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?
Assess the student’s current behavior during downtime by observing them at the workplace or at school, or by obtaining feedback from their supervisor or job coach. Consider, as well, assessing the setting to determine appropriate downtime activities before a negative pattern in use of downtime starts in the workplace. Specifically, you will want to know the answers to the following questions: What does the student do during their downtime? Does the student know what is acceptable to do when they are finished with their work? Does the student know how to ask what to do next? In the school setting, does the student have appropriate leisure skills?
After assessing what the student is doing, you will have a better sense of what you need to teach. You may need to teach leisure skills or teach them appropriate vs. inappropriate downtime activities. You may need to teach them how to ask for help. You also may need to provide them with a visual cue to tell them what to do when they are done with their tasks.
What visual supports (scripts, instructions, reminder cues, etc.) will you use to help teach the student to manage their downtime?
A number of visual supports will be needed to teach the skill. Graphic organizers, visual scripts and situational stories will be instrumental in teaching what downtime is, why it is important to engage in appropriate tasks, and what those tasks are. Visual cues and reminders will be very helpful in the generalization process. Refer to those sections in determining how to practice, shape and teach the new skill.
What type of prompting might you need to provide in the initial learning phase?
In the initial phase, the tendency will be to use verbal prompts at first to gain the attention of the student to your target in the task analysis. Pair that verbal prompt with a non-verbal signal (a tap on the desk, a point to the visual support), so that when possible, you can shift from verbal prompts to less invasive non-verbal prompt. The student who does not easily alert to natural environmental cues that it is ‘downtime’ may need more intensive prompting and practice at first. Extensive practice with the visual cues and verbal prompts/modeling might be needed in a variety of situations to ensure the student is able to generalize the use of the visual support or system.
The student may require a verbal prompt or physical prompt to remember to use their visual support. However, the purpose of the visual support is to reduce prompts and foster independence, so eliminate prompting as soon as you can and let the visual support do its job.
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?
Can the student discriminate between the more versus less appropriate response in a given role-play scenario? Are you arranging opportunities for the student to make such discriminations and to label when the instructor or someone else performs the behavior incorrectly?
For the student who struggles to manage downtime in his classes at school, start by devising a list of appropriate versus inappropriate downtime activities (e.g. reading a preferred magazine quietly versus texting on cell phone, an activity often not permissible in school). Portray those activities in role play and video scenarios. Depict obvious examples, and then shift to more subtle examples as the student demonstrates proficiency. A similar process might be applied to help the student discriminate between appropriate and inappropriate downtime activities in the work setting. For the student who spends time at school and at work, target the discriminations between activities that are okay in one setting, but not in another (e.g. In school, if there is downtime at the end of class, the student might put his head down on the desk, or take a computer break; this would not be acceptable in a work environment).
Are you arranging frequent practice opportunities to build fluency through repetition?
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?