News and Knowledge

As every parent and teacher knows, independence is one key to success for all children, including those with autism. At Georgia State University, researchers examined the use of self-operated auditory prompting systems (SOAPs) to increase independence in the self-care tasks of elementary school students.

SOAPs are any device that delivers audio prompts, the most common example being a tape recorder. Unlike interventions that rely on outside prompting, auditory systems put the user in control, thus decreasing the probably that the user will become prompt dependent. SOAPs have been used successfully to teach work and daily living skills to older students and adults with autism and other developmental disabilities.

The four students in this study used a tape recorder with recorded prompts to increase independence on two daily self-care tasks, washing their hands and brushing their teeth. Each student had an intellectual disability and poor adaptive skills.

Their teacher wrote a task analysis for each activity and recorded the steps on an audio cassette. She left enough time between each step of the task to allow for completion before the next step. The students in the study knew how to use a tape recorder but had not had training or practice at school on brushing their teeth or washing their hands. Each student learned to do each task independently using the audio prompts.

This is an easy system to use at home or at school. To set up an auditory prompt system:

1. Identify the self-care task you are teaching.
2. Write a task analysis. Have someone else go through the steps to make sure you are not forgetting anything.
3. Record the task steps on a tape recorder allowing enough time between steps for completion.
4. Teach your child or student how to operate the tape recorder and model using the recording to complete a skill.

Reference

Mays, Nicole McGaha and L. Juane Heflin. 2011. Increasing independence in self-care tasks for children with autism using self-operated auditory prompts. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders. 5(4). 1351-1357.