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?
If the student has a limited concept of the passage of time, getting student ownership can be difficult. You may need additional external reinforcement for making transitions before a timer rings or by a certain time on the clock. It may be necessary to use the preference survey to determine strong reinforcers before the priming process begins.
Many high school students have a specific vocational goal in mind. Incorporating that particular dream through the use of social narratives or reminder cards could help motivate the student to learn and use strategies to assist him in transitioning on time.
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?
Most students want to fit in with their peers and be successful. Entering a classroom or a job late can be embarrassing and most students want to avoid drawing attention to themselves. A social narrative or coping cartoon could be used to help with perspective taking in learning how transitioning late impacts teachers, peers and coworkers. A social narrative could also be used to teach the importance of avoiding distractions such as stopping to talk with peers between tasks or classes. (Refer to Arriving on Time). A thinking story using a current popular athlete or other favored role model could be used to connect organization strategies with success.
Also, if a supervisor’s assessment of the student does not match the student’s self-assessment), comparing the assessments in priming may help get agreement.
negotiation that can reframe and sharpen a student’s assessment of self. Below are the self-assessment tools that align with this intervention topic:
"Organization and Self Direction - Task Completion 1"
Before the student encounters a situation where he will need to perform this skill, 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?
Your priming and preparation will likely involve orienting the student to a timer, stopwatch, or the clocks that will be used to support him. Will the student need to be oriented to and use a reminder card? If you are adjusting visual instructions, to-do lists or schedules to support his transitions, are you orienting him to these visual supports so that he understands them? He obviously needs to know what reinforcer he is earning by using the cues to make a quick transition.