Once the skill is performed accurately and independently under one condition, are you arranging multiple opportunities for the student to practice the skill with different people, and in multiple settings?
Practicing personal space with multiple people is crucial. The student should have the opportunity to practice with all types of people, too: males and females, strangers versus close family and friends, children, etc.
Are you arranging opportunities for the student to practice the skill in various situations?
It is important to practice personal space in a variety of contexts so that the student is able to be successful in most situations.
Also, notice if violations of personal space may occur more in certain contexts than others.
For example, someone may use appropriate personal space when talking about innocuous topics, such as the weather. However, when talking about more personal or private topics of conversation (which may be inappropriate in itself), they may stand close to their conversation partner. The close proximity in conjunction with the topic of conversation could potentially make someone very uncomfortable. In this example, target personal space across a variety of different conversation topics.
Are you arranging opportunities for the student to practice the targeted skill in natural environments and under natural conditions?
While many individuals easily learn rules on paper and in the classroom, actually applying the rules to real-life situations can be much more difficult. Once the skill has been taught, observe the student in natural environments (e.g. the cafeteria line, during group work assignments in other classrooms, during assemblies, in the break room at work). Then, give them feedback on their performance. If you are unable to observe them, or it would be unnatural or distracting for you to observe them, ask their supervisor, job coach, parent, or another trusted person for feedback about their performance.
Have you adapted visual supports so that they can remain in the natural environments that this student encounters now, and in the future?
A visual cue depicting personal space in the student’s work area may be a good reminder to help generalize this skill. This visual will be most useful if it is the same one that was used in teaching sessions since that visual has become meaningful to them. Thus, the visual cue could be a picture or simply a written sentence that defines the rule.
Similarly, make sure the visual support is in a place where the person will view it before they need to use appropriate personal space. For example, if they generally have issues with personal space during seated group work, write a reminder sentence/phrase for them on the clipboard or notebook that they bring to those activities. This visual support will serve to prime the student prior to the situation where they are expected to display appropriate physical proximity.