The Application of a Self-Management Program on Instruction-Following Skills

The effects of a multicomponent self-management program on the instruction-following behaviors of five students with moderate to severe intellectual disabilities are investigated in a vocational skills training program that included self-generated verbal prompts, picture cues, double instructions, and reinforcement. Training components for individual participants were added as needed to facilitate task performance. The percentage of appropriate responses to both trained and untrained instructions was evaluated within a multiple baseline design. Results demonstrated that training was effective in teaching the students to respond appropriately to instructions. Furthermore, the findings suggested that the students learned to respond to novel instructions. Suggestions for using flexible self-management programs, in which training components are established as effective for individual participants, are discussed.