Including Children with ASD in Preschool Classrooms: Strategies that Work

1. Including Children with ASD in Preschool Classrooms: Strategies that Work Ilene Schwartz University of Washington ilene@uw.edu

2. Autism is a collection of overlapping groups of symptoms that vary from child to child Siegel, 1996, p.301

3. “No treatment method completely ameliorates the symptoms of ASD and no specific treatment has emerged as the established standard of care for all children with ASD.”Stahmer, Scheibman, & Cunningham (2011, p. 230)

4. Three take home messages: • Early intervention, including participation in inclusive programming, can result in remarkable developmental changes • Support participation through environmental arrangement • Improve outcomes through explicit instruction

5. What is inclusion? • Inclusion is not a set of strategies or a placement issue. Inclusion is about belonging to a community – a group of friends, a school community, or a neighborhood.

6. “Inclusion is a right, not a privilege for a select few”(Oberti v. Board of Education in Clementon School District, 1993).

7. Inclusion means providing all students within the mainstream appropriate educational programs that are challenging yet geared to their capabilities and needs as well as any support and assistance they and/or their teachers may need to be successful in the mainstream. But an inclusive school also goes beyond this. An inclusive school is a place where everyone belongs, is accepted, supports, and is supported by her or her peers and other members of the school community in the course of having his or her educational needs met

8. Community of Practice Participation in valued routines, rituals and activities Membership Relationships Skills

9. NO ONE WAY TO EDUCATE CHILDREN WITH AUTISM!!!

10. There are no instructional strategies that are autism-specific

11. Children with ASD require • Instruction to be more explicit • Reinforcement to be more explicit and perhaps extrinsic to start • More opportunities to practice with feedback • Planned instruction to facilitate generalization

12. Preschool students with autism: Are children first Have diverse strengths and needs Most often need explicit instruction across curricular domains May be gifted academically or have intellectual disabilities Will need specialized instruction in social skills and communication

13. Components of an Effective Program(Dawson & Osterling, 1997) Appropriate curriculum including attending, imitation, communication, play, and social interaction. Highly supportive teaching environment and generalization strategies. Predictability and routine. Functional approach to challenging behavior. Transition support Family involvement

14. Educating Children with Autism • National Research Council, 2001 • Report was developed at OSEP’s request

15. Characteristics of Effective Programs • Entry into program as soon as ASD is seriously considered • Active programming 25 hours a week, year round • Small group and 1:1 programming • Family component • Low student/teacher ratios (no more than 2 children with ASD per adult in classroom • Program evaluation and assessment

16. Content of Programs should include • Social skills • Expressive, receptive, and non verbal communication skills • Functional communication system • Engagement and flexibility in developmentally appropriate activities • Fine and gross motor skills

17. Content (continued) • Cognitive skills, including play • Replacement of problem behaviors with socially acceptable alternatives • Independent organizational skills and other behaviors that support participation in general education settings

18. DATA Project • Developmentally Appropriate Treatment for Autism • We are in our 16th continuous year of operation • Currently funded by local school district and fund raising

19. The goal of DATA Project originally was and continues to be to provide a school based program for young children with ASD and related disorders that is effective, meets the needs of its consumers (e.g., families and school personnel), is acceptable to consumers, and is sustainable.

20. Historical Context • 10 years after the Lovaas article • 4 years after Let Me Hear Your Voice • The trickle down of information is beginning • Parents are beginning to ask (demand) 40 hour + programs from school districts

21. We have an ongoing partnership with our public school • We were running a high quality integrated preschool that ran for 12 hours a week • We really believed that 40 hours a week of segregated discrete trial training was not in the best interest of young children with ASD

22. What to do?? • We wanted to develop a program that insured that students with ASD had opportunities to interact with typically developing kids everyday • We wanted to develop a model that reflected current best practices in applied behavior analysis

23. We wanted a program that was replicable and sustainable • We wanted to insure that this was a program that could be implemented by public school programs • We kept the idea that “Children with ASD are children first” at the center of the model

24. Project DATA was born • Initially funded by an OSEP model demonstration grant • The goal was and continues to be “blending approaches to meet individual needs” • The blended approaches were ABA, ECSE, and ECE

25. Technical and Social Support for Families Integrated Early Childhood Experience Collaboration and Coordination Quality of Life Influenced Curriculum Project DATA Extended, Intensive Instruction

26. High Quality Early Childhood Program • Inclusive • Intentional teaching • Supportive child teacher relationship • Class membership

27. Creating a Positive Classroom Climate and Culture

28. Using a Variety of Instructional Strategies • Peers • Explicit instruction • Embedded instruction • Other teachers or building staff • Areas around school outside the classroom

29. Extended instructional day • Inclusion + intensive instruction • The goal of the extended instructional day is to help children access and succeed in “general education” • Behaviorally based • Data-based decision making

30. 1:1 or 2:1 Student:Teacher ratio Highly Supported Instructional Time

31. Switch it up • Do a variety of activities each day • Science, art, blocks, imaginative play, etc. • Move around the classroom • We are not restricted to the table! • Outside • Book area • Swings

32. Example Activity Matrix

33. Technical and Social Support for Families • Home Visits • Transition Support

34. “In promoting a partnership between parents and teachers, home visits provide the means for effective team problem solving, observing children in their home environment, and encouraging parent involvement,” (Beardmore et. al., 1999)

35. Home Visits • Monthly, two hour home visits • At home, at school, in the community, at day care, play dates, collaboration with private consultant, etc. • Family/Caregiver driven: parents own the agenda • Support the family in working on high priority skills at home

36. Example: Will’s Trying New Foods Plan at school • High priority for family at home: trying new “super foods” (fruits and vegetables) • At school, we are working on Will taking a bite of a “super food” before eating the rest of his snack • W.B. bite of orange

37. Transition Support • Accompany family on school tours • Communication with child’s new teachers in the next educational setting at the beginning of the school year • Supplemental transition report to accompany the preschool report • School visits if necessary

38. Quality of Life Influenced Curriculum • Goal of DATA Project is for children to participate in a meaningful way in their family and community • Our assessment process includes family input • We are heavily focused on social, communication, and independence skills • We embed explicit instruction into every activity and fade supports as soon as children are independent • Generalization and maintenance are key

40. DTT (Discrete Trial Training) – What is it? • Breaks a skill into very small parts • Teaches each sub-skill to mastery before moving on • Provides concentrated teaching • Response is initiated by teacher • A response by child is required

41. A Discrete Trial • Instruction • Prompt (if necessary) • Child’s Response • Consequences • Inter-trial Interval

42. A Discrete Trial(Teaching Loop) Instruction or Discrimitive Stimulus (SD) Antecedent Promptifnecessary Child’s Response Behavior Consequence Consequence Inter-trial Interval

43. Questions?