Prompting – an useful tool to teach children with autism

Prompting is a very important technique used in teaching a child with autism. It is basically the assistance given to the child to learn some skills or to reach some educational goal.There are many different types of prompts like verbal prompts, textual prompts , picture prompts, physical and gesture prompt etc. At first, therapist should examine the kid properly and then determine which prompt will be useful for the child’s effective learning. Prompting should be systematically faded and gradually led the child to complete the work independently. It should start from least restrictive form to most restrictive form. Verbal prompt which is also known as phonemic prompt where teacher help the child by saying just first phoneme or the sound to extract the exact answer from the child. Again, textual prompt are like written words or instructions that are given to the child to complete the task. Physical prompt is where the therapist provide physical contact to the child to accomplish the goal.

Example:- Dip is a 3 years old child diagnosed with ASD. He has problems in following instructions. His therapist told him, “Clap your hands.” But he does not follow the instruction. Then his teacher shows him the simple action of clapping, but he also lacks imitation skills. So, the teacher prompts Dip by holding his both the hands and then moving them like clapping action. This is a physical prompt. Prompting basically is one way to motivate your child by increasing the chance of doing the activities in correct way.