Task Analysis: The process of breaking a skill down into discrete skills or smaller and more manageable

components. Example putting on pants (pick up pants, locate zipper, turn pants so zipper is face up, hold the waist band etc.)
Discrete Skills: Skills that can’t be broken down. Example: Pressing a button.

Identifying the target skill Identifying the prerequisite Breaking the

skills of the learner and the skill into components
Chose the target skill that you want materials needed
your student to improve. Break the skills into
Collect baseline data smaller steps
The task needs to have a series of
discrete steps that build upon one Make a list of the materials Make steps easy
another. needed to follow

If the student has an IEP use it to If there are too many Run the skill
find the information the student prerequisite skills that need to through yourself and
needs to learn. be learned, the target skills take notes of the
itself might need to be steps
redefined
View another
Breaking the steps down for Breaking the steps down person doing the skill
every day tips for school tasks and take notes of the
steps
Steps of washing dishes Steps for analyzing a math story
problems
1. Put plug in drain
2. Put soap in the sink 1. Read the problem Confirming that
3. Fill sink with warm water 2. Paraphrase the problem
4. Turn water off when sink is full the task is completely
3. Visualize the problem
5. Place dirty dish in water 4. Hypothesize the answer analyzed
6. Wash dish with sponge 5. Estimate the answer
7. Rinse dish off Review the steps
6. Compute the answer
8. Dry dish off 7. Check the answer of the target skill
9. Put dish away
Make sure nothing
was left out
Determine how a skill we be taught Implementing intervention
Have another
Forward chaining: Teaching the first Prompting and reinforcement person run through
step until they get it down the steps to see if they
Hierarchy of prompts: Natural
can complete the task
Backward chaining: Teach the last cue, jester, verbal, visual picture,
step until they get it down model, partial full, full physical

Total task: taught in order all at once Data collection

 References

Szidon, K., & Franzone, E. (2009). Task Analysis. Madison, WI: National Professional Development Center
on Autism Spectrum Disorders, Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin. Retrieved from
http://csesa.fpg.unc.edu/sites/csesa.fpg.unc.edu/files/ebpbriefs/TaskAnalyis_Steps_0.pdf

Mims, P. (2010). Task Analysis. Modules Addressing Special Education and Teacher Education. Retrieved
from http://mast.ecu.edu/modules/ta/concept/