Ms. Thomas wanted Jackson to understand how boundaries and expectations change across settings. She decided this lesson would focus on setting generalization. Jackson needed to understand personal boundaries in the hallways and during lunch.

Ms. Thomas operationally defined two outcomes to measure Jackson’s progress with the generalization lessons:

1. When Jackson is around unfamiliar peers in the targeted generalization settings and the space is not crowded, he will maintain at least six feet of distance from unfamiliar peers for 8/10 one-minute intervals.
2. When Jackson is around unfamiliar peers in the targeted generalization settings and the space becomes crowded, he will move closer to unfamiliar peers on 9/10 opportunities.

Next, Ms. Thomas chose a setting for this lesson. She decided Jackson would best generalize this skill if he practiced it with a group of peers. She decided to use role play to teach the lesson. She would conduct small group instruction during Jackson’s time in the resource room. Typically, role play involves scripts with defined roles for each player. Ms. Thomas decided that this role play would have defined roles, but no set script. Instead, each script would specify where each player would move / stand (similar to blocking in theater).

 

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

Ms. Thomas then selected a generalization tactic and a support strategy to help reinforce this skill. As the social consequences for adjusting boundaries were not meaningful to Jackson, she decided to utilize the external reinforcement of his token system. Because Jackson’s paraprofessional supported him throughout the day, Ms. Thomas would train Mr. McBride to prompt Jackson to maintain appropriate boundaries and reinforce him for demonstrating the operationally-defined skills.

• Generalization Tactic: Train others to prompt and reinforce
• Support Strategy: Prompting, reinforcement

Ms. Thomas’ Lesson on “Understanding How Proximity / Boundaries / Behavior Expectations May Change Due to Environment”

 

Utilizing Role Play

Ms. Thomas prepared for the lesson by writing 10 scripts for the role play. Each script included a specified location and blocking for each player. The scripts were focused on adjusting personal boundaries based on the number of people in the room. In each script, if the room was not crowded, all players stood at least six feet from each other. In some scripts, the room started off crowded and became less crowded, so players had to move away from one another. In other scripts, the room was initially not crowded and became more crowded as the scene progressed, so players had to move closer to each other.

Ms. Thomas began her lesson by explaining to the small group of players what they were supposed to do and describing the purpose of the role play. She used masking tape to make a 10’ by 10’ square on the floor. She explained that for the purposes of the role play, players would have to stay in that square. She then taught the students two prompts. First, she taught a prompt for moving back when they were too close. She held both hands up with palms out and made a backward pushing motion toward her chest to indicate students needed to back up. Next, she made a wave-through motion with her right hand. (This motion is often used to indicate someone needs to hurry up or that it’s someone’s turn to go.) This prompt indicated the space was becoming crowded, and students needed to move closer to each other.

For the first few scripts, Ms. Thomas described why the students were moving closer together or farther apart. She provided corrective and reinforcing feedback throughout the role plays, and made sure to pair her gestural prompts with the corrective feedback. At the end of the lesson, Ms. Thomas took away the scripts and simply directed students to move in and out of the square. The students had to adjust their proximity to each other based on the crowding of the space, without blocking notes from the scripts.

 

Recruiting Support from the Paraprofessional

After the lesson, Ms. Thomas met with Jackson’s paraprofessional, Mr. McBride. She trained him to prompt and reinforce Jackson. She also taught him the prompts and explained that Jackson was working on understanding how personal boundaries change with the environment. She detailed the two operationally defined outcomes and reminded Mr. McBride that each time he demonstrated the targeted skills, Jackson should receive a token as reinforcement.