Backwards chaining is an approach to teaching and establishing skills related to activities of daily living, often dressing skills such as putting on pants, doing up buttons on a shirt, tying shoelaces, etc. This approach is frequently used with children who express low frustration tolerance or poor self-esteem as it facilitates opportunities for the child to experience successes when breaking down the task into small, manageable steps.
Upon identifying the various steps involved in completing the task, as well as their specific order, the therapist/parent/helper completes most of the task for the child and the child completes the very last step. For example, if six steps were identified to putting on pants, the therapist would complete steps 1-5 for the child and the child completes step 6. Focusing only on the last step, the child experiences success sooner as he/she is close to the end goal.
Once the last step of the task is mastered, with practice, the therapist/parent/helper would perform one less step with the child completing one additional step. With practice and achievement of success, the number of steps performed by the child increases until the child is independently completing the task on his/her own. The therapist may recommend particular assistive aids and/or positioning strategies that would be helpful to support the child to complete the task independently as per his/her individual needs.
Confidence and self-esteem are critical components to participating in daily activities for children (and adults)! This approach takes these components into consideration to enable participation and skill acquisition. If dressing skills are challenging for your child, obtaining more information on the backwards chaining approach may be beneficial. Your therapist can work with you to determine if this is an appropriate approach for your child and work with you to implement it within your home environment.
Rammjot
OT Reg. (Ont.) – Occupational Therapist
