Who
An autistic individual living with LD supported 1:1 in supported living.
Why?
To open up this person’s world – so that they can recognise key words, find items and transfer this to life skill areas such as shopping. The individual was keen to learn to read and was involved in the process. Family also showed a preference for this goal and offered some resources they felt their family member would like.
How?
Using discrete trial teaching to collect some baseline data to understand what words were already known. Words known included egg, grape and shoes. Staff trialled the words using a combination of both matching and reading.
DTT was then used to teach the unknown words, first by matching the word to real objects in his home, and then testing the word when not close to the object. This would be done functionally when the items were being used (in context), but also out of context to avoid the prompt.
Activities were always done with his consent and when they wanted to practice. The PBS team led the teaching/activities but keyworker and other staff were also trained using Behavioural Skills Training so that the practicing could happen at all times and generalised across different people/staff. This means the skill will be more likely maintained.
Progress
This individual already knew 13/46 words selected. After teaching, they were able to consistently match (in context) and then read all words. This took 5 weeks.
Next steps
To enable maintenance and generalisation this skill is being currently transferred to the individual creating and using a shopping list, therefore a naturalistic approach is adopted. This will improve their overall independence.