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toring of behavior. He received speech <strong>the</strong>rapy
at school 2 times per week.
Jonah, a 17-year-old male with a Kaufman
Brief Intelligence Test (K-BIT) (Kaufman & Kaufman,
1990) composite score of 40, was diagnosed
with moderate mental retardation, a
moderate hearing impairment in one ear, and
a severe visual impairment in <strong>the</strong> opposite eye.
He attended general education classes in
physical education and food services technology,
and also was out of <strong>the</strong> building 1-2 times
per week for community-based instruction in
safety and shopping skills. Jonah had a sight
word vocabulary of 25-50 words. He read and
responded appropriately to many environmental
signs, product names, and names of
family, teachers, and fellow students. His
speech often was difficult to understand, and
at <strong>the</strong> time of <strong>the</strong> study was in <strong>the</strong> process of
obtaining a dynamic-screen, voice-output augmentative
communication device to supplement
his speech. Jonah followed verbal/
model directions for making several simple
snacks such as cold cereal and crackers with
spreadables. He followed 1-2 step instructions
without redirection if given adequate processing
time. Jonah was unable to read simple
written directions, and his IEP included objectives
in <strong>the</strong> areas of following pictured
directions, communication, and self-care.
He received weekly speech <strong>the</strong>rapy and occupational
<strong>the</strong>rapy at school and services for
vision impairment on a consultative basis.
Peer tutors. Eleven peer tutors, 2 males and
9 females, ranging in age from 16 to 18 years
(high school juniors and seniors), and enrolled
in a peer tutoring class for high school
credit were tutors during <strong>the</strong> study. Five of <strong>the</strong>
peer tutors were enrolled in advanced level
classes and were on a pre-college curriculum.
The o<strong>the</strong>r seven were enrolled in standard
level classes and were on a vocational education
track for ei<strong>the</strong>r industry or business related
fields. All tutors who participated met
prerequisite skills including availability for after
school training sessions, faculty performance
ratings, and interest in <strong>the</strong> research
study. Faculty performance rating forms were
distributed to faculty members and <strong>the</strong>y rated
students’ personal characteristics and work
ethic on a scale of 1 to 5 (5 was <strong>the</strong> highest
rating). Students must have received an over-
all 3.5 from at least five faculty members in
order to be eligible for participation.
Setting
All experimental sessions occurred in a kitchen/living
area adjacent to <strong>the</strong> students’ selfcontained
classroom. Because <strong>the</strong> kitchen
area was a separate room with a door that
could be closed and because only one student
at a time was permitted to be in <strong>the</strong> kitchen to
prepare a snack, additional control for distractions
did not occur.
Materials/Equipment
The teacher and/or peer tutors used <strong>the</strong> following
materials: (a) digital camera for creating
<strong>the</strong> pictorial recipes, (b) dishes and utensils,
(c) food stored in cabinets, a refrigerator
or freezer, (d) pictorial recipe cards with written
directions beneath each photo with photos
in sequence according to <strong>the</strong> task analysis
and held in order by a large metal ring, (e)
data sheets, and (f) reliability forms for <strong>the</strong>
dependent and independent measures.
Skill Selection
114 / Education and Training in Developmental Disabilities-March 2008
All participating students had food preparation
or <strong>the</strong> following of pictorial directions as
objectives included on <strong>the</strong>ir IEP. In addition,
<strong>the</strong> teacher interviewed <strong>the</strong> students’ parents,
former teachers, and <strong>the</strong> students about <strong>the</strong>
foods <strong>the</strong>y would prefer to cook. After determining
that <strong>the</strong> students had no prior experience
in preparing <strong>the</strong> target recipes, <strong>the</strong>
teacher screened <strong>the</strong> students for <strong>the</strong>ir ability
to follow a verbal/model prompt and to motorically
imitate specific skills required to prepare
<strong>the</strong> target recipes. Target recipes for Jake
and Louis included making a milkshake in <strong>the</strong>
blender (27 critical steps) and making a
grilled cheese sandwich (32 critical steps).
Target skills for Charlie and Jonah included
making a waffle in <strong>the</strong> toaster (27 critical
steps) and making juice from a frozen concentrate
(25 critical steps). In addition, each task
analysis included a “turning <strong>the</strong> page” step in
between each critical step for students to turn
<strong>the</strong> pages of <strong>the</strong> picture recipe in order to see
<strong>the</strong> next step.