The system of least prompts (SLP) was applied in the baseline phase (Taber-Doughty, 2005). SLP is a prompting strategy
frequently used by job coaches. This prompting strategy allows for independent responses by beginning with the
presentation of a discriminative stimulus (a verbal instruction). If a participant cannot respond, the job coach uses the least
intrusive prompt available (a verbal prompt) and waits for a response. Gradually, more intrusive prompts (e.g., gesture,
model, physical) are introduced if the participant continues to experience difficulty in responding or responds incorrectly.
One session per day was observed in this period. Both correct and incorrect task steps were identified and recorded. A step
was marked as incorrect if prompting was required. The success rate of a session was defined as the number of correct task
steps divided by the total number of task steps. A task step was considered a failure if the food item was incorrect or longer
than 5 s were required to complete the step. To become a paid food preparer at the university cafeteria, they were expected to
perform each task step within 5 s when setting up a combo meal.