Intraverbal: Exaggerations (Hyperbole) Program

Intraverbal: Exaggerations (Hyperbole) Program

A Structured, Evidence-Based Approach to Teaching Non-Literal Language & Social Understanding

This Intraverbal: Exaggerations Program is a comprehensive, ready-to-use teaching system designed to help learners understand and respond to non-literal language (hyperbole) in everyday social interactions.

Created with a focus on pragmatic language, perspective-taking, and functional communication, this program goes beyond basic social skills activities by explicitly teaching learners how to interpret what people mean, not just what they say. It supports flexible thinking, reduces literal responding, and builds meaningful social engagement.

Grounded in applied behavior analysis (ABA) and designed for real-world application, this program provides clinicians and educators with a clear, structured, and clinically sound framework for teaching an often overlooked but critical skill.

What’s Included

Exaggeration Scenario Targets

• 50+ real-life hyperbole examples across home, school, and community settings
• Targets include common exaggerated language such as:
  • “I’ve told you a million times…”
  • “This is the worst day ever”
  • “I’m starving to death”
• Designed to teach:
  • Literal vs. non-literal language discrimination
  • Interpreting speaker intent and emotional meaning
  • Socially appropriate responding
• Developmentally appropriate and highly relatable scenarios

Program Instruction Sheet

A complete, step-by-step teaching guide including:

• Clear SD examples with variation to prevent prompt dependency
• Least-to-most prompting hierarchy
• Explicit teaching of:
  • Literal vs. non-literal language
  • Identifying exaggeration
  • Expected vs. unexpected responses
• Error correction procedures with immediate teaching and re-trial
• Reinforcement guidelines using behavior-specific feedback

This program is designed to be easy to implement while maintaining clinical integrity.

Generalization & Maintenance Planning

• Built-in strategies for natural environment teaching (NET)
• Targets embedded across:
  • Different people (peers, adults)
  • Settings (home, school, community)
• Promotes real-life application of skills, not just tabletop responding

Why This Program Matters

Many learners, especially those with autism or language delays, interpret language literally, which can lead to:

• Social misunderstandings
• Incorrect or rigid responses
• Difficulty with peer interactions

This program directly targets those barriers by teaching learners to:

• Understand intent over exact wording
• Recognize emotional context
• Respond in socially meaningful ways

It bridges the gap between language comprehension and social communication, making it a critical component of any social skills or communication program.

Who It’s For

• BCBAs and Clinical Supervisors
• Behavior Interventionists / RBTs
• Speech-Language Pathologists
• Special Education Teachers
• Parents implementing structured teaching at home

Perfect For

• Social skills programs
• Pragmatic language instruction
• ABA therapy sessions (DTT & NET)
• Small group or 1:1 instruction
• Learners who demonstrate literal thinking or difficulty with perspective-taking