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?
This skill depends on the level of the student. Is the student aware when someone is talking to him or able to process what was said when interrupted? If a teacher or supervisor comes into his work area, does he look up to determine why he is there? Practicing social attribution skills repeatedly will be important. The student may need a specifically designed visual reminder card of nonverbal cues and body language to be looking for. He may need a reminder card that supports him in looking up when someone is in the vicinity (see the reminder cards in Responding to Questions and Interruptions).
Consider whether the student is able to respond in an appropriate manner either through a simple nod, smile, and thank you or if he needs specific scripts or standard phrases that he could learn and use in those situations. You may need to start by expecting only a simple ‘thank you’ response to a compliment and then adding in the expectation of a smile and then later a nod.
Some students may become agitated or anxious when a comment or compliment is made. They may need a coping strategy such as “Are you talking to me?”, or “Could you say that again?” The student may need a calming strategy that he can use to keep from reacting with a sarcastic or rude remark. These skills are critical as inappropriate responses, ignoring comments directed at them, and inappropriate behaviors could damage relationships with co-workers or supervisors. For the student who is quite anxious in response to a compliment, simple practice of self-calming may be the step on which you focus in initial instruction.
What visual supports (scripts, instructions, reminder cues, etc.) will you use to help the student rehearse the expected behavior or skill?
Some students may think that a compliment is stating the obvious and either view it as insulting, or feel it is an irrelevant, insincere communication strategy. For those students a social narrative explaining the definition and social purpose of compliments may be an important place to start. This would then be followed with actual rehearsal of responses to compliments across a variety of role-play scenarios. The student might also need to rehearse a visually depicted self-calming routine or practice referring to visual reminder to not disagree but just to accept that somebody said something nice from a different viewpoint.
For students who are unsure of how to respond to compliments or comments, a graphic organizer listing sample compliments with potential response phrases could be a support. In this case, the student would refer to this graphic organizer as he practices actually responding in role-play situations.
Students who are unsure of how to respond might need a reminder card with steps such as “smile, look them in the eye, and say thank you.” Communication scripts depicting such responses as this, paired with opportunities to enact those scripts via role-play, will be important.
What type of prompting might you need to provide in the initial learning phase?
In the beginning, a student will probably require models of the expected behavior along with specific labeling by the instructor or peers of what is being modeled. In other words, the instructor and a peer may engage in commenting or complimenting and then label what happened in concrete terms. Over several trials, does the instructor expect the student to label what he sees in the model? The visual support for practice should be in place to support student labeling of expected behavior. Again note that labeling alone is a very ineffective teaching strategy. Follow labeling with actual practice. The student in initial practice may need verbal prompts or reminders to respond to a comment or compliment. As quickly as possible, fade the verbal prompts to gestural prompts to the visual support. However, fading is dependent on the student’s ability to perform the task.
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?
The student who struggles with accepting a compliment or comment in the spirit it is given, and responds inappropriately may need more intensive prompting and practice at first. However, if this is the case, focus on increasing reinforcement for the performance of the skill. To avoid prompt dependence, shift your instructional focus to providing strong reinforcement for a targeted level of skill initiation. Extensive practice reviewing the social narratives, watching video examples, and role-playing with scripts, along with practicing self-calming strategies, might continue to ensure the student is able to interact more appropriately in those situations.
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?
Video scenarios of various situations showing appropriate and inappropriate verbal responses, along with the nonverbal cues involved, could be used to teach and practice social attribution skills. Labeling what he sees in the scenario can improve confidence and understanding. The student and peers could be filmed re-enacting scenarios which then could be reviewed and discussed. Note that practice with video scenarios is focused on labeling the appropriateness of responses and must be paired with actual practice of the correct responses to assure learning.
Are you arranging frequent practice opportunities to build fluency through repetition?
The recognition and use of social attribution skills, self-calming strategies and verbal and nonverbal responses to situations are skills that need ongoing practice. How you organize the practice and labeling of these elements is crucial. Students may struggle to generalize, and practice in responding to compliments and comments in a wide variety of social and vocational interactions will be necessary. This should be scheduled often so the student can be successful in all situations.
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? Is everyone using the same visual supports to yield eventual independence?