Promoting Academic Independence in Adolescents with Autism

Trinity College, Dublin
The University of Dublin
School of Psychology
MSc in Applied Behaviour Analysis
Promoting Independent Academic Activity in Adolescents on the
Autism Spectrum using Organised Visual Stimuli and a Strategic
Prompting Hierarchy.
Caroline Kinneen.
July 23, 2014
Supervisor: Dr. Maeve Bracken.

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PROMOTING ACADEMIC INDEPENDENCE IN ADOLESCENTS ON THE AUTISM SPECTRUM
Declaration
I declare that this thesis has not been submitted as an exercise for a degree at this or
any other university and it is entirely my own work. I agree to deposit this thesis in the
University's open access institutional repository or allow the Library to do so on my behalf,
subject to Irish Copyright Legislation and Trinity College Library conditions of use and
acknowledgement.
Signed: Caroline Kinneen
Date: July 23, 2014
6647 Words

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Acknowledgments
This study was based on an applied project completed by the author in partial fulfilment of
the requirements for an M. Sc. in Applied Behaviour Analysis, at the School of Psychology at
Trinity College, Dublin. The author is indebted to the assistance provided by Dr. Maeve
Bracken, School of Psychology, Trinity College, Dublin and the staff and students of
Saplings School, Rathfarnham, Dublin 16.

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Table of Contents
Introduction.........................................................................................................................................8
Method..............................................................................................................................................13
Participants and Setting.................................................................................................................13
Confidentiality ..............................................................................................................................13
Dependent and Independent Variables .........................................................................................14
Materials .......................................................................................................................................15
Research Design............................................................................................................................16
Procedure ......................................................................................................................................17
Social Validity ..............................................................................................................................19
Interobserver Agreement (IOA) ....................................................................................................19
Results...............................................................................................................................................21
Discussion.........................................................................................................................................28
References.........................................................................................................................................35

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List of Figures
Figure 1: Graph Illustrating Results for Percentage of Correct On-Schedule Performance and
Prompts Required ……………………………………………………………………….…...21
Figure 2: Graphs Illustrating Results Percentage of Time On-Task for
Participant 1 ………………………………………………………………………………….22
Participant 2…………………………………………………………………………………..22
Participant 3…………………………………………………………………………………..22
Figure 5: Graph Illustrating Results for Most-to-Least prompting Hierarchy for
Participant 1 ………………………………………………………………………………….23
Participant 2 …………….……………………………………………………………………23
Participant 3 …………….……………………………………………………………………23

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List of Appendices
Appendix A: Information sheet distributed to parents/guardians…………………………39
Appendix B: Parents/ guardian consent form……………………………………………..40
Appendix C: Participants consent form…………………………………………………...41
Appendix D: Debriefing Sheet distributed to participants………………………………...42
Appendix E: Ethics committee approval letter……………………………………………43
Appendix F: Task analysis used to collect data on correct independent steps and prompt
level required……………………………………………………………………………….44
Appendix G: Partial –Interval Recording sheet used to record on-task behavior…………45
Appendix H: Social Validity Questionnaire...................................................................…..46
Appendix I: Interobserver Agreement Calculations...……………………………………..47

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Abstract
The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the effectiveness of a two-component
teaching package (most-to-least prompting and visual activity schedules), in teaching
adolescents with autism to increase on-schedule performance and examine increasing on-task
performance throughout the study. Three children enrolled in an ABA special school served
as participants. A multiple baseline design across participants was used to evaluate the
effectiveness of a picture activity schedule and most-to-least prompting, on the percentage of
intervals scored as on-schedule and on-task. The results of the investigation indicated that the
visual activity schedule increased on-schedule and on-task performance in all three
participants, with minimal adult supervision. However, the focus of the study was to move
stimulus control from adult prompting to the activity schedule, via a most-to-least prompting
strategy. The results did not conclude the hypothesized shift of the stimulus control. The
implications of these findings show the importance for future development and use of visual
activity schedules to promote the independent academic performance of adolescents with
autism spectrum disorders, in their least restrictive environments.
Key Words: autism, independence, most-to-least-prompting. on-task behaviour, visual
activity schedules.

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Introduction:
A major developmental achievement of the teenage years is the individual’s ability to
function in increasingly more complex settings without the support, monitoring, or
supervision of adults (Sessa & Steinberg, 1991). Adolescence is typically a time of increasing
independence and behavioural autonomy. However, research indicates that in young
adulthood, functional independence for those on the autism spectrum begins to plateau and
eventually decline (Smith, Maenner, & Seltzer, 2012).
Contrary to this research, evidence based interventions have been developed and
implemented to support the independence of people on the autism spectrum. Hume, Boyd &
Hamm (2014), conducted a literature review, which identified differential reinforcement,
extinction, prompting, reinforcement, response interruption and redirection, self-
management, task analysis, visual supports, and work systems, as the main evidence based
interventions, used to support independence in adolescents with autism.
Cohen (2009), investigated the use of visual support systems (picture schedules, task
organizers, environmental cues/labels) in the form of picture prompts as a tool for
independent task completion, in general education settings. The study evaluated visual
supports as an intervention method for elementary school students with severe disabilities,
who were included in general education classrooms and other school environments. A
multiple baseline design across participants, showed a significant increase in independent
task completion across specific inclusive educational settings. Environmental labelling and
picture cues in the form of signs, labels, and colour codes provide visual information to
students, which, is stationary long enough for the student to see it, process the information,
and respond to it. Students can go back and review the visual cues if they need to understand
and remember to aid in organization, navigation and task completion.

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Environmental cues and labels allow a student to focus on the completion of tasks
independently without relying on another person (Griffin, Griffin, Fitch, Albera, & Gingras,
2006). According to Hodgdon (1999), visual supports can enhance the communication and
language process and can be used to increase students’ receptive and expressive
understanding of their environments. Visual supports can be individualised and adapted to the
cognitive ability and support level needed for the student to succeed in task completion
independently.
Visual picture prompts have been used to teach a variety of task analytic skills to
people with disabilities including cooking (Martin, Rusch, James, Decker, & Trtol, 1982),
food service (Connis, 1979), valve assembly (Wacker & Berg, 1983), custodial skills
(Wacker, Berg, Berrie, & Swatta, 1985) and calculator skills (Nietupski, Welsh, & Wacker,
1983). Photographs have been used to teach children with low-functioning autism to
complete daily living tasks, including getting dressed, doing the laundry, and setting the table
(Pierce & Schriebman, 1994).
Common impairments that affect learning in students with autism spectrum disorder
include, deficits in attention, organization, and executive functioning (Myles, Ferguson &
Hagiwara, 2007). Impairments in executive functioning are especially prevalent in
individuals with autism (Winsler, Abar, Feder, Schunn, & Rubio, 2007). Attention
impairments include difficulty maintaining joint attention and attention shifts (Gustafsson &
Paplinski, 2004). As Pascualvaca, Fantie, Papageorgiou, and Mirsky (1998), suggested some
children with autism struggle to complete tasks where attention shifting is necessary.
Attention shifting involves the individual’s ability to move between tasks, which have
different cognitive requirements. Introducing intermittent reinforcement, such as a token
economy, between tasks may help keep the student on task and attain the student’s focus.

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Pelios, MacDuff & Axelrod (2003), investigated the effects of a treatment package on
establishing independent academic work skills in elementary aged children with autism
spectrum disorders. A multiple probe design across participants was used. Intervention
consisted of delayed reinforcement, prompt fading, decreasing instructors’ presence,
unpredictable supervision and response cost. Once participants were on-task and on-schedule
for 80% of two consecutive sessions and response cost had not been implemented, the teacher
gradually faded prompts and proximity. Every second page of the activity schedule,
contained intermittent reinforcement, in the form of a penny in which participants could trade
in for a reinforcer of their choice. Off-schedule or off-task responding resulted in the
intermittent reinforcement being retracted.
Results concluded that the treatment package increased on-task and on-schedule
responding in all three participants, with minimal adult supervision. Two of the children
required minimal adult supervision in maintenance. Generalisation probes showed that
behaviour of all three children transferred across novel materials and settings in absence of
adult supervision. However, one limitation of the study was that intervention consisted of a
treatment package, which contained a number of different variables that were implemented
simultaneously, thus, it is impossible to identify which specific variables were responsible for
behaviour change.
MacDuff, Krantz and McClannahan (1993), taught children aged between 9 and 14
years old with autism, to use photographic activity schedules using graduated guidance. A
multiple baseline design across participants was used to increase on-task and on-schedule
responding, by using activity schedules. The design included baseline, teaching, maintenance,
sequencing of photographs, and generalization to novel photographs phases. Throughout
baseline, once initial instruction was given by the experimenter, no additional manual,
gestural, or verbal prompts were delivered. Inappropriate behaviour was ignored. During the

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teaching phase, graduated guidance was used to teach the mechanics of the activity schedule
to participants. Each activity schedule consisted of a three ring binder containing 6 pictures of
leisure and homework tasks.
Fading began, when students were scoring at least 80% on-task and on-schedule
performance, by moving from graduated guidance to spatial fading (i.e., the teacher changed
the location of manual prompts). Results showed an immediate increase in on-task
performance and on-schedule responding of up to between 97% and 99% for all participants.
However, one limitation of the study was that the activities within the activity schedules,
mainly focused on leisure activities and homework style tasks, such as handwriting sheets,
rather than tasks involving a broader range of functional academic focus.
Bryan and Gast (2000), extended the MacDuff et al. (1993) study and taught on-task
and on-schedule behaviours to high functioning children with autism, using picture activity
schedules. An A-B-A-B withdrawal design was used to evaluate the effectiveness of activity
schedules on, on-task and on-schedule behaviours and generalisation of activities to novel
activities. There were five conditions in total, which evaluated the effectiveness of activity
schedules on the target behaviours. The results of the investigation indicated that student
performance rose to criterion levels upon introduction of the graduated guidance procedure.
Student performance was maintained when the picture activity book was available and
dropped when the picture activity book was not available. Student performance also
generalized to novel activities. Although this study has shown some promising results, some
limitations were noted. An example of a limitation of the study was that only literacy based
activities and novel activities, such as threading, were used. The authors suggested the need
for future research to broaden the use of activity schedules to more complex subjects such as
mathematics and introducing activity schedules to student’s least restrictive environments.

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Although previous research has shown that the use of visual cues can decrease
dependence on teachers and enhance maintenance of newly acquired skills, most of these
studies have only focused on leisure and novel activities, blended with academic activities
within the activity schedule. Research using visual cueing procedures has not yet clarified if
high independence, using complete academic tasks within the activity schedules, can be
attained. The present study was an attempt to extend the findings of the previously discussed
studies. The studies were similar in respect of the independent and dependent variables being
measured. However, the studies differed in respect of the prompting hierarchy used,
measurement of the dependent variables, age and cognitive ability of the participants, setting,
introduction method of activities and activities included in the schedule.
The present study focused on one main prompting strategy promoting on-schedule
performance in an adolescent aged group of participants on the lower-functioning end of the
autism spectrum. The study also assessed the increase of on-task performance, contingent on
the increase in the length of the sessions. No novel activities were used in the activity
schedule, only a variety of academic and functional activities were used in the present study.
The number of activities were also introduced in a staggered fashion as it was hypothesised
that it would show a more rapid decrease in prompts due to the steady introduction of tasks,
rather than an initial introduction of numerous stimuli. The main goal of the study was to
shift the stimulus control from adult prompting to the activity schedule, via most-to-least
prompting.

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Methodology
Settings and Participants
The participants of the study were one male and two female adolescents, which met
the criteria for mild to severe autism spectrum disorder, based on the DSM IV (American
Psychology Association, 1994). Two participants were aged 14 while the third participant
was aged 16, all of whom had severe language deficits. Each participant followed a daily
picture schedule with adult supervision, however, all participants had limited experience
using a within visual activity schedule. Each participant had demonstrated picture–object
correspondence prior to the start of the study. All three participants remained on-task with
irregular performance in the presence of supervising adults, but engaged in off-schedule or
off-task behaviour in the absence of adults. None of the participants had a formal history with
the most-to-least prompting procedure or visual cues used to prompt academic activities.
The baseline, intervention, introduction of new tasks, re-sequencing of activities and
maintenance conditions were conducted in a classroom, in an autism specific special school.
The classroom was a moderately big, well lit room and consisted of five desks, at which, the
participants carried out their academic tasks daily. There was also a computer and a laptop
present in the classroom, which were used for academic work and reinforcement.
The activity schedule was conducted at the participants’ desk each day. The activities
selected were academic spellings, maths or other academic activities, that were previously
mastered or nearly mastered, by the participant. The activities were presented to the
participants’ in a manipulated format, than the previously acquired format. This did not
include Apps on an iPad.
An information sheet (see App. A), was distributed to parents/guardians combined
with consent forms (see App. B), to obtain consent from parents/guardians. Participant

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permission was also obtained (see App. C), through a picture story and consent form.
Debriefing sheets were distributed to participants at the end of the study (see App. D).
Approval for research with human research participants was obtained through the university
via the ethics committee (see App. E, attached letter of approval).
Dependent Variables
On/Off Schedule Performance: On-schedule responding was scored if the participant
completed a step of the task analysis independently (see App. F). Off-schedule was recorded
if a participant did not complete a step within 30 seconds, or required a prompt to complete a
step of the task analysis.
On/Off Task Performance: Partial interval time sampling with 10 second intervals, was
used to record on/off task behaviour (see App. G). On-task behaviour was recorded if the
participant was visually attending to the work materials, looking at their activity schedule,
and manipulating the work materials appropriately, i.e., using them as they were designed to
be used, or if moving from one activity to another. Off-task was scored if the participant used
materials in a manner other than what they were designed for, manipulated but did not attend
to the materials, engaged in inappropriate behaviour or did not engage in activities or use
materials.
Independent Variables
Most-to-Least Prompting: A most-to-least prompting hierarchy was used to encourage on-
schedule and on-task responding to the activity schedule. This was recorded using a task

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analysis sheet (see App. E). The type of prompt given was recorded on the task analysis. If no
prompt was given a correct was scored on the step of the task analysis.
Number of Prompts: All physical, verbal and gestural prompts were recorded to monitor the
participants’ level of dependency on their practitioner. The specific prompt was recorded on
the task analysis (see App. E). Each prompt was modelled for the practitioner so they were
aware what prompt matched each prompt label and how to mark this on the task analysis.
Time Length of each Session: The goal of the intervention was for the participants to
complete between 10 to 25 minutes of independent academic work. The length of time was
noted at the end of each session on the task analysis (see App. E), and more work was
introduced to increase the time spent completing the activity schedule to 25 minutes. This
was variable on each participant.
Materials: A 10 x 10 centimetre picture of the activity schedule was used to represent the
activity schedule on the participants’ daily visual schedule. The activity schedule consisted of
a 10 x 9 inch red binder that held 6 to 20 pages, depending on the participant. A textual cue
which indicated which activity was next, i.e., spellings, was displayed on every other page,
while a token was present on the remaining pages. The specific activity followed the
corresponding textual cue. The activities selected were academic spellings, maths or other
academic activities, that were previously or nearly mastered by the participant. Some of the
activities were presented in a different format, than the previously acquired format, within the
activity schedule.
For participant one, spellings included pictures with a line under each picture, in
which the participant wrote the corresponding spelling, with a pencil. Maths consisted of
pages from their mathematics book that were photocopied and placed in the activity folder

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daily. A crossword was drafted each week, which contained previously acquired spellings. A
fill-in the blank activity was also constructed for participant one, in which, sentences that
discussed previously researched topics were portrayed on a sheet with missing words, and the
participant had to insert the correct word. The spellings, maths, crossword and research
sentences, were changed each week.
For participants’ two and three, spellings consisted of pictures with a velcro strip,
under each picture. Each participant then had to choose the correct letters from an array of
velcro letters to complete the correct spellings. For participant two, maths consisted of a
counting activity, in which they had to place the correct number under the corresponding
picture of a specific number of items. For participant three, the maths activity was a tracing
activity from their mathematics book. The third activity for participants’ two and three
consisted of a tracing activity with functional words and a signature tracing activity in which,
both participants had to practice writing their name in a small enclosed space, similar to those
on bank drafts or post office accounts.
Experimental Design: A multiple baseline design across participants was used to assess the
effects of photographic activity schedules and the most-to-least prompting hierarchy on, on-
schedule performance, during baseline, intervention, introduction of new tasks, re-sequencing
of tasks and maintenance conditions. On-task performance was examined contingent on the
increase in the length of the sessions.

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Procedure
Baseline: Baseline consisted of the picture of the activity schedule being placed on the
student’s daily visual schedule. Once the student placed, or was prompted to place the picture
on their ‘first, next’ schedule, their practitioner verbally instructed them to do their activity
folder. No additional prompt was delivered after the initial verbal instruction. The students
were fluent in using a first, then schedule, prior to the study. Once there was no engagement
with the activity folder for 30 seconds, the practitioner instructed them to change the picture
to the next activity. If engagement occurred, it was recorded.
Intervention: When baseline data stabilised across four sessions with participant one, the
pre-intervention teaching condition was introduced. This pre-intervention teaching condition
lasted for two sessions. The condition consisted of the investigator/staff member teaching the
mechanics of the activity schedule to the student with full or partial physical prompting. Pre-
intervention training started by placing the picture of the activity schedule on the participant’s
visual schedule. The participant’s hand was guided by the practitioner to place the picture of
the activity schedule on the ‘first’ part of their ‘first, next’ board. The practitioner then
physically guided the participant’s hand to the activity schedule. Once the participant had
placed the activity schedule in front of them via hand-over-hand prompting, the practitioner
manually guided the participant to open the activity schedule. Most-to-least prompting was
delivered from the practitioner, to help the participant complete the first activity of the
activity schedule.
Once two pre-intervention sessions elapsed, the full and partial physical prompting
was reduced to gestural or model prompts, as needed. This incorporated the practitioner
moving to a less physical prompt such as modelling the correct step, verbally explaining the
step or providing a gestural hint in the form of pointing or looking. The first task in each

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activity folder for each participant was academic spellings. Once they were reaching 80%
criteria for 6-8 consecutive sessions, maths was introduced. When the participant was
reaching over 80% accuracy with both the spellings and maths activities, for 6-8 consecutive
sessions, a third activity was introduced. Participant one completed 11 consecutive sessions
of maths due to an increase in the amount of math sheets from five to fifteen, after the sixth
consecutive session. This task was different for each participant, but fell within a functional
use such as crosswords or practicing signatures.
Once participant one was reaching 80% of the task analysis independently, for their
first activity, for four consecutive sessions, the pre-intervention phase began with participant
two, this was the same for participant 3. Most-to-least prompting was initially available for
the introduction of each new activity, but prompts were faded in frequency and intensity as
rapidly as possible. Fading began by moving from full and partial physical prompting to
modelling, verbal or gestural prompting. However, if a participant engaged in inappropriate
behaviour, or if they paused for 30 seconds, prompts were reinstated. When the participant
scored on-schedule during at least 80% of time samples for 3 consecutive sessions of the first
activity, the practitioner began to fade their physical proximity.
Re-sequencing: When all three tasks were introduced, the order of the activities was re-
sequenced. The activities were randomly assigned to new positions in the participants’
schedules. This manipulation was performed to assess whether the participants’ were using
their schedules or following now-familiar routines.
Maintenance: When all tasks were introduced and the number of correct independent steps
was stable at 80% or higher, for five consecutive sessions, the activity schedule was
withdrawn for one week. After one week elapsed, the activity schedule was re-introduced to
the participants’ daily schedules and data was recorded on on-schedule performance and

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percentage of time on-task. Due to time constraints, participants’ 2 and 3 did not partake in
the maintenance condition.
Social Validity: Wolf (1978) defined social validity as the social significance of the goals,
the social appropriateness of the procedures, and the social importance of the effects of an
intervention. Post intervention questionnaires were distributed to staff and teachers which
accessed the social validity of the intervention, at the end of the intervention (see App. H).
These addressed four main areas; importance of increasing the behaviour, ease of
implementation, effective end result and time requirements. Staff members selected from five
response choice; agree/often (point value of 5), slightly agree/sometimes (point value of 4),
neutral (point value of 3), slightly disagree/rarely (point value of 2), and disagree/never (point
value of 1). Overall, the intervention possessed high social validity.
Interobserver Agreement: Interobserver agreement data was collected by two observers
standing in separate areas, i.e., in a corner or at the door, of the classroom. The two observers
independently scored the data cued by a gestural prompt from the teacher, when the
participant’s timer began. Interobserver agreement data was obtained for the dependent
variables on 30% of sessions, across all conditions. For on-schedule performance, an
agreement was scored when both observers recorded that the participant completed a specific
step of the task analysis correctly, or recorded if a specific prompt was required. An
agreement was scored when both observers recorded on-task performance as occurring, or
not occurring, at the end of an interval.
Interval-by-interval percentage interobserver agreement was calculated by dividing
the number of agreements by the number of agreements plus the number of disagreements

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and multiplying by 100%. Mean interobserver agreement of on-schedule performance was
97% (range, 92.5-100%). Mean interobserver agreement of on-task behaviour was 99%
(range 98.6-99.8%) (See App. I; Kazdin, 2010).

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Results:
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50
0
20
40
60
80
100
Participant 1
Baseline Pre-Intr Intro 1 Intro 2 Intro 3 Intro 4 Re Maintenance
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48
0
20
40
60
80
100
Corrects
Prompts
Participant 2
PercentageofCorrectOn-Schedule
PerformanceandPromptsRequired
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50
0
20
40
60
80
100
Participant 3
Number of Sessions
Figure 1: Percentage of correct on-schedule performance and percentage of session requiring prompts
across Baseline, Pre-Intervention, Intervention, Introduction of new tasks, Re-sequencing and Maintenance
conditions across all three participants.

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0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50
0
20
40
60
80
100
Participant 1
Number of Sessions
PercentageoftimeOn-TaskperSession
Figure 2: The percentage of on-task performance of participant one, across baseline, intervention, introduction of new activities,
re-sequencing and maintenance conditions.
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48
0
20
40
60
80
100
Participant 2
On-task
Number of Sessions
Figure 3: The percentage of on-task performance of participant two, across baseline, intervention, introduction of new activities
and re-sequencing conditions.
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50
0
20
40
60
80
100
Participant 3
Number of Sessions
Figure 4: The percentage of on-task performance of participant three, across baseline, intervention, introduction of new activities
and re-sequencing conditions.

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1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39 41 43 45 47 49
0
5
10
15
Participant 1
Number of Sessions
Most-To-LeastPromptingHierarchy
Figure 5: Most-to-Least prompting Hierarchy used across intervention phase and throughout introduction of new tasks
across for participant one.
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39 41 43 45 47
0
5
10
15
Full Physical Prompts
Partial Physical Prompts
Model Prompts
Verbal Prompts
Gestural Prompts
Number of Sessions
Participant 2
across for participant two.
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39 41 43 45 47 49
0
5
10
15
Participant 3
Number of Sessions
across for participant three.

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Figure 1 illustrates the percentage of on-schedule performance and prompts required
per session, for all three participants across baseline, pre-intervention, intervention,
introduction of new tasks, re-sequencing and maintenance conditions. During baseline, the
mean on-schedule performance of participant one was 8.75% (range 0-13%) and mean on-
task performance was 3.75% (range 0-6%; see figure 2). The mean on-schedule performance
of participant two was 4.59% (range 0-12%) and mean on-task performance was 1.76%
(range 0-6%; see figure 3). The mean on-schedule performance of participant three was
6.08% (range 0-12%) and mean on-task performance was 2.16% (range 0-6%; see figure 4).
During the pre-intervention training condition, the mean on-schedule performance of
participant one increased to 23% (range 20-26%) and mean on-task performance rose to 58%.
The intervention, combined with the introduction of the first activity, demonstrated an
increase in the mean on-schedule performance of participant one to 81.1% (range 13-100%)
and the mean of on-task performance to 88.5% (range 71-100%). The introduction of the
second activity saw an increase in the mean on-schedule performance of participant one to
93.8% (range 62-100%) and an increase to 96.2% (range 75-100%), for mean on-task
performance. During the introduction of the third activity, the mean on-schedule performance
of participant one rose to 95.1% (range 80-100%) and mean on-task performance increased to
97.6% (range 89-100%).
The introduction of the forth activity illustrated a decrease in the mean on-schedule
performance of participant one to 84.6% (range 77-91%) and a decrease in mean on-task
performance to 92.3% (range 88-97%). The re-sequencing condition resulted in an increase in
the mean on-schedule performance of participant one to 95.3% (range 91-100%) and mean
on-task performance to 95.6% (range 93-100%). The maintenance condition showed an
increase in the mean on-schedule performance of participant one to 100% and mean on-task
performance to 100%.

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participant two increased to 17.5% (range 12-23%) and mean on-task performance increased
to 63% (range 62-64%). The introduction of the first activity, with the intervention, showed
an increase in the mean on-schedule performance of participant two to 81.7% (range 59-
100%) and 93.8% (range 87-99%) in mean on-task performance. The introduction of the
second activity, increased mean on-schedule performance to 82.8% (range 55-100%) and
decreased the mean on-task performance of participant two to 93.1% (range 80-100%). The
introduction of the third activity illustrated an increase to 91%, in mean on-schedule
performance and an increase in the mean on-task performance of participant two to 99%. The
re-sequencing condition resulted in a decrease the mean on-schedule performance of
participant two to 87% (range 83-91%) and a decrease in mean on-task performance to 97.5%
(range 96-99%).
participant three increased to 20%, and mean on-task performance scored 67% (range 65-
69%). During the introduction of the first activity, the mean on-schedule performance of
participant three increased to 86.6% (range 73-100%) and mean on-task performance rose to
95.8% (range 88-100%). The introduction of the second activity demonstrated a small
decrease in the mean on-schedule performance of participant three to 86.4% (range 70-96%)
and a decrease in mean on-task performance to 94.4% (range 82-98%). The introduction of
the third activity illustrated a decrease to 80% in mean on-schedule performance and a
decrease in the mean on-task performance of participant three to 90%. During the re-
sequencing condition, the mean on-schedule performance of participant three increased to
92%, and mean on-task performance rose to 98%.
Figure 5 shows the number and type of the most-to-least prompts used during pre-
intervention training, intervention, introduction of each activity and maintenance conditions

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for participant one. During the pre-intervention condition, participant one required prompts
for 76.5% (range 73-80%) of the two sessions (shown in figure 1). During this condition,
participant one was given 23 prompts across the two sessions. This included full-physical
(27%), partial physical (13%), model (4%), verbal (13%) and gestural (43%) prompts. Full-
physical prompting was used mostly in the first session. During the second session,
participant one had graduated from full and partial physical prompting to gestural prompting,
as depicted on the graph.
During the intervention with the introduction of the first activity, participant one
required 23 verbal and gestural prompts (sessions 11-19 on the graph). Gestural prompts
consisted of 83% of the overall prompts, while verbal prompts consisted of 17% of the
overall prompts. The introduction of the second activity (sessions 20-31), showed a decrease
to 13 prompts. Partial physical (7.5%), model (7.5%), verbal (31%) and gestural (54%)
prompts consisted of the percentage of the 13 prompts used.
During the introduction of the third activity, 8 prompts were used across 9 sessions
(32-41). Partial physical (37.5%), verbal (37.5%) and gestural (25%) prompts were used
respectively. The introduction of the forth activity required the use of 8 prompts of which,
verbal (62.5%) and gestural (37.5%) prompts were used across the three sessions (42-44). A
total of three prompts were required in the re-sequencing condition (sessions 45-47). These
included verbal (66.7%) and gestural (33.3%) prompts. No prompts were required in the
maintenance condition.
Figure 6 illustrates the number and type of most-to-least prompts used during pre-
intervention training, intervention, introduction of each activity and re-sequencing conditions,
for participant two. A total of 29 prompts were delivered over the pre-intervention condition
including; full physical (31%), partial physical (34%), model (7%), verbal (7%) and gestural

27
(21%) prompts. The graph illustrates full physical and partial physical as the main prompting
used, with a change to less physical prompts, with the introduction of the intervention with
the first activity. During the introduction of the first activity condition, a total of 39 prompts
were recorded across sessions 20-32. The total number of prompts consisted of partial
physical (39.5%), verbal (13.1%) and gestural (47.4%) prompts.
The introduction of the second activity required a total of 43 prompts over the 12
sessions (33-44). Full physical (16.3%), partial physical (7%), model (2%), verbal (9%) and
gestural (65.7%) prompts, were used throughout the sessions. The introduction of the third
activity, required four prompts over two sessions (45-46). Full physical (25%), model (25%)
and gestural (50%), were needed throughout these sessions. Participant two required four
gestural prompts during the re-sequencing condition.
Figure 7 demonstrates the number and type of prompts required for participant three
over pre-intervention, intervention, introduction of each activity and re-sequencing of
activities conditions. For participant three, the pre-intervention training condition required 30
prompts over the two phases. Full physical (46%), partial physical (21%), verbal (12%) and
gestural (21%) prompts were each used across the pre-intervention condition respectively.
During the intervention combined with the first activity (sessions 29-40), participant three
required 24 prompts; Full physical (8.5%), verbal (29%), gestural (62.5) prompts.
The introduction of the second activity (sessions 41-47), saw a decrease in prompts to
22 prompts, with participant three only needing full physical (18%) with the initial
introduction and gestural (82%) prompts throughout the condition. During the introduction of
the third activity (session 48), only 5 prompts were required; partial physical (20%) and
gestural prompts (80%) across the condition. The re-sequencing condition (session 49), saw a

28
decrease in prompting with the participant only needing one partial physical and one gestural
prompt.
Throughout the intervention, the mean on-schedule performance of participant one
increased from 8.75% (range 0-13%) during baseline, to 95.3% (range 91-100%) at the end
of the intervention, and to 100% in the maintenance condition. The mean on-task
performance of participant one rose from 3.75% (range 0-6%) during baseline, to 95.6%
(range 93-100%) at the end of the intervention, and to 100% during the maintenance
condition. During baseline, the mean on-schedule performance of participant two was 4.59%
(range 0-12%) and the mean on-task performance of participant two was 1.76% (range 0-
6%). The mean on-schedule performance of participant two had increased to 88% (range 83-
91%) and the mean on-task performance of participant two rose to 97.5% (range 96-99%), at
the end of the intervention. The mean on-schedule performance of participant three increased
from 6.08% (range 0-12%) in baseline, to 92% at the end of the intervention. The mean on-
task performance of participant three rose to 98% at the end of the intervention, from 2.16%
(range 0-6%) during baseline. By the end of the intervention, each participant was completing
between 23 to 25 minutes of independent academic work.
Discussion:
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of visual support, in the
form of an activity schedule, in teaching students with autism to engage in on-task and on
schedule performance, via most-to-least prompting. The study provides support for the
development and use of visual activity schedules for students with lower-functioning autism.
A decreased rate of adult prompting was noted for all participants. The participants displayed
lengthy and complex chains of previously or nearly mastered functional behaviour, correlated

29
with the use of the activity schedules. When the participants were engaged with their activity
schedules, fewer aberrant behaviours occurred.
The mean on-schedule performance of the three participants increased to 93.3%
(range 88-100%), and the mean on-task performance was 98.5% (range 97.5%-100%), at the
end of the intervention. The results of the present study support the findings of the previously
discussed studies in respect to the participants maintaining high levels of independent on-
schedule performance contingent on the presentation of the activity schedule, and high levels
of on-task behaviour with appropriate scheduled materials, which, correlated with a decrease
in non-scheduled behaviours.
The present study focused on moving stimulus control from practitioners to activity
schedules via most-to-least prompting. Elements of different studies which demonstrated
increased on-task and on-schedule performance in students with autism, were incorporated
into the current study. Pelios et al. (2003), used a multiple component treatment package
containing delayed reinforcement, response cost and graduated guidance. Similar to this
study, two previously discussed studies also used also used graduated guidance to teach the
mechanics of the activity schedule to their participants (MacDuff et al., 1993; Bryan & Gast,
2000).
Graduated guidance involves physical guidance provided as needed. Rather than
hand-over-hand prompting, graduated guidance involves the practitioner following the
student’s movements closely without physical contact. Most-to-Least prompting the
participant is physically guided throughout the entire performance sequence. Customarily,
most-to-least prompting moves from physical guidance to visual prompts to verbal
instructions, and finally to the natural stimulus without prompts (Cooper, Heron & Heward,
2007).

30
The present study used a specific most-to-least prompting hierarchy to move the
stimulus control to the activity schedule. It was hypothesised that most-to-least prompting
would decrease adult prompting more rapidly than graduated guidance, as prompting is more
prominent at the beginning of the intervention. The results showed a decline in adult
prompting and an increase in on-schedule performance. During intervention, off-task
performance was occasionally scored, but the participants were not observed to engage in
functional activities other than those cued by their photographic schedules. However,
participant two and three still needed minimal adult prompting to score independent on-
schedule performance, when compared with participant one.
There were numerous explanations for this variable data. Participant two had a change
in medication during the intervention. The days surrounding the change in medication
resulted in the participant having increased anxiety and distress throughout the entire school
day. A parent report also concluded that this high level of anxiety and distress occurred at
home. Specifically, for session 33-36 and sessions surrounding there was a gradual increase
in prompts due to the participant losing focus or going off-task during the activity schedule.
Due to time constraints, it is unsure whether this change in medication had a strong negative
effect on the data, as the participant still needed prompts to locate the activity schedule. A
manipulation to the location of the activity schedule did decrease adult prompting, but the
participant would need a gestural prompt at times, to remain engaged in the activity schedule.
Participant three needed gestural prompts to remain engaged with the activity
schedule throughout the intervention. The participant would correctly and independently
complete the work, but would need a gestural prompt to refocus on their activity schedule.
Auditory prompting may decrease adult prompts used for refocusing on-schedule
performance. Mechling, Gast & Seid (2009), used a personalised digital assistant (PDA) to
increase independent on-schedule cooking performance in students with autism. The (PDA)

31
involved picture, auditory, and video prompts. The use of a PDA in the study included
auditory prompting, but did not provide auditory prompts as an option independent of picture
or video prompts. Future research could look at using auditory prompts specifically
correlated with activity schedules to increase independent on-schedule performance in
students with autism.
In addition to this research, further research is needed to ascertain whether placing a
visual prompt of the activity schedule broken down into the specific tasks on the picture of
the activity schedule or in the iPrompts schedule, could decrease the need for prompting
completely. By introducing prompts in the form of self-management procedures,
independence is still being achieved with high social significance. If there is a behavioural
change in a participant caused by an extraneous variable, the difficulty of the tasks within the
activity schedule may need to be reduced. This study found that most-to-least prompting is
not as effective in reducing adult prompting when compared to studies which used graduated
guidance. Based on the findings of this study, future research should continue to use
graduated guidance to decrease prompt dependency on adults in teaching on-schedule
performance to students with autism.
It was hypothesised that introducing the number of activities, in a staggered fashion,
would show a more rapid decrease in prompts due to the steady introduction of tasks, rather
than an initial introduction of numerous stimuli. This did not reduce the number of adult
prompts more rapidly and increased prompting throughout the study, when a new activity
was introduced. It was estimated that the stimulus control of the practitioners did not move to
the activity schedule with participants’ two and three, due to the reintroduction of prompts
throughout the intervention. Based on the findings of this study, future research should
introduce all activities at the beginning of the intervention and increase in complexity rather
than number of activities.

32
On-task performance was measured using momentary time sampling in specific
studies which increased the target behaviours via activity schedules (Pelios et al., 2003;
MacDuff et al., 1993; Bryan & Gast (2000)). A disadvantage of momentary time sampling is
that it can both, over or underestimate the results. The present study used partial interval time
sampling to record on-task behaviour in order to avoid over or underestimating the
percentage of time on-task. On-schedule behaviour was measured by specifically modified
task analyses, which was also used in the previously mentioned studies. This study
demonstrated evidence that measuring on-task behaviour by partial interval recording does
not over or underestimate the percentage of time on-task, and provides more consistent data
rather than measuring via momentary time sampling. This study also supported previous
research in measuring on-schedule performance by modified task analyses.
The present study expanded upon previous research by evaluating the use of a visual
prompting system in a classroom setting serving students with autism. Previous research has
been carried out in resource classrooms, general education classrooms or in isolated or
restricted rooms. The current study was conducted in a classroom in an autism specific
school. Adults and other students were present in the environment which may have provided
natural distractions. This can be considered as a least restrictive environment. Bryan & Gast
(2000), suggested that future research should be programmed in least restrictive environments
or settings serving students with autism. The present study has demonstrated that activity
schedules can increase on-task and on-schedule performance in the students’ least restrictive
environments
Furthermore, this study has illustrated that activity schedules can increase on-task and
on-schedule behaviours in students with lower functioning autism, in the later cycle of
adolescent years. Previous research had lacked participants with lower functioning autism, in
a middle to late adolescent age group. In addition, previous studies targeted leisure and novel

33
activities blended with academic activities, whereas the current investigation focused on
multiple academic activities such as literacy and numeracy based activities. As more children
with autism and related disorders are being served in their local schools, it is imperative that
these programs run efficiently. Due to school-age students with autism being faced with new
learning environments and a lack of consistent routines in these settings (Cohen & Volkmar,
1997), picture schedules may provide a way for them to engage in appropriate task-related
behaviours with minimal adult prompting.
Although this study demonstrated increases in on-schedule performance in
adolescents with autism, limitations were noted. One limitation of the study is that the writing
of participant one became increased in size and more illegible, contingent on the decreasing
stimulus control of the practitioner. Once this was noted the writing space under the picture
became more confined and the participant’s handwriting achieved previous legibility. A
tracing task was put in place for participant two and three, which did not affect the legibility
of their handwriting. Another limitation of the current study is that maintenance was only
conducted with participant one due to the end of the school year. Future research will need to
conduct maintenance with all participants.
Children diagnosed with various disabilities, including autism, developmental
disabilities, and severe disabilities, often exhibit behaviours requiring supports that focus on
organization, academic and life skills, communication, social interaction, and behaviour
management (Breitfelder, 2008). The current study supports the previously discussed
literature, in which the organization of the activity schedule, in the form of visual cues
showed an increase in on-task and on-schedule performance, with minimal adult supervision.
Visual supports in this study were individualised and adapted to the cognitive ability
and support level needed for the student to succeed in task completion independently.

34
Although the students did need modest prompts at different intervals throughout the study,
their on-schedule performance rose from 6.47% (range 4.59-8.74%) in baseline, to 93.3%
(range 88-100%), at the end of the study. Social validity findings indicate that the students’
practitioners and regular education teachers reported that using picture schedules would be a
useful management tool, would be feasible to implement in their classrooms, and could be
used to benefit all students. They reported that the intervention would be implemented in
each participant’s Individualised Education Plan for the upcoming academic year and the
study was being replicated in a different classroom towards the end of the school year.
This study supported previous research in which, the use of visual activity schedules
maintained high levels of independent on-schedule performance in participants, and high
levels of on-task performance with appropriate scheduled materials, correlated with a
decrease in non-scheduled behaviours. However, implications of these findings show the
importance for future development and use of visual activity schedules to promote the
independent functioning of students with autism spectrum disorders combined with self-
management procedures to increase on-task and on-schedule performance in students with
lower functioning autism, on the senior end of the adolescent age cycle.

35
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39
Appendices
Information Sheet
Dear parent/Legal guardian,
My name is Caroline Kinneen and I am a Postgraduate student participating in the Masters in Applied Behavior
Analysis course in Trinity College Dublin. As part of the course requirement, students are to conduct research
in an area of ABA.
Independence, in general, is a very important life lesson. There has been research to show that children and
adults with autism can gain independence to a high degree. However, there is little research done with
adolescents with autism and independence. The purpose of this study is to increase independent academic work
in teenagers with autism. Each child will be given a folder that consists of pictures of their academic work they
can complete very well with minimal support from their tutor. A picture of their activity book will be
introduced on to their schedule that will show the students when it is time to use this folder. Each child will be
given prompts to help use this activity book and complete the academic work associated with the picture. Every
second page in the book will have a token on it, which the student will collect as they work through the book.
Once they have collected all their tokens, they can partake in a preferred activity of their own choice. Over
time, the tutor will gradually reduce their prompts and reduce their presence beside the student. A nice positive
saying will be said to the students every 2 to 3 minutes such as ‘that is lovely writing’ or ‘wow you are flying
through your work today!’ This study I am carrying out will hopefully help the student’s gain independence
with their academic work and will hopefully generalize to other settings such as the home.
Participation in this study is voluntary, and should you decide to decline, this will in no way affect the service
your child receives now or in the future. You are free to withdraw your consent at any time during the study.
Should you wish to withdraw consent please inform my supervisor or myself.
Your child’s name will not be used anywhere throughout the study. All data collected will be treated in the
strictest confidence, within legal limitations. Data will be stored securely in a locked cupboard and only myself
and my supervisor directly involved in this study will have access to them. Videotaping might be conducted to
ensure data collection reliability. It will only be myself or my supervisor carrying out videotaping and viewing
videotaping for data collection purposes. Videotapes will be deleted as soon as data verification is complete.
Strict confidentiality will be maintained throughout this study, you have the right to all information regarding
this treatment and to ask questions about the research methods at any time. Only myself, my thesis supervisor
and my BCBA (Board Certified Behavior Analyst) supervisor will have access to data and details of your
child’s progress in the study.
Should you have any questions regarding this study please do not hesitate to contact me or my dissertation
supervisor. If appropriate support cannot be offered by the service, my supervisor or me, the contact number for
Irish Autism Action is 044 9371680.
Kind regards
________________
Name: Caroline Kinneen. Dr. Maeve Bracken (supervisor)
School of psychology, School of Psychology,
Aras an Phiarsaigh, Aras an Phiarsaigh,
Trinity College, Trinity College,
College Green, College Green,
Dublin 2 Dublin 2
Email: Kinneenc@tcd.ie Email: mbracken@tcd.ie
Phone : 085 156 7484 Phone: (01) 8961337
Appendix A: Information sheet distributed to parents/guardians.

40
Research Consent Form
Child’s Name: ___________________
Date of Birth: _______________________
Dear Parent/Legal guardian,
My name is Caroline Kinneen and I am a Postgraduate student participating in the Masters in Applied Behavior Analysis course in
Trinity College Dublin. As part of the course requirement, students are to conduct research in an area of ABA.
The area I have chosen to research is teaching independent academic work to teenagers with autism. The purpose of this study is to
increase the child’s independence in participating in academic work by using a combination of an activity schedule and treatment
package. Please read the attached Information Sheet.
Participation in this study is voluntary, and should you decide to decline, this will in no way affect the service your child receives now
or in the future. You are free to withdraw your consent at any time during the study. Should you wish to withdraw consent please in-
form my supervisor or myself.
Your child’s name will not be used anywhere throughout the study. All data collected will be stored confidentially. Videotaping will
sometimes occur to ensure reliability of data. Videotapes will be stored securely in a locked cupboard in the school and only myself
and my supervisor directly involved in this study will have access to them. Videotapes will be deleted as soon as data verification is
complete. If you wish to consent to the study and not to videotaping, just sign below.
This study does not involve any physical and social risks to your child. The study does not require your child to reveal information of
a sensitive nature and the procedure will not cause any psychological distress. However, if there are any behavioural indicators of
distress from your child, the intervention will be postponed /cancelled. If deemed appropriate, in house support services will be of-
fered to him/her and further evaluation will take place to determine their suitability for continued participation in the research. If ap-
propriate support cannot be offered by the service, my supervisor or me, the contact number for Irish Autism Action is 044 9371680.
Strict confidentiality will be maintained throughout this study, you have the right to all information regarding this treatment and to ask
questions about the research methods at any time. Only myself, my thesis supervisor and my BCBA(Board Certified Behavior Ana-
lyst) supervisor will have access to data and details of your child’s progress in the study.
Should you have any questions regarding this study please do not hesitate to contact me or my dissertation supervisor. If you agree to
your child’s involvement, please sign below. Thank you for considering this request.
Kind regards,
____________________________
Dublin 2 Dublin 2
Phone : 085 156 7484 Phone: (01) 8961337
Appendix B: Parents/ guardian consent form.
I hereby consent to the above named participating in this research study with videotaping for data collection purposes
________________________________ ____________________________
Parent or legal guardian Date
I hereby consent to the above named participating in this research study without videotaping for data collection purposes.
_______________________________ ____________________________
Parent legal guardian Date

41
Research Consent (for participants)
Due to the cognitive ability of the participants, the first two paragraphs will be read to them.
If the participant indicates their consent through sign or verbally, the researcher will sign below.
Hi ________________ (child’s name),
My name is Caroline and I would like to work with you. We are going to give you a book full of work and
when it is finished you can have a choice of something that you would like to do. Every second page has a spe-
cial token and you can collect them for your favorite game or activity. Your tutor will not sit beside you for this
work but if you need help you can ask them.
If you are happy to do this you can say ‘yes’ or sign ‘yes’ and then I will give you your work book and special
token board. You can ask for help with your work at any time. If you are not happy to work without your tutor,
that’s no problem at all, just tell me ‘no’. Only myself, my thesis supervisor and my BCBA (Board Certified
Behavior Analyst) supervisor will have access to data and details of your progress in the study.
You can ask me any question you want about this work and we can stop at any time.
School of Psychology, School of Psychology,
Dublin 2 Dublin 2
Phone: 085 1567484 Phone: (01) 8961337
Appendix 5: Participants consent form.
Appendices C: Consent form for participants.
I hereby state that the above named child has verbally agreed to participate in this research study.
________________________ _______________________
Participant’s name Researchers’ Name
Date: __________________

42
Debriefing sheet
Dear Parents and Students,
I would like to thank you for taking part in this study. The purpose of this study was to increase independ-
ent academic work in teenagers with autism. The research was supervised by Dr. Maeve Bracken.
Firstly, each student was observed and data was collected to determine whether or not they completed any
tasks in their activity schedule on seeing the picture of the activity schedule on their daily schedule, without
their tutor sitting next to them. The picture of their activity schedule was a picture of a binder folder which in-
cluded pictures of tasks. These tasks consisted of tasks mastered or nearly mastered, some of which were in the
student’s current IEP. Then, the students were asked to complete the task and received a prompt, if needed, to
help complete the task on seeing the picture of the activity schedule. This prompt was gradually faded out. A
positive statement was given every two to three minutes. A token was present on every second page of the ac-
tivity schedule and when the student had collected all their tokens, they were able to participate in a preferred
activity of their choice.
Results of this study showed that the students were able to complete the tasks with minimal prompts. How-
ever, they were completely engaged in the activity folder and if there was more time to fade the prompts the
students would be able to complete academic work without their tutor for an extended period of time.
Your child’s name was not used anywhere throughout the study and all data was stored securely in a locked
cupboard and only myself and my supervisor directly involved in this study had access to it.
Strict confidentiality was maintained throughout this study. You have the right to all information regarding
this treatment and can ask questions about the research methods at any time. Only I, my thesis supervisor and
my BCBA (Board Certified Behavior Analyst) supervisor will have access to data and details of your child’s
progress in the study.
Should you have any questions regarding this study please do not hesitate to contact me or my dissertation
supervisor. If appropriate support cannot be offered by the service, my supervisor or me, the contact number for
Irish Autism Action is 044 9371680. I would like to thank you once again for you participation in the study.
Kind regards
_____________________
Dublin 2 Dublin 2
Phone : 085 156 7484 Phone: (01) 8961337
Appendix D: Debriefing Sheet distributed to participants.

43
Appendix E: Ethics Committee Approval Letter.

44
Task Analysis for Using Activity Schedule
Week Beginning: Student:
Mon
Time:
Tue Wed Thurs Fri
1. Student places ‘activity schedule PECS’ on ‘first, next’
schedule.
2. Student places activity schedule folder on desk and sits
at desk.
3. Student opens first page of activity schedule folder.
4. Student locates Spellings task depicted on the first page
of the activity schedule folder.
5. Student takes spellings out of polly pocket on the first
page of the activity folder.
6. Student gets pencil.
7. Student completes __ spellings correctly
(Note if any are incorrect).
Moon_ _ _ _ _ Computer_ _ _ _ _ Frog_ _ _ _ _
Train_ _ _ _ _Ghost _ _ _ _ _ Cup_ _ _ _ _ Mat_ _ _ _ _ Toast_ _ _ _
_ Six _ _ _ _ _ Angry_ _ _ _ _ Happy_ _ _ _ _ Pool_ _ _ _ _ Bat_ _ _
_ _ Man_ _ _ _ _ Foal_ _ _ _ _ Kitten_ _ _ _ _ Boat_ _ _ _ _ Sad _ _
_ _ _ Star_ _ _ _ _ Tractor_ _ _ _ _ Dog_ _ _ _ _ Doll_ _ _ _ _ Drum
_ _ _ _ _ Boot _ _ _ _ _ Door_ _ _ _ _ King _ _ _ _ _ Egg _ _ _ _ _
Bed _ _ _ _ _ Pig _ _ _ _ _ Sun _ _ _ _ _ Ten _ _ _ _ _ Cake _ _ _ _ _
8. Student places completed spellings back in folder in
Activity Schedule.
9. Student changes to page with first token.
10. Student takes token and places it on token board.
11. Student turns to next page and takes out math
worksheets.
12. Student completes 8 math worksheets.
13. Student places math worksheets back in folder.
14. Student takes token and places it on token board.
15. Student turns to next page and takes out crossword.
16. Student completes crossword and puts back in folder.
17. Student turns page and takes token and places it on
token board.
18. Student changes page and finds English copy.
19. Student takes out sheet and begins to fill in the missing
word.
20. Student places sheet back in folder and turns page to
receive token.
21. Student places token on the token board.
22. Student gains access to reinforcement of their choice.
VP- Verbal Prompt. MP- Model Prompt. FPP- Full Physical Prompt (Hand over hand prompting). PPP- Partial Physical
Prompt (light tap). GP- Gestural Prompt (point, look).  - No Prompt.
Appendix F: Task analysis used to collect data on correct independent steps and prompt level required.

45
Partial Interval Recording Sheet for Independent Work
Observer: Student: Week Beginning:
Operational Definition: Student is visually attending to their work materials, engaging with their activity schedule, following their
activity schedule, manipulating work materials appropriately and moving from one activity schedule to another. Allow for natural
distractions, i.e., looking away if there is noise in the classroom. A 10 second partial interval recoding is in place. If the student is not
carrying out the operational definition outlined above, this must be scored as an incorrect.
X - Incorrect  - Correct
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
1 Min
2 Min
3 Min
4 Min
5 Min
6 Min
7 Min
8 Min
9 Min
10 Min
11 Min
12 Min
13 Min
14 Min
15 Min
16 Min
17 Min
18 Min
19 Min
20 Min
21 Min
22 Min
23 Min
24 Min
25 Min
Appendix G: Partial –Interval Recording sheet used to record on-task behaviour.

46
Social Validity Questionnaire
The items might be ranked using a five-point scale in which 1=Strongly Disagree and
5=Strongly Agree.
The intervention focused on an important behaviour.
1 2 3 4 5
The target behaviour was of sufficient concern to warrant the use of this intervention.
1 2 3 4 5
I believe that this intervention produced effective results.
1 2 3 4 5
I understood the intervention steps.
1 2 3 4 5
The intervention was easily incorporated into the classroom system.
1 2 3 4 5
I believe that the intervention was accurately implemented in my classroom.
1 2 3 4 5
I had the necessary materials to implement this intervention accurately.
1 2 3 4 5
The time requirements of this intervention were reasonable.
1 2 3 4 5
Appendix H: Social Validity Questionnaire.

47
Interobserver Agreement
Participant one
On-Schedule:
314
314
x 100 = 100%.
On-Task:
1866
1866+3
x 100= 99.8%.
Participant two
On-Schedule:
246
246+20
x 100= 92.5%.
On-Task:
1629
1629+20
x 100= 98.8%.
Participant three
On-Schedule:
293
293+4
X 100=98.6%.
On-Task:
1536
1536+14
x 100= 98.6%.
Mean On-Schedule IOA =
100+92.5+98.6
3
= 97%
Mean On-Task IOA =
99.8+98.8=98.6
3
= 99%.
Appendix I: Interobserver Agreement Calculations.

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