Blog 11

I found an interesting post by Jerry Webster on Specialed.about.com.

It was titled, "Tooth Brushing- Teaching the Functional Skill."

The Article talks about how brushing your teeth is a very important functional skill. Once students understand how completing one step leads to the next, they will begin to acquire skills more quickly.
To do this, create a task analysis. Describe the steps to a specific task (like brushing your teeth) in a clear way and it needs to be operational. 

The article then listed 16 clear and concise steps on how to brush your teeth. It described other methods of teaching skills to students. I really liked how the article mentioned the use of visual prompt cards (picture cards) to go along with the task at hand. This will help the student to better understand that particular step. Some students may progress faster than others. if this is the case, then as needed, the steps can be progressed and less defined.  This is known as forward chaining. In back chaining, The steps can be performed at a slower pace such as hand over hand. 

I found this article to be particularly interesting because I work with severely autistic 6 year olds who sometimes need lots of help when it comes to competing a task. Some of my students are still struggling with brushing their teeth. This article really broke down the steps and provided strategies in assisting students who may be struggling in this area,