Behavior skills training for teaching and generalizing self-instruction skills for students with intellectual disability

Research demonstrates that combining video modeling and visual activity schedules into video activity schedules has been effective in increasing independence for students with disabilities. However, the instructional procedures used to teach students to acquire the necessary skills to navigate those tools vary among existent research. In this study, a behavior skills training package was investigated within a multiple probe design across participants, to determine if four elementary aged participants with intellectual disability could acquire self-instruction skills to navigate a video activity schedule. Three participants acquired the self-instruction skills using behavior skills training. After learning how to navigate the video activity schedules, the same three participants generalized and maintained the self-instruction skills to perform additional novel behaviors. The results suggest that behavior skills training may be an effective instructional strategy for teaching self-instruction skills and a means to program for generalized behavior change for students with intellectual disability.