How do you break this skill down?
Prime the student for any known anticipated change.
Preparation for change and giving advance notice about changes will be important for many students. Students may adjust better to change if given time to process and cope with the change. However, some students become even more anxious about an upcoming change if given too much notice. For these students, it is best to eliminate unnecessary anxiety and only give them a little forewarning. Gauge the student’s reaction to advance notice. Does advance notice make the change easier for the student, or cause undue anxiety?
For many students, this process should also involve targeting self-advocacy skills such as expressing the need for advanced notice from instructors and employers when change will occur (see Self-Advocacy topic for more).
Use priming procedures that become routine: Let them know about an impending change in the same way each time. While there will be a change, the confusion about the change is minimized. Also use a visual strategy to indicate that change is to occur. individuals process visual information with greater ease (and less frustration) than spoken information. You can use visual means to break the news of a potentially anxiety-provoking change. Read the Priming section for information about how to prepare the student for change.
Prepare the student for the fact that some changes occur without any warning.
Teach a generalizable routine to use when expected or unexpected change occurs.
Teach coping strategies to deal with expected and unexpected changes.
Coping strategies may be inserted within the student’s routine for dealing with change.