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| PRT component/area of need | Definition | Focus group feedback |
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| Gains attention | Teacher must have the student’s attention before presenting an opportunity. | (i) Important, but easy to forget
(ii) Difficult to ensure all students are attending in a group
(iii) Can be difficult with ASD students in general |
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| Clear opportunity/instruction | The question/opportunity must be clear and appropriate to the task. | (i) Easy to implement consistently |
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| Maintenance tasks | Tasks that are easy (maintenance) must be interspersed with more difficult tasks (acquisition). | (i) Difficult to identify for each student
(ii) Minimizes frustration
(iii) Difficult to train paraprofessionals |
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| Child choice (shared control) | The teacher should follow the student’s choice of tasks, to a large extent, and/or provide choices within tasks. | (i) Important for maintaining student motivation
(ii) Difficult to address some goals with student-chosen materials
(iii) Not appropriate in all classroom settings/activities |
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| Turn taking (shared control) | Teacher should model appropriate behavior in the context of a give-and-take interaction with the student. | (i) Difficult to implement, especially in group settings
(ii) Difficult in nonplay-based activities
(iii) Sometimes not appropriate |
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| Multiple cues | Some instructions should involve cues that include multiple components (two or more aspects of the environment, stimuli, or activity). | (i) Challenging to consistently have multiple cue materials available
(ii) Description of multiple cues in the manual is confusing
(iii) May not be appropriate for children with minimal language |
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| Contingent consequence | Reinforcement must be contingent on the child’s behavior. | (i) Part of general good teaching
(ii) Challenging when the behavior is correct but not at an appropriate time |
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| Direct reinforcement | Reinforcement should be natural and directly related to the desired behavior. | (i) Highly effective
(ii) Some children only work for edibles or tangible reinforcers
(iii) Can be difficult to find for every skill, especially academics |
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| Reinforcement of attempts | Goal-directed attempts to respond must be reinforced. | (i) Useful strategy for keeping motivation high |
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| Training | — | (i) Better training materials/manual needed
(ii) Prerequisite knowledge of ABA necessary
(iii) Breakdown of components for paraprofessionals needed
(iv) Specific techniques for working in groups needed |
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| Resources |
— | (i) How to integrate PRT with other strategies
(ii) Individualizing for each student
(iii) How to use PRT with IEP goals/curriculums
(iv) Data collection system
(v) Information/handouts for parents |
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