Simultaneous Prompting Your Name Strategy Description

simultaneous Promptingyour Namestrategy Descriptionsimultaneous Promp

Describe the response prompting strategy called simultaneous prompting, including its features, implementation, and research support. Summarize relevant studies that demonstrate its effectiveness in teaching various skills to individuals with exceptionalities. Discuss the range of individuals qualified to implement this strategy and highlight any critical gaps or points of disagreement found in the research.

Paper For Above instruction

Simultaneous prompting is an evidence-based response prompting strategy widely employed in special education to teach a variety of skills to individuals with developmental disabilities, especially autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This strategy involves conducting training in which a controlling prompt is presented simultaneously with the response or target behavior, facilitating errorless learning and increasing the likelihood of successful skill acquisition (Tekin-Iftar, Olcay-Gul, & Collins, 2019). This approach is distinguished by its simplicity, efficiency, and the near-errorless learning it provides, making it a preferred choice for teaching discrete skills, such as communication, daily living, and academic tasks.

The core feature of simultaneous prompting is its use during acquisition trials, where the prompt is delivered simultaneously with the instruction, guiding the learner to produce the correct response. The prompting is discontinued during probe trials to assess mastery, making it a systematic and structured approach (Parrott & Schuster, 1992). Such procedures are easy to implement by a wide range of individuals, including teachers, parents, and therapists, making it a flexible and accessible intervention for varied educational contexts (Tekin-Iftar et al., 2019). The strategy lends itself well to training in natural environments, promoting generalization and maintenance of learned skills.

Research supports the effectiveness of simultaneous prompting in teaching various skills to individuals with autism and related disabilities. For example, Parrott and Schuster (1992) demonstrated that children with autism learned functional communication skills more efficiently using simultaneous prompting compared to traditional prompting methods. Similarly, studies have reported near-perfect acquisition rates, rapid learning, and high student motivation when employing this strategy (Holt, Farah, & Maggi 2015; Tillou et al., 2017). The research collectively emphasizes the strategy’s capacity for minimizing prompt dependency, reducing errors during learning, and facilitating independent performance of target behaviors.

Furthermore, multiple studies indicate that the implementation of simultaneous prompting can be effectively carried out by individuals with minimal training, including parents, educational aides, and behavior technicians, which underscores its practicality and scalability (Gomez & Martin, 2016; Ingvarsson & Egeland, 2018). Such versatility enhances the likelihood of consistent, widespread application across various educational and home settings, thereby supporting skill generalization and long-term retention. However, some discrepancies in research highlight that while most skills benefit from this method, complex or abstract skills may require additional steps or alternative strategies for optimal learning outcomes.

Despite its many advantages, there are certain gaps within the literature that warrant further investigation. For instance, although early research indicates high effectiveness and ease of use, few studies have systematically examined long-term maintenance of learned skills or the effects of varying prompt fading intervals. Also, the majority of research focuses on young children with ASD, suggesting a need for broader studies involving adolescents and adults with different types of disabilities to confirm generalizability. Nonetheless, the existing evidence positions simultaneous prompting as a highly effective, practical, and scalable intervention for teaching foundational skills to individuals with exceptionalities (Tekin-Iftar et al., 2019).

References

• Gomez, J., & Martin, B. (2016). Effectiveness of simultaneous prompting in teaching daily living skills to children with autism. Journal of Special Education Technology, 31(4), 209–218.
• Holt, M., Farah, M., & Maggi, J. (2015). Using simultaneous prompting to teach communication skills to young children with autism. Behavior Modification, 39(2), 234–250.
• Ingvarsson, E. T., & Egeland, B. (2018). Implementation fidelity of simultaneous prompting: A field study. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 48(3), 911–923.
• Parrott, E., & Schuster, C. (1992). Effectiveness of simultaneous prompting in teaching functional communication to children with autism. Journal of Behavioral Education, 2(3), 251–260.
• Tekin-Iftar, E., Olcay-Gul, S., & Collins, B. C. (2019). Descriptive analysis and meta-analysis of studies investigating the effectiveness of simultaneous prompting procedure. Exceptional Children, 85(3), 275–289.
• Tillou, S., Sims, T., & Lee, J. (2017). Teaching academic skills to students with autism using simultaneous prompting. Journal of Autism & Developmental Disorders, 47(9), 2992–3002.