Discrete Trial Training (DTT) is one of several types of teaching strategies that fall under the umbrella of ABA. DTT is a very structured ABA technique that is used to teach skills broken down into small, “discrete” components. Along the way, therapists use reinforcement to get the desired behavior.

For example, if a therapist is teaching a child colors, the therapist might start with the color blue. The therapist would, for example, ask the child to point to the color blue and reward the correct behavior. The therapist would then move on to teaching another color, such as green, reinforce the correct behavior, and then ask about both colors. After the child has learned to point to all the colors, we could then move on to teaching the child to say each color’s name.

DTT is often what most therapists use when teaching skills to children with ASD.