have four cups —one red, one green, one blue, and one yellow—pushed through holes cut in the top of a shoebox, and a container of red, green, blue, and yellow blocks attached to the side of the box. The organization of the task shows the child that he is to sort the blocks by color and place them in the corresponding cups. Additionally, the organization of the task itself teaches the concept of “finished” since the student knows that the task is completed when all of the materials have been used.
Task boxes emphasize students’ visual learning styles, avoiding the need for auditory processing of verbal directions, an area of deficit for many students with autism. The manipulative nature of task boxes provides students with tactile and kinesthetic activities; however, the visual structure and organization of the manipulatives prevents stereotypical spinning, tossing, or stimming with the materials since students can “see” the task to be completed.
The task boxes presented in this resource address six different skill areas: motor tasks, matching, sorting, reading, writing, and math. Motor task boxes are the first step for many children who are just learning to work independently. Skills such as “pulling off” and “putting in” are presented in a visual format to make the task expectation clear to the child. The concept of “finished” is taught by showing the child that the task is finished when all of the materials are gone.
Matching and sorting task boxes are useful for students who have visual discrimination skills and are able to recognize items as being the same or different. Various materials can be used to teach students to match and sort colors, pictures, shapes, and objects. Higher level skills such as sorting by category and filing can also be presented in task box format.
Beginning academic skills in reading, writing, and math can be taught through the use of task boxes. Students can follow a visual structure to sequence letters and numbers, place words in alphabetical order, construct a simple sentence, spell words, demonstrate one-to-one correspondence, extend a pattern—the possibilities are endless! All you need is a little creativity, some organizational containers, and a few manipulatives that you either find or create. You can tailor task boxes to the individual needs of one student or create them to be used by multiple students at different levels.
Initially, the tasks are usually taught within structured teaching sessions and then incorporated into an independent work system as students develop proficiency. Once students have mastered the tasks of three or four boxes, begin to transfer them to an independent work system.
Like task boxes, work systems capitalize on students’ visual strengths and can be tailored to the unique abilities of the child. A work system teaches a child what and how much work is to be completed and when it is finished. To achieve these goals, a work system follows the same principles as work tasks: visual organization and visual clarity. Tasks to be completed are presented in a systematic fashion with minimal distractors or irrelevant material. When a work system is first introduced, direct instruction must occur to teach a child how to follow the system—how to get the tasks, complete them, and where to put them when they are finished.
In a structured work system, work routinely flows from left to right. Tasks to be completed are placed on the student’s left. One task at a time is brought to the work surface, completed, and then transferred to a “finished” area to the student’s right. It is often helpful to have a shelving unit on the left of the student to hold the tasks to be completed in an organized fashion. Shelves for finished tasks may also be on the right of the student. However, some people prefer to use a laundry basket or other large container for finished work. The child completes the work and then places it in the “finished basket” on the floor to his right. One example of this type of work system organization is depicted in the photo on the next page:
A schedule of work to be completed may also assist some students in finishing the tasks independently. The schedule should match coding on the task boxes—colors, letters, numbers, pictures, etc. A schedule strip can be mounted to the work surface in front of the child. The schedule defines the order in which the child is to complete the tasks on his left. For example, a schedule strip may contain a green square of paper, a red square, and a yellow square, attached to the strip with Velcro®. Each box to be completed has a matching green, red, or yellow square on the outside of the box. The child will remove the first colored square, match it to the outside of the box with the same color square and then complete the task in the box. A piece of loop-Velcro® is placed on the colored square. The photo on the next page illustrates an example of a schedule strip with cards to be matched to the outside of the task box.
The goal of organized work systems is for the student to complete the tasks independently—without any prompting or assistance from another person. Tasks are only placed in the work system when the child can complete them independently. Work systems can begin with only one or two tasks if that is the independent performance level of the child. As the child becomes more proficient, the number and complexity of the tasks can increase.
Task boxes are easy to make out of materials you already have or can find around the house. On the following page is a letter that you can use to ask people to save task box items for you.
Dear Teachers,
As you clean out your rooms at the end of the year (and clean out your children’s rooms at home, too!), could you save any of the following items that you find and no longer need:
