Teaching Functional Skills EDSP 566 for MCPS

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1 Teaching Functional Skills EDSP 566 for MCPS Class #2 Instructor: Cyndi Pitonyak

2 Teaching Functional Skills EDSP 566 for MCPS CLASS #2 Using the FACTER to Select Functional & Related Skills Functional skills are those skills that are important parts of everyday life, and/or will require assistance from someone else if the student is unable to perform them. The routines in the FACTER are all functional skills - they are important parts of daily life at school and most students perform them without help from others. Using the FACTER allows us to assess student independence in key routines that are important and common in the daily school life of students at elementary and secondary levels. The routines are arranged in sequential order according to importance, and organized according to six domains: living skills, transition, academics, leisure, community and career. We collect baseline rating data to identify a priority routine for instruction in each domain area. We then observe the student performing the routine and collect an initial performance score by rating the student s independence at each step in the routine. This initial performance score will serve as the baseline for measuring student progress in becoming more independent in performing the routine. The priority routines we select, and the steps required to complete the routine that the student needs the most help to perform, are the functional skills we will target for instruction. In addition to identifying functional skills needed for the student to complete daily routines, we will also identify related skills that will enhance student independence in performing those routines, Related skills in the FACTER are organized according to the following skills categories: expressive communication, receptive communication, problem solving, team-work/social skills, motor skills and functional academics. The student s current IEP usually already contains some Instructor: Cyndi Pitonyak cpitonyak@mcps.org

3 of these related skills, and those already on the IEP can be used as the related skills in the FAC- TER assessment. It can be helpful to use the charts in the appendix to identify whether the skill level the student currently uses is emerging (nontraditional & restrictive - someone has to really know the student to understand that the student is using the skill), beginning (starting to become more traditional but not fully functioning), or traditional (the student uses a common form of this skill that is readily understood or interpreted by others.) The appendix can also be used to identify skills for instruction that can be added to the IEP. Using the FACTER to Plan Instruction: Targeting Key Steps & Related Skills The first step in planning for how to teach the student to gain independence in the routines you selected, is to identify priority steps within the routine, and also related skills that you are going to teach. Two or more critical steps should be targeted within each routine for instruction. Steps should be targeted based on their importance and also how much time you have available for teaching. Even though you are only providing instruction in a few key steps, if the student is progressing well with those steps, other steps in the routine are likely to improve as well. Try to incorporate instruction in at least one related skill into each target routine. Instruction in the related skills should be integrated into the instructional plan for teaching the functional skills, (IE. key steps in the routine), that you selected. Planning the Setting for Instruction: During Routine & Pre-Routine Most students with developmental disabilities have trouble generalizing skills they learn to different settings. For this reason, it is best to teach functional skills in the typical school environment, with typical peers present, at the time they would typically occur. In other words, it is best to teach the student at the time and place when he/she needs to use the skill. In the FACTER, this is called during routine teaching. Instructor: Cyndi Pitonyak cpitonyak@mcps.org

4 However, sometimes teaching only within the routine at it s natural time does not lead to a change in the student s level of independence. This can happen for several reasons - the routine does not occur frequently enough to allow the student enough practice to master it, or some of the steps may not be obvious and the student may be missing important cues in the distractions present in the typical environment. When this is the case, it can be very helpful to teach the student some of the more difficult steps, or allow extra opportunities to practice the skill in a different time and place. In the FACTER, this is called pre-routine teaching. Remember that the student will most likely have trouble generalizing, so be sure that you are closely monitoring any skills you select to teach in a pre-routine setting. You can do this by either also providing instruction during routine, and comparing your progress results, or by checking when you repeat your performance assessment that the student is actually improving on the steps you are teaching in a pre-routine setting. Researchers at Portland State University, studying the effectiveness of the FACTER in increasing student independence, compared results when students were taught key steps in routines using only during routine instruction, and when they were taught the key steps using both during routine and pre-routine instruction. The found that both groups of students improved, but the students who received both during and pre-routine instruction were more likely to become completely independent in performing the routines. The group receiving only during routine instruction were more likely to continue to require verbal prompts. Planning the Instructional Strategy Appendix B in the FACTER manual provides suggestions for Pre-routine and During Routine instruction for each step in each of the routines. Appendix C includes general information on some teaching techniques that have been used successfully in teaching these routines to student with developmental disabilities. Instructor: Cyndi Pitonyak cpitonyak@mcps.org

5 The following are important basic teaching techniques that have been proven to be effective with people with developmental disabilities. We already covered task analysis (breaking a task down into sequential steps that build on each other). The task analysis is pretty much done for you when you use the FACTER. Chaining: Forward or Backward (reverse): Breaking the step down into smaller parts (task analysis) and then focusing on independence with one step at a time. For example: In forward chaining - you would begin by focusing on teaching the student to complete the first step independently, and then you would help with the others - building forward step by step until the student is independent with the whole task. In backward or reverse chaining, you would help the student through all steps and teach them to be independent in the last one, working backward step by step. We ll work through an example of this in class. We also already covered prompting and prompt hierarchies. It is important to remember that the ultimate goals is to FADE prompts - to teach the student to perform the routine without needing assistance from anyone if at all possible. It is a good idea to stay away from verbal prompts if you can. Many students with developmental disabilities have significant receptive language difficulties, and verbal directions can be an inefficient way to impart information to them. Instructor: Cyndi Pitonyak cpitonyak@mcps.org

6 Verbal prompts are also extremely easy for us to use, and therefore difficult for us to refrain from using. Most of us would be surprised at how much verbal prompting we are doing without even realizing it. Note: Prompts that are not faded, but which become part of the routine are accommodations, and the student should be taught to use them independently if possible. For example, going on a field trip might be a routine that is targeted for a student of yours. You may find that video selfmodeling - having the student watch a video of himself on a previous field trip is very effective in preparing the student for the trip and increases the student s ability to stay with the group without assistance. However, field trips don t occur frequently, and your student may be unable anticipate and remember what to do without a reminder each time. If you are sure this is the case, you could incorporate watching the video into the field trip routine. In other words, when field trip is indicated on the student s daily schedule, he goes to the computer and watches his video the morning of the trip. Teaching the student to do this independently would then just become part of the routine. It would be an accommodation - something your student does in addition to what typical students do on the trip. Shaping: Saving your words for reward! Reinforcing successive approximations of the student independence with the steps you are teaching. We ll play the shaping game. Errorless Learning (Simultaneous Prompting & Time Delay): Provide the student with the maximum amount of help possible to insure that the task is done correctly, with no errors. After a few repetitions, begin to pause before assisting the student or offering a prompt - start with just a second or two (this is called the latency period). Assist again as quickly as needed to keep the student from making an error. Gradually keep delaying your assistance to the student as he/she improves, until the student can perform the task without making a mistake and without your assistance. Visual Rehearsal Techniques: These strategies provide students with an opportunity to visualize or rehearse using the skill we hope to teach them. They are particularly powerful for our students because of the difficulties they frequently have with sequencing actions and events, and with maintaining focus in the presence of environmental distractions. Inservice training in many of these strategies has been widely available to our staff through MCPS ERO and local workshops provided by the TTAC and others. The 3 techniques listed below are examples of evidence based visual rehearsal techniques. Instructor: Cyndi Pitonyak cpitonyak@mcps.org

7 Social Stories with pictures and captions: A simple written description of the routine, which is combined with picture cues to form a story about the routine, using a picture/caption format. This format can also be used to document experiences a student has during the school day, and then the student can share them with others later without an interpreter needed. Artifact or Remnant Books: Rather than using pictures and captions, save remnants from experiences to help the student remember an interesting experience, or anticipate an upcoming event. Ticket stubs, food wrappers, or other small objects can help the student remember and also help others ask appropriate questions of the student. An object schedule can be a highly effective way to help students anticipate what s coming up next, IE. sweatband to represent PE, disc to represent computer time, etc. These are particularly effective if the student actually uses the objects in the activity, and then replaces them in the schedule. Holding a meaningful object can help a student stay focused to transition to the next activity. Video Modeling or Video Self-Modeling: This technique involves making a brief video, edited to show the student successfully performing the skill being instructed. The student then views the video, watching himself perform the skill correctly before attempting it. A 2 week period is generally sufficient to see significant progress using this technique. Assessing Progress Regularly assess the level of your student s independence with the steps you are teaching, in both the pre-routine and during routine instructional settings. The assessments can be done in any time period appropriate for you and your student - once a day, once a week, etc. Adjust your instruction if your student is not improving. Be sure that you conduct assessment data yourself - do not ask a paraprofessional to collect this data without verification from you. It may be a good idea to let the paraprofessional collect progress data on another form, and then you collect it yourself to record in the FACTER booklet. Regularly repeat the performance assessment, recording student independence in completing the entire routine in the natural setting. If your instruction is effective, you should see increased independence in the target steps, as well as in other steps in the routine over time. The performance assessments could be repeated once each 9 weeks reporting period, unless you think the student is mastering the routine quickly. In that case you may want to repeat the performance assessments more frequently to attain mastery, and the select a new routine for instruction. Instructor: Cyndi Pitonyak cpitonyak@mcps.org