Various problems can arise when individuals interact with individuals with disabilities, one of whom is deaf. Deaf or hearing loss is a condition in which the individual loses partially or completely hearing function. Generally, the problem faced by the individual when interacting with the deaf is the difficulty of communicating because the deaf is unable to communicate well. This is caused by obstacles in the language development of the deaf. The delayed language development of deaf is preceded by the limited number of vocabulary known by individuals with hearing loss, thereby impacting the delay in learning the structure of sentences. Developing an intervention program to improve the vocabulary of the deaf is important to implement, thus it can be applied to the deaf as early as possible to develop deaf communication skills, and address the problems of individuals nor other parties who interact directly with the deaf. This research uses fading technique that is one of the behavior modification techniques used by reducing the prompt bit by bit until the prompt no longer needed given to the learner to reach the learning goal. Fading in this study was conducted by applying fading to the writing and verbal prompt given while teaching a new vocabulary to the subject. Intervention program using flash card and name card, which is held for one month, once a week, with a maximum duration of 60 minutes per meeting. This study aims to know the effectiveness of behavior modification using fading technique to improve the vocabulary of deaf students in SLB-C Negeri Pembina Banjarbaru. The sampling technique used in this study was purposive sampling with criteria of children who have severe level of hearing loss and have the ability to recognize letters and writing. Based on the sampling process that has been implemented, obtained 3 subjects namely subject Al aged 9 years, N aged 10 years and Am aged 9 years. Data collection technique was conducted using observation and interview techniques. Observation was done by observing the subject vocabulary knowledge before and after given intervention program, while the interview was done with the parents also the teacher subject to know the general description of subject. The data collected through observations before and after the intervention program were analyzed using the Wilcoxon signed rank-test was supplemented by other analyzes using categorization, gain scores, and comparison of subject average before and after the application of the intervention program. Based on Wilcoxon signed rank-test analysis, the value of Z arithmetic is equal to -1,604, while through calculation using significance level equal to 0,1 obtained Z table equal to 0,05 which mean it has point of coordinate 0,13. Having created a normal curve with Z arithmetic point and Z table to enforce the hypothesis, it can be seen that the score of Z arithmetic is in the rejection rare of H₀. Categorization was done on the subject's pretest and posttest score, subject Al obtained score 1, subject N obtained score 4, and subject Am obtained score 6 which means the entire pretest results of all subjects were in the low category. During the posttest subject Al obtained score 21, subject N obtained score 30, and subject Am obtained score 22 which means all the posttest results of all three subjects were in high category. Gain score obtained by subject Al is 20, subject N is 26, subject Am is 16. The mean of pretest score was 3,67 and increased to 24,33 at posttest. Based on the results of this study it can be concluded that the behavior modification using fading technique is effective to improve the vocabulary of deaf students in SLB-C Negeri Pembina Banjarbaru

Key words: Behavior Modification, Fading, Vocabulary, Deaf