Teaching Students to Indicate Choices

Students should be presented with opportunities to make choices throughout the day. Choice- making prepares students for independence. Additionally, it can increase student motivation, participation, and performance while decreasing student behavior problems. It may be necessary to teach some students how to make a choice by indicate a preference. The following steps should be used to assist students to show voluntary behavior to obtain an object, person, or activity.

Provide new experiences to give the child more options.

a) May take numerous exposures before an interest is shown.

b) Note the things that the student eventually seems to enjoy.

c) If student routinely rejects anything new, provide brief and frequent exposures of new item, activity, or person.

Identify a motor response for your students.

a) Should be under voluntary control.

b) Should be relatively easy for the student to make.

c) Should be able to be physically prompted if necessary.

Teach a motor response for indicating preferences. This should be a regularly scheduled activity and it can be done a number of times during the day. “Touch” is used as the motor response in this example. The motor response for your student may differ. An activity or person may be used instead of an item.

a) Place desired object near the person.

b) Prompt the behavior by saying something like “Here’s a _____. Touch the ____ if you want it.” Provide physical prompts as needed.

c) Give praise and verbal feedback while providing the object. Say something like, “Good, you touched the ___. Now I can give it to you.”

d) Present item immediately for a period of time after the response has been named.

e) Remove if no response after a period of time.

f) Vary items and fade prompts. After a child has mastered a motor response, go to the next step.

Teach to indicate a preference by using the sequence below.

a) Provide two stimuli consisting of one preferred and one non-preferred.

b) Present so that student can see, feel, hear, or otherwise get information about the two items.

c) Provide sufficient time for student to obtain and process information.

d) Ask student to pick one and prompt response by showing or telling person.

e) Repeat sequence if no response.

f) Withdrew items and follow steps under teaching a motor response to indicate preferences as shown above. This should be a regularly scheduled activity and should be done a number of times during the day.

Provide choices throughout the day. See BIP Supplement 2, “Categories of Choice Opportunities within Daily Routines”