Total Task Chaining

Total-task chaining is a teaching method in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) where the person learning is taught to complete all the steps of a skill, in the correct order, during each learning opportunity. The person doing the teaching provides prompts or help as needed on any of the steps, then gradually reduces support of these steps until the learner can do the whole task independently. Total-task chaining is often used when a learner can already do some parts of the task but needs practice putting all the steps together.

Example: A child is learning to wash their hands. They are guided through the steps of turning on the faucet, wetting their hands, getting soap, scrubbing their hands, rinsing their hands, and then drying them with a towel. Help can be given at any step needed until the child can do it independently.