Mr. Watkins wanted Jolene to use this skill across settings, but thought it especially important that she dealt with problems with others during lunch and before school in the cafeteria. 

Mr. Watkins operationally defined two skills to determine his generalization lessons had been effective:

 

• When peers are teasing Jolene, Jolene will respond with, “I know you’re joking, but I don’t like it when you tease me about [topic]. Please stop” or with a similar comment on 9/10 opportunities.
• When Jolene asks a peer to stop teasing and the peer continues teasing her, Jolene will leave the area and begin interacting with another peer (group) without yelling or using inappropriate language on 9/10 opportunities.

Next, Mr. Watkins chose a setting for this lesson. He decided that this skill would fit in well in the social skills instruction that often occurred during Jolene’s lunch bunch. Mr. Watkins knew several other students who might benefit from this instruction. He decided to use small group instruction and role play to teach the skill. He would prepare several scripts, and students would take turns playing different roles.

 

• Instructional Setting: Small group
• Instructional Method: Role Play

Mr. Watkins identified the generalization tactic of creating a contrived mediating stimulus involving visual supports to help Jolene remember appropriate behavior. He knew the stimulus needed to be functional and consistently prompt Jolene to engage in the target behavior(s). The stimulus also needed to be transportable; Jolene would need to be easily able to take the stimulus to all relevant activities. He decided he would make Jolene a discreet bracelet with visuals to remind Jolene of appropriate behavior. 

 

• Generalization Tactic: Contrived mediating stimulus
• Support Strategy: Visual supports

Mr. Watkins’ Lesson on “Understanding Appropriate Ways to Deal with Problems with Others”

 

Constructing Visual Supports

Mr. Watkins prepared for the lesson by creating Jolene’s bracelet and corresponding instructional materials. The bracelet included two beads that functioned as visual supports. He engraved one bead with the words “I know” and another bead with an arrow. He strung these beads on a bracelet, and printed off colored pictures of these beads to use during instruction. The bead engraved with “I know” would be used to prompt Jolene to say, “I know you’re joking, but I don’t like it when you tease me about [topic]. Please stop.” The bead engraved with an arrow would be used to prompt Jolene to leave if teasing persisted. Mr. Watkins planned to point to each of these beads during instruction to activate the contrived mediating stimulus (Jolene’s bracelet).

 

Developing the Role Play

Mr. Watkins then began the small group lesson with Jolene and three of her peers by explaining what the role play would entail. He asked Jolene and her peers to brainstorm different scenarios that involved dealing with problems. For the role play, Mr. Watkins created brief scripts based on student suggestions and gave the students printed versions of the scripts to read.

Jolene’s peers rehearsed the scripted scenario a couple of times while Jolene watched. Mr. Watkins explained when it was appropriate for Jolene to say her line and when it was appropriate for her to leave the situation. He then showed Jolene the large visuals and helped her point to the beads on her bracelet. Then the students practiced the role play several times. The scenarios were brief, so Mr. Watkins decided it might be helpful for the students to practice other roles. They practiced each role three times. As the students practiced saying the line (“I know you’re joking…”), Mr. Watkins held up the large visuals corresponding with the bracelet, and he prompted Jolene to touch the corresponding bead on her bracelet.

Following the role play, Mr. Watkins asked the students to identify other situations where these conflicts might occur. He asked them to model what teasing might look like, and he asked Jolene to respond. He prompted Jolene to discreetly touch or look at the beads on her bracelet before she responded. Finally, he reminded the students that they had the power to state their feelings and leave the situation if they encountered problems with peers.