Behavior Intervention

Prompting and Prompt Fading:Teaching Children with Autism

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This software is licensedunder the BC Commons License

Learning Objectives• Define prompting and provide applied examples• Define various types of prompts including:

– verbal– Gestural– Physical– modeling, and – Environmental

• Describe benefits and drawbacks to prompting• Describe prompt dependency and prompt fading• State 6 rules for using prompting and fading appropriately

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Prompts

• Hints or clues that help a learner to respond correctly

• Prompts:– Are optional

– Are not always used

– Fade out quickly

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Prompts

• A more complete definition:– “Substitution of an effective but inappropriate

stimulus for an ineffective but appropriate stimulus” (Touchette and Howard, 1984, p. 175).

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Why Use Prompts??

• The instruction (referred to as a discriminative stimulus , shortened “SD “) may not be sufficiently strong to evoke target behavior---the student may simply not understand what you have asked

• We use the prompt with the SD to help evoke the target behavior—it serves as an antecedent (comes before the student’s response).

– Ex: Teacher’s Sd= “Touch Blue”

– Teacher prompts student by pointing to the correct color

– Student responds by touching the correct color, blue

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Types of Prompts

• Verbal• Gestural• Physical• Modeling• Joint Control• Redundancy• Positional• Movement• Recency

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We will discuss each of these in more depth….

Verbal Prompts

• Saying something• Often convenient and fast

to use

Name an example of a verbal prompt?

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My example:Sd: What does a cow say?Teacher’s verbal prompt: “Moo”Student’s response: “Moo”

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Gestural Prompts

• Involves facial expression or posture

• Is a type of visual prompt

• Is easily combined with other prompts

• Can you name an example of a gestural prompt?

• My example: a nod toward the correct picture or color card

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Modeling Prompts

• Name an example of a modeling prompt?

• My example: showing child how to clap after Sd: “Clap”

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• Involves demonstrating a behavior

• A type of visual prompt

• Easily combined with other prompts

Physical Prompts

• Name an example of a physical prompt?

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• Guides the body of the learner through the required movements

• Often effective with early learners

• Avoid with learners prone to aggression

• Type of prompt where a learner says out loud what she needs to say/do

• Learners need to have good vocal abilities—this requires talking!

• Helps prevent learner from forgettingEx: Student may talk himself through the steps of a task: “First I write my name, then I read the directions” or for tying shoes “you make the first little knot (just the cross to keep ties tight) then the little help make a tree (the loop) then the bunny is the second string. The bunny runs around the tree, goes under, and comes back out.

• Name an instance where you might use this type of prompt yourself?

Joint Control Prompts

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Benefits and Drawback of prompts

• Benefits:– Helps to decrease student frustration– Helps to teach new skills

• Drawback:– If prompts are used too often the student may learn that

he does not need to respond—the teacher will show him the answer in the end anyway.

– This is referred to as prompt dependency

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Addressing the drawback

• Follow the 6 prompting rules in order to:

– These rules are scientifically proven to be the “best practice” when it comes to using prompts

– Helps teachers avoid the development of prompt dependency---

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6 Prompting Rules

1. Use the least invasive prompt that is likely to evoke a correct response

NOTE: Invasive here refers to how much help the teacher is giving the student. Intrusive refers to the same thing…2. Have a plan for eliminating prompts

3. Fade prompts as soon as possible

4. Use differential reinforcement when using prompts

5. Pair the prompt with the SD

6. Vary the prompts used

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Error Correction

• Error correction also helps address the potential for prompt dependency by having a built in strategy for fading prompts.

• Fading prompts: decrease the intrusive nature of prompts until no prompts are needed for a correct response to occur.

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Error Correction

• Whenever the learner engages in an incorrect response: Immediately follow errors with a 4-step error-correction procedure

• This correction procedure minimizes subsequent errors and helps promote acquisition of the skill

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4-Step Error Correction

1. Repeat the trial with an added prompt to ensure a correct response

2. Repeat the trial without the added prompt

3. Distracter trial

4. Transfer trial

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4-Step Error CorrectionSD: What animal says meow?– R: Dog

1. SD: What animal says meow? (show picture of cat)– R: Cat

2. SD: What animal says meow? (no added prompt)• R: Cat

3. SD: Touch your ears.– R: Child touches ears

4. SD: What animal says meow?– R: Cat

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Summary

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• Children with autism benefit from a consistent program of intervention that breaks down skills into smaller units and utilizes prompts during teaching each unit.

• It is the job of the interventionist to know all the prompts available in teaching and have a solid understanding of how to fade prompts.

• This lecture was intended to provide just such a knowledge base to help you get familiar with prompting strategies. Please review it again for additional practice.

References

• Touchette, P. & Howard, J. (1984). Errorless learning: Reinforcement contingencies and stimulus control transfer in delayed prompting. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 18 (2) , p. 175

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Resource

Douglas College created this resource for the Cass behavior Intervention Provincial Partnership, funded through the Douglas College Strategic Development Fund.

Author(s) Elizabeth Athens, Ph.D., BCBA-D & Bruce Hamm, MA, BCBA

Institution(s) Douglas College

Title Prompting and Prompt Fading

Description This learning module teaches students how to implement different levels of prompts during teaching, as well as how to fade prompts out of teaching once the child begins to master the skill

Date Created 6/29/11

Education Level College, Post Secondary

Key Words / Tags Prompting, fading, prompt dependency, ABA

License BCcommons v. 2.0

Learning Outcome LO 2.

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