We assessed the efficacy of time delay and peer modeling procedures in increasing autistic children\u27s spontaneous verbalizations of affection. Four autistic children were taught to spontaneously say I like (love) you in response to a hug from a familiar person and their mother. Generalization from a free play training setting to free play outdoors and at home was assessed. Ancillary social and affection behaviors were also observed. Results indicated that the time delay was a quick and effective procedure for all the children. Peer modeling was unsuccessful in teaching the target behavior