The Paraprofessional Support Playbook: Beyond Prompt Dependency
5 min read
Visual Routines
Fading Prompts From a Routine so it runs without you in the room.
The routine works, and it only works when you are standing there. You have swapped verbal prompting for visual prompting and kept yourself firmly in the middle of it.
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Why it works here
Why a visual routine helps with fading prompts from a routine
Prompts are supposed to be temporary, and they very rarely get removed on purpose. Fading them one layer at a time is the difference between a child who follows a routine and a child who follows you while a routine happens nearby.
You will recognize this if
- The routine stops when you leave the room.
- You are still narrating steps your child clearly knows.
- Another adult cannot make the routine work.
What the research saysSupport delivered without a fading plan drifts toward doing things for a child rather than building independence, a pattern well documented in paraprofessional support at school.
VizyPlan, Paraprofessional support and prompt dependency
The setup
How to set it up for fading prompts from a routine
Takes about five minutes. Use it as written, or keep only the steps your family needs. A short setup that gets used beats a complete one that gets abandoned in week two.
- 1 Stop speaking the steps and point at them instead
- 2 Then stop pointing and simply look at the routine yourself
- 3 Then stand further away, then in the doorway, then out of sight
- 4 Let your child mark steps complete rather than doing it for them
- 5 Change one layer at a time and hold it for several days
- 6 Go back one layer, not all of them, if the routine wobbles
The mistake most families make
Removing all support at once usually collapses the routine and gets read as evidence your child is not ready, when the actual problem was the size of the jump.
In the app
Built into the routine, not bolted onto it.
The Visual Routines lives inside the same routine your child already follows, so fading prompts from a routine is a step with a visible length rather than a separate tool somebody has to remember to open.
- Attach it to any step in any routine
- Works for pre-readers, gestalt language processors, and AAC users
- Same setup at home, at school, and in therapy
Set this up for your child.
Five minutes to build, and your child sees it every time fading prompts from a routine comes around.
$6.99/month after the free trial · Cancel anytime · Also at app.vizyplan.com
Common questions
About fading prompts from a routine
How do I know if my child is prompt dependent?
Say nothing for one full routine, or have somebody else run it. What happens next tells you how much of the routine was actually you.
How fast should I fade?
One layer at a time, held for several days each. Fading faster than the routine can absorb is the most common way this goes wrong.
Is prompting bad?
Not at all, and it is meant to be temporary. The problem is prompting at the same level for two years without anyone noticing.
VizyPlan supports routines and communication at home and school. It is not a medical device and does not diagnose or treat any condition. Talk to your child's care team about clinical questions.
