Triveni Goswami Vernal
Registered Special Educator (CRR: A64010)

In the previous blogs, I touched upon the importance of an IEP and the identification of the Goals required to teach a concept or a skill, to an individual with additional needs.

Today’s blog will look at Task Analysis, a strategy that is often used to teach a skill, by breaking it down to bite sized pieces. Task Analysis is a teaching strategy that breaks down a skill (that needs to be taught), to smaller steps, facilitating the learning process, without overwhelming the individual, to acquire the skill, all at once.

Task Analysis is often used to teach Activities of Daily Living (such as Brushing Teeth, Wearing clothes –Pant/Shirt/Dress, Eating with a Spoon, Eating with a hand, Bathing, Cleaning oneself after the use of the Toilet etc). Visual aids are actively used with Task Analysis.

STEPS IN TASK ANALYSIS:

The first step in Task Analysis, is to identify the Goals of the Task. For example, if we want to teach the child to brush his teeth independently, we will have to outline what the goals of that task will be, depending on the present skills of the child/individual. The goals may look like holding the brush in his hand, or for another child, it may be squeezing the paste on the bristles of the toothbrush etc.
The second step is to break down the goal to smaller steps. There is a lot that many of us, without challenges in motor skills or executive functioning skills, take for granted, because we tend to pick up skills, so easily. 

But when one teaches an individual with additional needs, one truly understands how complex each action is and how each task (that is perceived to be seemingly easy on the surface) is actually made up of various steps.

For example, if the end goal for an individual is “to hold the toothbrush independently”, some of the steps that this action could be broken down are:
a) Locating the toothbrush (amongst various other things) in the bathroom. Visual processing skills of visual scanning and visual discrimination, will be involved.
b) Picking it up with his or her preferred hand (gross motor skills of making larger movements with the arm, will be involved in this action).
c) Holding the toothbrush with a firm grip (fine motor skills have to be developed),
d) Holding the toothbrush in an angle, such that the paste can be put on the bristles.

This is a very small example, of how a seemingly small action, actually comprises of so many sequential steps, that may overwhelm an individual with additional needs.

In this example, one can see, how various visual processing strategies, fine motor skills, gross motor skills as well as executive functioning skills (that include working memory skills, planning, sequencing, initiating as well as implementing a task) are intimately intertwined, to create a concrete action.

The third step is to create a plan to work on the steps. Creating Visuals to accompany the steps, is highly recommended.

The fourth step is to decide which sub-strategy, Backward Chaining or Forward Chaining can be used, to teach the smaller steps.

The fifth step will be to regularly assess the strategies and bring about revisions and modifications, if needed.

FEW EXAMPLES OF TASK ANALYSIS:
BATHROOM TIME
(Accessed from https://myboardmaker.com/Activity/26531902) 


BRUSHING TEETH
Accessed from https://www.myboardmaker.com/Activity/31039759

BRUSHING TEETH (Only steps, no visuals)
https://www.autismspeaks.org/sites/default/files/2018-09/brushing_teeth.pdf

In my next blog, I will be writing about Backward Chaining and Forward Chaining, as strategies for Task Analysis.

RESOURCES:
https://www.myboardmaker.com/Activities/Search#?page=1&text=task%20analysis
https://do2learn.com/BehaviorManagement/GoFAR/printables/Task%20Analysis%20Sheet.pdf
https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/sample-visual-task-analysis/5136483
https://iepgoals.net/resources-2/task-analysis/dressing-pants/
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Author Dr.Triveni Goswami Vernal

Dr.Triveni Goswami Vernal is a Registered Special Educator (CRR: A64010), a Psychologist and an Expressive Arts Therapy Practitioner in training (UNESCO-CID). She is an Avaz Certified Educator and Certified in Dyslexia Teacher Training. She is also an art educator for children with additional needs.

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Artwork Koi Fish, Artist Kabir Vernal
Acrylic Ink , Acrylic Paints and Acrylic Marker pens on Canvas cloth