Maintaining a fast paced instruction

There’s a common misconception that individuals with special needs require a slower pace of instruction. While they may need more time to move through the curriculum, individual lessons shouldn’t be taught at a slower pace. In fact, slowing the pace can waste valuable instructional time and may even increase problem behaviors.

Higbee (2009) notes that “appropriately paced instruction helps students maintain attention to the instructor and instructional materials. Though student attention can be lost when instruction is happening too rapidly, it is most often lost when the pace of instruction is not rapid enough” (p. 20).

So how can you maintain a fast pace of instruction that is appropriate for your student? Here are some things to consider:

1. * **Prepare!** Organize your materials for quick and easy access. For example, I keep mastered skills on index cards so I can easily add maintenance questions into instruction. Organization is often the simplest way to increase efficiency in your session.
2. * **Take data.** Your goals are to increase attention and decrease problem behaviors. Try different paces of instruction and measure the behaviors you are targeting. For instance, if a student frequently grabs for my shirt during a session, I might try a pace of 15 questions per minute, then 20, then 25. Next, I would compare the rates of grabbing with each pace of instruction. Remember to intermix mastered skills with the target skill.
3. * **Record a session.** By taking video, you may see opportunities for increasing efficiency. You may also observe specific times at which problem behaviors tend to increase. For instance, perhaps problem behaviors occur when you turn to write data, but you didn’t recognize that pattern until you watched a recording later.
4. * **Use reinforcement effectively.** Usually, pace of instruction alone will not change behavior. Instead, pair it with reinforcement and be systematic with how you implement it.
5. * **If possible, get input from supervisors or the individual you are working with.** Supervisors may be able to observe your session and provide insight on how to increase your pace of instruction. The individual you are working with may be communicating that they are bored through misbehavior, stating “I’m bored,” or nonvocal behaviors such as yawning. This may be an indication that you need to provide more challenging material or increase the pace of instruction.

REFERENCES

Higbee, T. (2009). Establishing the prerequisites for normal language. In R. A. Rehfeldt, Y. Barnes-Holmes, & S.C. Hayes (Eds.), Derived relational responding applications for learners with autism and other developmental disabilities: A progressive guide to change (7-24). Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications, Inc.