Where is the student now? Where do you want him to be? Given the sub-skill you selected within your task analysis (your starting point for instruction), how can you shape this behavior into a practical skill for the future?
What visual supports will you use to help the student perform the expected skills?
Because tasks in environments such as nurseries, landscape crews and farms are cyclical, the schedule will frequently be a template into which the supervisor or job coach adds specific tasks and spaces on a daily basis. In contrast, the animal care facilities will have fairly consistent repeated schedules. Instructions for equipment maintenance may be posted on storage room walls for quick access or may be kept in a notebook for access by the student as needed. It may be necessary to create an organizational system like a file box, notebook or folder system where the student learns to go to find specific instructions for tasks after checking his schedule. Moreover, look at the organization of the storage space and determine if labels or picture cues are needed to assure that the student keeps materials organized for easy access. You are teaching the student to use the schedule, the to-do lists and the organization of these tools so that he performs independently. Refer to the sections on Schedules, To-Do Lists, and Visual Cues for specific ideas.
Set up sequenced visual instructions for tasks that are complex for the student. Consider that multi-step tasks may sometimes become disorganized, so help the student to consistently refer to a set of visual instructions, possibly checking off each step as completed to assure 100% success in performance.
Reminder cues or labels or signs can be posted in specific areas to focus attention or to remind the student of the procedures he is learning.
What type of prompting might you need to provide in the initial learning phase? What is your plan for systematically and quickly fading out your prompting? How do you time and fade the prompt to support the student in initiating the target behavior?
For example, with blower maintenance, fade your gestural prompts by delaying them so that the student focuses on the instructions in the file box on blower maintenance and follows each step in order, checking them off as completed.
Are you arranging frequent practice opportunities to build fluency through repetition?
Initially, instruction may require modeling and verbal support to complete the steps of tasks. As the student responds to initial instruction, it is important to consistently expect the student to use the visual support to find information rather than asking what to do next. As independent employees, we self-start and go about our workdays without asking constantly for guidance. How long would we keep our jobs if we did not self-start? Your goal is to build a routine of the student checking the list or schedule for what to do next. As noted above, you want to build reliance on the use of sequenced visual instructions to prevent mistakes that occur as a result of doing familiar tasks from memory. Thus, build a consistent pattern of using the visual instructions so that 100% success is more likely.
What steps do you need to take to ensure that everyone targeting that skill applies the same level of prompting and fades it out at the same rate to support initiation by the student?
For example, everyone should be prompting the student to use the schedule or the instructions on the wall for kennel cleaning or the notebook for instructions on draining the oil pan on the mower (rather than verbally walking him through each step, every time).