START Materials 17-18
Skill Targets for Young Students with ASD
Communication / Requesting / ●Student asks for preferred items -- adult provides many opportunities for requesting by providing only small amounts or stopping activities frequently until the child requests the item/activity
●Adult prompts student to point to/touch item if student does not attempt to verbally request.
Choice-Making / ●Adult presents two or more desired items and student points to or verbally labels the preferred choice.
Yes/No / ●Adult prompts the student to indicate yes/no when an item is presented and a prompt is given, “do you want this?”.
●Adult may present multiple opportunities using preferred items to elicit “yes” and non-preferred items to elicit “no”.
Fill-ins / ●Adult uses fill-ins by starting and not completing a common phrase, e.g., “ready, set, ____”, then pausing to allow the student an opportunity to complete.
●Adult fills in the final portion if the student does not, and provides another opportunity at a later time
Literacy / Recognizing/ Writing Name / ●Student is prompted to identify his or her name from a field of names (can be a matching task, or supported by a picture)
●Student practices writing name with accommodations, e.g., tracing highlighted letters, or recognizing letters in name
Sounds, Letters & Early Reading / ●Adult provides phonics based and early reading activities, e.g., rhyme, alliteration, knowledge of alphabet, comprehension, retelling, emergent reading.
Sequencing / ●Student is supported to follow a visual sequence of steps within a routine or schedule (horizontal, vertical, or book format)
Academic / Basic Academic Concepts / ●Adult teaches basic academic concepts: colors, shapes, numbers, counting, matching, 1:1 correspondence, sorting, and patterning; the adult provides multiple opportunities with varied materials and prompts, as needed.
Wh- Questions / ●Adult reads a story or presents pictures to the student then asks Wh- questions (e.g., “Who threw the ball in the story?”, “Where are the children going?”).
●Student is supported to answer verbally or point to visual cues/pictures indicating the correct response.
Prediction / ●Adult asks child to predict what will happen next, e.g., “what do you think is going to happen?”, “what does red bird see?”
●Cues may be necessary, e.g., “the girl has an apple basket, what do you think she’s going to do?”, “is she going swimming, or picking apples?”
●Some students may be prompted to respond to related yes/no questions, e.g., “is she going swimming?”
Recall / ●Adult asks questions to practice recall of recent events, e.g., “what did you just do?”, “who helped you with that picture?” “what did you build in the block area?”
●Students may provide a verbal response or answer by pointing or gesturing.
Problem Solving / ●Adult provides opportunities for children to solve problems during an activity
●Student progresses through the following stages: 1) reacting to a problem and seeking to achieve a goal; 2) observing and imitating how others solve problems; 3) asking for solutions and using solutions to solve problems without having to try every possibility
Expanded Understanding of Objects / ●Adult provides opportunities for the child to expand understanding of objects through referencing features, functions and categories, rather than just labels (ex., the ball is large, red and bouncy)
●Tasks may be presented receptively or expressively so that the student demonstrates broader concept understanding beyond identification or labeling
Motor / Gross Motor Skills / ●Adult provides opportunities for gross motor activities and prompts the student to practice gross motor movements (jumping, throwing, kicking, balancing, dancing), and introduces more complicated actions (tip-toeing, skipping, marching) as appropriate
Fine Motor Skills / ●Adult prompts the student to use fine motor skills (pincer grasp, finger isolation)
●Adults promote participation in dressing activities (pulling up pants, zipping outdoor clothing, putting boots on) to encourage independence.
●Adult helps the student practice pencil grip, and age-appropriate scissor grasp
Social / Observational Learning / ●Adult demonstrates activities by modeling the task or action before it begins or supporting the student to model the behavior of a peer (e.g., “Do what John is doing”)
Joint Attention / ●Adult promotes joint attention by teaching the student to follow and initiate.
●Adult points at objects and encourages the student to look at these objects by saying “Look!”.
●Adult encourages the student to share interests and activities by showing items to others (peers, other staff) (e.g., “Show your picture to Miss Sandy”)
Social Awareness / ●Adult practices activities that encourage recognition and awareness of other people in the environment, such as greetings and good-byes, cheering for others, and simple conversational turn-taking.
Waiting / ●Student is taught to wait by beginning with short waiting periods then gradually increasing waiting time. Adult may use a visual cue to support the student’s understanding of waiting
Sharing / ●Adult models and supports the students to engage in turn-taking during activities to promote sharing and basic social skills that contribute to game-play and social play.