Supporting Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder

1. Supporting Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder August 2004 PaTTAN Paraeducator Training

2. Paraeducator Development Plan Menu(to be used in conjunction with Paraeducator’s Personal Development Plan) Directions: This menu is a tool for you to use as you progress through the Paraeducator Course. Whenever you come across topics about which you would like more information, place a checkmark next to the topic and indicate in the Notes column any specifics (for example, in #1 indicate which disability). For each topic checked make an entry in the Paraeducator Personal Development Plan.

3. Paraeducator Development Plan

4. Local Policy • Your local district’s policies regarding Para educator job descriptions, duties, and responsibilities provide the final word!

5. Agenda • Purpose of Training/Learner Outcomes • What is Autism Spectrum Disorder • Main Deficits • Classroom Challenges & Strategies • Current Methodologies

6. Learner Outcomes • Describe the defining features and core deficits of students diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder • List specific instructional strategies to address the core deficits associated with ASD • Discuss some of the methods currently used to support students who have ASD

7. AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER High Functioning Low Functioning Retts Syndrome Asperger’s Disorder Autism Childhood Disintegrative Disorder PDD NOS

8. Main Deficits in Autism • Social Behavior • Reciprocity • Communication • Verbal • Non verbal • Restricted Range of Behaviors

9. Pennsylvania Department of Education Autism Child Count for years 1990 - 2004

10. REMEMBER!!! Autism Spectrum Disorder is diagnosed by the observation of behaviors.

11. Addressing the Challenges It is easier to prevent a behavior from occurring than to deal with it once it happens!

12. ACADEMICS Problems with: Making connections Understanding abstract concepts Organizing themselves and their environment Seeing the “Big picture” Challenges for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder(ASD)

13. Academic/Behavior Strategies • Provide a predictable and safe environment • Prepare for changes • Expose student to new activity beforehand • Avoid surprises • Teach flexibility • Minimize transitions • Offer consistent daily routine • Provide picture or written schedules • Teach calendar skills and choice boards

14. Academic/Behavior Strategies • Break assignments down into small units • Provide frequent teacher feedback • Give redirection as needed • Use timed work sessions • Have firm expectations • Visually show beginning and end • Provide environmental supports such as room dividers and individual carrels • Use curriculum that addresses individual student needs

15. Academic/Behavior Strategies Make language visible!

16. Sensory Issues

17. Sensory Activity

18. Sensory Motor Activity 1.Review this Sensory-Motor Preference Checklist. Think about what you do in small subtle ways to maintain an appropriate level of attention that a child with a less mature nervous system may need to do in a larger more intense way. 2.Notice which types of sensory input are comforting to you and which types of sensory input bother you. Are your items grouped in a certain category?

19. Sensory Motor Activity 3.Consider how often how long, how much and with what rhythm you use these strategies to maintain your focus. 4.When you need to concentrate at your work space, what sensory input do you prefer to help you work most efficiently? a.What do you put in your mouth? b.What do you prefer to touch? c.What types of movement do you use? d.What are your visual preferences? e.What auditory input do you use?

20. May be: Hyper/Hyposensitive Sounds Visuals Taste/Smells Touch Challenges for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder Sensory

21. Sensory Strategies for students who are: Sensitive to sounds • Muffle sound of PA system • Put tennis balls on bottom of chair legs • Keep noise levels down in classroom Sensitive to visual distractions • Check for flickering fluorescent lights • Limit number of visuals displayed in the classroom

22. Sensory Strategies for students who are: Sensitive to smells • Mask smells with lip balm • Do not wear strong perfumes Sensitive to touch • May prefer to wear clothing inside out • Don’t get into student’s personal space

23. Social and Communication Issues

24. Difficulties: Relating to others Prefers being alone Joint attention Interpreting nonverbal social cues Eye contact Issues: Ritualistic – repeating a particular behavior Focus on detail Use toys in uncharacteristic ways Limited play themes Solitary or parallel play Challenges for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder Social Play

25. Social Strategies • Protect the student from bullying and teasing • Emphasize skills the student is good at • Teach how to react to social cues • Give scripted responses to use in social situations • Model and role play two-way interactions • Use social stories

26. Play Strategies • Structure play time • Teach play skills • Teach interaction with others • Limit time spent alone • Plan, plan, plan for recess, free play, • lunch, PE

27. Challenges for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder Communication Difficulties: • Lack of initiation skills • Poor auditory comprehension • May not respond to their name • Immediate echolalia • Delayed echolalia • Perseverative speech • Incessant (repetitive) questioning • Limited receptive and expressive repertoires

28. Communication Strategies For Classroom Staff: • Give students time to respond • Avoid excessive use of questions • Use as few words as possible • Respond naturally • Always have communication tools available

29. Communication Strategies • Attempt to get student’s attention before speaking • Adjust complexity • How you talk • What you talk about • Do not demand constant eye contact • Support verbal language with visuals • Limit adult conversations SIT

30. Communication Strategies • If necessary, use gestures to supplement speech. • Use clear, concise language to help structure a student’s world.

31. Communication Strategies Use Communicative Temptations: • Interesting/favorite toys and materials • Objects in clear containers placed out of reach • Give small portions

32. pretzels Snack apple raisins Communication Strategies • Fill in the blanks • familiar songs and stories • Provide choices • Couple a preferred item with a non-preferred item

33. Make Language Visible

34. SHOW ME AND I REMEMBER… Bring what to school? Tell me and I forget!

35. All Students Have a Need to Say • What they want • What they are having trouble doing • When they need timeout • When they are giving up • When they are happy and successful Adapted from Ann Heler

36. All Students Also Need to Know • What is expected of them • What is the routine • What is socially relevant so they can respond appropriately

37. Strategy Activity

38. Overview of Methodologies, Strategies & Treatments for Autism Spectrum Disorder

39. Applied Behavior Analysis Lovaas Therapy Verbal Behavior Discrete Trial Teaching Intensive behavioral Intervention Direct Instruction Incidental Teaching Precision Teaching Fluency Based Instruction

40. Applied Behavior Analysis Goals: • Teach simple to more complex skills • Develop a behavioral profile that is as typical as possible • Generalize learned skills to other situations • Prompting, fading, shaping, chaining • Enable students to function as independently as possible

41. Applied Behavior Analysis Tools • Curriculum of simple to complex target behaviors • Task analysis • Menu of reinforcers for child • Repeated practices, discrete trials • One-to-one instruction • Systematic generalization training • Data based decision making • Incidental teaching

42. Picture Exchange Communication System • PECS is a structured communication system • Can be used with students of all ages • Give a picture to a communicative partner in exchange for the item • Teaches functional communication

43. Can be used with students who are just beginning to speak Uses behavioral training techniques Two trainers used at first: one for prompting in back, one in front of the student Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS)

44. Social Stories • Describe social situations in terms of relevant social cues • Often define appropriate responses • Teach routines, academics, and address a variety of behaviors

45. A Sample Social Story Sometimes a person says “I changed my mind.” Descriptive This means they had one idea, but now they have a new idea. Perspective I will work on staying calm when someone changes their mind. Directive When someone says, “I changed my mind,”I can think of someone writing something down, scratching it out, and writing something new. Control

46. Structured Teaching • Structure is a key component of a classroom for students who have Autism Spectrum Disorder. • Structured teaching includes: • Organizing the physical environment • Developing schedules • Developing work systems • Using visual materials • Providing clear and explicit expectations • Creating an independent learner

47. Structured Teaching • Physical organization of the classroom • consistent, visually clear boundaries for activities • transition area (check schedule) 2. Schedules (help anticipate and predict events) • reduces problems with time and organization • minimize strain on attention and memory • compensate for language impairment • foster independence • increase motivation to complete work before play

48. Structured Teaching • Individual Work Stations • informs student about what to do while in independent work time • informs student of amount of work to be done • helps student see when almost finished • Learning Task Organization • individualized ‘jigs’ or templates to demonstrate how task is to be completed

49. Reasons for Using Structure • Helps the person with autism • understand • be calm • learn • Structure is a form of behavior management • A means to increase independence through visual structure

50. “Good teachers helped me to achieve success. Children with autism need to have a structured day, and teachers who know how to be firm but gentle.”Temple Grandin, Ph.D.