Teaching Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Chapter Eight Planning Support for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders: Pulling it all together The strategies outlined in this guide have been demonstrated by teachers to be beneficial. The team working with the student needs to identify which strategies and interventions are appropriate. What is the SEP Process? The Special Education Plan (SEP) results from a process used to identify the student’s strengths and needs and to plan for an inclusive approach to meet those needs. It is a collaborative process involving the student, the parent and all other relevant service providers from the Departments of Health and Community Services, Family and Community Services and other relevant agencies. Members of the Student Services team work together to identify appropriate goals for the student, the services recommended to meet the student’s needs, and the approaches to achieve those goals. SEP team formation begins with the first delivery of a service to the student. Many students with ASD have been identified prior to school entry and will already have an intervention plan. If this is not the case, an SEP is developed when the student entering school requires special interventions to meet his/her needs. Pre-referral Stage Some students with characteristics of ASD, particularly those with Asperger’s Syndrome, may not be identified prior to school entry. If the student has difficulty coping in the classroom, interacting with peers, or achieving success with the curriculum, then pre-referral interventions are implemented as part of ongoing assessment of the student’s strengths and needs. Concerns specific to the student can be discussed with the resource teacher, members of the school-based team, itinerant speech language pathologist, and parents. Members of the school-based team can access external supports as needed. Some pre-referral interventions are presented in this chapter. Prereferral interventions must be recorded, noting whether or not they were beneficial. This information will be important in future efforts to develop programs for the student. 84 Teaching Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders
Planning Support for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders Chapter Eight Resource for the Identification and Teaching of Students with Specific Learning Disability (1999) Department of Education, Government of New Brunswick. These factors are adapted from Sewell, K. (1998) Breakthroughs: How to Reach Students with Autism, A Handson How-to Manual for Teachers and Parents. How to help the student with ASD at the pre-referral stage: ASD is primarily an impairment in social and communication development. The strategies relevant for a student with ASD are similar to those relevant for a student with a language impairment. Strategies may include: • Reduce the length or size of a task. • Praise appropriate behaviors with the prospect that the appropriate behaviors will replace the less desirable behaviors. • Avoid reinforcement of ‘insistence on sameness’, expose the student to new situations and activities, even if only for short periods of time. • Allow the student time to attempt completion of tasks independently. (When necessary, provide only the minimal amount of intervention and reduce prompting over time. If you’re not sure if a student can do something, give him the benefit of the doubt and let him try it). • Wait five to ten seconds, after giving an instruction, before giving a prompt, unless the student does something clearly off task. Then, if necessary, giving a greater prompt such as a verbal or gestural prompt, remembering that too many or too frequent prompts will lead to ‘learned helplessness’. • Search for activities and objects which can be used to motivate and reward the student when appropriate behaviors occur; varying the rewards will reduce the likelihood of boredom. • Exploit the student’s interests so that a wide range of basic concepts and cognitive skills can be taught. • Teach the student about what is socially appropriate. • Prepare the student for changes in activities and routines. • Avoid abstract ideas when possible; using visual cues as an aid when abstract ideas are necessary. • Consider these factors when setting up a classroom: < use a separate small area for working with students < when placing furniture, set up patterns so students don’t disturb each other < ensure the teacher can see every area of the room < use tennis balls on chair legs to have the same effect as carpeting < use filtered light, through mini-blinds, curtains, or shades, which has a positive effect on students (i.e., warmth, calm, and coziness) Teaching Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders 85
Page 1 and 2:
TEACHING STUDENTS WITH AUTISM SPECT
Page 3 and 4:
Table of Contents Acknowledgments .
Page 5:
Table of Contents (cont’d) Append
Page 8 and 9:
ii Teaching Students with Autism Sp
Page 10 and 11:
Introduction The final section of t
Page 12 and 13:
Chapter One What Is Autism? Bryson,
Page 14 and 15:
Chapter One What Is Autism? Reprint
Page 16 and 17:
Chapter One What Is Autism? The DSM
Page 18 and 19:
Chapter One What Is Autism? Childho
Page 20 and 21:
Chapter Two Characteristics Associa
Page 22 and 23:
Page 24 and 25:
Page 26 and 27:
Page 28 and 29:
Page 30 and 31:
Page 32 and 33:
Chapter Three Teaching Students wit
Page 34 and 35:
Page 36 and 37:
Page 38 and 39:
Page 40 and 41:
Page 42 and 43: Chapter Three Teaching Students wit
Page 62 and 63: Chapter Four Managing Challenging B
Page 76 and 77: Chapter Five Students with Asperger
Page 82 and 83: Chapter Six Transition Planning For
Page 84 and 85: Chapter Six Transition Planning The
Page 86 and 87: Chapter Six Transition Planning Gra
Page 88 and 89: Chapter Six Transition Planning In
Page 90 and 91: Chapter Seven Assessment and Evalua
Page 94 and 95: Chapter Eight Planning Support for
Page 108 and 109: Appendices These appendices contain
Page 110 and 111: Appendix B Hierarchy of Prompts Pro
Page 112 and 113: Appendix D Name:___________________
Page 114 and 115: Appendix E Home-School Communicatio
Page 116 and 117: Appendix F Communication Dictionary
Page 118 and 119: Appendix H The Components of a Beha
Page 120 and 121: Appendix I Tips for Teaching High F
Page 122 and 123: Appendix I 13. If that doesn’t wo
Page 124 and 125: Appendix K Integrating Student’s
Page 126 and 127: Resources Consultative and Support
Page 128 and 129: Resources Print Resources The follo
Page 130 and 131: Resources Do-watch-listen-say: Soci
Page 132 and 133: Targeting autism: What we know, don
Page 134 and 135: Resources Assessment Tools Assessme
Page 136 and 137: References This section includes so
Page 138 and 139: References Durand, V.M., & Crimmins
Page 140 and 141: References Hodgdon, L. (1991). Solv
Page 142 and 143:
References McGinnis, E., & Goldstei
Page 144 and 145:
References Rourke, B.P. (1989). Non
Page 147 and 148:
138 Education Guidelines for Referr
Page 149 and 150:
Step 1: Guidelines for Referral Pro
Page 151 and 152:
Step 2 - A: *** Note: A psychologic
Page 153 and 154:
Referral for Consultation School Ps
Page 155:
SCHOOL DISTRICT _____________ PAREN
show all

Teaching Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?