How to Teach Vocational Skills Using Prompt Fading and Task Analysis
Introduction:
There are many different levels of prompting that can be used when teaching new skills: Full Physical, Partial Physical, Full Verbal, Partial Verbal, Modeling, Gestural, or Visual Supports. Read more about chaining here. The level of prompting necessary to ensure a skill is learned appropriately must be fluently changed using prompt fading to achieve independence. As a child learns a new skill or increases their level of independence, it is encouraging for them to receive Differentiated Positive Reinforcement. This involves explicit descriptions of what the child is being praised for. For example: “Great job wiping the outside of that dish!” When these forms of appropriate prompting are paired with differentiated positive reinforcement and a task analysis, significant improvement can be seen.
Implementation and Example:
When teaching a student with autism or another significant disability a new vocational skill, the teacher needs to ensure they are prepared to increase the student’s independence. Prior to beginning the training process, the teacher should create an appropriate task analysis using picture, video, or text. You can download our free task analysis examples. Once the task analysis is created, it is important to take a baseline analysis of the student’s current level of ability to complete the task and necessary prompts needed for each step. This provides visual and documented progress reports as the student increases their levels of independence. Once baseline levels are assessed, the task must be repeated numerous times in order to increase independence and mastery for the student. The initial prompt level will be determined by the student’s level of tolerance for physical and/or verbal prompting. It is preferred to work at the least intrusive prompt level, but if the student is not able to physically complete a step in the process, it is appropriate to physically prompt them for a short period of time. Prompt fading should be used to quickly move away from physical prompts and paired with differentiated positive reinforcements as they increase their level of independence for each step in the task.
Task Analysis Example: Washing Dishes
| Directions | Prompt | Number of Prompts (note the type and tally total) |
|
| 1 | Put soap in bucket | I Q V P F G M | |
| 2 | Turn on hot water | I Q V P F G M | |
| 3 | Fill to line | I Q V P F G M | |
| 4 | Turn off water | I Q V P F G M | |
| 5 | Wash dishes inside | I Q V P F G M | |
| 6 | Wash dishes outside | I Q V P F G M | |
| 7 | Wash edge of dishes | I Q V P F G M | |
| 8 | Rinse all soap off dishes | I Q V P F G M | |
| 9 | Put dish in drying rack | I Q V P F G M |
| (I) – Independent |
| (G) – Gesture (pointing), |
| (Q) – Indirect verbal/question |
| (V) – Direct verbal/statement |
| (P) – Partial physical/light touch |
| (F) – Full physical/hand-over-hand |
| (M) – Model |
Additional steps may be added as needed and the task analysis should be modified to reflect the appropriate steps necessary to wash dishes in your specific setting.
As the student works on each step, they should receive differentiated positive reinforcement. Examples: “Wow! You put the soap in the bucket all on your own! “Great job rinsing all of the soap off the dish!”
As the student increases their level of independence, the teacher and student will see the improvements through data collection showing a reduction in prompts necessary to complete each step of the full task. This is prompt fading at work! The level of prompting should be decreased systematically as the student demonstrates independence. Once the student is completely independent it is helpful to have either a visual written or picture task analysis readily available for the student to reference as they complete the task on their own. See our free completed task analyses.
To ensure maintenance of the newly learned skill, data should continue to be collected on an intermittent basis to analyze the student’s continued level of independence and accuracy in completing all steps in the task.
