Supporting High Functioning Autism in your Classroom

August 18, 2015

Karen Sanders, Behavior Specialist

April Votaw, SLP, CCC

Amanda Sturgeon, Diagnostician

Goal for today’s training

• Minimize classroom disruption• Give you tools to proactively set up class to avoid

confrontations and disruptions• We are giving you much more than time allows for

so we will hit the ones that need the most “instruction time” and the remaining will be “spelled out” in this power point for your tool box.

• Keep instructional flow moving successfully• Example: Eating Healthy

• Prepare: plan out your meals ahead of time you are setting yourself up for success

What does HFA look like in your classroom?

• Academic level

• Behaviors

• Social interactions

• Interests

It’s all about perspective….

• It is a spectrum disorder…like snowflakes…..each student is different. They have differences in several areas.• Theory of mind• Central Coherence• Executive Functioning/Regulation• Anxiety/Depression• Language/Communication

Theory of Mind

• Ability to infer & appreciate the mental states (beliefs, interests, desires, perceptions, intentions, feelings) of others & apply this understanding to explain and/or predict individuals’ behaviors.• “mindblindness” - Individuals on the spectrum

seem to have a preference for information about physical/observable rather than the psychological world.

Central Coherence

• The general tendency of individuals to integrate, or simultaneously process, incoming pieces of information into meaningful wholes. • A continuum of processing style from strong to weak.

• Strong – individuals are able to recognize & understand the gist of information and events yet fail to attend to or memorize details

• Weak – individuals tend to sequentially process information by

focusing on the fine details or parts of a stimulus, causing them to overlook the global picture.

• Monotropism – focusing attention on one thing at a time and consequently piecing the world together piece by piece

Central Coherence cont.

• Individuals with HFA/AS often struggle to draw conclusions and to interpret information based on context.

• Individuals even with appropriate ToM skills may continue to struggle socially in real-world settings. They may be able to correctly read social cues but still not understand where and when to apply them.

• Students with HFA may remember details of a story but be unable to state the main idea or them of the story, highlight story’s relevant information , and/or compare and contrast concepts with the story.

Executive Function/Regulation

• Includes: Task initiation, flexibility, emotional regulation, planning, performance monitoring, organization, sustained attention, working memory, shifting, as well as goal directed persistence.

• These mental processes are involved in and are critical for controlling inappropriate, impulsive behavior, overriding automatic behavior, maintaining an appropriate and flexible problem-solving approach, switching between several activities, and prioritizing during a given time frame as well as other cognitive tasks.

Executive Function Example

• Remember that their behavior is communicating that something is difficult for them, not necessarily cognitively challenging.

• Example: sock folding

Executive Function/Regulation cont.

• Students with HFA who have mental inflexibility frequently:• Display restricted interests• Engage in repetitive behaviors• Resist change• May not learn from their mistakes and continue

to use ineffective problem-solving strategies

Executive Function/Regulation cont.

• Time-management difficulties: planning, starting tasks, staying and keeping work areas, lockers, bedrooms, etc. organized.

• Disengaging and shifting attention when needed is often difficult as well as recalling information that they were previously attending to.

Executive Function/Regulation cont.

• A student with HFA may struggle with regulating themselves and struggle to inhibit their own behaviors. This may mean the student has difficulty controlling and appropriately expressing their emotions. This may lead to:• “Self-stimming”• Tantrums• Meltdowns• Uttering inappropriate remarks (ugly dress…) • Ineffective/lacking social reciprocity• Difficulty starting and maintaining conversations

Communication/Language

• Students with HFA are often literal and have communication breakdowns often.

• Semantics, figurative language, inferencing, are just a few areas of difficulty.

• Again, they often struggle with social implications and may or may not pick up on cues and if they do, may have difficulty applying them in the right time or space.

• If the HFA student is frustrated or upset, spoken communication can become very difficult!

CAUTION!!

• DO NOT fall into the trap of thinking that these students are lazy, bratty, or “bad,” and that they “could if they wanted to…”

So what can we do in general education setting?

• Use Evidence-based Practices:• Antecedent Based Interventions• Visual Supports• Social Skill Training/social narratives• Reinforcement• Differential Reinforcement of other behavior• Prompting• Modeling/Video Modeling• Speech/Language Supports • Self-management

These are just a few

Antecedent Based Interventions

• Using learner preferences• Altering environment• Implementing pre-activity interventions • Using Choice making• Altering how instruction is delivered• Enriching the environment

See handout

Visual Supports

• Graphic Organizers• Post “rules” for various classroom settings: i.e., group

time, seat work, lecture time, transitions within class, etc.• Match to sample• Being mindful of language used in assignments…be clear

with what needs to be done for assignment to be successful.

• Priming through visuals for upcoming events (calendars, upcoming tests, changes in schedules, substitute teachers, etc.)

Social Skill Training/Social Narratives

• Direct instruction both in the natural setting as well as small group.

• What “to do” (expected) vs what “not to do” (unexpected) behaviorally. Modeling and practice!

• Role-play in weaker areas for that student when possible (entering a conversation on topic vs off topic, for example)

• Social Narratives (with or without pictures)• Address generalization of target skill by including multiple

peers and/or adults in social narrative process.

Reinforcement

• Reinforcement is used to increase appropriate behavior and teach new skills (replacement behavior in place of interfering behavior).• Positive reinforcement – add something after an appropriate response that

increases the likelihood the response will be used again in the future. This is most important and most widely used principle in aba. (Student is given an assignment, student completes assignment, teacher gives student verbal praise or allows student to engage in a preferred activity, etc.)

• Negative reinforcement – something aversive is taken away to increase the likelihood of that response occurring in the future. (Teacher gives student an assignment, student begins heavy sighing and/or whining, teachers tells student to just do even numbered problems for now.)

• Reinforcement versus reward/bribe – Be careful!

:

Differential Reinforcement of other behavior

• Differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO; e.g. reinforcing singing to screaming)

• Differential reinforcement of alternate behavior (DRA; e.g. reinforce shaking hands to replace slapping)

• Differential reinforcement of incompatible behaviors (DRI; e.g. reinforcing appropriate language to replace swearing)

• Differential reinforcement of low rates of behavior (DRL; e.g., reinforcing hand raising which is rarely happening).

Prompting

• Gestural• Verbal (e.g. clues, hints, commands, questions, rule

statements)• Visual (e.g. pictures, objects)• Model (full, partial – can be verbal or motoric• Physical (full, partial)

• Use least amount of assistance first. If needed give more information. If student needs more move to most amount of assistance (i.e., enough to be correct).

Video-modeling

• Identify the type of video modeling (basic-, self-, point-of -view, video-prompting)

• Record video and edit any errors/and or prompts

• Complete voice overs if necessary• Arrange environment for watching video• Show video• Monitor progress

Self-management

• Self-recording device is selected: clicker, token board, moving paper clips, moving rubber bands, etc.

• Cueing device selected: alarm clock, timer, stopwatch, teacher tapping learner’s desk, etc.

• Teacher instructs learner to demonstrate correct behavior; using picture or written description, prompts learner to demonstrate correct behavior upon request, reinforcing correct demonstrations (prompted and unprompted), and eventually fading prompts.

• Teach learners to gather necessary materials independently• Teach learners how to self-record their behavior in the target setting prompting as

needed, reinforcing accuracy and fading prompts eventually.• Teach learners to gain access to reinforcement when criterion is reached (prompt then

fade)• Teachers conduct on-going intermittent checks for accuracy of self-recording.• Teachers gradually increase criterion then session length while increasing the criterion.

Speech and Language Supports

• Support HFA students who are having difficulty with spoken communication by decreasing the demand/cognitive strain of figuring out what to say.

• Use visuals and silent communication sheets to allow communication without having to actually speak.

• Remember, at that moment the student may be overloaded with feelings and may be struggling to regulate.

• Example: think of a time when you are so angry you have to really struggle NOT to word vomit all over someone else – YOU ARE NOT PROCESSING WELL. This is what it is like for these students.

Some Resources:

• Rogers, L. (2013). Visual supports for visual thinkers: practical ideas for students with autism spectrum disorders and other special educational needs. Philadelphia. Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

• Sansosti, F., Powell-Smith, K., Cowan, R. (2010). High-functioning autism/Asperger syndrome in schools: assessment and intervention. New York. The Guildford Press.

• Shore, S. (2006). Understanding autism for dummies. Hoboken, New Jersey. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Questions

• If you have student specific questions you can contact us if you don’t know who your specialists are for your campus and we will get you connected!

• Karen.Sanders@wylieisd.net• April.Votaw@wylieisd.net• Amanda.Sturgeon@wylieisd.net