Zero- and Four-Second Time Delay

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Zero-Second Delay Round

enCORE, provides teachers with a constant time delay script. Time delay is an evidence-based practice for teaching students with moderate and severe intellectual disability. There is no delay between the instruction and prompt when the student is first learning a skill. During the zero second, or errorless learning round, teachers provide a model for the target response while allowing students to respond to the task.

Complete 5-10 trials per student. Recommended for students needing moderate to substantial prompting and support.

Materials: The House that Jack Built Vocabulary Flashcards Worksheet, Magnetic Whiteboard, and Magnetic Display Trays

Data Sheet: Unit 5 Constant Time Delay Individual Data Sheet (one per student)

Teacher Says: Receptive identification. In the first round, display one Vocabulary Flashcard at a time and touch the Vocabulary Flashcard as you name it. For example, say, Touch the cat. Prompt your students as needed to touch the targeted Vocabulary Flashcard. Wait for students to touch the Vocabulary Flashcard. Repeat for all vocabulary words. Complete 5-10 total trials for each student.

Level 1: cat, cow, house

Level 2: cat, cow, house, woman, rat, cheese

Level 3: cat, cow, house, woman, rat, cheese, build, worried, chase

Student Response(s):

  1. Student touches the targeted Vocabulary Flashcard.
  2. Student does not respond or student responds incorrectly.

Feedback:

  1. Great work! You found the cat. A cat is an animal that says “meow.”
  2. This is a cat. Touch the cat. Wait for the student to respond. Provide prompting if needed.

Four-Second Delay Round

After a recommended number of trials, teachers move to the 4 second delay round – providing students with an opportunity to respond to the directive or task independently. If students do not respond within the allotted time, the teacher is prompted to deliver the next prompt. Within the script, a fixed amount of time is always provided between the instruction and the prompt. Constant time delay decreases the likelihood that students will develop inappropriate behavior changes or skills.

Four-Second Delay Round

Complete 5-10 trials per student. Recommended for students needing some prompting and support.

Materials: The House that Jack Built Room Cards

Data Sheet: Unit 5 Constant Time Delay Individual Data Sheet

Teacher Says: Let’s practice finding different rooms again. Hold up two Room Cards. Say, for example, Find the kitchen. Wait for the student to point to the card and/or say “kitchen.” Repeat this with the remaining examples of different rooms. Use this opportunity to collect data on the students’ vocabulary acquisition on the data sheet.

Student Response(s):

  1. Student touches and/or says “kitchen” within four seconds.
  2. Student responds incorrectly before additional prompting OR student does not respond within four seconds.

Feedback:

  1. Yes! That is the kitchen! The kitchen is where you cook and eat.
  2. Point to the correct response. This is a kitchen. Touch the kitchen. Wait for the student to respond and then give them positive reinforcement (see statement listed above). Provide physical guidance if needed.