Shifting from full physical prompting toward least-to-most support so the student is doing the learning, not the para.
At a glance
When: A student only succeeds with full physical guidance.
Remember: The prompting program is a team/BCBA decision — run it faithfully and bring back data; don't switch approaches on your own.
What strong practice looks like — and why.
The scenario you saw
You're working on a money-counting skill with a student. With full hand-over-hand guidance, they succeed every time. Without any support, they can't do it. How do you interpret this and what do you adjust?
Before you read on — what would you do here? Picture your move, then reveal how strong practice handles it.
Full hand-over-hand every time means you're doing the skill, not teaching it. But the right fix depends on the student's current skill level. This student has zero independent responding — they can only succeed with full physical support. That profile calls for a most-to-least approach: start at full physical support and fade systematically (full physical → partial physical → model → gesture → waiting), because starting at the bottom of a least-to-most hierarchy will produce repeated failure before reaching the effective prompt level. Least-to-most is appropriate when the student already has some independent capacity; most-to-least is correct when they don't yet have the skill at all. In either case, the goal is fading — you're working toward the point where the student is doing the work. Document which prompt levels produce success across sessions and share it so the plan reflects reality.
Why this works
Full hand-over-hand that 'works every time' is a trap: if the student only succeeds with full physical guidance, you're doing the skill, not teaching it. Which way to fade depends on where the student actually is — a learner with no independent responding needs most-to-least (start at full support and systematically thin it: full physical → partial → model → gesture → wait), because dropping them at the bottom of a least-to-most ladder just manufactures failure. The constant across both is the goal: fade toward the student doing it alone, and track which prompt levels produce success so the plan reflects reality.
What to look for
Recall is where it sticks — a few quick scenarios.
Reading is useful, but recall is where it sticks. Three short scenarios, low-stakes, no scoring — about 3 minutes. You can stop any time.
Start the practice set →Short on time? Start with the first one.
Scope & safety
Which prompting program a student is on is a team/BCBA decision set with your supervising teacher — your role is to run it faithfully, fade toward independence, and bring back data on what's working, not to switch approaches on your own.
IRIS Center (Vanderbilt)
IRIS Center companion resource on identifying the right prompt level for each student and systematically fading support to build independence.