Resources

Reflection Questions

The Reflection Questions document can be downloaded at any time and used in a variety of ways. You can view it before starting your work so that you know which questions will be asked in the videos and/or on the webpages. You can also access it at the end of your work so that you can see all your responses to the questions. This tool can be helpful for documenting your learning and referring to later or for sharing it with others in group discussions or as demonstration of your online progress.

Discussion Questions

The Discussion Questions provided below can supplement and extend your individual learning and be used by facilitators or coaches to prompt meaningful discussions.

Q: Why are self-management interventions important for learners with ASD?

A: A correct answer should include a statement such as:

• We all need to be able to regulate our behavior in order to be successful and act appropriately in different settings and contexts. While the strategies we use to regulate our behavior are often not readily apparent to others, we devise ways to monitor our behavior, reflect upon our behavior, and modify our behavior when we recognize that we are not as successful and/or acting as appropriately as we would like.
• Self-management interventions systematize these strategies into more concrete forms such as self-monitoring, self-recording, and self-reinforcing. Such a systematic approach makes it possible for learners with ASD to self-regulate their behavior so that they can be successful and act appropriately in different settings and contexts.

Q: What types of materials are needed to implement a self-management system?

A: A correct answer should include a statement such as:

• A description of the target behavior adapted into a form that the learner can comprehend. Examples of adapted descriptions include simple, written descriptions and pictorial depictions.
• A cueing device. NOTE: Cueing devices are only used with interval-based self-management systems. Examples of cueing devices include kitchen timers, alarm clocks, vibrating wristwatches, as well as many others.
• A self-recording device. Examples of self-recording devices include pencil-and-paper systems, token economies, clicker devices, as well as many others.

Q: What should you do to promote learner independence with the self-management system?

A: A correct answer should include a statement such as:

• Once the learner is successful at the current criterion for success, the criterion should gradually be increased. For frequency-based systems, this means increasing the number of instances the learner must demonstrate the target skill during the session. For interval-based systems, this means increasing the number of intervals in which the learner must be successful during the session.
• For interval-based systems, gradually increase the length of the interval or the number of intervals for which the learner must self-monitor.
• Gradually increase the length of the overall session in which the self-management system is used.

Q: Describe a learner that you think would benefit from a self-management intervention. What skills need to be targeted for intervention? Also, describe an autistic learner that you think would probably not benefit from a self-management system. What characteristics of this learner make it less likely that a self-management system would be beneficial?

A: Answers to this question will vary. Each answer should be supported by content derived from the module but should vary based on the learner being described. Generally, to benefit from a self-management intervention, learners must be cognitively able to monitor their behavior for at least a brief period and accurately self-record after monitoring. A learner who does not have these skills would probably not benefit from a self-management intervention.

Q: Continuing your answer to the previous question, think of a learner with ASD that you think would benefit from self-management intervention. What kind of description of the target skill, cueing device (if applicable), self-recording device, and reinforcers would you use with this learner? Justify your answer based on the learner's individual characteristics.

A: Answers to this question will vary. Each answer should be supported by content derived from the module, but specific answers do not have to come directly from the module as long as they are justified based on the individual characteristics of the learner. When it comes to individualizing a self-management intervention, creativity should be encouraged as long as the proposed ideas seem feasible.

Activities on this page are provided at both the introductory and advanced level and can be copied and used within existing professional development or university coursework.

Introductory Activities

1. Preparing the Self-Management System

   Identify a learner with ASD with whom you currently work. Think about how you might use self-management with this learner. What steps would you take when preparing the self-management intervention? What kind of Data-Collection system would you develop and why? What would you set as the initial criterion? Who would be involved in developing of the self-management system and why?

2. Implementing Self-Management

   Identify a learner with ASD with whom you currently work. Think about how you might use self-management with this learner. How would you use self-management to increase or decrease a target skill for this learner? During what activities would you implement the self-management system? What kinds of prompting and reinforcement strategies would you use to support the learner's use of the self-management system?

Advanced Activities

1. Generalizing the Use of Target Skills

   What steps would you take to help learners generalize the use of target skills? How and when would the self-management system be implemented? How would you go about fading the use of prompts and reinforcement? How will you know when the learner with ASD no longer needs assistance in using the self-management system?

2. Teaching Others About Self-Management

   Using what you have learned from this module, design a visual format for presenting this information to others who work with autistic learners. This might include constructing a poster describing how self-management can be implemented across the school day, or a brochure or fact sheet that explains to parents and siblings how to implement self-management at home and in the community.