Autism Coaches Meeting

November 11, 2014

Paired Squares Inclusion Activity

• Connects participants with the topic and each otherWhat

• Sets norms of participation

• Focuses the mental energy in the room

• Allows for all voices to be presentWhy

• Everyone finds a partner. Each pair locates another pair, and everyone sits together.

• After watching the video, share your concerns, ideas, and experiences related to the video.

How

Working at the Car Wash

What are the positives in your

educational programming for students

with autism in your district?

How are we

educationally

programming for

students with autism?

What are the concerns with your

educational programming for student

with autism in your district?

Do you still have autism coaches within

each of your buildings, or within your

district. If so, in what capacity are they

functioning?

If we created a county-wide network of

resourceful colleagues to call when you

needed ideas or strategies what topics

would you be comfortable in

discussing with colleagues?

Supporting Students With Autism Spectrum Disorders

Natalie Adair

St. Clair County RESA

Intervention Specialist/Autism Teacher Consultant

Adapted With Special From Huron County Teacher Consultants

The Big Ideas

• The goal for the child is always two-fold –

–To interact as a meaningful member of the family and the community

–To gain skills for independence

• Everyone needs to work together…parents, siblings, other support persons (relatives, friends, school, respite care providers, etc.)

Choose Your Battles Carefully!

• Autism doesn’t go away. . .

• Prioritize family needs and wishes

• Keep the big goals in mind: independence and socialization

• Use the characteristics of autism to your advantage

Use The Characteristics of Autism to Your Advantage

• Rely on routines

• Use areas of interest to motivate

• Capitalize on visual strengths

• Minimize the use of auditory (spoken) directions and verbal input

How Do We Make a Bridge?

• To connect their world to ours?

• To connect us with them?

• To connect their attention to what they should be doing in all environments?

High Learned Units and Opportunities for Active Engagement

Visual Supports

What are the EBPs for Students with ASD?

What Are Your Visual Supports?

• Clocks/Watches

• Calendars

• Signs in stores

• Road signs

• Price tags

• Phone books

• Maps

• Cookbooks/Recipes

• Agendas

• Checkbook register

• Car dashboard display

• Invitations

• Post-it notes

• Grocery lists

• Paycheck & stub

What Do Your Visuals Tell You….

• What you’ll be doing?

• Where you’ll be going?

• Who you’ll be seeing?

• Why you’re going there with them?

• When you’ll start and when you’ll be done?

• What’s expected of you?

Why Use Visual Supports?

• Proven in the research to:

–Reduce behavior problems

–Reduce child and family stress

– Increase learning of skills/knowledge

– Increase communication

– Increase interaction with those in the community

– Increase time spent in “quality of life” activities

But my child can talk…Are Visuals Really Necessary?

• Don’t assume he/she understands everything you say

• Assume competence but check for comprehension

• Stress and Frustration affect functioning

• Change of ability based on situation

• Change of location

Remember, YOU can talk just fine, and YOU still use MANY visual supports!

When we present information verbally, the words are available for a brief

moment.

When we present information visually it can be there for as long as the student

needs it.

Underlying principles

• Pair with minimal spoken

language

• Introduce during times of

low stress

• Use across

environments

• Use with assistance until

mastered

Before Universal Supports

Universal Supports Implemented

• Visual Schedule

– Predict Events

• Social Facts

– Library Visit

• Visual Prompts

– To assist with Transition

– To prompt next event

Walk In

Sit Down at Toy

Find a Book

Check out the Book

After Universal Supports

Underlying principles

Tell once

• Display picture/story/schedule/cue card

• Let it do the talking

• Let it do the reminding

• Let it help make the connection between the words and the meaning

Allow for the wait time and the processing to occur before you engage the student

What are some types?

• Written words

• Pictures and picture symbols

• Gestures

• Objects in the environment

• Arrangement of the environment

• Social stories

• Schedules, calendars, procedure cards

Schedules

• Must be age-appropriate

• Must be mobile…always available

• Help with transition times

• Can be made smaller as child ages

• Must be taught!!!

Let’s look at some…

Make them “changeable”

Mini-schedules and Procedures

• Break down a new, difficult, or multi-stepped activity into manageable parts

• Can be slowly adapted into less and less steps as child becomes proficient

• Let’s look at some…

Examples of mini-schedules to use at home

Teach play skills

Incorporating choices..

• Make available whenever possible

• Making choices is empowering. It results in increased positive behavior, increased understanding of language and increased motivation

Sample choice boards

• Leisure time activities

• Restaurant food choices

• Daily activities (ex. cup, plate, toothbrush, clothing, etc.)

Make it changeable…don’t offer a choice that does not exist or that you can’t live with at the time

Visuals for Physical Structure

Communication

• Think about a time you had an disagreement with someone you care about

• What happened to your body during the disagreement?

• What does research say about our IQ during times of stress?

• Many behavior problems are caused by communication difficulties!

Strategies to Change Behavior

• Contracts

– First-Then

– Token Economy

– How Many Times and Done

• Social Stories

• Visual and auditory prompts

• Self-Management System

Changing behavior…

• Use contracts to get “undesirable” activities completed

Non-preferred activities must be followed by a preferred activity

• Give a visual prompt for how many or how long a child must do something

Always honor the contract!

Teach the use of

FIRST/THEN contracts

Slide down 5 times and then ALL DONE

5 4 3 2 1

How many times?

How Many To Do

Token Economy

My Train bookRaise my hand

Use nice words

• Social stories provide an individual with accurate

information about those situations that he/she may

find difficult or confusing

• The goal of the story is to increase the individual’s

understanding of, make him/her more comfortable in,

and possibly suggest some appropriate responses for

the situation in question

Social Stories

Social Stories

• Can be written by anyone

• Used to address many topics

• Read many times BEFORE target situation occurs

• Shortened version kept as a prompt after child has learned story

• Picture cues make them more effective

Social Stories on the Fly

• Pick a situation that you have encountered that could have had a social story for support.

• What did you have available to write on– Scrap paper (napkin, old envelope…)

– Notes on phone

– Checkbook

– Your hand

• Time to write one

Self-Management Systems

• An evidence-based intervention to help children independently regulate their own behaviors

• Children are taught to discriminate between appropriate and inappropriate behaviors, monitor their own behavior, take their own data, and reward themselves for behaving appropriately

Can be used to:

• Reduce inappropriate & interfering behaviors– Disruptive behaviors– Not completing school work or chores independently

• Increase social, adaptive, & language / communication skills– Giving compliments to others– Responding to others– Increasing on-task behavior– Initiating interactions– Increasing play skills– Conversing with others

Preparing the Self-Management System

1. Identify the target behavior to increase or decrease

2. Identify reinforcers that motivate the child

3. Develop a data collection system

4. Select a self-monitoring device

Example

• Target Behavior: Get dressed before timer sounds (10 times to get reward)

• Identify reinforcer: 30 minute computer game

• Develop data collection system:– Daily card, dry erase marker, timer set by self or

teacher

• Determine self-monitoring

device: 10 check marks on card Complete work before

timer sounds:

Reward: computer game

Examples of Self-Management Systems

Saying Hello to others:

Date: _________

When: Yes/No

Bus Driver

One kid on bus

Near door at school

By locker

Mrs. Jones

1 kid in math

Mr. Brown

1 kid in reading

Lunch lady

2 kids at lunch

Recess aid

Mr. Brown

Bus driver

Hands Down

In Summary…

• What do I want to change?

• What will I do/not do?

• Did I do it?

• Did I do it to this specification?

• Did I record it?

• Can I reward myself?

Incredible 5-Point Scale

Self-Management Examples

Using Timers

A timer can help focus a child’s attention to compete a task, reduce stress (how LONG do I have to do this?) and signify the end of an activity, providing for easier transitions.

Be consistent and teach your child to set them once he or she understands how it works. A timer is frequently a necessary addition to a schedule system and can facilitate success.

Visuals don’t argue..

Use them to answer the key questions we all have regarding work…

• What do I have to do?

• How long will I have to do it?

• How will I know when I’m done?

• What can I do or what do I get when I’m done?

• Interventionist – Natalie Adair and Rose Dore With Support from Lisa and Yvette

• Online Resources– Google Images– Word Documents– www.do2Learn.com– www.usevisualstrategies.com– www.tinsnips.org

• Apps– Model Me Kids- social skills videos– Easy Board– Social HD

• Additional Resources– Social Stories and Power Card Examples – From SCC RESA– Tasks Galore Books– Model Me Kids CD’s

Resources for Visuals