Table 4 Step 1 - Bat Grip Intervention

Item Content
Teaching Objective To teach the child to hold the bat correctly.
Materials T-ball bat, tee, square box marking, reinforcers (preferred items or social reinforcement)
Teaching Environment The child stands in the square box next to the location where the T-ball tee and bat are placed.
Instruction “Hit the ball.”
Number of Trials 10 trials per session
Teaching Strategy Forward chaining procedure with either Most-to-Least (MTL) or Least-to-Most (LTM) prompting strategies.
MTL Prompting Procedure 1. After the “Hit the ball” instruction, if there is no response, provide physical prompts to guide the child to hold the bat.2. Provide two physical prompts, then present a modeling prompt3. If two consecutive correct responses occur during modeling prompts, switch to verbal prompting.4. If two consecutive incorrect responses occur during modeling prompts, revert to physical prompting.
LTM Prompting Procedure 1. After the “Hit the ball” instruction, if there is no response, provide a verbal prompt.2. If there is still no response, provide a modeling prompt, and if there is still no response, provide a physical prompt.3. At each prompting level, when a correct response occurs, deliver reinforcement and proceed to the next step.
Correct Response 1. Provide the preferred reinforcer upon completig the current step.2. Upon completing the entire chain, provide additional social reinforcement (e.g., “Good job!”).
Incorrect Response 1. Apply physical prompting three times to correct the error.2. Do not provide the reinforcer.3. No Response
No Response 1. Wait 2 seconds, then provide a higher-level prompt.2. If repeated non-responses occur, lower the prompt level to the previous stage.