What are following instructions?_
The following instruction is a part of everyday life. The child can act on requests from others. Following instructions requires the child to attend to detail in spoken language, to sequence the information in the appropriate steps, and to seek clarification if they have trouble remembering or recalling the information.
At home, parents ask their children to do things around the house (e.g. “Put the cup on the table”) and at school teachers ask their students
to follow commands within the classroom (e.g. “Go to your bag and get your lunch”) and within academic tasks (e.g. “Copy the spelling words on the board, then put each of them into a sentence”).
When children engage with their peers, they often give each other instructions in play (e.g. “Can you put the doll in the bed?” or “Let’s make the train go to the station, then get all the people”)._W
hy is the ability to following instructions important? Children need to be able to follow instructions so that they can function effectively across different environments (e.g. home, kindergarten/school, when at the park, or visiting a friend’s house). If a child struggles with following instructions this impacts their ability to reach the desired ‘purpose’ or ‘outcome’ and thus complete tasks effectively.
What are the building blocks necessary to develop following instructions? Hearing Receptive (understanding) language: Comprehension of language, especially concepts and vocabulary. Attention and concentration: Sustained effort, doing activities without distraction and being able to hold that effort long enough to get the task done.
Working memory: The ability to temporarily retain and manipulate information involved in language comprehension, reasoning, and learning new information and to update this information as change occurs.
1 – 2 years of age: Can follow simple 1-step instructions (e.g. “Give the cup to mum”).
2 – 3 years of age: Can follow 2-part commands (e.g. “Go to your room and get your jacket”).
3 – 4 years of age: Can follow 3-part instructions (e.g. “Point to the cat, dog, and monkey”).
If a child has difficulties with following instructions they might: Need instructions to be presented shortly and simply. Struggle with following longer instructions and commands that need to be repeated. Fail to follow instructions accurately and often misinterprets information. Appears to be distracted or non-compliant. Look at you blankly when you give them an instruction.
Avoid carrying out instructions by talking about something else to distract the person. Look to peers to work out what they need to do.
Here is a video of ShineAvi students following instructions but you can just start with 1 or two-step instructions, to begin.
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