Just For Adults Following Directions
Just For Adults Following Directions
Following Directions
by Kathryn J. Tomlin
Skills Ages
reading and auditory comprehension 16 through adult
categorization Grades
vocabulary high school and up
word relationships
concrete and abstract language
Evidence-Based Practice
According to the Clinical Guidelines of the Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists
(www.rcslt.org/resources, 2005) and the National Stroke Association (2006), the following
therapy principles are supported:
Communication, both verbal and nonverbal, is a fundamental human need. Meeting this
need by facilitating and enhancing communication in any form can be vital to a patient’s
well-being.
Therapy should include tasks that focus on semantic processing, including semantic cueing
of spoken output, semantic judgments, categorization, and word-to-picture matching.
Therapy may target the comprehension and production of complex, as well as simple,
sentence forms.
Therapy should be conducted within natural communication environments.
Rehabilitation is an important part of recovering from a stroke, and the goal is to regain as
much independence as possible.
This book incorporates the above principles and is also based on expert professional practice.
Zanmi, Kathy’s Samoyed, goes to work with her to encourage the clients.
Her clients enjoy feeding and spending time with Zanmi, and Zanmi
enjoys their company. Everybody wins!
Dedication
This book is respectfully dedicated to Danielle Fedele. Thanks for all your help in using
the exercises in this series of books. I couldn’t have done it without you. May your
journey in the world of speech/language pathology be fulfilling and fruitful.
Many factors can hinder one’s ability to follow directions, such as:
The exercises in Just for Adults: Following Directions have been developed to address different
forms and processes involved in following directions. In some of the sets of activities, the items get
progressively harder. The later exercises use the underlying processes targeted in the initial exercises.
On page 6, you will find a screening tool that is not to be used as a test but rather as a way to observe a
client’s use of strategies and reasoning patterns. Some questions to think about while observing how the
client completes the screening include:
These guidelines will help you present the activities in this book.
• The exercises are not for testing purposes. Try to make them as enjoyable as possible. Talking
about the specific task items, particularly when correcting error responses, will help to improve
the client’s ability for achieving the goals. Do not get into debates if the client is unable to see
another viewpoint for a response. Just move on to the next item.
• Review common direction words and practice the appropriate motor response before
beginning a section of activities. For example, ask the client to draw a circle, a box, or
underline. Write examples on index cards for future reference if necessary.
• Help the client associate directions to appropriate body parts before asking him to follow the
direction. For example, when he hears the word wink, which body part does he associate
with it?
• Be flexible with presentation and accept answers that differ from your viewpoint if the person
can give a logical explanation. The answers in the Answer Key are provided as a reference
and are not intended to be all inclusive.
I hope you and your clients find these exercises enjoyable and beneficial.
Kathy
5. Draw a clock.
Put in the numbers.
Set it for 9:25.
6.
happy
Shade in the square.
Underline the p’s.
Draw a line from the circle to the a.
3. Touch your knee, nod your head, then put your hands together.
5. Raise your arm, close both eyes, then clap your hands.
10. Pick up your foot, cross your fingers, then open your mouth.
2. Draw a line over the spice. Then, cross out the building.
pepper counter glasses bank
4. Draw a box around the food. Then, put a line over the tree.
oak wash noodles curl
6. Put two lines under the drink. Then, put a box around the job.
neck coffee jacket carpenter
8. Put a check mark on the thing you sit on. Then, underline the vegetable.
tooth corn chair stamp
2. Draw a line over the red one. Then, put a box around the heaviest one.
lemon tomato grass truck
4. Check the coldest. Then, put two lines over the sharpest.
ice dish tree knife
6. Circle the hottest one. Then, put a check after the most expensive.
smile fire diamonds oranges
7. Draw a line under the weather. Then, draw a box around the hair color.
night brunette wrap rainy
8. Circle the longest one. Then, draw a line over the fruit.
mile can pen apple
1. Circle the shortest one. Then, underline the one you hear.
fence web music inch
2. Draw a box around the roughest. Then, cross out the smoothest.
air glass sandpaper circle
3. Put a check after the yellow one. Then, draw a line over the one
that’s inflated.
lemon potato gorilla basketball
4. Circle the one that floats. Then, put a star on the cheapest one.
dryer car ship stamp
5. Cross out the softest. Then, draw a box around the smallest.
cotton hundred shelves ant
6. Put an X in front of the one that grows. Then, circle the one that can fly.
helicopter pants tree plank
7. Cross out the one you tie. Then, put two lines under the loudest.
siren knot change juggle
8. Circle the one that is shiny. Then, put a box around the oldest one.
shower antique new penny mud
3. Put a check beside the word that means the same as car.
boat airplane automobile train
4. Put a triangle over each word that begins and ends with T.
pot tent taunt tooth
5. Put a box around any word that begins with the last letter of
the word day.
floor year yam now
3. Put a box around the one that equals the number of days in a week.
2 8 4 7
6. Cross out the number that equals the number of years in a century.
100 75 50 10
2. If a child is older than his mother, cross out the second word.
If not, do nothing.
hop meter drink hike
3. If a bird flies, put a box around the last word. If not, do nothing.
bag sound left under
6. If you wear a hat on your feet, circle the shortest item. If not, do nothing.
inch foot yard mile
7. If a peanut has a shell, put a line over each green item. If not, do nothing.
blood leaves grass emerald
8. If you can see movies on TV, underline the one that grows.
If not, do nothing.
building brick tree book
5. If scissors cut, cross out the things hung on the wall. If not, do nothing.
picture gum clear mirror
6. If a worm can talk, put a line over the round items. If not, do nothing.
box ball dish microwave
3
10. Draw tires on the car.
+4
A
Summer
1 A 2 B 3 C
Use the items in the boxes to follow the directions.
3. Draw a line from the square to the triangle. Cross out the B.
1 2 A B 3 4
glass f ly
Use the items in the boxes to follow the directions.
2. Write the numbers 1–3 down the right side of the square.
1. Draw a square and a circle. The circle should be to the left of the square.
4. Put a line through each of the five things which are usually red.
BANK SCHOOL
DRESS
BAKERY
SHOP
LIBRARY
SPORTING POST
GOODS OFFICE
Elm Street
Broad Street
3rd Street
2nd Street
Maple Street
Chestnut Street
You are driving through the above map of some city blocks.
19-08-98765432
Just for Adults: Following Directions 40 Copyright © 2007 LinguiSystems, Inc.