14.4 Recommending Communication, Social & Functional Skill Interventions from Case-Study Data
Key Takeaways
- 0007j and 0007k on the constructed response require AAC, social-skills, or functional recommendations grounded in pragmatics checklists, adaptive behavior (for example Vineland), and community probes—not in the disability label alone.
- If a speech-generating device is present and staff speak for the student, recommend wait time, aided language stimulation, and programming missing messages; never confiscate AAC as a consequence.
- Pragmatics items marked Never for joining or introducing call for explicit social-skills instruction (script, model, practice, fade), not 'include the student more' or a graded forced friend.
- Classroom mastery with community failure is a generalization problem: task analysis plus Community-Based Instruction (CBI) and prompt fading, not another mock store in the classroom only.
- Cite the checklist, adaptive domain, and probe numbers. Age-15 postsecondary agency planning (Chapter 8.4) is not a substitute for a supermarket generalization plan.
When the CR is really about communication, social, or functional skills
0007j and 0007k show up on the constructed response when exhibits include a pragmatics or social-language checklist, speech-language notes, an AAC description, adaptive behavior scores (often Vineland domains), or community skill probes. The prompt may still label the second need behavior. Completeness means you answer the prompt's category. Accuracy means the strategy still matches the data: a joining deficit is a social-skill instructional target even if the bullet says behavior; a supermarket failure is a functional generalization target, not a "behavior problem" to be solved with tickets.
Depth of Support means you quote the checklist item, the adaptive domain, or the probe fraction—not "students with autism need social skills." Chapter 8.1–8.3 taught AAC, explicit social instruction, task analysis, chaining, prompting, and Community-Based Instruction (CBI). This section is how to recommend them from exhibits without copying official sample students.
Keep the whole CR near 400–600 words. One communication recommendation and one social or functional recommendation, each with steps and citations, beats a tour of every related service.
AAC and communication recommendations that can be scored (0007j)
If Exhibit 1 says the student uses a speech-generating device (SGD) and Exhibit 3 shows staff answering, ordering, or grabbing the device, the intervention is not "require oral speech first." Recommend:
- Treat device output as the student's turn. Use wait time (often ten seconds or more) instead of speaking over construction.
- Use aided language stimulation: adults model language on the device during real routines.
- Program the missing messages the exhibits show (joining a group, "I need a break," cashier phrases).
- Never confiscate AAC as a consequence; that removes the student's communication system.
If the student has speech but the pragmatics checklist is Never for joining and introducing, the need is pragmatic, not "nonverbal." Brief, prompted "please/thank you" in Exhibit 2 does not cancel a Never on initiation.
Social skills: teach a skill, do not assign a friend
"Include him with peers" and graded forced-friend plans are not instruction. Use methods Chapter 8.2 already named, now tied to this checklist:
- Explicit social-skills instruction: define the skill, model, role-play, feedback, fade.
- Social narratives or video modeling for a specific situation in the exhibits (cafeteria joining), not a generic "be a friend" story.
- Peer-mediated support with roles that can fade—not a classmate graded for being someone's friend.
Cite the item: "Exhibit 2 pragmatics checklist marks Never for joining activities others are doing." That sentence is Depth of Support. "He has autism so he needs social skills" is not.
Functional skills: CBI when the classroom already looks fine (0007k)
Chapter 8.3 defined task analysis, chaining, prompt hierarchies, and CBI. On the CR, reach for them when data show generalization failure.
If the classroom mock store is 9/10 independent and two real-market probes are 2–3/10, more cardboard registers will not fix stimulus generalization. Recommend CBI in the actual store, a task analysis of the real sequence (line, chip reader, PIN, receipt), and prompt fading. Use most-to-least if errors are dangerous (hot equipment, street crossing); least-to-most if many steps are already in repertoire. Backward chaining if exhibits show low frustration tolerance on long tasks (the student still finishes and contacts the natural reinforcer).
Do not answer a supermarket probe with ACCES-VR or age-15 postsecondary goals. That is 0006h/8.4. 0007k here is instruction in the environment that failed.
| Exhibit pattern | Named need | Instruction to recommend |
|---|---|---|
| Device present; adults speak or order for the student | AAC access / expressive communication | Wait; model on the device; program needed messages |
| Pragmatics Never on joining or introducing | Social initiation | Explicit script + video model + structured practice with fade |
| Classroom 90% independent; community 20–30% | Generalization of a functional chain | CBI + task analysis + prompt fade |
| Vineland Daily Living or Community low; no community probes yet | Independent living skill | Ecological inventory, then instruction in that setting |
Original vignette (not a Pearson sample): Malik Bennett, Grade 7, Buffalo
Malik Bennett, Grade 7, 12:1:1 special class with ICT for art; classification: autism. School-issued SGD. Enjoys trains. Speech-language therapy 3× per week (Exhibit 1).
Exhibit 2: Vineland-3 Socialization Low; Communication Expressive Low; classroom Daily Living rated Adequate. Pragmatics checklist: Never joins peer activity; Never introduces himself.
Exhibit 3: Classroom mock-store shopping 9/10 steps independent. Two CBI probes at a neighborhood market: 3/10 and 2/10 independent; full physical prompt on the card reader. Lunch notes: peers do not wait for the SGD; a paraprofessional orders for Malik.
Communication (0007j): Wait for SGD output; coach staff not to order for him; program and model community phrases ("I have a debit card," "no cash back") with aided language stimulation. Cite Exhibit 1 (device) and Exhibit 3 (para orders; peers do not wait).
Social: Teach a three-step joining script (approach, "Can I sit here?", wait) with a cafeteria video model, then practice with a fading peer support. Cite Exhibit 2 Never items. Do not grade a classmate for being Malik's friend.
Functional (0007k): CBI at the real market using a 10-step task analysis of the card-reader sequence; fade physical prompts on the PIN pad. Classroom 9/10 (Exhibit 3) already shows the skill is setting-specific. More pretend-store practice would ignore the probes.
If the prompt allows only one non-academic recommendation, pick the need the bullets name. If they say behavior and the richest data are pragmatics and lunch, an explicit joining script is still a behavioral/social intervention grounded in exhibits. If they ask for a functional living skill, lead with CBI and the 9/10 versus 2/10 contrast—that contrast is Depth of Support.
Exam watchouts
- More mock-store practice after community probes failed.
- Confiscating AAC or requiring speech before the device.
- "Include him more" without a taught skill.
- Answering a supermarket probe with postsecondary agency names from Chapter 8.4.
Classroom mock-store data show 9 of 10 shopping steps independent. Two neighborhood-market probes show 3/10 and 2/10 independent with full physical prompts on the card reader. Which 0007k recommendation best matches the generalization pattern?
Exhibit 1 states that a seventh grader uses an SGD. Exhibit 3 notes that a paraprofessional orders lunch and classmates do not wait for device output. Which 0007j recommendation is most accurate?
A pragmatics checklist marks Never for joining peer activities and Never for introducing himself. Which social recommendation best demonstrates Accuracy and Depth of Support?
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