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?
Some students might be able to recognize and process the verbal information of a question or interruption. Is he able to respond to the questions or interruptions appropriately or does he need specific scripts or standard phrases that he could learn and use in those situations?
Some students might respond in an inappropriate manner such as getting angry or getting flustered. How does he handle getting flustered? Does he have coping strategies such as saying “Could you repeat your question? or “Just a minute.”? Does he have a relaxation routine or self-calming statement that he can use to keep from reacting in a negative way? These skills are critical as inappropriate responses and behaviors could definitely result in the loss of the job.
For some other students, awareness of others in their environment is a priority. Is the student able to recognize non-verbal cues of those around him? If a teacher or peer approaches him, does he look up to access what their intentions are? On a job site when the supervisor comes into the area, is he able to look up to check and see what the supervisor may want? Practicing social attribution skills would be important. Visual reminder cards can help him practice as he learns what to look for.
What visual supports (scripts, instructions, reminder cues, etc.) will you use to help the student rehearse the expected behavior or skill?
For all of these situations a social narrative helping the student plan for interruptions may be a good starting point. The use of a graphic organizer that lists possible interruptions with strategies to use could also be a great support. In all jobs and situations there will be interruptions and people asking us questions. If we can be prepared and know they will happen, and have strategies to handle them, anxiety will be lessened and the extra preparation will result in positive interactions.
Students who do not know how to respond to questions or interruptions might need communication scripts and role playing for various situations. A reminder card with common questions and answers at the specific job site could be used. An example might be, a customer at a grocery store asks, “Where can I find…….?” Responses could include: “I believe it is on aisle 3 halfway down on the right”, or” I am not sure but the person at the service counter could help you.” Video models that depict the appropriate responses can also support rehearsal.
For students who get anxious and upset, a visual calming routine, deep breathing, or reminder card of a self-calming statement would help if used during modeling and practice. A “work bookmark” could be used by the student as a place mark where they stopped working to answer the question, and then be used as a visual reminder in finding their spot when they continue their task.
The use of role playing with scripts would also help in teaching a variety of situations that can occur and the strategies in handling them. Visual reminder cards may outline specific strategies, including: look up when a person comes into the room, look at their eyes to see where they are looking, and check out their body language to see what they may need.
What type of prompting might you need to provide in the initial learning phase?
Given that this skill relates to responding to questions and interruptions (primarily verbal in nature), the tendency will be to use verbal prompts at first to gain attention of a non-responsive student. 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 struggles with self-regulation and explosively responds to situations 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 calming or repair strategies.
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 repair strategy?
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?
Using film clips and video scenarios of various situations can help. The instructor can pause the film to point out non-verbal cues to teach and to practice social attribution skills. Video scenarios could be filmed to show both appropriate and inappropriate responses to situations. These could be filmed with the student himself or using peers.
Are you arranging frequent practice opportunities to build fluency through repetition?
Social attribution skills and self-calming strategies are skills that will need ongoing repeated practice. Students may struggle to generalize, and responding to interruptions and questions will be needed in a broad range of community interactions. This will need to be practiced and reviewed 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?
It will be very difficult to reach the goal of independent responding if one professional applies multiple verbal prompts to generate responding from an initially non-responsive student (“Steven, did you hear what I said?” Steven…Steven…”), while another professional works to successfully cue a response with a slight touch to the shoulder. Communicate the type and level of prompts that will be applied – determine how the team will fade those prompts right from the start.