The HOW and WHEN of Intervention: PLAN,
PRACTICE, and USE!
Slide 1: The HOW and WHEN of Intervention: PLAN, PRACTICE, and USE!
Alicia Hart
Training Associate
Slide 2: Introduction
 Social and communication skills are extremely important for all of us.
 We will cover:
o How do you plan for social and communication intervention?
o How do you practice social and communication skills?
o How do you know when to encourage the student to use new skills and strategies?
Transcript:
Social and communication skills are extremely important for all of us. However, social and
communication development in the student with ASD may be dramatically different than that of
typically developing students. As a paraprofessional, you will be on the front lines of
implementing strategies to address social and communication needs and must know HOW and
WHEN to intervene. It is important to note that there is a lot of overlap between social and
communication skills and because of that, the ways we intervene for both areas also overlap. In
order to help you remember our social and communication approach, we want you to think:
PLAN, PRACTICE, and USE!
In this module, we will cover the following topics:
 How do you plan for social and communication intervention?
 How do you practice social and communication skills?
 How do you know when to encourage the student to use new skills and strategies?
Slide 3: No quick fixes
 There are no magic wands or quick fixes.
 Students may need to practice skills before consistently finding success with peers.
Transcript:
Because social and communication development is so different in the student with ASD, the first
thing to remember about intervention is that there are no magic wands or quick fixes. The
student with ASD has lived for years learning to navigate the social world in an atypical way. It
may take many more years before social and communication strategies help the student
independently navigate the social world successfully. As we begin to take that first step of
planning for social and communication intervention, just be aware that your student may need to
practice these skills for a long time before consistently finding success with peers.
Slide 4: Your role
 Paraprofessionals are often with the student during critical social and communication
experiences.
 Directly teach the student using strategies and practices.
 Step back and let the student attempt to communicate and interact with others.
 Let them practice.
Transcript:
When planning for intervention with social and communication development, it is crucial to
understand what your role is in the student’s intervention. As we’ve mentioned,
paraprofessionals are on the front lines and often with the student during critical social and
communication experiences. There will be times that you will have to directly teach the student
using strategies and practices. There will also be times when you must step back and let the
student attempt to communicate and interact with others. This will require your facilitation of
social and communication interactions.
Facilitation of interactions is not as easy as it sounds. You may find that you want to step in and
keep the student from making social blunders or prevent him or her from being in an
embarrassing situation. You may want to step in and speak for the student and assume that you
know what he or she is trying to say. It’s easy to want to protect our students from negative
experiences, but we must also let them practice, and yes, sometimes even fail in these attempts.
Slide 5: Facilitation not friendship
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A paraprofessional walks a fine line between supporting the student with ASD and doing
too much for the student.
Your role as a paraprofessional means facilitation not friendship.
Facilitation means that you should:
o Respect boundaries and provide support ONLY WHEN NEEDED
o Know when to step back and encourage independence
o Support interactions
Transcript:
What does this mean for you as you facilitate social and communication interactions for the
student with ASD? It means that we KNOW you, as a paraprofessional, must walk a very fine
line between supporting the student with ASD and doing too much for the student. We KNOW
how easy it sounds to support the student with ASD and how difficult it is to actually do that
throughout the school day. We KNOW how easy it is to want to be your student’s friend. Yet
you must remember that your role as a paraprofessional means facilitation not friendship. In this
sense, facilitation means that you should:
 Respect boundaries and provide support ONLY WHEN NEEDED
 Know when to step back and encourage independence
 Support interactions
Let’s look at some examples of facilitating social interactions versus trying to be a friend.
Slide 6: Facilitation examples
Friendship approach: Sarah sat alone during lunch. Her paraprofessional decided to eat lunch
with her. For the entire year, Sarah and her paraprofessional sat and ate lunch together.
Facilitation approach: Maddie sat alone during lunch. Her team created a lunch bunch. The
paraprofessional facilitated social interactions. By the end of the year, Maddie started engaging
in conversations with peers!
Friendship approach: Andres wants to play kickball but struggles with the rules. The
paraprofessional decides to play kickball with him so he doesn’t have to worry about the rules
and children.
Facilitation approach: Jack wants to play basketball but doesn’t know the rules. The
paraprofessional asks his peers to teach him how to play and now the paraprofessional doesn’t
intervene.
Friendship approach: Harrison’s bus drops him off 20 minutes before school starts. His
paraprofessional meets him at the bus and guides him to homeroom where he is on the computer
or talking with the paraprofessional.
Facilitation approach: Kylie’s bus drops her off 20 minutes before school starts. The
paraprofessional asks another student if she will walk and talk with Kylie while waiting. Now
Kylie can spend time with peers and be independent.
Transcript:
In this chart, you will see examples of both a friendship approach in the left hand column and a
facilitation approach in the right hand column. Starting on the left, let’s discuss a friendship
approach first. Sarah routinely sat alone during lunch period. Her paraprofessional felt sorry for
her and decided to eat lunch with her so she wouldn’t sit alone. For the entire year, Sarah and
her paraprofessional sat at a corner table and ate lunch together. On the other hand, let’s see
what a facilitation approach might look like. Maddie routinely sat alone during lunch period.
Her paraprofessional knew this was a significant social hurdle for Maddie. The paraprofessional
notified the supervisory teacher and Maddie’s team decided to create a lunch bunch and helped
the paraprofessional learn how to facilitate social interactions. By the end of the year, Maddie
was taking her first steps toward engaging in independent conversations with her peers during
lunch!
In the next example of a friendship approach, Andres wants to play kickball during recess but he
struggles with the rules of the game. The paraprofessional decides to play kickball with Andres
so he doesn’t have to worry about the rules and the other children. However, in a facilitation
approach, Jack wants to play basketball but he doesn’t know the rules. Jack’s paraprofessional
asks his peers to take a few minutes to teach Jack the rules of basketball. His peers successfully
teach him how to play basketball and the paraprofessional doesn’t need to intervene.
Harrison’s bus drops him off at school approximately twenty minutes before school starts. His
paraprofessional meets him at the bus and guides him into his homeroom where he is given time
on the computer or to talk with the paraprofessional. In the facilitation approach, the
paraprofessional works to keep herself out of the intervention. Kylie’s bus also drops her off at
school approximately twenty minutes before school starts. The paraprofessional talks with one
of the other students who rides the same bus and asks if she will walk with Kylie to her
homeroom and talk with her while waiting for school to start. Now Kylie can spend time with
peers rather than the adults and be more independent in getting to class.
Now, in all of those examples, which approach demonstrated a dignified and respectful approach
to social and communication skills? Which approach helped the student with ASD become more
independent? The answer is the facilitation approach! Rather than being a friend for a few
months, give the student the tools to make friends for a lifetime. Remember facilitation not
friendship, and you will be on the right track to helping your student reach his or her potential.
Slide 7: Plan before you teach
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It’s important to remember that you must PLAN before your student can PRACTICE!
Transcript:
It is important to remember that before you can jump right into teaching and facilitating social
and communication skills, you must PLAN before your student can PRACTICE!
Slide 8: Dignity and respect
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Students need your patience.
This entire process requires a dignified and respectful approach that includes:
o Communication is hard sometimes.
o Being social is confusing.
o Show the student what to do and they can do it.
o Remember sometimes the student doesn’t know what to do.
Transcript:
Before we jump into planning for intervention, it’s important to refresh our memory on dignified
and respectful practices. Remember when we talked about Dignity and Respect? Because social
and communication skills will be difficult for the student with ASD, it’s important to remember
one very important rule: Students with ASD need your patience. This will not always be easy—
for you or the student with ASD. However hard the process might be, investing our time and
energy into social and communication skills can produce profound effects for the student with
ASD. Given the many obstacles a student with ASD faces in the social world, it is also
important to remember this entire process requires a dignified and respectful approach that
includes the following:
 Communication is hard sometimes.
 Being social is confusing.
 Show the student what to do and they can do it.
 Sometimes it’s not that the student with ASD won’t do it, but rather,that they don’t know
what to do.
Slide 9: Find the specific skills and objectives
 Every set of skills, strengths, and challenges will be different.
 Social and communication skills will ALWAYS be difficult.
 The IEP team will determine the missing skills, supports, and strategies.
 Ask the IEP team questions in order to help your student succeed!
Transcript:
Now that you have learned about social and communication development in the student with
ASD, you should be familiar with many of the skills your student will need to learn. Because
every student with ASD is unique, every set of skills and set of strengths and challenges will be
different. Some students may not have any communication abilities beyond labeling. Other
students may have an extensive vocabulary but may lack the ability to understand the unwritten
rules to life and have difficulty with long conversations or developing relationships. Most
students will be somewhere in between. Remember, no matter how ‘high’ functioning your
student appears to be, social and communication skills will ALWAYS be difficult.
Your student’s teaching staff, speech and language therapist, occupational therapist, behavioral
specialist, and other staff members will have conducted a variety of assessments and the IEP
team will have determined the social and communication skills that are missing from the
student’s abilities and may have also determined the best supports and strategies for him or her.
Remember, you can always ask the IEP team members questions in order to help your student
succeed! Let’s look at some examples of IEP objectives a student with ASD may work on.
Slide10: IEP objective
IEP objective
Student: Kelly:
IEP objective: When approached by a peer, Kelly will respond by asking a question or making a
comment about the topic.
Student: Zoe:
IEP objective: Zoe will walk through the halls of the school appropriately by walking on the
right side and refraining from pushing peers.
Student: Ethan:
IEP objective: Ethan will appropriately ask for an item that he wants to play with without
grabbing the item or screaming.
Student: Antoine:
IEP objective: Antoine will identify the emotion of another person and will describe why the
person is feeling that way.
Student: Brianne:
IEP objective: Brianne will make a request to an adult to obtain a desired object.
Student: Katie:
IEP objective: Katie will respond to a question with a one word response using sign language.
Student: Carl:
IEP objective: Carl will use his communication device to initiate and respond to greetings with
peers and adults in the school environment.
Alex:
IEP objective: Alex will use proper volume and grammar when speaking with a peer or adult.
Transcript:
On this slide, you will see a table. In this table you will see a student’s name on the left and a
student’s IEP objective on the right. Our student, Kelly, has an IEP objective of the following:
When approached by a peer, Kelly will respond to the peer by asking a question or making a
comment about the topic. Another student, Zoe, will walk through the halls of the school
appropriately by walking on the right side and will refrain from pushing peers. Our student,
Ethan, will appropriately ask for an item that he wants to play with without grabbing the item or
screaming. Antoine will identify the emotion of another person and will describe why the person
is feeling that way. Brianne will make a request to an adult to obtain a desired object. Another
student, Katie, will respond to a question with a one word response using sign language. Carl
will use his communication device to initiate and respond to greetings with peers and adults in
the school environment. Alex will use proper volume and grammar when speaking with a peer
or adult.
As you can see, every student will have different goals and needs!
Slide 11: Challenges not in the IEP
 Other social and communication challenges will arise throughout the year.
 Sometimes we teach social skills in reaction to problem behavior.
 You will observe the student during social situations that others may not see.
 Communicate with the teacher!
Transcript:
However, there will be other social and communication challenges that arise throughout the year.
These may be issues that are not listed in the IEP. While the IEP should help us work on missing
skills before they become a big problem, it is not always the case. Sometimes we teach social
skills in reaction to problem behavior. For example, Travis makes inappropriate comments at the
lunch table trying to make the other high school boys laugh. On the playground, Becky will take
the basketball away from another student. These are examples of problem behaviors that are a
result of not having the right social skills. All of these can and should be worked on at school!
For example, Travis can work on talking about appropriate topics and Becky can work on
sharing the basketball.
As a paraprofessional, you will be able to observe the student during social situations that the
teacher may or may not see. Therefore, it is important that you communicate with the teacher
when you see that a student needs to improve certain social skills. Talk about any problem
behaviors and talk about the skill the student needs to learn. Then, of course, talk about how you
can work on this skill during the school day.
Slide 12: Teaching is part of planning
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Realize that social skills must be taught.
What are some of the ways to teach the student social and communication skills?
Transcript:
Because we know that the student with ASD isn’t going to magically start using skills the IEP
team has identified, it is important to realize that these skills must be taught, just like we teach
math and reading. Think of it this way, we don’t just jump in and teach first graders Algebra do
we? Of course not! We start with the basics of identifying numbers, counting, adding and
subtracting before even thinking about moving on to multiplication, division and solving for X!
The same can be said of social and communication skills. Your student with ASD must learn to
walk before he can run.
So what are some of the ways to teach the student with ASD social and communication skills?
There are several ways to do this. As we go through this presentation, let’s look at basic steps
we need to take to teach the student these critical skills.
Slide 13: Tip #1: Break the skill into steps
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Part of the planning step is to TEACH the student all the small skills he or she is missing.
Tip #1: Break the social or communication skill into small steps.
Transcript:
Because of the way a student with ASD learns, it is crucial to remember that part of the planning
step is to TEACH the student all the small skills he or she is missing. And just as we do with
math or reading, it is necessary to break the skill down into small steps so that the student can
understand it!
Therefore, our first tip when teaching social and communication skills is: Break the social or
communication skill down into small steps.
Slide 14: Task analysis
 Use task analysis to teach many different skills.
 Task analysis breaks down a big task into smaller, more doable steps.
 We must sometimes make steps for the student very detailed.
Transcript:
So how do we break down such complex communication and social issues into manageable
steps? Do you remember how we talked before about using task analysis? We use task analysis
to teach many different skills, such as washing your hands. All that a task analysis really does is
break down a big task into smaller, more doable steps. The same thing applies to social and
communication skills! Let’s think about washing your hands for a second. That seems easy
right? In fact, it seems so easy we tend to think of it as one big step. After all, most of us just
say to children, “Go wash your hands!” But in reality, some children need us to define every
single step by saying, “Walk to the bathroom, open the bathroom door, turn the bathroom light
on, shut the bathroom door, walk to the sink, turn the cold water on, rub your hands under the
water, push the soap dispenser and lather your palms, then rinse your hands off, turn off the cold
water, grab a paper towel, dry your hands off, throw the towel away, walk to the door, open the
door, and go back to class.” It may seem like a lot, yet this is sometimes how detailed we must
make the steps for the student with ASD.
Slide 15: Task analysis
 One step is taught at a time until the student can do the entire skill.
 The steps are written down and then the student is taught the individual steps of the task.
Transcript:
With a task analysis, one step is taught until the student can do it well, then we move on to the
next step until the student can do that step well, and so on and so forth until the student can do
the entire skill. Now, can you think of how task analysis can be used to teach communication or
social skills? It is done in the same way as you would teach any other type of skill. First, the
steps needed to complete the skill are written down and then the student is taught the individual
steps of the task.
Slide 16: Task analysis example
 Antoine is learning to respond to identify the emotion of another person and describe why
the person is feeling that way.
 We teach him to do 7 steps:
o Stop what he is doing
o Look at the peer
o Listen to the peer
o Identify what the peer is feeling
o Identify why the peer feels that way
o Decide how to respond
o Respond to the peer
Transcript:
Let’s look at an example of a task analysis using Antoine. Antoine is learning to respond to a
peer and identify the emotion of another person, as well as, describe why the person is feeling
that way. This means Antoine has to learn to do a lot of different things. In this example, when
we use a task analysis and break the skill down we teach him to do 7 steps:
1. Stop what he is doing
2. Look at the peer
3. Listen to the peer
4. Identify what the peer is feeling
5. Identify why the peer feels that way
6. Decide how to respond
7. Respond to the peer
Antoine could be asked almost anything from a peer and the peer could be feeling any emotion,
so we have to slowly teach him how to respond to different comments and questions and identify
all different types of emotions and why a person might feel that way. As you can see, this will
take a lot of time!
Slide 17: Task analysis
Notice:
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The student is working on an independent play skill.
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The teacher is using a task analysis to keep track of each step.
Transcript:
In this video, you will see a student working on an independent play skill. Namely, the student is
putting together a Mr. Potato Head. The teacher working with him is using a task analysis to
keep track of each step that he performs and how well he is able to do it.
Video Transcript:
Teacher: Evan, play with the potato head. Come on buddy. Ok bud. Good job. Nice job, Evan.
Nice job, buddy.
Slide 18: Think About It!
 Get your activity book and find: Social Skills: Telling a Peer about the Weekend.
 What are all the steps you have to do in order to successfully tell someone about your
weekend?
 Pause the presentation and write down all the steps for this skill.
Transcript:
Please find in your activity book the activity called: Social Skills: Telling a Peer about the
Weekend. Take a moment and think about telling a peer about the weekend. What are all the
steps that you have to do in order to successfully tell someone about your weekend? Pause the
presentation and write down all the steps for this skill.
Slide 19: Thoughts!
 Here is one example:
o Walk up to a friend.
o Say, “Hello.”
o Ask your friend, “What did you do this weekend?”
o Look at your friend.
o Listen to the response.
o Say, “That sounds like fun.”
o Say, “I _____________ this weekend.”
o Look at your friend.
o Say, “See you later.”
Transcript:
What did you come up with? There are many ways that telling a peer about something you did
over the weekend can be broken down into a task analysis. Here is one example:
1. Walk up to a friend.
2. Say," Hello.”
3. Ask your friend, “What did you do this weekend?”
4. Look at your friend.
5. Listen to the response.
6. Say, “That sounds like fun.”
7. Say, “I _____________ this weekend.”
8. Look at your friend.
9. Say, “See you later.”
Slide 20: Tip #2: Show the steps of the skill
 Next, it is important to remember that you must explain to the student what to do.
 When we show someone what to do, this is called modeling.
 Students with ASD often do not observe others in the same way that we do.
Transcript:
Next, it is important to remember that you must show and explain to the student what to do. Use
the task analysis and show, or model, for him or her what to do. When we show someone what
to do, this is called modeling. Modeling appropriate communication is something you will do
each and every day! It’s easy to believe that the student should know these steps, but students
with ASD often do not watch others in the same way that we do. Because of this, students with
ASD need to be told and shown what the steps are and have the steps explained to them. There
are a variety of strategies we can use to demonstrate to the student. We will discuss these in our
next presentations.
Slide 21: Tip #3: Educate peers
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We often must educate everyone surrounding the student.
Students must PRACTICE and learn to USE social and communication skills.
You will need to educate peers on the challenges of ASD, how they help, and why it’s
important.
Transcript:
Because teaching is part of planning, it’s important to remember that teaching goes far beyond
the student with ASD! In order to support the student fully, we often must educate everyone
surrounding the student with ASD in a 360 degree approach. As we’ve mentioned, social and
communication may be a long-term goal for many of our students with ASD. Social and
communication skills also don’t happen in a vacuum—the student with ASD must PRACTICE
and learn to USE social and communication skills with others, especially peers. And to be
honest, you can’t implement social and communication strategies WITHOUT the help of peers!
In order to help peers support our interventions, you will need to educate peers briefly on what
the challenges of ASD are, how they can help, and why it’s important. But first, you will need
the approval of your supervisory teacher before moving forward in your planning phase. We’ll
come back to peers in the PRACTICE phase when we discuss peer support.
Slide 22: Peer education examples
Peer challenge: Carl uses an AAC device. His classmates don’t understand why he doesn’t
always respond to their greetings.
Education: Carl’s team educates peers on ASD, communication, and augmentative
communication. The speech therapist brings a similar communication device and allows Carl’s
classmates to experiment with it. Students are shown how hard it might be for Carl to use his
device to say, ‘Hi!’ at just the right time.
Education: Carl’s team educates peers on ASD, communication, and augmentative
communication. The speech therapist brings a similar communication device and allows Carl’s
classmates to experiment with it. Students are shown how hard it might be for Carl to use his
device to say, ‘Hi!’ at just the right time.
Peer challenge: Alex’s peers don’t understand why he yells all the time.
Education: Alex’s team educates peers on ASD and language. The teacher explains Alex
doesn’t always know when to use his indoor and outdoor voice. She tells the students how to
remind Alex to use a quieter voice.
Transcript:
In this slide, you will see a two column table. In the left column, you can see the peer challenge.
In the right column, you can see what is done to educate the peers of the student with ASD.
Carl uses an AAC device and his classmates don’t understand why he doesn’t always respond to
their greetings. Carl’s team decides to educate his peers on ASD, communication, and
augmentative communication. The school speech therapist brings in a similar communication
device and allows Carl’s classmates to experiment with using the device. The students are
shown how hard it might be for Carl to use his device to say, ‘Hi!’ at just the right time.
Alex’s peers don’t understand why he yells all the time. Alex’s team decides to educate his
peers on ASD and language. The teacher explains that Alex doesn’t always know when to use
his indoor voice and when to use his outdoor voice. She also tells the students how to remind
Alex to use a quieter voice when inside.
Slide 23: From planning to practice
 It’s time to move to the next phase, and allow the student to PRACTICE the skills.
Transcript:
Now that you’ve mapped out your student’s strengths, challenges, IEP objectives, identified the
skills required, broken down the social and communication skills into small steps, and have
shown the studentthese steps, it’s time to move to the next phase, and allow the student to
PRACTICE the skills. Let’s take some time to examine ways to practice social and
communication skills.
Slide 24: Tip #4: Practice opportunities
 Social and communication opportunities can be created.
 Created opportunities are opportunities to practice that you have set up in advance.
 Created opportunities have to be planned!
 Allow the student to practice learning skills and to build confidence.
Transcript:
When it comes to practicing, it’s important to realize just how many opportunities there are to
practice social and communication skills. Social and communication opportunities happen
throughout the day naturally. It is critical to take advantage of these opportunities. However,
opportunities to practice can also be created. Created opportunities are just that, they are
opportunities that you the paraprofessional have to set up in advance. These created
opportunities have to be planned! You must allow the student with ASD to practice learning
skills and to build confidence.
Let’s look at some examples of created opportunities.
Slide 25: Example of created opportunities
Student objective: Zoe will walk through the halls appropriately by walking on the right side
while refraining from pushing peers.
Created opportunity: The paraprofessional goes with Zoe in the hall to prompt her as needed.
The halls are quiet but she has the opportunity to practice walking nicely.
Student objective: Antoine will identify the emotion of another person and describe why the
person is feeling that way.
Created opportunity: Social scenarios were created to practice with Antoine. Antoine is asked
to identify the emotion and why the person is feeling that way.
Student objective: When approached by a peer, Kelly will respond by asking a question or
making a comment about the topic.
Created opportunity: The paraprofessional has a peer go up to Kelly and ask her a question.
This gives her a lot of opportunities to work on responding.
Transcript:
On this slide, you will see a table. On the left side is the student objective and on the right side is
an example of a created opportunity. For example, Zoe’s objective is to walk through the halls
of the school appropriately by walking on the right side while refraining from pushing peers. For
the created opportunity, the paraprofessional and teacher decide Zoe needs practice walking in
the hall. Every morning, prior to the start of the class, Zoe is asked to deliver items to two
different classes. The paraprofessional goes with her to prompt her as needed. The halls are still
quiet, but this gives her the opportunity to practice walking nicely.
With Antoine, his objective is to identify the emotion of another person and describe why the
person is feeling that way. His created opportunity is when the teacher and paraprofessional
create social scenarios to practice with Antoine during his social skills times. With each
scenario, Antoine is asked to identify the emotions and why the person is feeling that way.
Finally, our student Kelly’s objective is to respond to a peer by asking a question or making a
comment about the topic. The created opportunity for Kelly happens several times during the
day when the paraprofessional has a peer go up to Kelly and ask her a question. This gives her a
lot of opportunities to work on responding.
Slide 26: Created opportunities
Notice:
 Here is an example of an opportunity to practice.
 The teacher created this opportunity to practice what the student can say to his friend
when she arrives.
Transcript:
In this video, you will see an example of how to create an opportunity to practice. The student is
going to be seeing a friend after lunch and the teacher has created an opportunity to practice what
he can say to his friend when she arrives.
Video Transcript:
Teacher: All right Dwight, are you ready? Later on our friend Rachel is going to come in and
you’re going to practice this conversation with her, ok? So can we practice now?
Dwight: Sure.
Teacher: All right, let’s start.
Dwight: Hi Rachel. How are you?
Teacher: I’m fine, Dwight. How are you?
Dwight: I’m good.
Teacher: Let’s talk about band. I want to know what you do. What instrument do you play?
Dwight: I play the triangle.
Teacher: That’s cool!
Dwight: Thanks, do you play an instrument?
Teacher: I am starting to learn to play the piano.
Dwight: Really? What song are you learning?
Teacher: I just learned to play We Wish You a Merry Christmas.
Dwight: Wow! I love that song.
Teacher: I love that song too.
Dwight: Well, have a good day.
Teacher: Ok, Dwight, I really like how you looked at me while you were talking and you kept
your hands down. You did a great job!
Slide 27: Natural opportunities
Notice:
 Students are lined up in the hallway.
 The teacher takes this opportunity to practice communication with one of the students.
Transcript:
Sometimes you will find that there are natural opportunities to practice communication and
social skills that occur throughout the day. In this video, you will see a couple of students who
are lined up in the hallway. Notice how the teacher takes this opportunity to practice
communication with one of the students.
Video Transcript:
Teacher: All right Roshean, we’re going for a…
Student: A…
Teacher: What are we going for? For a what? Walk.
Student: Walk.
Teacher: We’re going for a…
Student: A…
Teacher: Walk.
Student: Walk.
Teacher: Try again, we’re going for a…
Student: A… walk.
Teacher: Good job.
Slide 28: Tip #5: Use motivation
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It is important to focus on items of interest for the student.
Motivate them to use communication to get what they want!
Using motivation also means taking full advantage of naturally occurring opportunities.
Transcript:
Another important tool is using motivation. We’ve talked about how all students have interests
and things that motivate them. Let’s take communication as an example. We all tend to prefer
to talk about things we are interested in or ask for things we really want. When teaching
communication it will be important to focus on items of interest for the student. Motivate them to
use communication to get what they want! Work on teaching the student to ask for favorite
items, including food, drinks, people, activities, and even breaks.For example, if Katie likes
walking in the hall, this can be a great thing to use to motivate her. If she likes sitting next to
Jake at snack, she can learn to request this as well.
As we discussed earlier, using motivation also means taking full advantage of naturally occurring
opportunities. During break time, don’t make Jasmine’s favorite toy readily available. Instead,
put the toy in a place where she can see it, but must ask you for it in order to get to it. When you
see that Edward is having difficulty with a task, do not immediately help him. Rather, use the
opportunity to elicit conversation and have him ask you for help!
Slide 29: Examples of using motivation
Goal: Ellen is a preschool student working on requesting an item.
Motivation: Ellen really likes goldfish crackers.
Communication Example: At snack, Ellen’s paraprofessional prompts Ellen to request each
cracker.
Goal: Jason is a high school student working on answering questions.
Motivation: Jason enjoys being with two boys in his class.
Communication Example: The paraprofessional asks if they could ask Jason questions and help
him to answer them while at lunch.
Goal: Juan is a middle school student who is working on initiating a conversation with others.
Motivation: Juan is highly motivated by roller coasters.
Communication Example: Juan’s paraprofessional uses a visual support to prompt him to start
a conversation with his peers about roller coasters.
Transcript:
There are many ways to use motivation to support students to communicate. Let’s look at the
table on this slide. In the left hand column, you can see the goal the student is working on. In
the middle column, you will see what motivates the student. In the right hand column, you can
see how you can use that motivation to work on communication. Ellen is a preschool student
working on requesting an item. She really likes goldfish crackers and so while at snack her
paraprofessional only gives her one goldfish cracker at a time so that Ellen has to request each
cracker. Jason is a high school student who is working on answering questions. He enjoys being
with two particular boys in his class. The paraprofessional asks the two boys if they could ask
Jason questions and help him answer them while at lunch. Juan is a middle school student who
is working in initiating conversations with others. Juan is highly motivated by roller coasters.
His paraprofessional prompts him with a visual support to start a conversation with his peers
about roller coasters.
Slide 30: Motivation for communication
Notice:
 The student is motivated by bouncing on the ball.
 The teacher promotes requesting through sign language.
Transcript:
In this video, you will see a student who is motivated by bouncing on the ball. Notice how the
teacher uses this motivation to promote requesting through sign language.
Transcript:
Teacher: Ball, there you go. That’s the ball. Good job asking for the ball. Look at you
bouncing. Nice bouncing, Joe. Bounce? Nice. Oh my goodness, you’re bouncing so high.
Bounce, thanks for telling me.
Slide 31: Tip #6: Prompt the student!
 You will need to prompt either physically or verbally.
 Provide just enough prompting.
 There are a variety of different kinds of prompts:
o Physical
o
o
o
o
Partial physical
Gesture
Model
Verbal
Transcript:
Now that you have explained every step to the student, and have shown him or herwhatto do, and
have used created opportunities to allow the student to practice, and provided sufficient
motivation for your student, it’s time to add in another element. Because you are teaching the
student a new skill, you will need to prompt him either physically or verbally as he is learning.
We discussed prompting in an earlier presentation so you should be familiar with this technique.
Remember, you want to provide just enough prompting so the student can do the skill as
independently as possible. Remember, there are a variety of different kinds of prompts we can
use. They include: physical, partial physical, gesture, model, and verbal. You will want to use the
type of prompt that works best for the student. Let’s look at some examples.
Slide 32: Examples of prompts
Student objective: When approached by a peer, Kelly will respond by asking a question or
making a comment about the topic.
Prompt: When the peer asks Kelly a question, the paraprofessional provides a gesture prompt by
pointing at the peer. The paraprofessional provides a verbal prompt and helps Kelly answer the
question.
Student objective: Zoe will walk through the halls appropriately by walking on the right side
while refraining from pushing peers.
Prompt: Zoe begins to go to the left hand side of the hall. The paraprofessional provides Zoe
with a partial physical prompt by placing her hand on her shoulder to direct her to the right side
of the hall.
Student objective: Ethan will appropriately ask for an item that he wants without grabbing or
screaming.
Prompt : The paraprofessional sees Ethan reaching for an item without asking first. She holds
up her hand to prompt Ethan to stop and models asking for the item for Ethan. She then provides
Ethan the opportunity to ask for the item.
Transcript:
On this slide, you will see a table. On the left side is a student objective and on the right side is
an example of an appropriate prompt. Kelly’s objective is to respond to a peer by asking a
question or making a comment about a topic. When the peer goes up to Kelly and asks her a
question, the paraprofessional provides a gesture prompt by pointing at the peer. This reminds
Kelly to stop what she is doing and look at the peer. The paraprofessional then provides a verbal
prompt and helps Kelly answer the question. Zoe’s objective is to walk through the halls of the
school appropriately by walking on the right side of the hall while refraining from pushing peers.
As the paraprofessional and Zoe begin walking down the hall, Zoe begins to go to the left hand
side of the hall. The paraprofessional provides Zoe with a partial physical prompt by placing her
hand on her shoulder to direct her to the right side of the hall. Ethan’s objective is to
appropriately ask for an item that he wants without grabbing or screaming. When the
paraprofessional sees Ethan reaching for an item without asking first, she holds up her hand to
prompt Ethan to stop and models asking for the item for Ethan. She then provides Ethan the
opportunity to ask for the item.
Slide 33: Prompting communication
Notice:
 The teacher models the use of a communication device and then prompts the student.
 The teacher has the object in her hand so the student can see it.
Transcript:
In this video, you will see how the teacher models the use of a communication device and then
prompts the student to also use the device. Notice how she has the object in her hand so the
student can see it.
Video Transcript:
Teacher: Pink koosh ball, that’s right. Can you do it?
Student: I want the pink koosh ball.
Teacher: Can you do that?
Slide 34: Tip #7: Reinforcement
 Remember Reinforcement.
 Reinforcement increases the likelihood that the student will do the skill.
 We may need to provide a more powerful reinforcer to motivate the student and help him
use the new skill.
Transcript:
Prompting is a great tool, but you also need to remember another important strategy:
Reinforcement. Remember, when we reinforce a skill, we only make it stronger. Whenever the
student performs any individual step of the task and uses the appropriate social and
communication skill, remember to provide reinforcement in the form of praise. You may also
need to provide more tangible reinforcement such as an item or activity the student enjoys.
Reinforcement will increase the likelihood that the student will do the skill again in the future.
Again, remember that learning social skills is very difficult for the student with ASD! Keep in
mind that the social interaction may not be reinforcing enough. Often the student with ASD has
not had good experiences with social interactions, so we may need to provide a powerful
reinforcer to motivate the student and help him use the new skill.
Let’s look at some examples of reinforcement.
Slide 35: Examples of reinforcement
Student objective: When approached by a peer, Kelly will respond to the peer by asking a
question or making a comment about the topic.
Reinforcement: After Kelly responds to the peer appropriately, she is able to talk to the
paraprofessional about horses for a few seconds. Talking about horses is her favorite thing to do.
Student objective: Olivia will take turns during a game.
Reinforcement: When Olivia lets her partner have a turn during the game, she is given a token.
When she earns five tokens, Olivia gets to play with her favorite toy.
Student objective: Ethan will appropriately ask for an item that he wants without grabbing or
screaming.
Reinforcement: When Ethan appropriately asks for an item, he is able to play with the item for
several minutes and is praised, “Good job!”
Transcript:
On this slide, you will see a table. On the left side is a student objective and on the right side is
an example of a student prompt. As we’ve mentioned, Kelly’s objective is to respond to the peer
by asking a question or making a comment about the topic. After Kelly responds to the peer
appropriately, she is able to talk to the paraprofessional about horses for a few seconds. Talking
about horses is her favorite thing to do. Olivia will take turns during a game. When Olivia lets
her partner have a turn during the game, she is given a token. When she earns five tokens, Olivia
gets to play with her favorite toy. Finally, Ethan’s objective is to appropriately ask for an item
that he wants without grabbing or screaming. When Ethan appropriately asks for an item, he is
able to play with the item for several minutes and is praised, “Good job!”
Slide 36: Tip #8: Natural opportunities are everywhere!
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Opportunities to USE social skills happen ALL the TIME in school.
It is important to take advantage of these opportunities as often as possible.
Transcript:
Opportunities to USE social and communication skills happen ALL the TIME in school. These
opportunities might include a student entering a class and being able to say,‘Hi’ to a friend,
asking to play or join a game, requesting supplies, sharing a bucket of blocks, following the
cafeteria rules during lunch, and many, many more examples! It is important to take advantage
of these opportunities as often as possible.
Let’s look at a few examples:
Slide 37: Natural opportunity examples
Student objective: Antoine will identify the emotion of another person and will describe why
the person is feeling that way.
Natural opportunity: A boy fell down and started crying. The paraprofessional asked Antoine
how the boy felt and why he might be feeling that way.
Student objective: When approached by a peer, Kelly will respond to the peer by asking a
question or making a comment about the topic.
Natural opportunity: In art class a peer asks Kelly what she is making. The paraprofessional
prompts Kelly to stop painting, look at the peer, and answer his question.
Student objective: Zoe will walk through the halls appropriately by walking on the right side
and refraining from pushing peers.
Natural opportunity: The paraprofessional talks to Zoe about the hall rules before she leaves
math and then follows her inconspicuously to make sure she walked appropriately.
Transcript:
On this slide, you will see a table. On the left side is a student objective and on the right side is
an example of a natural opportunity. Antoine’s objective is to identify the emotion of another
person and describe why the person is feeling that way. During PE, a boy in Antoine’s class fell
down and started crying. The paraprofessional asked Antoine how the boy felt and why he
might be feeling that way. Kelly’s objective is to respond to a peer by asking a question or
making a comment about the topic. Kelly is in her art class and a peer asks her what she is
making. The paraprofessional sees this as a teaching opportunity and prompts Kelly to stop
painting, look at the peer and answer his question. Zoe’s objective is to walk through the halls of
the school appropriately by walking on the right side while refraining from pushing peers. Zoe is
on her way to English. The paraprofessional knows that good behavior in the hall is a goal. She
talks to Zoe about the hall rules before she leaves math and then follows her inconspicuously to
make sure she walked appropriately.
Slide 38: Natural opportunities
Notice:
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Peers can help by prompting.
Transcript:
In this video, you will see how peers help the student who has ASD by prompting them during a
conversation; a very natural opportunity to practice social skills.
Video Transcript:
Dwight: Let’s do this thing.
Maddie: Hi Dwight.
Dwight: Hi.
Maddie: How are you?
Dwight: I’m good.
Maddie: What did you do over the weekend?
Dwight: Well, well, I play video games and we had a lot of fun. Well, I watched television and I
watched a movie. And I watched the movies.
Maddie: Cool!
Dwight: What did you do over the weekend?
Maddie: I went horseback riding.
Dwight: Wow!
Maddie: Do you know what a horse is?
Dwight: What?
Maddie: It’s a big animal, it’s like, it has lots of fur and stuff.
Dwight: Ooh.
Slide 39: Natural opportunities
Notice:
 The student needs to put on her shoes.
 The student has difficulty with communication, but the teacher prompts her.
Transcript:
In this video, you will see a student who needs to put on her shoes. This is a perfect natural
opportunity for communication! Notice how the student has difficulty with communicating, but
the teacher prompts her to communicate what she needs successfully.
Video Transcript:
Teacher: Look, let’s play with your shoes. Do you want to play with your shoes? Yeah, let’s
play with your shoes. Look, help? Help. Help, that’s right you need help. Sure, I’ll help you.
Let’s put your shoe on. And on the wrong foot. Look it goes on this one, look let’s put it on this
one. Ok, you need… help. Help; sure, I’ll help you. Help. Look you got your shoe on. You
got that one on by yourself, huh? Look you got your shoes on.
Slide 40: Tip #9: Scheduling helps!
 You may be working with a lot of different students.
 Outline when you are supposed to work on social skills.
 Scheduling will ensure that each skill is worked on regularly.
Transcript:
As a paraprofessional, you may be working with a lot of different students. With each student,
you will be teaching a lot of different skills. To make sure you balance both created and
naturalistic opportunities and are working on social skills as frequently as you need to, it is
useful to outline when you are supposed to work on them. It will be helpful to create a daily
schedule that lists the skills you are to work on at different times of the day. Even though you
are working on them throughout the day when the opportunity arises, scheduling will ensure that
each skill is worked on regularly.
Slide 41: Example of scheduling
Here is an example of scheduling for Jamal:
Time of day: 8:00-8:15
Social skill: Greet teacher, Wait in line to use bathroom
Time of day: 8:15-8:30
Social skill: Respond to peer
Time of day: 8:30 – 8:45
Social skill: Take turns on computer with classmate
Time of day: 8:45-9:00
Social skill: Raise hand to answer question
Time of day: 9:00-9:30
Social skill: Greet resource teacher, Respond to peer, Raise hand to answer question
Time of day: 9:30-9:45
Social skill: Walk appropriately in line, Respond to peer
Transcript:
On this slide, you will see an example of a schedule. On the left side is the time of day and on
the right side is the social skill that can be worked on. From 8:00-8:15, Jamal will greet the
teacher and wait in line to use the bathroom. From 8:15-8:30, Jamal will respond to a peer.
From 8:30-8:45, Jamal will take turns on the computer with a classmate. From 8:45-9:00, Jamal
will raise his hand to answer a question. From 9:00 to 9:30, Jamal will greet the resource
teacher, respond to peer, and raise hand to answer questions. Finally, from 9:30 to 9:45, Jamal
will walk appropriately in line and respond to peer.
Slide 42: Apply It!
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Get the “Apply It!”entitled:Social Skills and find:TargetingSocial Skills throughout
the School Day.
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Complete the following:
o Write down the student’s daily schedule.
o Write down at least one social goal that could be worked on during that time
period.
Transcript:
Now it’s your turn to try. Please get the “Apply It!” paper for the presentation titled:Social
Skills and find the question titled:TargetingSocial Skills throughout the School Day. Pause
the presentation and identify a student with ASD with whom you work. Write down the name of
the student and complete the following:
Write down the student’s daily schedule. You do not need to get too detailed. Simply write down
the big activities the student completes (e.g. walking to class, unpack, reading, lunch, math, etc.)
Next to each daily activity, write down at least one social goal that could be worked on during
that time period.
Once you have completed this activity share your responses with your supervisory teacher. This
is a good opportunity to ensure you have outlined the social skills you are to work on throughout
the entire school day.
Slide 43: Summary
 There are no quick fixes or magic wands!
 Plan, practice, and review the skills you are working on and the student’s progress.
 Make sure you:
o Teach communication and social skills.
o Take advantage of created and natural opportunities.
o Remember facilitate not friendship!
Transcript:
As you can see, there are no quick fixes or magic wands when it comes to social and
communication skills. Remember, as you are teaching social and communication skills, you will
want to plan, practice, and review the skills you are working on and the student’s progress. You
will want to check yourself, too, to make sure you teach communication and social skills, take
advantage of created and natural opportunities, and remember facilitate not friendship!
Remember, social and communication skills will be long-term goals for the student with ASD
and will not be fixed overnight!