What visual instructions or reminder cues should be accessible to support performance of skills?
A visual cue may be needed to support the student in managing his anxiety during the waiting process. As noted, the schedule is one way to redirect the student. However, he may need a list of ‘things to do’ when he has the urge to call or email an unresponsive employer.
This list of activities should be desirable and calming activities that redirect and occupy his attention:
Visual instructions may support the student in enacting a coping plan or relaxation exercises. If the student is extremely anxious, these instructions could be placed near the phone, by the computer, or near the area where he is completing job searching tasks.
Some students may need a reminder card to support patience in waiting. The card could be attached to his calendar or in his binder under the section ‘Rules to Remember.’ This might include some concrete ‘rules’ regarding if and when to follow up after sending the first email, and how to respond if there is a reply to the first email.
For instance, the visually depicted “rule” might be: If the person has not responded to your first email, send one more (same structure as original) after seven days. If there is no response to a second email, send no more messages to this person.
The rule may also include a set of scripts to guide the student’s response to an email reply from a perspective employer:
Where should these be placed?
A simple reminder card for following up by phone could be placed next to the phone, or in a section of the student’s job search binder with other reminder cards and scripts:
A follow-up with an email reminder card could be placed by the computer, or again placed in the student’s job search binder with the other follow-up reminder cards and scripts:
How can I organize the materials (or help the student organize) to support independent performance? Where do materials go when they are finished?
Many students might benefit from having an organized job search binder where all information, reminders, scripts, calendar, and contact log are housed. It could be divided by sections with the calendar and contact log in the front for easy referral.
Does he need a single notebook or file to keep up with all company information, his scripts and other visual supports? Is there a calendar the student can use to document response dates on the inside cover of the notebook? Should there be a list posted on the front page of the notebook listing activities the student can engage in while he waits, such as cleaning out a closet, walking the dog, volunteering at the Parks and Recreation office, searching for another job? Would a reminder card that states ‘once you leave this area, job hunting is finished at this time’ be helpful in diminishing the fixation or obsessiveness on the wait?
In my design of each visual support, have I considered whether the student may need visual clarity cues (added to the environmental design, communication script or scenario, schedule, to-do list, graphic organizer, social narrative, and/or video model) to highlight (label) or emphasize key features or concepts?
In order to align this intervention topic area with the unique needs of the student, do you need to create visual instructions and reminder cues in the View2do program?
