How can you connect this new skill to the student’s priorities? How can you assure ownership by making the development of this skill the student’s goal rather than just your goal for the student?
Consider the first step in the three-step model (from the Task Analysis section): “Identify the problem.” How can you define the problem (and subsequent consequences of the unresolved problem versus consequences of the resolved problem) in a way that clearly connects to the student’s desires, concerns, and goals? Does the student want to finish the assignment so he can move on to something else? Does the student want to “do it right”? Does the student want directions so he can get to location X on time? Does he want to understand the material so he can pass the class? Does the student want to succeed in a particular career field?
As you introduce this skill, how will you incorporate (visually, thematically) the student’s unique interests?
For example, would it help for the student to read about real or fictional figures in his field of choice asking for help in their quest to become successful? These stories might also help the student who asks for help too often because of high anxiety and fear of failure. The student may see from the story that even if a project is hard, it can be completed with relative independence.
Can you make it visually clear to the student who is resistant to change that his assumption is only one way of looking at things? Can your use of visual supports and self-assessments help get agreement that there is a problem, get agreement on the solution, and create the motivation for change?
Many students do not want to look different from their peers and may feel that asking for help makes them look incompetent. Do they have the social understanding that asking for help is often a sign of strength and confidence? Such strategies as graphic organizers, peer endorsements, role-plays, video models, and social narratives can promote this shift in perception. Does the student understand that not asking for help could affect how others view him (perspective-taking)? How is one perceived when he asks for help and then succeeds versus when he does not ask for help/clarification and he fails?
For the student who remains unlikely to request assistance in front of his peers, what alternative methods can you agree upon? The student may need to write down questions or use a subtle visual cue to indicate the need for assistance. The alternative methods you identify and agree upon will hinge on whether the need for assistance must be met in that moment, or if the assistance can be deferred to a different time.
If the student is very interested in developing friendships and you have determined that the student asks for help too often as an attention-seeking strategy, a social narrative that illustrates the consequences of irritating other people might be one successful strategy. The narrative could also identify more appropriate strategies to use in interacting with others.
Priming is a form of negotiation that can reframe and sharpen a student’s assessment of self. Below are the self-assessment tools that align with this intervention topic:
"Social Communication – Basic Skills 3"
Interspersal is a proven technique involving the presentation of familiar, higher success tasks with the new, more challenging task. When it is appropriate, are you varying the activities to maintain the student’s confidence and focus?
As you target a particular sub-skill within asking for help, consider how you can intermittently contrive opportunities for the student to practice that sub-skill. Intersperse those opportunities with circumstances where the student would not need to request assistance, in order to help him discriminate between these circumstances, and to maintain his confidence.
Before the student encounters a situation where he will need to ask for help (or where he would not need to ask but might be inclined to), how do you help the student prepare? How do you orient the student to the upcoming situation? How do you orient him to the materials he will use?
For the student who asks for help too often (e.g. in academic contexts or when completing work tasks), part of your effort will be to orient him to those materials and tasks ahead of time, to increase his familiarity and comfort with those materials and tasks. Ensure that the to-do list and/or visual instructions are clear, and give the student an opportunity to review those instructions just prior to the activity. Role-playing responses just prior to the event, and review of social narratives, may also increase the likelihood for success.
For the student who does not ask for help when he may need it, modeling and role-play with scripts, social narratives, and visual cue cards should be reviewed just prior to a situation where it is likely that he might need to seek assistance. For example, a visual cue card might include a list of circumstances in which the student might need help and the people he can ask.