Precision Teaching with Rate Building
There are several ways to determine target rates. There are some resources available with normed rates, including a set from learners on the autism spectrum, collected by Fabrizio & Moors. When no target rate is available, typical peers can be sampled to determine a target range. Examples of skills that might be targeted via PT with rate-building are motor skills such as grasping, reaching, placing, and pulling as well as other skills such as matching pictures and answering questions. Example 2 Alternately, a child might be working on pointing. (Assume the learner knows how to point and is now working on pointing more rapidly and independently.) Teacher: “Ok, Sally, it is time to do pointing. Remember go as fast as you can. You see your chart? We are trying to get to the red line. Ready, set, go.”
Example 1 A learner working on identifying pictures could begin a session as follows (Assume the learner already had sufficient prompting and practice, has the component skills, and is now performing independently.) Teacher: “Ok, Sammy. It’s time to do your pictures. Remember go as fast as you can. Your goal is 15. Ready, set, go.” Learner: rapidly labels items on table. T eacher provides coaching encouragement along the way. At the end of the interval the timer goes off and the teacher counts 16 correct. She says, “Terrific. You met your goal. Hooray!” The teacher would then indicate that the goal has been met on the chart, and would make adjustments in instruction for the next day (e.g., lengthening the timing). When the student has met the goal in the terminal timing length (e.g., 1 minute) or at an earlier point in instruction if performance warrants it, the teacher would assess whether the student can demonstrate the skill with novel materials (application), in the face of distraction (stability), and for longer periods of time (endurance). If all of those criteria are met, the skill would not be practiced for about a month, and then a retention check would be conducted.
Learner: points rapidly in succession.
Teacher provides coaching encouragement along the way. Teacher (at end of interval notices that the child did not meet her goal): “Great try, Sally. Let’s do it again, and I’ll help this time.” The teacher might then perform a guided practice to help the learner understand the target rate. The maximum number of timings conducted on a single day is10 (although timings are not successive and cease whenever the daily goal is reached). If success is not achieved, adjustments are made in instruction to increase success on the following day.
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ABA Principles & Methods
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