Track A: a learning song is presented in its entirety. All lessons are sung using two voices. The first voice prompts, the second voice responds. The child has fun and learns the song in both voices (♪first voice:"the cat says...", second voice: "...meow"♪).
Track B: the song is repeated with key omissions. The second voice is dropped and the need for sameness compels the child to become the second voice (♪ first voice: "the cat says..." second voice: “.....”♪). This step has been instrumental in drawing first verbal, non echoic, responses from persons with autism as old as 21 years.
Track C: the song topic is spoken. The child has already responded during the music, but needs to transition to speaking. Tuneville also uses slightly different wording for this prompt. More on this when we cover Generalization (first voice: “What does the cat say?” second voice: “Meow.”).
Track D: the song topic is spoken with key omissions. Since the verbal exchange has already been modeled and mimicked with the sung tracks, the learner understands his or her role of becoming the second voice (first voice: “What does the cat say?” second voice: “....”).
Imagine the great effort given to manipulate the environment in order to maintain things as they were first observed and routines as they were first learned. Now imagine that same effort used to vocalize meaningful language. That is what lies at the core of Tuneville: harnessing an overwhelming urge for completion.
