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Most to Least

In the examples that follow, Ben's mother has developed a most-to-least help strategy to assist her son in learning the skill of pulling himself to a standing position. The three examples offer snapshots of how Ben's mother started with Ben's current need for help-full physical help-and gradually reduced the amount of help offered to partial physical help and then to direct verbal help as Ben's skill in pulling himself improved. It is important to note that because the examples show snapshots, they do not show the amount of time Ben's mother spent at each level of help. Depending on your child's progress and the difficulty of the skill to learn, you might move slowly or rapidly from one level of help to another. Deciding when to move to the next level of help for your child, although planned in advance, should be based on your child's actual accomplishments, not on a specific time period. For example, don't change levels of help just because you have been offering partial physical help for two weeks; make the changes based on your child's progress.

Most-to-Least Help Strategy - Part One

Skill: Ben needs to learn to Pull Himself to a Standing Position.
Ben and his mother are together.
He wants to play with the toy on the chair (a natural cue).
His mother uses full physical help by scooting him close to the chair, positioning his arms and legs, lifting his weight onto his leg, guiding his knee to help support the weight, and helping him pull to a standing position.
The result is that Ben is pulled to a standing position.
The natural reward is that Ben gets to play with the toy school bus.

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Most-to-Least Help Strategy - Part Two

Skill: Ben needs to learn to Pull Himself to a Standing Position.
He wants to play with the train on the couch (a natural cue).
His mother uses partial physical help by guiding him closer to the couch by placing her arms under his and letting him move his legs.
She positions one of his legs and helps pull him up by one hand.
The result is that Ben pulls to a standing position.
The natural reward is that he gets to play with train.

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Most-to-Least Help Strategy - Part Three

Skill: Ben needs to learn to Pull Himself to a Standing Position.
He wants to look at the book with his mother (a natural cue).
He moves toward the couch and looks at his mother.
His mother uses direct verbal help by saying, "Ben, stand up. Come over here."
The result is that Ben pulls to a standing position independently.
The natural reward is that Ben gets to look at the book.

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