CHOICE BOARD Antecedent-based Interventions (ABI) are evidence-based and proactive strategies designed to reduce the occurrence of interfering behavior. ABI focuses on modifying the environment and changing elements that could trigger an interfering behavior. ABI includes strategies such as modifying the environment, providing choices, and using motivating items (Neitzel, 2009). A choice board is a visual representation of items/activities that are available to choose from. This tool is used to encourage communication, provide a visual reminder of what choices are available, and encourage independent decision-making throughout the day. Giving students choices is a very effective way to enlist their cooperation. The primary purpose of giving a person choices is to have him or her have some control over certain situations. Both adults and children like to have some control over their lives. It is more satisfying or motivating to be able to decide which snack one might have, which video to watch, or whether one does math first or second. Providing choice is a positive programming strategy that may reduce some situational behavior problems (Vicker, 1999). There are many ways to introduce a choice board into the day. The choice board that is included in the Autism Classroom Toolkit is a simple page for choices to be displayed. These choices can include anything from activities to snacks to preferred peers or adults. All students have different needs and it is important to determine how many choices should be available to each student. For entry level choice board users, it is common to only have available choices displayed on the board. This helps to prevent frustration by ensuring that any choice the child makes will be one that is available to them.
TO DO LIST Visual activity schedules and structured to do lists draw upon three evidence-based strategies: antecedent-based interventions, prompting, and visual supports (Hume et al., 2021). They are considered an antecedent-based intervention in that they are typically presented to the individual prior to the initiation of the task or activity as a visual cue to help the individual know what the expectations are and what is coming next. Providing clear expectations for individuals with autism can reduce the likelihood of interfering behaviors from occurring by decreasing anxiety and increasing predictability. To Do lists can be considered a prompt or support in completing necessary tasks throughout the day. Having a visual sequenced checklist of what comes next can promote confidence and independence in completing the activities. The To Do List page in the Autism Classroom Toolkit gives educators and other supporting adults the flexibility to provide a task list to the individual they are supporting. This can be in the form of an independent work task list, a structured visual agenda for a lesson or therapy session, a full or part day schedule, a structured centers or stations rotation task list, a task analysis for a specific skill, or any sequence of activities that the individual needs to complete. For an independent work task list , numbers, letters, or specific work task cards can be used to structure an independent work session for a student. The To Do List page allows the adult or student to set up their independent work cards in order, with the option to match them to their work tasks, place them in a “finished” bucket, or replace them on the right side of the page when they have completed each task. For a structured visual agenda for a lesson or therapy session, the supporting adult can choose the activities available and allow the student to place them in order, or if it is non-negotiable, the supporting adult can place the activities in the desired order on the page. Similarly, the student can pull off each card as it is completed and replace it on the “finished” side or in a finished bucket at the table they are working on. For a full or part day schedule , a sequence of events can be written or attached in the order the events/activities will occur. Some students benefit from being able to bring their schedules with them throughout the day. The space available in the Autism Classroom Toolkit To Do List page may not allow for a full day schedule, but the list could easily be modified into a two page or two column schedule as needed for individual students. For a structured centers or rotations task list , the student’s assigned centers can be placed in the correct order on the to do strip. Typically, the student would then match each card to the corresponding center or table (e.g. red table).
Check out a video of the Choice Board in action.
Choice Board (Toolkit). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGJRX_g2Pjg
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