ABA Prompting and Prompt Fading Newsletter 2

Rainy River District School Board
ABA in the Classroom

Prompting and Prompt Fading
When teaching new skills to students, or when students are not CONSIDERATIONS WHEN
independently producing correct responses to instructions,
prompting may be required. Prompting is the addition of cues with PROMPTING
an instruction that increases the likelihood that the student will  Ensure the student is attending
respond correctly and receive reinforcement (tangible or praise) for before presenting an instruction.
doing so. The more times that the student can access reinforcement  Individualized Support
for responding correctly, the more likely they are to provide that -The type of prompt used will depend
response again. on the skill being taught, as well as the
There are several different types of prompts and they vary in their student’s current skill set.
level of intrusiveness on the prompt hierarchy (pg. 2). The prompt  Inadvertent Prompts
selected should be based upon what the student requires to be -Avoid unintentional prompts such as
successful, while being the least intrusive as possible. When teaching positioning of materials, voice
new skills, most-to-least prompting is most beneficial. Most-to-least inflection, facial expressions, and/or
prompting begins with the most intrusive level of prompt required eye gaze.
for student success. When reviewing mastered (learned) skills, least-  Differential Reinforcement
to-most prompting can be used. Least-to-most prompting is where -Provide greater levels of
minimal assistance is initially provided and increased if necessary for reinforcement for independent
the student to respond correctly. responses over prompted responses.
 Plan to Fade Prompts
All prompts should be reduced (faded) as soon as they are no longer
-Fade prompts as quickly as possible
required, as prompt dependency can occur if the student has learned
while still allowing the student to be
to give the correct response only when a prompt is provided.
successful.
 Monitor Student Success
-Ensure the student is meeting
success.
Prompt Reinforcement  Consider Your Prompt
(consequence) -Ensure that the prompt you choose
focuses the student’s attention on the
correct instruction and does not distract from it.
-Begin with the least intrusive prompt
Instruction Response you can.
(antecedent) (behaviour) -Verbal prompts are the least
intrusive; however, they are the most
incorrect difficult prompt to fade.
 Least to Most prompting is ideal
for practicing mastered skills.
Correction  Most to least prompting is ideal
for teaching new skills.
“They [prompts] help behaviour occur so that the teacher can provide reinforcement.”
-Cooper, Heron, & Heward, 1987
Rainy River District School Board - 522 Second Street East - Fort Frances, Ontario - P9A 1N4 - (807) 274-9855
Page 2 Prompting and Prompt Fading
TYPES OF PROMPTS
 Physical: Physically guiding the student to perform a skill (e.g. staff guides Prompt Hierarchy
hand to select three counters).
 Model: A demonstration of the target skill by another person (e.g. staff
demonstrates how to clap hands).
 Positional: Placing materials in a location or sequence that ensures
successful completion of an activity (e.g. placing a target item (scissors)
closest to student when asking the student to pass the scissors).
 Gestural: A physical movement or gesture by another person that leads to
the student producing the correct response (e.g. staff points to a receptive
target).
 Visual: Includes pictures, text, and symbols that can assist the student in
producing the correct response (e.g. a picture of a cup can be shown when
asking the student what they drink from).
 Verbal: Verbal cues which give information to help the student respond
correctly.
*Full prompts require maximum assistance with the behaviour. Partial prompts provide varying levels of staff assistance such as a gentle tap on the
elbow, a “w” sound for the correct response “water”, or the first three letters of text of the desired response.
**Physical, visual and verbal prompts can each be delivered fully or partially.
PROMPT FADING
Prompt fading is the process of systematically reducing and removing prompts that have been paired with an instruction,
allowing the student to independently respond correctly. Prompt fading requires being able to fade a prompt quickly enough
that the student does not become dependent on that prompt, but slowly enough that the student remains successful.
There are three elements to fading out prompts: physical, time delay and proximity to the student.
1. Physical: This includes fading a full physical prompt to a partial
physical prompt, as well as decreasing the level of intrusiveness Fading Prompts by Proximity
following the prompt hierarchy using most-to-least prompting. For
example, if modeling the correct response (touching a named province Step: Procedure:
on a map) was a successful prompt, one could plan to fade to a less
physically intrusive prompt of using a gesture (pointing to a named 1 Staff sit across from student
province on a map).
2 Staff sit next to student
2. Time Delay: This fades the use of prompts by gradually increasing
3 Staff sit just behind student’s shoulder
the length of time between the instruction and the delivery of a
prompt.
3. Proximity to the Student: Systematically changing spatial position in 4 Staff sit directly behind student
relation to the student (see Fading Prompts by Proximity image).
References:
Alberto, Paul A. & Troutman, Anne C. (2009). Applied behavior analysis for teachers (8th ed.). Upper Saddle, N.J.: Pearson.
ErinOakKids Centre for Treatment and Development. (2007). Prompting and Fadng. Retrieved from
http://www.tcse.us/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/prompting_and_fadingtguide.pdf.
Miltenberger, Raymond G. (2008). Behavior modification principle and procedures (4th ed.). Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth.
Scheuermann, Brenda & Webber, Jo. (2002). Autism. Teaching does make a difference. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth and Thomson Learning.
Rainy River District School Board - 522 Second Street East - Fort Frances, Ontario - P9A 1N4 - (807) 274-9855

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Rainy River District School Board

ABA in the Classroom

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