Effective Strategies for Students With Asperger’s Syndrome

1. Effective Strategies for Students With Asperger’s Syndrome An inquiry into the most effective strategies for helping students with asperger’s syndrome participate appropriately within the classroom. I used the 5E Model of Inquiry to guide me through the process.

2. Presentation overview • Introduction to Asperger’s Syndrome • Brainstorming Stage • Key Question • Why Asperger’s Syndrome • Research • Synthesising • Creating the resource • Evaluation

3. Brainstorming stage(Initiation) • What do I have a personal interest in? • What do I believe are issues for teachers in NZ classrooms? • How is my inquiry going to benefit teachers and students? • What is it that I need to know to help?

4. What is Asperger’s Syndrome? • Aspergers sits within the high functioning end of the autistic spectrum. • People with Aspergers: • Are communicative • Will appear just as you or I • Show difficulty in social interaction • May have difficulty with their fine motor skills • May show cognitive/processing difficulties • Indicators of Asperger’s Syndrome

5. My Key Question (Selection) • I started with : • How do social difficulties effect student's ability to follow instructions and answer questions in the classroom? • What strategies can be implemented in the classroom to assist students in understanding what is expected of them? • I needed to think about the upper end of Blooms Taxonomy • What are the most effective strategies for assisting students with social difficulties in engaging appropriately in activities in the classroom? • However I decided to change my focus from ‘social difficulties to ‘asperger’s syndrome’ half way through

6. Why Asperger’s Syndrome? • Personal Interest • Low awareness • Little to no funding – students with asperger’s syndrome will not qualify for ORS funding. • I do did not feel prepared to teach a student with asperger’s syndrome • Strategies are not only helpful for students with AS.

7. What did I already know? • What AS is and how it effects people • Students with AS need routine and structure • They can have trouble understanding instructions and communicating within the classroom

8. Research (Exploration) • Observed In a classroom with a student with asperger’s syndrome and interviewed the teacher • Interviewed two experts, • Maree Whitworth (former CEO of Autism NZ) • Dr Dean sutherland • Read a number of Journal Articles • Read some books • Looked at some websites

9. What I learnt Formulation) • Students find it challenging to stay focussed • It can be very challenging for teachers to keep students focussed • Social stories • Visual Learners • Visual scaffolds • Reminder cards • Communication cards • Draw on students strengths and interests • Prepping students with asperger’s for lessons – giving some content pictures or information the day before to go over at home etc.

10. What I did (Collection) • Created a resource which I tested out with my own children • Created 2 resources for a yr 1 student with aspergers to help them within their classroom. • Let me show you those now

11. How did it go? (evaluation) • My children now take 20mins to get ready in the morning opposed to an hour as they did before. • Teacher/student are enjoying using the resource and have seen a difference already • I would have liked to observe in a wider range of schools and age groups • I would have liked to get a different perspective such as an RTLB • Time management was a challange

12. References • Autism NZ. (2005). Autism new zealand inc.. Retrieved from http://www.autismnz.org.nz/Autism-New-Zealand/More-About-Autism.php • Birch, J (2011) Congratulations! It’s Asperger’s Syndrome. Retrieved from http://www.aspergers.co.nz/

13. Autistic Spectrum • “An Autism Spectrum Disorder is a life-long developmental disability affecting social and communication skills. People with the disability can also have accompanying learning disabilities; but, whatever their general level of intelligence, everyone with the condition shares a difficulty in making sense of the world.” – Autism NZ (2005) • It is referred to as Autism Spectrum Disorder because of the varying degrees of severity and the varying ways that it manifests itself. (Autism NZ, 2005) Difficulties with Motor Skills Limited communication Communicative Aspergers High Functioning Low Functioning Possible intellectual barriers Significant sensory issues Social Difficulties Back

14. Indicators • Difficulty making friends and in general social interaction. • Difficulty understanding non-verbal social cues such as facial expressions and body language. • Communication difficulties, e.g. not understanding the mechanics of a conversation situation. • May be either withdrawn, or makes over-eager, inappropriate approaches to others. • Difficulty understanding that others may have thoughts or feelings different from one’s own. • Obsessive focus on narrow interests, e.g. train timetables, or obsessively collecting items. • Awkward or clumsy motor skills, co-ordination or balance difficulties. • Over-sensitivity to sudden noises, and/or other sensory inputs, e.g. textures. • Eye contact may be lacking or unusual, e.g. staring. • Inflexibility about routine, especially when changes occur spontaneously. • Odd quality to voice, e.g. monotone. • Problems with understanding idiomatic expressions, i.e. taking things literally. • Difficulty with multi-tasking, or in coping with more than one significant issue. • Difficulty in thinking or performing under pressure. • Tendency to be able to deal with only one sensory channel at once, e.g. seeing OR hearing, not both. • Tendency to be overly sensitive to criticism, failure, and humiliation. • Easily bullied, manipulated, tricked or taken advantage of by others. • May be highly intelligent, but lacking in “common sense.” • Intelligence tends to be very uneven, with one or two areas of talent, and other areas of marked inability. • High anxiety levels may be an almost constant feature for some individuals. Birch, J. (2011) Back