Comprehensive Individualized Curriculum and Instructional Design

inclusive environments, a task analysis should be conducted. A task analysis involves breaking down the steps of a routine or task. These individual steps are then analyzed for variations in cues and prompts to determine how to provide instruction that promotes generalization of the skills. An example of a completed task-analysis form is provided below (Figure 4). Using this task-analysis form, identify a logical step sequence for completing the routine. Make sure to provide brief, but specific information in the step to prompt the learner. For example, instead of “student will turn the door knob to the right” state “turn the door knob.” Using this consistent language will help those implementing the plan identify verbal prompts to use with a student and help the student identify the relevant features to cue their behavior. Next, identification of stimuli that could be varied for each step should be notated in the adjacent column. Finally, data codes from 0 (no opportunity) to 1 (most intrusive level of prompting; e.g., physical prompting) to 2 (less-intrusive level of prompting; e.g., gestural prompting) to 3 (least intrusive level of prompting; e.g., verbal prompting) to 4 (independent) are used to empirically document student progress. A second sheet (Figure 5) is provided to allow for anecdotal and qualitative data collection of student and teacher performance within the task. For more information and examples of task analyses, go to the National Professional Development Center on Autism Spectrum Disorders: http://autismpdc.fpg.unc.edu/content/task-analysis . 10