THE EFFECTS OF USING VISUAL PROMPTS, TRACING, AND CONSEQUENCES TO TEACH TWO PRESCHOOL STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES TO WRITE THEIR NAMES

The purpose of this study was to evaluate a treatment package involving tracing, prompting and consequences with handing writing using a teacher-made tracing worksheet with two preschool students. The two participants attended a self-contained special education classroom. During baseline, each student was prompted to write specific letters and no feedback was provided. During intervention, the students traced the letters in their first name using a teacher made worksheet with letters written in thick ink, thin ink and then wrote two letters without prompts. At the end of each session, the students traced their full name and then did so on the lines at the bottom of the teacher-constructed work sheet. The dependent measure was the number of handwriting points. The participants could earn one point per letter. To receive a point, the letter had to be legible. The results suggested that tracing letters using teacher made worksheets and employing consequences was effective. A return to baseline with the second participant led to a decrease in legibility. The applicability of the teaching handwriting with tracing and consequences was outlined.