Teaching Young Adults with Intellectual Disability Grocery Shopping Skills in a Community Setting Using Least-to-Most...

Area of Science:

• Assistive Technology
• Intellectual Disability Research
• Applied Behavior Analysis

Background:

• Individuals with intellectual disability often face challenges in community-based living skills.
• Technology, like iPads, offers potential for skill acquisition and independence.
• Effective prompting strategies are crucial for teaching complex tasks.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the efficacy of least-to-most prompting for teaching grocery list use to young adults with intellectual disability.
• To assess the transfer of learned skills to modified grocery lists.
• To explore the application of iPad-based interventions in real-world settings.

Main Methods:

• A multiple probe design was employed to assess learning.
• Least-to-most prompting was used to teach item location and selection from a digital grocery list.
• Intervention sessions were conducted in a community grocery store environment.

Main Results:

• Participants demonstrated acquisition of grocery list use skills.
• One participant successfully utilized a re-sequenced grocery list.
• Another participant showed generalization to a list containing novel items.

Conclusions:

• Least-to-most prompting is an effective strategy for teaching iPad-based grocery list skills to young adults with intellectual disability.
• The findings suggest that technology-assisted instruction can facilitate community living skills.
• Implications for practical interventions and future research are discussed.