Below is a general skill sequence for helping learners put on their shoes.

Tying one's shoes is a pivotal skill in the journey towards personal independence and self-dressing. Starting with oversized or adult-sized shoes can facilitate the learning process, ensuring the learner can initially put on their shoes with ease. Before embarking on this skill, it's likely essential for learners to have foundational abilities such as scanning, matching, and following gestures, along with engagement in tasks using uni-functional toys. Simultaneously, working on imitation and listener responding for one and two-step tasks can be beneficial, even if those skills are not yet fully mastered. Once a learner has achieved proficiency in this skill sequence, they may be well-prepared to progress to more advanced dressing behaviors, including tying their shoes.

How this skill area relates to your assessments!

This skill area aligns with various assessments and their respective domains, with milestone and domain codes provided for reference. Additionally, DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for Autism are included to help clinicians identify how this skill area potentially supports medical necessity in relation to the diagnosis.

VB-MAPP (Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment and Placement Program)

Independent Play, IP 11-M, Spontaneously engages in pretend or imaginary play on 5 occasions (e.g., dressing up, a pretend party with stuffed animals, pretends to cook).
Independent Play, IP 14-M, Independently engages in sustained play activites for 10 minutes without adult prompts or reinforcement (e.g., playing with a Etch-a-sketch, playing dress up).
Social Behavior and Social Play, SBSP 14-M, Engages in pretend social play activities with peers for 5 minutes without adult prompts (e.g., dress up play, acting out videos, playing house).

AFLS (Assessment of Functional Living Skills)

Dressing, DR3, Shoes on and off.
Dressing, DR4, Boots on and off.
Dressing, DR6, Ties shoes.
Dressing, DR26, Wears shoes according to activity or weather.
Dressing, DR29, Selects own clothes and dresses self.
Shopping, SH38, Selects correct sized shoe.

DSM-V Diagnostic Criteria for Autism

A3, Deficits in developing maintaining, and understanding relationships, ranging, for example, from difficulties adjusting behavior to suit various social contexts; to difficulties in sharing imaginative play or in making friends; to absence of interest in peers.

CDC’s Developmental Milestones

3 Years, Movement/Physical Development, Puts on some clothes by himself, like loose pants or a jacket.

Treatment Plan Goal Ideas

This is a list of treatment plan goals. These are different from the goals you will find in the skill sequence below. Your treatment plan goals encompass any number of goals from the skill sequence. Sometime they will include multiple goals from the sequence (”Learner will label 5 toys”) and sometimes the treatment plan goal will be simply consist of a really important goal from the skill sequence (”Will label caregiver”). An analogy I like to use goes as follows: Each skill sequence goal (commonly known as a “target”) represent each stair in a flight of stairs. The treatment plan goal is the flight itself.

Treatment plan goal ideas for this particular skill area are as follows:

When given an oversized shoe, the learner will independently insert the correct foot within the shoe.
When given a pair of oversized shoes, the learner will independently insert the correct feet in each shoe.
When given a pair of fitted shoes, the learner will independently insert the correct feet in each shoe.

Component Skills

Your learner may need to be fluent in these component skills first before introducing this goal/skill area. Component skills for this skill sequence may include skill areas that are fundamental to other areas. Fluency in the skill areas listed below may increase the likelihood that your learner will succeed in this skill sequence and those afterward.

Intro to Scanning

Intro to Matching (Visual Perception)

Performs Preferred Action with Preferred Item (LR)

Performs Action During Familiar Routines (LR)

Intro to Dressing

Skill Possibilities

Below is a possible skill sequence for working on increasing your learner’s ability to follow instructions for putting on shoes. Note that every learner is different and that you likely will need to tweak and vary some programming to their needs. Click the triangle icon to view the full description for each skill in the sequence/area.

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#1 Puts oversized shoes together (visual)

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#2 Matches oversized shoes, matches feet

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#3 Grabs tongue of oversized shoe

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#4 Grabs tongue, grabs heel of oversized shoe

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#5 Puts on fitted shoe (visual)

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#6 Puts on fitted shoe on correct feet (no visual)

Concurrent Skills

Working on these skills at the same time could help with goal mastery. Maybe your learner has mastered these skills already. Perhaps they are already listed as component skills above. That’s okay! Targeting other learning channels might help your learner.

Performs Action with Multi-Functional Toys

Putting On Socks

Performs Actions with Uni-Functional Toys (LR)

Putting On T-Shirts

Putting On Pants

Composite Skills

These are the possible next steps for learners who have mastered, or are mastering, the skills listed above. Note that new skill areas may require fluency in other component skills not listed above. Also, you can introduce composite skill sequences prematurely to keep your learner progressing, as generativity may occur earlier than expected.

Fastening/Tying Shoes (Coming Soon!)