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Frequently Asked Questions

Forum References FAQ's Quiz Lecture Introduction Q. Can JARs be used with children with a range of intellectual abilities?
A.The basic elements of JARs are important whether you are working with children with mild language needs or with children who have more severe language and intellectual impairments. Young children or individuals with more severe cognitive impairment benefit from routines that:

  • are less complicated
  • have stronger emphasis on daily living sequences
  • take less time to complete but last longer longer

Q. Can JARs be used with individuals who are nonverbal?
A. Yes. JARs can be used with individuals who are nonverbal. Instead pf language you can use this method with gestures, sign language, the Picture Exchange Communication System (Bondy & Frost, 1994) or other augmentative communication systems.

Q. Can JARs also be used for youth and young adults?
A. Yes. Most of the examples given in the lecture have related to young children, but routines can easily focus on functional themes daily living themes. Refer to the section on Individualization for more information.

Q. Are JARs the best way to teach new skills?
A. Not necessarily. The purpose of JARs is to increase spontaneous and meaningful use of skills. While repetition is built into routines, skills are not practiced through drill or massed trials. It is typically important that a child is able to produce a target verbal or motor response at least imitatively before expecting it to occur in a JAR. Training of specific new skills will need to take place in other situations as well.