What visual supports will you use to help the student perform the expected skills?
Many tasks in automotive and construction environments are consistent and repeated. How you design the job or project will dramatically affect the schedule. Will the schedule potentially be quite routine in automotive settings as the student moves from vehicle to vehicle with a to-do list or set of visual instructions for detailing, cleaning or routine maintenance? Will the student have a written schedule to show where he will work (what construction site) and the sequence of tasks to be done at that site throughout the day (to-do list built in)? Will it be a combined system into which the supervisor or job coach adds specific tasks and spaces on a daily basis? It may be necessary to create an organizational system like a file box, notebook or folder system where the student learns to go to find specific instructions for tasks after checking his schedule. Moreover, look at the organization of the storage space and determine if labels or picture cues are needed to assure that the student keeps materials organized for easy access. You are teaching the student to use the schedule, the to-do lists and the organization of these tools so that he performs independently.
Set up sequenced visual instructions for tasks that are complex for the student. Consider that multi-step tasks may sometimes become disorganized, so help the student consistently refer to a set of visual instructions, possibly checking off each step as completed to assure 100% success in performance.
Reminder cues or labels or signs can be posted in specific areas to focus attention or to remind the student of job procedures.
What type of prompting might you need to provide in the initial learning phase? 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?
For example, with a detailed set of visual instructions for preparing new cars for customers at a dealership, the steps will be very consistent. If the visual instructions are on a clipboard or card that can go with the student as he completes steps, do you orient him initially to each step on the card through verbal or gestural prompts? Over time, you will fade your gestural prompts by delaying them and socially praising him for moving along on his own.
Are you arranging frequent practice opportunities to build fluency through repetition?
Initially, instruction may require modeling and verbal support to complete the steps of tasks. As the student responds to initial instruction, it is important to consistently expect the student to use the visual support to find information rather than asking what to do next. As independent employees, all of us self-start and go about our workdays without asking constantly for guidance. How long would we keep our jobs if we did not self-start? Your goal is to build a routine of the student checking the list or schedule for what to do next. As noted above, you want to build reliance on the use of sequenced visual instructions to prevent mistakes that occur as a result of doing familiar tasks from memory. Thus, build a consistent pattern of using the visual instructions so that 100% success is more likely.
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?