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.

1. Why are prompting procedures important for learners with ASD?

   A correct answer should include a statement such as:

   • Learners with ASD often have difficulty learning new skills through imitation and by extracting meaning from tasks.
   • Learners with ASD often require direct instruction to acquire target skills.
   • Prompting is an efficient and effective way to provide instruction to learners with ASD that maximizes their success, minimizes error, and promotes generalization and maintenance of skills.
2. How would you decide which prompting procedure and prompt type to use with a particular learner with ASD?

   A correct answer should include a statement such as:

   • Teachers/practitioners should look at learner, skill, and task characteristics.
   • Least-to-most prompting is most useful with learners who are regressing or not using the target skill consistently.
   • Graduated guidance should only be used with chained skills.
   • Simultaneous prompting is particularly useful when teaching new skills to learners with ASD.
3. How are each of the prompting procedures outlined in this module similar and different from one another?

   A correct answer should include a statement such as:

   • All of the prompting procedures include three main components: (a) antecedent, (b) learner response, and (c) feedback.
   • All include a planning component in which teachers/practitioners identify (a) the target stimulus, (b) the cue/task direction, (c) reinforcers, (d) the response interval, and (e) activities and times for teaching.
   • All prompting procedures include strategies for fading prompts.
   • Data collection to monitor learner progress is an important component of all the prompting procedures.
   • The prompting procedures differ in how they are implemented. With least-to-most prompting, prompts are delivered within the context of a prompt hierarchy. With graduated guidance, teachers/practitioners systematically administer and withdraw the use of prompts as learners start using target skills independently within the context of the teaching activity. When using simultaneous prompting, teachers/practitioners implement both instructional and probe sessions to teach new skills and monitor progress.
4. Several types of prompting procedures were presented in this module....

   Which do you feel would be most beneficial to a learner with ASD that you know? What steps would you take prior to implementation to promote its success?

   Answers to this question will vary. Each should be supported by content taken directly from the module regarding a particular prompting procedure.

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. Implementing Prompting

   Identify a target skill for a learner with ASD that you know. What prompting procedure would you use to teach this skill? Why is the identified procedure appropriate for this learner? What types of prompts would you use with this procedure? When and where would you implement the prompting procedure? Describe how you will implement the prompting procedure to help the learner acquire the target skill.

2. Preventing Prompt Dependency

   What steps would you take to prevent learners with ASD from becoming dependent upon prompts? Describe specific strategies that you would use to help a learner with ASD acquire a target skill using a prompting procedure.

Advanced Activities

1. Implementing Prompting During Daily Routines and Activities

   Identify two target skills for a learner with ASD that you know. Describe how you would incorporate a prompting procedure into two daily routines or activities to teach these target skills.

2. Research Activity

   Using the Evidence-Based Practice list provided in the Resource section, read at least two articles on prompting and prepare a summary to share with a parent group or school team.

3. Teaching Others about Prompting

   Using what you have learned from the prompting module, design a visual format for presenting this information to others who work with learners with ASD. This might include strategies for describing prompting procedures and their core components to general educators, a brochure or fact sheet that explains to parents and siblings how to implement prompting at home and in the community, etc.