Naturalistic settings (as opposed to tightly controlled settings) can help children with autism learn to generalize (apply new skills to new situations).

Teaching children with autism can be hard. Teachers have to find the balance between teaching new skills and teaching children to apply the learned skills to new situations. This review article describes when it is best to focus on the new skill and when it is best to focus on applying the new skill. The authors also describe tools for school psychologists, teachers and others looking to learn more about naturalistic settings. The authors list books that describe in more detail the three most popular naturalistic therapy techniques: incidental teaching, pivotal response training, and script fading.