10. Building Independence for All Learners in Inclusive Settings

Have you ever noticed that the learners with disabilities in your program may be reliant on adults to do certain things? Have you noticed adults providing a little too much help for some students and wonder if they might be able to do these things on their own?

Unfortunately, this happens to a lot of learners with disabilities. Building independence at every opportunity sets learners up for future success, helps them feel confident, develop autonomy, and make their own choices.

In this video, we’ll talk about ways to promote independence for teens and pre-teens by making sure everyone understands the directions, using wait time, and avoiding physical guidance. Then we’ll talk about how Leonard, a 13-year-old with autism, is able to participate as independently as possible at gaming club. Let’s get started.

The first thing to consider when working on independence is making sure that the learners know what the expectations are and what they’re supposed to do. Of course, we can’t expect learners to be independent with new tasks if they don’t know what they’re supposed to do. Make sure you have taught the teens and pre-teens in your program the tasks, routines, or activities before you expect them to be independent. Use very clear directions and model exactly what learners are supposed to do for each routine or activity. Once you’re certain they know the routine and expectations, then think about how you can build their independence. But ensuring that everyone understands the directions is always our first step.

Building independence requires adults to intentionally step back and give learners the opportunity to do things on their own. This can be difficult. Sometimes learners need more time to complete certain routines or activities and process the directions they’ve heard. This is often called wait time. Think about giving your learners about 3 to 5 seconds and counting in your head before stepping in to help. This wait time gives them a chance to do things on their own before an adult provides help that may not be necessary. Using wait time in busy secondary learning settings can be tricky, but this is a very important part of building independence. We have to give learners a chance to do things on their own before we jump in to help. Be patient and try counting to five in your head before you give help.

It’s common for learners with disabilities to be physically guided by adults. Physical guidance is the most intensive level of support a learner can receive. With this high level of support, it’s easy for a student to become reliant on an adult to do certain things, like finding a classroom, putting schoolwork in a binder, or cleaning up materials. Physical touch can also feel uncomfortable or aversive for some learners, especially for those who are sensitive to touch, as is common for many people with disabilities. Instead of physically guiding learners, we can use strategies like gestures or visuals. These supports are less invasive, easier to fade out, and help build independence right from the beginning.

Now let’s look at two different outcomes for Leonard and how adults help build independence. Leonard is so excited to join the gaming club at his local community center. His parents are excited for him to expand his social circle while also doing one of his favorite activities.

On the first day, he’s warmly greeted by one of the staff members, May, who takes his backpack and hangs it on a hook. May is very excited to have Leonard join and wants to make sure he has a great time and feel successful. Then May tells Leonard to join the group of kids at the green table. When Leonard doesn’t walk over right away, May physically leads him by the shoulder. She asks him which game he’d like to play, and when Leonard doesn’t immediately answer, she opens one box and starts setting up the pieces, saying, “Well, we can play this one together,” while the other kids play games with each other. Leonard works only with May. By the end of the week, he hasn’t played a game with any of his peers or learned any new games. While he had fun spending time with an adult, he didn’t have any chances to develop relationships or expand his gaming circle.

Now let’s look at a different story for Leonard. On the first day of gaming club, he’s warmly greeted by May. May shows Leonard a visual with pictures of a backpack and the hooks on the wall. May tells Leonard that the first thing they do each day is hang their backpacks on a hook and then choose a game table to join. May points to the wall hooks and he hangs up his backpack. Then May invites Leonard to join the green table where kids are setting up a game called Ticket to Ride. She waits a few seconds, and when Leonard doesn’t walk over by himself, she points to the green table and says, “Let’s go together.” Once there, May helps the kids—Kai, Lars, and Leonard—select the colors they would like to be and makes sure Leonard has all of his cards. He shares that he plays this game at home with his dad and he knows just what to do. Kai goes first and the game begins.

The next day, May encourages Leonard to try a new card game. May has modified the directions and made a visual that outlines the rules. She introduces this to the group and is pleased to see Leonard get started right away in dealing the cards to his new friends. May checks in with Leonard occasionally, provides positive feedback, and lets him know he can ask for help if he needs it. By the end of the week, May is excited to share with Leonard’s parents that he’s made some new friends and learned several new games. May provided just enough help to support Leonard while also allowing him to participate independently and develop new relationships. He and Kai even made plans to get together to play Ticket to Ride later that weekend.

Now let’s reflect on the two different examples. In the first example, May did not give Leonard a chance to do things on his own. She hung his backpack up for him and physically led him over to the game table. However, in the second example, May taught him the routine of putting his backpack away using a visual and pointed to where the wall hooks are. With these supports, Leonard was able to independently put his things away. She also waited for five seconds before providing more support when directing Leonard to the green table. Instead of using physical support, May pointed to and then invited Leonard to walk next to her.

Additionally, in the second example, instead of showing Leonard how to play the card game, talking him through it, and staying with him the whole time, she gave him the visual instructions so he could do it independently, checking in every now and then. With these supports in place, Leonard did things on his own and he made new friends.

Our goal should be to provide just the right amount of support for all learners, like May did with Leonard, and help them do things as independently as possible. By intentionally letting teens and pre-teens do things on their own, we’re helping them be self-sufficient, develop confidence, and have power over their environment.

How could you build independence in your program?