Practical Strategies for Working with Individuals with ASD

1. Practical Strategies for Working with Individuals with ASD Prof Rita Jordan PhD OBE Emeritus Professor in Autism Studies University of Birmingham Autism NI Day Conference Magherafelt, Feb. 20, 2012

2. Joint attention • foundation skill for learning & teaching • social skills not salient • can, but do not do so naturally or automatically • needs to be elicited • attention may not be through looking - know individual responses • need to monitor teachers’ attention to know referents • teachers need to refer explicitly (not just pointing/ looking

3. Joint attention in the classroom • questions/ comments addressed to the air - do not register • need name, - own, class, group, etc and then used as signal to get attention • use of visualiser etc may make it harder • may need longer to select relevance • may settle on irrelevant detail unless guided • give time • applies to auditory e.g. make context explicit - can’t assume • check through child activity

4. Lesson planning • beware too literal following of national curriculum • need to make relevant to interests and needs within the framework • need to frame as what the individual will learn, rather than the curriculum steps covered • predict areas of difficulty & plan for how they will be tackled • unfamiliar content - for some use familiar or extend • challenging vocabulary - instrumental & real-life • requiring problem solving skills - pre-teach • need to make everything more explicit • remember no ‘common sense’

5. Questions for planning • is content unfamiliar or challenging e.g. abstracting ‘moral of story? • pre-teach or make steps more explicit • is vocabulary problematic? • change to more understandable for introduction • teach challenging vocabulary explicitly as ‘instrumental’ learning

6. Questions for planning 2 • does it relate to students’ experience? • make it relevant BUT remember authenticity • must be applicable to real world • will not be able to use ‘common sense’ to adapt • does it require skills (in analogies, in TOM) the children may not have? • re-frame or teach or have parallel tracks

7. Teachers use of Questions • consider purpose • genuine? display? command? signalling try again? • teach explicitly or re-frame • level of questions • start with level that makes sense to student • build to overarching questions • try not to use rhetorical questions • questions to check understanding • be prepared for lack of understanding • act on it asap

8. Goal is Q of Life not getting through the lesson • try not to give definite answers or models when there are exceptions • be authentic & praise effort, not success • don’t introduce unnecessary levels of learning e.g. fake materials when the real is available • appreciate the value of contact time • don’t use it for work that could be done independently • always think what is the student learning rather than what am I teaching • use structure to make choices (and non-choices) clear

9. Build on Strengths • relationships - use them • getting consistency across staff • motivating the children to learn • work with CAL • detailed planning • plan to pre-empt difficulties rather than ‘mopping up’ • opportunities to apply learning - plan for some ‘out of the box’ lessons that use the environmental facilities available • make lessons fit into life rather than be apart from it

10. Background affecting Challenging Behaviour • Diet • peptide theory • effects of diets • Sleep • chronic deprivation • melatonin • Exercise • daily aerobic

11. A Positive Approach • move away from aversives • understand meaning and function • need positive alternative • not inhibition • teaching consequences • structured setting • accept phobias etc..

12. Functional Analysis • Settings • ‘last straw’ not always ‘trigger’ • whole child (inc. skills) & whole school approach • parent collaboration • Behaviour • accurate • frequency • duration • intensity • Results

13. Teaching Consequences • less able - single track • more able - • railway - no turns • 2 clear termini with no connections • choice point emphasised Moment of choice Taught alternative Problem

14. Fostering ‘Realistic Optimism’ • use ‘ecological curriculum’ approach to life and social skills • accurate appraisal of self • plan for future coping • help them notice good things that happen • teach ‘mindfulness’ & avoid • too much worry over future • too much anger & distress over past