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Running head: TASK ANALYSIS AND CHAINING PROJECT

Task Analysis and Chaining Project

Anna Telepak

EDU 347
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Task Analysis and Chaining Project

Max is a six-year-old Caucasian male in his first year at a small suburban elementary

school. He lives with his eight-year-old brother, mother, and father in a low-income

neighborhood. Max was recently taken from the general education Kindergarten classroom and

placed in the Autism Spectrum Unit, which is at the same school. He has received special

education services since he was identified for special education two months into his first year of

school. Max has nonverbal Autism and receives instruction in a self-contained classroom with

other students who are on different parts of the Autism spectrum. Max is the youngest, and least

functioning of all the students in his class. There is an aid in the classroom that assists Max and

some of his classmates throughout the day. As of right now, Max does not receive any extra

services throughout the day due to his recent and unexpected placement in the Autism Unit. He

will be given specific services soon.

Students are not given specific letter grades in the Autism Unit. Max is unable to read or

write. He is able to identify letters and their sounds, and knows the first twenty numbers and their

values. Max is currently learning how to communicate using visual schedules and assistive

technology through his iPad. He uses the app, Touch Chat, a full featured communication

solution for individuals who have difficulty using their natural voice. This app is designed for

individuals with Autism, Down Syndrome, ASL, Apraxia, or other conditions that affect a

person’s ability to use their natural speech. It is a commonly used text-to-speech resource that

allows individuals to communicate with others. (Birsh & Carreker, 2018). He can follow along

with the whole class instruction when working on letters and reading with this technology. He

also understands and can follow along to the everyday read alouds that are visually projected and
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read aloud from the smart board during reading class. In addition, his teacher is focused on

improving Max’s communication skills, attention span, and gross motor skills.

In regards to functional skills, Max is unable to dress himself, use the bathroom on his

own, or follow tasks or schedules without maximum prompting. Without maximum help and

prompting from the teacher and aid, Max would simply just vegetate in his chair because he is

unaware of what is happening around him and what to do. Improving these skills will help him

become more independent in his everyday activities. Fine motor skills are a major priority for

Max’s improvement and set goals. This is the strategic control of small sets of voluntary

muscles such as in writing, grasping small objects, controlling eye movements, or producing

speech. (Birsh & Carreker, 2018). Although Max needs much help in his academic skills, he

needs to learn specific functional skills in order to succeed in academic areas as well.

Max’s problem behavior consists mainly of protesting working on anything without the

use of his iPad. He will make pouty noises and lay his head down when his iPad is taken away

from him. When using his communication and learning apps on his assistive technology, he

constantly exits out to find the games installed on his iPad. He enjoys these games as well as

dancing to “Go Noodle” videos along side his classmates. Other than these specific activities, it

is very difficult to get Max to express interest in daily activities. He does not interact with his

peers throughout the day and is very much “in his own world”. His peers are very nice and try to

interact with him constantly. He usually sits and does not seem to understand or realize what

they are saying or how to respond.

Targeted Task
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For this project, Max will learn and be able to perform all the steps included in the skill

of washing his hands properly. This is an important task helping improve in his fine motor skills.

He has been working on coloring, buttoning up buttons, eating, and turning pages. This is an

important task that Max can partake in multiple times throughout the day. He will also be able to

do this independently after using the restroom, recess, lunch, art, and physical education class

during the school day. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, students are also required to wash their

hands even more frequently throughout the day, and this gives Max more opportunities to

practice and perfect this task on his own. He will also be able to perform this task independently

at home. This constant practice will help Max create a habit of washing his hands. This task

involves learning how to turn on and off the water in a sink, rinse hands thoroughly, apply soap,

and dry properly afterwards. Washing one’s hands is a necessary hygienic skill for independent

living. It is necessary to maintain students’ health and cleanliness, as well as the community’s

health and cleanliness. Max is learning how to use visual schedules for routines and tasks, so a

visual schedule for this task will be used to help Max learn and remind him of the sequence of

each step when washing his hands. This short-term goal allows Max to be independent in this

task for the rest of his life.

Task Analysis

Task analysis is the process of breaking down a skill into smaller components in order

to be more manageable (Snodgrass & Meadan, 2017). It is a list of written out steps that hold all

of the components necessary to complete a task. When a multiple step task is broken down into

a task analysis, the task does not seem as overwhelming to the student. When Max was first

instructed to complete the task of washing his hands, he immediately turned on the sink but was
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then unaware of how to properly wash his hands. As he was guided through completing the task

for the first time, he consistently became distracted from what he was doing. When prompted,

he became very flimsy with his hands and lacked confidence in the steps he was trying to

perform, constantly looking at me for verbal prompting.

The task analysis in Table 1 was written for Max after the trainer performed and modeled
the skill herself and observed Max performing it afterwards.
Table 1
Task: Washing hands
Steps
1. Stand in front of the sink.
2. Turn the faucet on using the left and right handles.
3. Adjust water temperature until it is comfortable.
4. Wet hands
5. Squirt soap on one hand
6. Rub hands together
7. Using left hand, scrub back of right hand
8. Using right hand, scrub back of left hand
9. Rinse hands under water until all of soap is gone
10. Turn off water
11. Grab paper towel and dry both hands completely
12. Throw away paper towel in trash

The prerequisite skills Max needed before learning this task included gross and fine

motor skills necessary to turn the water on and scrub his hands. He needed prior experience of

using soap and water. Max also needed to be able to listen and follow the trainer’s instructions.

Max has tried washing his hands by himself countless times, but has been unable to properly do

it, or he forgets to wash his hands after using the restroom.

Max has a very short attention span and struggles when following directions. It was

crucial for the trainer to be direct and give constant verbal prompting to help him keep his focus.

After Max practiced the steps a couple times, he started to become bored and did not want to
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participate anymore. Once he began to show feelings of crankiness, starbursts were used as

positive reinforcements for continuing to complete the tasks. The idea of starbursts immediately

grabbed his interest and he continued to practice with the trainer. The data collected for this

project was gathered through the percentage of steps Max completed independently during each

trial without verbal prompting. The data was collected twice a day for thirty minutes at a time.

The prompts given followed the system of most-to-least prompting. This included the use of

verbal and gestural prompting, as well as modeling when instructing Max. This was done until

Max could complete every step of the task completely and independently.

Chaining Procedure

Chaining is a set of procedures used to teach a task analysis (Slocum & Tiger, 2011).

Chaining can be practiced in these three ways: forward, backward, and total task. In forward

chaining, the first step is taught first, then the second, then third step, continuing until the entire

sequence is performed entirely. This allows an individual to learn complicated tasks in their

correct orders. Backward chaining is similar to forward, except it is flipped around. Backward

chaining involves breaking down the steps of a task and teaching them in reverse. This allows

the student or individual to feel a sense of fulfillment and completion with every attempt at the

task. This excludes the possibility of the child starting the task and getting lost as they proceed to

the next steps, because the adult performs all but the last step. This way the child gets to

complete the work. The adult then fades back by doing less as the child does more, still ending

with the student perfecting the last step. Total task involves completing the complete sequence

and then receiving reinforcement at the end of the task (Miltenburger, 2018).

Forward chaining was chosen for teaching Max the task of properly washing his hands.

Max had already been familiar with what was involved when washing his hands, so he caught on
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too many of the steps very quickly. This is why forward chaining was chosen as the strategy for

teaching Max how to wash his hands independently. Mastery of all the steps in a linked chain at

once seemed to be the best option as a strategy for Max.

Results

After completing twelve chaining sessions, with five baseline sessions, the data Max’s

independent performance of the steps were able to be collected and graphed.

Figure 1. AB graph INSET HERE ANNA!1

Figure 2. Bar graph INSERT HERE ANA

Max thrived in regards to the use of forward chaining to complete the task of washing his

hands. The starburst rewards every time he mastered a step was a huge motivation for him.

Modeling and verbal prompts were mostly used during this chaining process. Max struggled with

the step where he was to adjust the water temperature. He became very sensitive to the two

extremes of hot and cold and could not quite catch on to how to make the water temperature

comfortable for him. After many trials he became better, but still struggled with finding the

perfect temperature for him to be okay with. On the sixth session, Max was able to complete all

the steps with verbal prompting only, but was able to master all the steps independently during

session twelve. The verbal praise and starburst reinforcement during this process painted an

immense and proud smile on Max’s face when he would master each step.

Future Recommendations
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Max showed amazing progress of acquiring the full skill of washing his hands through

the practice of forward chaining. This practice should be continued until Max is able to

confidently perform every step of the task independently without any help. He should practice

this skill at least three times during the school day, and three times at home. One possible issue is

that the trainer was unable to be there for a consistent set of days to practice this task with Max.

The trainer came twice a week which was most likely not a good enough schedule for Max and

his memory. However, everything still worked out and he should be practicing this task every

day. He will have plenty more opportunities each day due to the current pandemic our world is

facing today.

Throughout this process, I enjoyed teaching and working with Max. Once he understood

what was going on, he was able to have a little fun with me as he was learning. Max showed a

great increase in his independence while completing each step. He really thrives on modeling and

hands on instruction. I hope that Max is still consistent in his ability to practice every step and

am hoping that he remembers to wash his hands every time he uses the restroom more than he

used to. Max is a great student, and I am extremely thankful that he was able to work with me

with a positive attitude.

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References

Snodgrass, M. R., Meadan, H., Ostrosky, M. M., & Cheung, W. C. (2017). One step at a time:

Using task analyses to teach skills. Early Childhood Education Journal, 45(6), 855-

862. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-017-0838-x

Birsch, J., & Carreker, S., (2018). Multisensory teaching of basic language skills. Applied

Behavior Analysis, 45(2), 93-97.

Slocum, S. K., & Tiger, J. H. (2011). An assessment of the efficiency of and child preference for

forward and backward chaining. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 44(4), 793-805.

https://doi.org/10.1901/jaba.2011.44-793

Miltenberger, R. G. (2018). Behavior modification: Principles and procedures (6th ed., pp. 181-

240). Boston, MA: Cenage Learning.

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Appendix A

Review of Records

1. What items did you review (e.g., sample work, report card, progress reports,
behavioral records, IEP, BIP, FBA, anecdotal notes, etc.)?
• His IEP was reviewed
• He non-verbal
• Poor gross and fine motor skills

2. Record information on the student’s current level of performance as it related to

their grades, goals, and current level of development.
• His present level of performance is very low
• Reading, spelling, writing, and math
• He can sort shapes and colors
• He does not know all of the letters of the alphabet

3. Does the student receive any accommodations or modifications in the classroom or

during assessments?
• No accommodations or modifications are given for assessment
• Modeling is provided for this student and is the most effective use of instruction
• He uses a communication app on his iPad because he is non verbal

4. How much of the school day does the student spend in the general education
environment per the IEP?
• He receives 60 minutes a week of speech therapy
• He does not spend any time in the general education classroom

5. Does the student have a completed FBA, BIP, or another behavior-specific plan?
• He does not have an FBA, BIP, or another behavior specific plan

6. After reviewing the information, what was most helpful and interesting? What
impact, guidance, or influence does it have on your chaining project?
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• What was most helpful was talking to the special education teacher and being able to ask
questions comfortably.
• He can understand simple directions and he does not usually make facial expressions
when you talk to him

7. What additional information would you be interested in obtaining?

• I would really like to sit in on a speech therapy tutoring session just to see how the
therapist works with the student and how the session goes overall.