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Rapid Prompting Method-Soma

The Rapid Prompting Method (RPM) was created by the parent of a child with autism (AU) and popularized by the media.

No Evidence*
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*No Evidence

We have provided information on practices that have no evidence supporting them and some that have even been deemed dangerous. We do this to provide you a tool to prove the lack of evidence for these practices. View our Evidence-Based Practices for interventions that have been proven to be effective with students with autism.

Research and Outcomes

Research Summary

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Skills:

Settings:

Evidence Rating: No Evidence

The information found in the Research Summary table is updated following a literature review of new research and these ages, skills, and settings reflects information from this review.

Outcomes Matrix

No evidence has been found to support the efficacy of this intervention with student's with Autism.

More about Intervention Outcomes

Description

The Rapid Prompting Method (RPM) is designed to teach academics and communication. Its creator reported that her method activates “the reasoning part of the brain so that the student becomes distracted by and engaged in learning” (Mukhopadhyay, 2008). RPM uses constant and frequent prompting in one-to-one sessions to initiate a learner’s independent response. In addition to teaching letter-chart pointing, RPM also utilizes stencils and other drawing exercises to lead to independent handwriting. Functionally, RPM may be equivalent to facilitated communication; the academic and other communicative responses yielded through this technique may not reflect the true motives or abilities of the individual but may be a product of prompt dependency (Tostanoski, Lang, Raulston, Carnett, & Davis, 2014).

RPM instructors must take classes from Soma@RPM to use the method. RPM requires the facilitator to use a “Teach-Ask” technique to elicit responses from the learner by providing the learner with intensive verbal, auditory, visual or tactile prompts. The learner’s responses evolve from picking up answers to pointing to typing and writing. RPM is considered a low-tech approach that requires only an instructor, the learner, paper, and pencil.

Recently published commentary suggests that RPM is not research-based and the similarities between RPM and other dangerous and ineffective interventions suggest RPM may not be safe.

*Practitioners should not interpret inclusion of this practice in the TARGET as an endorsement of its evidence base or of its use.