Introduction

Autism Spectrum disorder is a range of neurological disorders that have deficits in social functioning and communication, with presentations of stereotypic and/or repetitive behaviors (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). In 2020, the number has grown to 1 in 59 children in the United States has ASD (CDC, 2020) with the diagnosis steadily increasing each year.

However, those with high functioning autism may lack social skills and may have challenges when it comes to interpersonal relationships along with understanding emotions. While individuals with ASD on the lower functioning end often have physical limitations, they may lack speech, while having the inability to relate socially with others (Westbrook, et al., 2012 ). The deficits associated with autism spectrum disorder differ drastically and regardless of the IQ scores, the individuals remain underemployed or unemployed once graduating from high school (Howlin, Goode, Hutton, & Rutter, 2004).

Which in turn means the individuals are not able to financially support themselves and are dependent on others which affects their overall quality of life. When an individual does find employment, the job quality is often lowered then their typically developed peers. (Howlin,

2000; Howlin et al.,2004 ; Jennes‐Coussens, Magill‐Evans, & Koning, 2006). The lowest

employment rates recorded are for the individuals on the autism spectrum (Burke et al. 2010). By allowing an individual with autism to gain meaningful employment not only will it all the individual to gain independence by financially supporting themselves, but can also allow the individual to express their interests in the field. With the result being a better quality of life for the individual.

Running Head: Vocational Tasks

10

For years, the focus of research has been on early interventions for those with ASD. Leaving problems when the individuals grow and lack of focus on the teenage years or adulthood. Employment is very limited for those with ASD (Hendricks and Wehman 2009).

In 2011 it was estimated that 90% are unemployed or underemployed, with 80% remaining dependent on their parents (Gerhardt and Lainer, 2011). Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is federal legislation that protects the rights of individuals are receiving special education services, including those with autism. IDEA explicitly states that appropriate postsecondary goals, education or employment, based on the individuals’ interests and strengths ought to be included in the students ’Individualized Educational Plan (IEP) and should be receiving support to meet these goals. However, findings show only 25% of individuals with ASD have employment (Holwerda et al. 2012). In a recent study, with high — functioning ASD individuals only 49% had paid employment and 36% were on social security benefits out of 169 individuals (Barneveld et al. 2014). The social and communicative difficulty for individuals with ASD may be a factor for the limited employment opportunities and can impact adaptive functioning (American Psychological Association 2000). Typical employment training methodology may hinder the achievement of understanding the role which negatively impacts employment. Also, most employment requires an understanding of social cues and the ability to positively interact with others. Individuals who find this challenging may have difficulty keeping the job. While other individuals may have comorbid diagnoses, physical limitations, behavioral issues, and health limitations that may hinder the requirements of the employment ( Walsh, Lyndon, & Healy, 20014). Vocalizations, sensory difficulties, serotyped motor movements, or preservation of keeping the same routines are behavioral issues associated with ASD (Schall, 2010). Comorbid disorders are when two or more disorders or illnesses are occurring in the same

person. Gastrointestinal disorder, intellectual disabilities, epilepsy, and anxiety are commonly affiliated with ASD (e.g., Hofvander et al. 2009; Lugnegård et al. 2011). On the contrary, ASD individuals may possess a skill and/or traits that are highly desired by the employer. Such as some individuals can be highly focused on a given task and thrive in a structured environment where their routine is consistent.

Most individuals with autism just want to be employed and strive to receive some sort of independence. If there was more of a focus on helping these individuals with ASD more so in their teenage years, then the numbers might end up looking a little different. Those with ASD might not be the most underemployed with disabilities. If there was more of a focus within the transitioning stage and maybe a little less focus during earlier stages, then there might be more signs of success when it comes to employment opportunities for those adolescents who are on the spectrum.

Researchers before emphasized on overcoming social deficits and limiting maladaptive behavior in individuals with autism (Barnhill, Cook, Tebbenkamp, & Myles, 2002). A recent shift has been to focus on assessing and teaching job-related social skills to individuals with ASD. (Grob, Lerman, Langlinais, & Villante, 2019). With the focus on job-related social skills, there is a limited focus on independence. Many individuals with ASD need prompts or reminders to complete vocational tasks which can come off as unappealing to employers and make it difficult to retain employment.

Challenges include things such as initiations, prompt dependence, and generalization (Lora, Kisamore, Reeve, and Townsend, 2009). These challenges include task initiation with social interactions and can be very challenging for those who have ASD. This is because they may have a lot of trouble planning what they have to do to finish an activity. They also lack

motivation and their knowledge of what is expected of them is very poor. People with ASD also have trouble with being independent on their own and do better with responding to orders given by family members and caretakers. However, this may be difficult in jobs where prompt behavior is not always possible and the employee needs to show some signs of autonomy while on the job. This will be rather difficult for individuals with ASD to retain jobs because there will be times where they need to show up to work and know what needs to be done, there will never be on the job training given during every shift for every day. After a while, they will need to adjust to a routine while at work.

By implementing an activity schedule you are providing independence in a range of categories. Such as social, leisure, academic, and vocational tasks ( Lora, Kisamore, Reeve, & Townsend, 2019). Activity schedules are a series of pictures or words that indicate to the student was is expected next. By providing an activity schedule, it provides structure and independence to the student to see what is the next step without being dependent on prompts to help transition to the next step. Research has also demonstrated that using an activity schedule has increase independence on task engagement while decreasing maladaptive behaviors (Carson, Gast, & Ayres, 2008). Activity schedules are beneficial to teachers, employers, and therapists working with individuals with ASD. The activity schedules provide a non-invasive strategy while increasing independence (Carson, Gast, & Ayres, 2008).

Expanding job opportunities for individuals with ASD is highly needed. Recently, federal legislation passed supporting investment in green jobs which is a great opportunity for individuals to learn about their environment while being employed. Beekeeping is one of the types of sustainable employments ( Sances, Day-Watkins, & Connell, 2019). Research has suggested that implementing an activity schedule while providing contingent reinforcement

helped increased the numbers of independent completed steps ( Sances, Day-Watkins, & Connell, 2019). Employers seem to accept the use of activity schedules. Research has shown that employers perceive activity schedules to decrease supervision and has provided a positive behavior change (Koyama & Wang, 2011). Copeland & Hughes (2000) found a benefit of the activity schedule is that stimulus control can be carry-over from an adult to a picture. The picture can direct the behavior without the presence of a supervisor. Research has suggested that individuals with autism will identify the picture prompts and can perform the tasks in a set of complex behavior chains ( Koyama & Wang, 2011). The less supervision by employers needed will increase employment, job security, and over the quality of life for individuals with an autism spectrum disorder.

Method

Participants, Settings, and Materials

Dominic is a 16-year-old male and has a comorbid diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, severe intellectual disability, and anxiety. Dominic lives at home with his mother and sister who is 20 years old, as well as visitations with his dad twice a week. Dominic receives home-based services; two hours on Wednesday and four hours on Saturdays. During the day Dominic attends a day school that is specifically for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder. At school, the classroom consists of six students and six staff members, one for each student. Dominic is limited in holding conversations but can request basic needs such as leisure activities, food, drinks, and certain wants and desires. He is orally able to communicate yes and no questions but is not always accurate in relaying accurate information.

Dominic is independent in self-care skills and does not require any prompting or assistance.

Sessions took place in Dominic’s job site, which was at a pizza parlor. There were twenty sessions total with a variation between three staff members. Staff received training before the sessions began. The three staff members had experience with working with Dominic and had been working with Dominic between one to six years. Materials consist of a datasheet, pens, and an activity schedule. Also, materials consist of pizza boxes, menus, cleaners, rags for the table, and an iPad that had recorded video modeling.

Staff Training

The three staff for the sessions consisted of two staff members that were from Dominic’s day school, and one was from the home-based team. The staff members were required to watch a video modeling for each one of these tasks: folding pizza boxes, washing down menus, and table washing. The staff worked with a BCBA that was pretending to be a student to make sure that the prompting methods were being implemented correctly. The staff was able to implement the treatment with Dominic once they reached 100% on a treatment fidelity sheet.

Response Measurement

Dominic was taught vocational tasks such as folding pizza boxes, cleaning menus, and washing down the tables. A multiple probe design with prompt fading was implemented. The independent variable was the video modeling procedure. The dependent variable was Dominic’s ability to complete each of the steps within the task analysis chain independently.

Procedure

The prompt fading method was provided using video prompting. Five sessions were provided in four weeks starting at 3:00 pm at Dominic’s workplace, the pizza parlor. Each session was one hour long in four weeks, making a total of twenty sessions with 20 hours total at the end of the study.

Baseline

At the beginning of each session and before any instructions were given, an iPad was set up on a counter at the front of the pizza parlor. It was open to a video on the specific video task at hand. Dominic would press the play button to begin the video. One of the three trained staff members would state, “Dominic it’s time to start work”. Given Dominic’s past, he knows to go to the computer to clock in for his shift to begin. Praise was given after each correct task on the task analysis. There were no consequences given. Based on the data collected from the baseline, we were able to recognize the prompt level from each step of the task analysis.

Video Prompting

Video modeling was used as a form of chaining, which depicts each step of the vocational tasks; Folding boxes, wiping tables, and cleaning menus. The person in the video modeling was a novel model to Dominic. The model was looking at the video camera straight on for all three of the tasks. The model spoke each step in the task analysis before displaying each behavior. There was a separate clip of each step of the task analysis. At the end of each step, there was the time allotted for Dominic to complete the step before moving onto the next one.

There were 30 steps total for Dominic to complete.

When Dominic arrived, his first task was to clock in for the day. Staff would wait 10 seconds for the successful clock in. If Dominic did not clock in, the staff would use the prompt for that step on the task analysis. The prompt hierarchy was the least to most prompting, which consists of a video prompt, then to gesture prompt, then to light physical prompt, and then full physical prompt. Dominic then proceeded to go to the counter to turn on the video on the iPad by pressing play. After each clip, he’s expected to complete each step. Based on baseline data,

prompts were provided for each of the corresponding steps. A preference assessment was provided before the study which illustrated preferred reinforcers. Dominic’s had an array of three preferred reinforcers that he was able to choose from after the three tasks were completed.

Throughout the tasks, praise was provided on a fixed-ratio schedule of three.

Probes

A probe was conducted every five days at Dominic’s worksite; the pizza parlor. The probes indicated the level prompt for each step on the task analysis. If Dominic showed independence while completing a specific step, then the prompt was removed for that specific step.

Data Collection

Data was recorded using a task analysis sheet (Figure 1) which consisted of 30 steps of Dominic’s vocational skill routine. The accurate prompt level was listed next to the steps and was determined from the baseline data. A plus would indict the step was completed independently. A minus would mean the Dominic was unable to complete the step independently. When probe sessions were transpiring, if Dominic completed the step independently then the prompt would be changed. After each session, the total number of independent steps were recorded. The number of Dominic’s independent steps were then divided by the total number of steps listed within the task analysis to see the percentage of completed independently steps within each session.

Results

Figure 2 outlines the results of Dominic’s independent vocational skills within his job site; the pizza parlor. The steps completed independently are indicated by numerical data. Across 40 sessions, the data represents that multiple probe procedure was effective in teaching Dominic independent vocational tasks at his job site. Five probes were held within Dominic’s job site. The baseline probe indicated a 10% independence when completing his vocational skill task analysis. The probes showed an increase in independence skills. By session 10, Dominic was at a 50% independence and by session 20, was at 100% independence.

With a session being held daily, the data showed that independence skill progression was steadily increasing. From sessions 1- 10, independence increased by 40% and steadily keeps increasing. Stabilization did occur between sessions 12-14 but by session 15 independence was at 65%. Dominic showed an average of 100% independence by session 20. The multiple probe design was effective in teaching Dominic independence of vocational skills.

Discussion

This study shows you how the use of video prompting model can be effective in teaching vocational skills to an individual with an autism spectrum disorder. The rapid increase in independence was demonstrated at his work site; the pizza parlor. The study shows that variables such as staff or other employees did not play a factor in the results of the study. The interventions were still effective and an increase in independence was still gained. However, the consistency of the iPad and other materials may have had a factor in the success of Dominic’s independent skill.

Failure to observe the generalization of skills within different settings was a limitation of the study. Also, another limitation was baseline data could have been longer to truly analyze Dominic’s independence. Another limitation was the population size was only one individual, in which the study does not produce enough evidence on effectiveness across other individuals.

Next, a limitation would be conducting the study within one setting, by having another environmental setting, the data products would be different. Future research is needed to justify the findings of this study.

Appendix:

Figure 1: Vocational Skills Task Analysis

Vocational Skills Task Analysis

Student: Dominic

Target Behavior: Vocational Skills

Operational Definition: Any instance of Dominic completing a step within the task analysis without prompting.

SD:“ Dominic it’s time to start work”

Reinforcement: Tangible was given on FR3 schedule

Instruction : Put a plus (+) if Dominic completed the step independently or a minus (-) if Dominic did not complete the step in 10 seconds. If Dominic was given a minus (-) then provide the prompt level to complete the step.

Prompt Levels: V: Visual prompt; The video modeling was shown, no help from staff was needed. G: Gesture prompt; Staff exhibit some kind of gesture to get the desired response for the task. PP: Partial Prompt; Staff lightly guides Dominic to complete the desire response to the task. FP: Full Prompt; Staff hand over hand Dominic to complete the desire response to the task.

Staff:Date:

Steps	Current Prompt Level	Plus (+) or Minus (-)	Prompt Level Used
Folding Pizza Boxes
1. Get a pizza box
2. Fold the top of the pizza box
3. Fold the left side of the pizza box
4. Fold the right side of the pizza box
5. Push the sides up
6. Push the top of pizza box down into the bottom
Wiping down Menus
1. Collect menus at the front of the restaurant
2. Collect menus at the back of the restaurant
3. Collect menus on the side of the dining room
4. Go get a bucket with cleaner and a rag
5. Wipe down the front of the menu
6. Wipe down inside left side of the menu
7. Wipe down inside middle of the menu
8. Wipe down right inside side of the menu
9. Wipe down back right side of the menu
10. Wipe down back middle of the menu
11. Put menus back

Steps	Current Prompt Level	Plus (+) or Minus (-)	Prompt Level Used
Table Washing
1. Get a bucket with cleaner
2. Get rag
3. Remove the pepper shaker, put on seat
4. Remove the saltshaker, put on the seat
5. Remove the specials off table
6. Place the rag in the bucket — squeeze out the water
7.Start in left-hand corner
8. Then right-hand corner
9. Then go back and forth down table four times
10. Put the saltshaker back on the table
11. Put pepper shaker back on the table
12. Put specials back the on table
13. Empty bucket when done

Total Independent Steps:
Total Possible Steps:	30
Percent of Independent Steps Completed:

Figure 2

Percentage of Steps Completed Independently in Dominic’s Vocational Skills

Post Probe 3

Post Probe 1

Post Probe 4

Post Probe 2

Post Probe 5

100.0%

90.0%

80.0%

Percentage of Independent Steps

70.0%

60.0%

50.0%

40.0%

30.0%

20.0%

10.0%

0.0%

01234567891011121314151617181920

Sessions

Social Validity Scale

On a scale of 1-5, 1 being very poor and 5 being very good, how would you rate the following questions:

	1- Very Poor	2	3	4	5- Very Good
Was the procedure easy to understand?
Overall how satisfied are you with the teaching procedures used in this project?
How would you rate the prompting hierarchy?
How likely would you use this procedure?
How helpful was the introduction information for the procedure?

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