5 Strategies for making homework successful

5 amazing strategies that you can use to help your child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and/or an intellectual disability to do homework successfully.

Rewarding Compliance with Homework:

• Preferred Activities: Providing your child with preferred items or activities following compliance with homework can be a very powerful tool!

For example:

You tell your child to do his/her homework. He/she complies with your demand and starts his/her homework without engaging in any problem behaviours (e.g., whining arguing, refusing to do homework). As a result, you praise your child/teen by saying: “Great job doing your homework when I asked you to do so! You can play on an iPad for an extra 20 minutes before dinner”.

In the future, your child should be more likely to start homework when he is asked without engaging in challenging behaviours – that is if the iPad is a highly preferred activity.

• Token Boards: Incorporate tokens to reward working on/completing schoolwork tasks, in a more structured approach (e.g. each math question = 1 token, 5 tokens = 5 minutes of TV).

For more detailed information and visuals, please refer to our Reinforcement and Token Board Resources.

First-Then Statements/Board:

First-Then statements/boards describe a sequence of events that will occur. This can be helpful for showing which transitions/activities will occur and in what order. These statements are also commonly used to motivate an individual to complete a non-preferred activity, by rewarding completion of that activity with a preferred activity.

• A way in which you can use First-Then statements/boards when trying to make homework successful is by including something highly preferred to the individual.

• For example, it could look like:

  • FIRST, complete all homework THEN play video games

  • FIRST, 5 minutes of homework THEN a 2-minute break

  • FIRST, complete 1 math worksheet THEN 15 minutes of TV

For more detailed information and visuals, please refer to our First-Then Resources.

Providing Choice:

Providing an individual with choice can lead to a number of positive outcomes:

• Increasing compliance.

• Deceasing problem behaviours

• Encouraging independence

Promoting the individual’s feelings of control and confidence There are different ways to incorporate choice when it comes to homework:

• Allow the child to decide which subject to work on first

• Allow him/her to choose the preferred activity to do after the homework is completed

• Give a choice for how long he/she works on homework at one time (10 or 15 minutes?)

• Provide the option to take a break partway through

• Allow him/her to choose where the work is done (bedroom, kitchen, dining room)

For more detailed information and visuals, please refer to our Providing Choices Resources.

Prompting Break Requests:

Prompting break requests can be important for individuals that get frustrated or overwhelmed with school work tasks. Breaks provide an opportunity to relax and re-group before doing more work. Prompting break requests can be done a few different ways:

• Having a break card visible on the table to remind the child that he/she can ask for a break when they need one

• A timer could be used, so that after a set interval (amount of time) the child can ask for or take a break. For example, you can set the timer for 10 minutes and once the timer goes off the child can take a 2-minute break

• A verbal prompt could also be used by asking the child/ teenager if he/she would like to take a break.  Reminding to ask for a break if one is needed.

Prompting Requests for Help:

Prompting requests for help is useful when your child is demonstrating that he/she is struggling with a certain task (e.g., a math problem, an English essay etc.). Prompt him/her with a visual or a verbal reminder to appropriately ask for help from an adult.

• Visual: Place a picture that says “Help” on the desk. A child can point/exchange the “Help” picture when needed.

• Verbally: Remind your child to ask for help by saying: “If you are having trouble, don’t forget that you can ask for help” It is important to prompt requests for help so that your child/teen knows that it is ok to ask for help when he/she is struggling, and how to do so appropriately.

If you find that your child is struggling to complete homework, start small and gradually increase your expectations.

• Set them up for success: Ensure to start with a step that they is most likely to accomplish and celebrate those accomplishments.

• Gradually increase the number and complexity of assignments. For example, if your confident your child complete 1 math problem without engaging in a challenging behaviour gradually increase the expectation to complete two problems. Continue to do so until the child completes all assigned homework. Step-by-step they will get there.

• Remember to reward cooperation with completing the expected pre-set goals.

• The gradual increase can be done in one day or over a period of days or weeks depending on whether the child is able to successfully complete the modified simpler task without engaging in challenging behaviour