STRUCTURED WORK SYSTEMS
• PRESENTED BY DIANE BROWN
• JULY 2014
• HIGH PLAINS EDUCATIONAL COOPERATIVE
S
Small Groupteach social
skills, games and
turn taking,
appropriate play
and
communication
exchange.
Self-Choice-Student
engages in an
independent leisure
activity by following
visual instructions
and work systems.
Important for ASD
students to learn
how to fill down
time.
Independent Work-purpose is to work independently,
practice following a visual schedule, and build stamina. They
complete mastered task without adult help.
Your Role: Quietly
prompt from behind
but only when needed.
Don’t over prompt,
give students time to
respond before
prompting. Let them
work at their own
pace!
Direct Instruction-purpose
is to work on new learning
skills. Teacher should be
interacting with student
and actively teach new
skills
Structured Teaching Brief Overview
• Direct Teaching –teach new concepts
• Independent Work-work with out the help of an
adult
• Self-Choice Center-independent leisure activity
• Small Group-work on social skills through games,
art, science and communication exchange.
• Each center is 15 minutes long
• Student checks schedule at the end of each
activity.
Structured Work Systems
Building Independence
Benefits of Work Systems
• Promotes independence
• Maintain previously mastered skills
• Maintain engagement with task when not directly
receiving instruction
• Builds fluency
• Provides structure for introducing new skills with
less frustration
• Allows teacher to work with other students while
one or more students are using structured work
system.
• Train paraprofessionals on peer mentors to
teach and monitor tasks
• Actively engage students without teacher
instruction.
• Calm by reducing social demands.
• Support positive self-esteem and pride in
work completed.
Why Structured Work Systems
are Important
• They help students to start and complete
assigned task
• Practice skills they have previously mastered
• Generalize skills to new material and
situations
• Learn to work without assistance from others
• Understand the expectations of the task, the
work that needs to be completed, what to do
when the work is finished
• Individuals with ASD have difficulty learning
to work by themselves
• Work systems provide clear cues to the
individual that he or she is expected to work
independently of adults
• Provide opportunity to work without
assistance from paraprofessional in general
education classroom
Characteristics of Structured Word
Systems
What Work Do I Need to Do?
• The task are often organized in clear plastic
containers or in containers without lids that
allow her to see exactly what needs to be
done.
• Sometimes teachers organize work in file
folders or Trapper Keepers that the student
has to open to see the items that need to be
completed
How Much Work Do I Need to Do?
• The individual can see how much work he has to
do in two ways:
1. if he is able to use a visual work
schedule the number of symbols or the
written list will tell him how many task
to accomplish.
2. if he can’t use visual task list, the
number of baskets at work area will
provide the necessary information.
How much work needs to be done
Components and Use of Work Systems
(How much work needs to be done)
• Within each work task, only the amount of
work expected to be completed is place in the
container.
• If student is expected to sort 10 items, only
ten items would be placed in the work system.
• Student knows exactly what is expected.
How Do I Know When I Am Finished
• The student knows he is finished in two ways:
1. He know that he is done when he has
moved each of the completed task to the
“finished” basket and there are not task left
on his work space.
2. If using a visual work schedule, he knows
he has finished when there are no more
symbols left in the sequence or he has crossed
everything off his list.
What Do I Do Next?
• Students do best when they know what the
expectations are. When they finish their assigned
task at the structured work area, they need
information about where to go or what to do
next.
• If structure work is in a rotation and student
finishes before it is time to change stations, he
should be directed to something else to do in that
area. For example, a box of fidget toys to play
with, a book to look at, or a puzzle to complete.
• There may also be a symbol directing the the
child to check his schedule, which will take
him to his visual schedule and the next area of
the room or activity he needs to participate in.
Structured Work Area
• In the special education room, a separate area
of the room is often dedicated to structured
work.
• In the general education classroom, the
student’s desk typically serves as the work
area, or a separated area or desk is designated
as such.
Arranging the Physical Enviornment
• Important to think about an area where
individual can work without being distracted by
others or other activities taking place at the same
time.
• Often, they are developed so that the worker has
her back to the rest of the room to avoid
distractions.
• Work areas can also be segregated from other
areas of the room by using furniture to create
visual barriers.
• Portable dividers can be used to reduce or
eliminate visual distractions.
Examples of Work Systems Work Area
• All the information in this power point was
taken from Building Independence: How to
Create and Use Structured Work Systems by
Christina E. Reeve PhD. BCBA-D and Susan
Kabot EdD. CCC-SLP