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?
As you introduce this skill, how will you incorporate (visually, thematically) the student’s unique interests?
Is there another student who shares a common hobby or interest? Could this student be included in rehearsals? Furthermore, could the targeted student be video recorded in these practice sessions and then review the recording with a family member, peer, or teacher? His common interests could also be incorporated into scenario cards, conversation starter cards, social narratives, and reminder cues (See Visual Supports section for examples).
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 help get agreement that this social communication skill requires improvement, get agreement on the solution, and create the motivation for change?
Perhaps the student does not recognize that his initiations are inappropriate (e.g. they are indiscriminately issued to anyone who is nearby, they are timed poorly, they are always centered on his topic of interest, etc.). Role-playing and visual supports such as graphic organizers, social narratives, video models, and visual cues can be used to shift understanding and gain “buy-in.”
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 2"
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?
Before the student encounters a situation where he will need to initiate a conversation, how do you help the student prepare? How do you orient the student to the upcoming situation?
Preparation for a visit to a college or job site might include reviewing a “relationship target” to help the student remember who would be an appropriate “target” for conversation (see Graphic Organizers).