Developing Independent Cooking Skills in a Profoundly Retarded Woman

Abstract

This article outlines the instruction, acquisition, and generalization of three cooking skills by a severely handicapped woman. Instruction took place at a community adult developmental center for 15 minutes per skill, five days per week. Systematic instruction using applied behavioral analysis and a series of special material and procedural adaptations were implemented. A multiple baseline design across three cooking skills was employed. Within 36, 46, and 23 sessions, boiling an egg, broiling an english muffin and cheese, and baking a TV dinner were acquired, respectively. Generalization probes were carried out in different environments and across materials. These probes exhibited a significant increase of task analysis steps performed independently, and they suggested the acquisition of functional stove uses that could be utilized for a number of other recipes.