Are you arranging opportunities for the student to practice the targeted skill in natural environments and under natural conditions?
It is important to ensure that you are teaching alternative, replacement behaviors that can be applied across settings. Some responses might work in one classroom setting (e.g. a P.E. class), but would not work in another (an English class). Identify alternative responses that can be applied within work contexts. For example, the alternative behavior may be okay in a location with customers. The setting may be conducive to this alternative behavior.
If you are using a coping plan to help the student cope with stress in lieu of engaging in repetitive behaviors, you should first teach that coping plan in the classroom. Once the student is successfully able to use their coping plan in the classroom, have them practice it at work, too, since this is where they will be using it. Incorporate practicing their coping plan into their work schedule as part of their routine if possible. This way, the student will be familiar with the plan and will be able to use it, even during times of stress.
Have you adapted visual supports so that they can remain in the natural environments that this student encounters now, and in the future?
You may want to use coping or reminder cards, or other various visual supports developed specifically for this skill. Once the skill is taught, perhaps placing a motivational poster or photograph of a calming scene in the student’s work area will serve as a more natural visual reminder of the alternative adaptive behavior.
Are you collecting data to make adjustments to your teaching and to ensure that the student displays the targeted replacement behavior / applies adaptive strategies across multiple conditions?
