Fading Prompts

We all prompt our kids to do things.  With typical kids, we may not even give conscious thought to fading those prompts.  When they’re first out of their car seats (maybe in a booster) and they are learning to buckle their seatbelts themselves, we may show them by buckling their seatbelt with our hand over their hand. We’d call that a full physical prompt. Quickly, they want to do it themselves and before we know it, we’re not even reminding them to buckle their seatbelts.  They just do it independently with no intervention from us.

Our special kiddos can become prompt-dependent, so we want to give some thought to how we fade the prompts quickly enough that they don’t get in the way of independence.

Here is a great visual on prompting, listed from most involved on the top to least involved on the bottom.  We want to move top to bottom on this list as quickly as our child’s skill development will allow.  

One additional step I often take with Michael includes fading my physical distance from him as he begins the independence stage.  I want to take myself physically out of the equation, so independence is solidified in his mind.

These things can be tricky. Just remember it is totally fine to ask for help or advice from the professionals who work with your child.