train children to learning by force and harshness, but direct them to it by what amuses their minds".

Plato, Greek Philosopher

Read more »

Tameika Meadows, BCBA, Blog Author