Melanie Nelson Instructional Program of Wiping Desks Name of Student: Travis Initiator: Melanie Nelson Context for Instruction:

Instruction for wiping desks will occur between 10:30am and 11:30am on Wednesdays, and Fridays. This is during the time that Student T is working at the Family Information Center. Student T will wipe the desks in the special education office on the second floor of the Family Information Center. Student T will clean the windows, sweep, recycle, and wipe the railings on the stairs before starting this activity. Student T will need Clorox Wipes and the Desk Cleaning Procedure. This is an individual activity that will be done with me in the late morning. Program Objective: During Student Ts work time at FIC, he will clean four desks in the special education office following 100% of the steps of the task analysis for eight consecutive school days. Generalization: Student T will generalize this skill by training with multiple exemplars. There are plenty of desks in the special education office and building for Student T to practice wiping down the desks. He will have plenty of different examples for him to begin to generalize. I will take data to record if he is generalizing the skills from one type of desk to another. He can even use the same procedural steps to wipe down a counter or table. There are many surfaces in the room and building for generalization to occur. Rationale:

Knowing how to wipe down desks or any surface will serve useful for Student T after graduating this program. All of these skills that he learns in the Adult Program should be skills that will help him to be more independent in his future years outside of school. Having the knowledge of how to clear off a surface, wipe it down, and put things back is important in many ways. He can use that skill in a job setting in the future. Student T could do some clean-up work as a potential job in the future apart from his job at the Family Information Center, and this skill will make him more successful. He could also use wiping down a surface at home. It will help him to be able to clean the surfaces in his home or room. Finally, learning this skill will help him with the chores he is responsible for at school. Each day the students have a different chore to do at the Young Adult Program House and some of the chores involve this skill. Assessment Procedures: I will assess Student T during his job time at the Family Information Center. Here are the steps of the procedure: Enter the Special Education Office in FIC Walk over to the desks where the students put their stuff down Point to the Clorox Wipes and say, Time to wipe down the desks, Travis. Take data as he completes each of the steps of the task analysis Desk Cleaning task analysis should be posted for his reference o Record if he uses this procedure With fading, gradually fade out steps of the task analysis until independent. Assess with materials used during instructional period.

To take data: Record with a + next to the step on the task analysis if the task was done independently. Record with a - next to the step on the task analysis if the student needs a prompt. Example task analysis for data collection: Wiping Desks 1 2 Get Clorox Wipes Move all items on desk to a nearby surface or table 3 Get one Clorox Wipe from the container 4 Wipe down the entire desk (all four corners) 5 6 Put used wipe in trash can Put all items back on the desk where they were +/-

Assessment Schedule: Student T will be assessed for one day wiping four different desks for baseline. Student T receives instruction two days per week. He will be assessed every other Friday. This means that Student T will be assessed after three consecutive days of instruction. Assessment Schedule can vary as needed if the student is absent or if there are days off of school. Instructional Procedures:

Have Student T follow his work schedule. Be present for when he gets to the task of wiping the desks down. 1. Point to the step of Wipe down Desks on his schedule 2. Point to the Clorox Wipes 3. Say, Move everything off the desk. 4. Point to each item one by one and point to the area where he should place it 5. Once everything is off the desk, say, Get a Clorox Wipe. 6. Wait as Student T wipes the desk (he is almost independent with this skill having generalized it from wiping down a table for his other job, prompt if necessary). 7. Point to the trash can for Student T to put the Clorox Wipe. 8. Say, Put everything back on the desk where it came from. 9. Point to each item individually and point to where it was on the desk, one by one, until everything is back where it came from. 10. Point to the next desk prompting Student T to walk to the next desk to clean. Repeat steps 2-9. To fade prompting, I will use the most-to-least prompting method. I will use gestural prompts and some verbal prompts at every step to instruct Student T. Based on probe performance, I will gradually fade prompts on areas of the task that he is independent with. Eventually, Student T will be independent with all aspects of wiping the desks. Reinforcement (type and schedule): Beginning instruction, Student T will be reinforced after each completed step of the desk wiping procedure. He will get a verbal praise such as Good! or Nice work. He will also receive

praise after total completion of cleaning the desks. The verbal praise will be Great job wiping down the desks today, Student T! As Student T becomes more independent, I will fade the reinforcement for only steps for which he is not independent. As independence progresses, he will only receive the end verbal praise. Finally, he will wipe the desks independently without reinforcement. Maintenance: After Student T has reached independence, I will probe once a week at the end of each week to check for maintenance. I will probe each week to make sure he is still independent for four weeks. If he does not complete the steps of the task analysis, I will begin instruction again. Monthly probes throughout the rest of the school year should occur to ensure Student T is maintaining his skill level. Research Rationale: The article, Most to least prompting and social rewards can facilitate responding to joint attention in sessions very similar to the training context in children with Autism, describes the relationship between social rewards and most-to-least prompting methods when dealing with children with Autism. Research shows that social rewards like verbal praise or praise from peers when paired with most-to-least prompting can be very beneficial during instruction. This pertains to my instructional program because I am using verbal praise and most-to-least prompting with my student. Student T is very hard to reinforce because he does not show much interest or disinterest in many tasks. Even though he does not outwardly respond to verbal praise, it still aids in the instruction of learning a new task.

In the second article, Using Visual Supports With Young Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, it discussed the use of visual aids during instruction with children with Autism. Although my student is not the age of the students from the study, the same concepts can be applied. The research showed that visual supports whether it be a visual schedule or visual cue can help a child with Autism to learn better than without the visual supports. In Student Ts case, he can read and understands written language. Therefore, the use of a written procedure or task analysis for him to refer back to when wiping desks will be beneficial to him. It is an age appropriate visual support for his instruction.

Skill Sequence:

Putting items back in their original positions

Wiping down the desk

Getting one Clorox Wipe out of the container

Throw away Clorox Wipe

Taking items off of the desk

Getting Clorox Container

References: Yoder, Paul J. Most to least prompting and social rewards can facilitate responding to joint attention in sessions very similar to the training context in children with Autism. Evidence-Based Communication Assessment & Intervention, 28-33. Retrieved from web.ebscohost.com Fettig, Angel & Meadan, Hedda & Michna, Amanda & Ostrosky, Michaelene & Triplett, Brooke. Using Visual Supports With Young Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder. Teaching Exceptional Children, 28-35. Retrieved from web.ebscohost.com