Before we talk about prompt fading, the first thing we need to discuss is the prompt hierarchy. Understanding the different levels of prompting is critical in being able to fade prompts appropriately. Here, we will do a review of the prompt hierarchy and teach you all about prompt fading.
What is Prompting?
The behavior analytic definition of a prompt is an added stimulus that assists in occasioning a correct response in the presence of the SD (Cooper, Heron, & Heward, 1987). In basic language, a prompt is a way to support or guide a student to accessing the correct answer or the correct completion of an activity.
There are six main types of prompting included in the prompt hierarchy.
The Prompt Hierarchy
When working with prompts, there are different ways that we are able to introduce prompts to the students. The two most common ways to introduce prompts are most to least prompting and least to most prompting.
Least to most prompting is when you allow your student to engage in the activity with minimal prompting and then increase the prompt level to better support the student learning. To read my post on least to most prompting, click here.
Most to least prompting is when you start at the bottom of the hierarchy (full physical prompts) and gradually reduce the prompt level, otherwise known as prompt fading.
What is Prompt Fading?
The goal of a prompt is to be temporary. The prompt is there to help the learner get as close to independence as possible. When using most to least prompting, you begin at the bottom of the hierarchy, with physical prompting. It is possible that your student will not need physical prompting, in which case you can fade the prompts sooner.
Physical prompting is highly debated, but also critical to some students’ learning. Know your students, but also be sure to read Taylor’s article about why she does not use hand over hand.
I personally do not use full physical prompts, and rather prefer to use partial physical prompts (such as a wrist support or elbow tap) to physically prompt students. Additionally, I always ask permission (and wait for a student response) to physically prompt a student. This not only gives the opportunity to say no, but also gives the student agency over their body and the ways that a teacher may try to move their body parts, especially with full physical prompts.
When using most to least prompting, you are naturally fading the level of support. In most to least prompting, you will begin with the most restrictive level of prompting, and gradually reduce the level of prompting until the student is working independently.
What is Graduated Guidance?
When you are working with a student who requires physical prompting, but is not ready to move on to model prompts, we can use graduated guidance. This is when we fade physical prompts from full hand over hand to taps on the wrist or fingers.
Graduated guidance refers to the prompt fading of only physical prompts. Below is an example of a graduated guidance prompt hierarchy.
Why is prompt fading important?
It is critical to student learning to make sure that you are fading prompts when the student is seeing success. Ever seen a student who can’t seem to initiate a task unless you are standing over them or telling them what to do? That’s the result of prompt dependence.
Prompt dependence is when a student gets used to a certain level of prompting and “forgets” how to do the task without the prompt level. If you notice that your student is becoming prompt dependent, that is usually a good sign to start fading the prompt. It is common to see a dip in data and performance after reducing the prompt level, especially if your student is waiting for you to help them!
Remember, the goal of prompting is to help the student reach as close to independence as they can.
Check out these 5 MISTAKES that are commonly made when prompting students.
Any questions about prompt fading? Let me know!
