Autism & Academics NJCEC

Autism and Academics

Presented by:Karen Umstead, M.Ed, B.C.B.A

Beautiful Minds of Princeton“Teach, Reach, & Expand Potential”

[email protected]

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http://www.beautifulmindsofprinceton.com/

Introductions

• Who am I

• Who are you

• What are we covering today

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Social Interaction

• Poor eye contact

• Awkward body positions/walk

• Looking at an object rather than pointing

• Not interested in making friends or interacting with people

their own age

• Existing in their own “world”

• Lack of interest in others or world around them

• You say “How are you?” and then they do not respond or

after answering do not reciprocate asking how you are3

Communication• Nonverbal, making only grunts or noises

• Unable to start a conversation

• Does not understand the give and take involved with

conversing with someone

• Repeating commercials, movies, or what you just said

to them; answer to “how are you?” is always fine

• Doesn’t play kitchen/ house or with dolls/cars

• Difficulty with turn-taking, lack of “imagination”

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Stereotypic Behaviors

• Always talking about shoes, rubber bands, dinosaurs etc

• Throws tantrum if a different route is taken home, store, school,

• Always has to have book bag in specific place or sit in same seat

• Repeated hand-flapping, spinning, rocking, etc

• Rather than play with car, plays only with wheels, spinning them

• Takes an object and uses it so twist/spin rather than it’s given

function (e.g. taking drumstick and turning it in fingers in a circle

rather than hitting drum with it)

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Comprehensible/StructuredLearning Environments

Program is structured when: the curriculum (activities, schedule, environment) is clear (i.e., comprehensible) to both the students and the educational personnel.

Comprehensible classroom (ASD):is arranged in such a way as to elicit, facilitate, enhance, or support the acquisition of specific skills such as language acquisition, appropriate behavior, social interactions, and targeted academic goals

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Comprehensible/StructuredLearning Environments

A comprehensible environment allows a student

with ASD (and others) to:

predict what is currently happening within the

learning process and what will happen next

anticipate requirements of specific settings

learn and generalize a variety of skills

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Structuring the environment (examples)

Visual cues or supports that: Organize the instructional setting Provide a schedule of activities Carefully plan and provide choice making opportunities Provide behavioral support Define specific areas of the classroom and school settings Provide temporal relations (where things are in time or sequence) Facilitate transitions, flexibility, and change

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Task Analysis

Breaking down a task into smaller components

What are the steps required to complete a task?Be specific.

The idea here is that another person could: Pick up your task analysis Perform it as written Successfully complete it.

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Task Analysis

Example: Unpacking:1. Walk in door2. Go to cubby3. Take off backpack4. Open backpack5. Take out snack6. Put snack in desk7. Hang up backpack & coat

(if wearing one)8. Sit down at desk

Example: Writer’s Workshop1. Write your name on paper2. Think about topic for 1 min3. Draw what you want to write4. Write introductory sentence5. Write 3 describing sentences6. Write conclusion sentence7. Put in writing folder8. Get book to read until

writer’s workshop is done

© BMOP 2011

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Visual Strategies

• Activity/Picture Schedules

• Checklists

• Pair hand gestures/visual with verbal

• Try to get the child to notice what other

students are doing and follow their lead.

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Picture/Activity SchedulesA.J. Morning To Do List Done

Unpack my backpack

Read Morning Message

Gather Materials

Sit at my seat and begin my work

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Do you know all of these words?

a of student

correct once the

discriminated place three

economy primary token

field put used

fixed ratio was

in reinforcement with

into reinforcers

object schedule

Do you understand this passage?

Once a fixed ratio schedule of reinforcement was put into place, the student discriminated the correct object in a field of three. A token economy was used with primary reinforcers.

Language Arts (Reading/Writing)Strengths:

– Decoding

– Reading aloud

– Answering who, what, where, when questions

– Basic recall

– Following rules (i before e except after c)

– Using visual cues (photos)

– Repetition

– Spelling

Weaknesses:

– Abstract concepts

– Idioms or figurative language

– Understanding exceptions to the rule

– Understanding a different point of view (perspective-taking)

– Reading Comprehension

– Summarizing

This is not an exhaustive list and each child has different strengths and weaknesses.

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Language Arts (Reading/Writing)

VISUAL VISUAL VISUAL

1. Anaphoric cueing

2. Cloze Exercises

3. Sentence starters

4. Choices

5. Graphic organizers

6. Vocabulary Journal

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Anaphoric cueing:

Anaphoric items refer to a previous reference (most

common use is pronouns). Prompt students to label

it

e.g. Wash six apples. Put THEM in a flat dish. ( six apples <= them)

Cloze Exercises:

The girl went to the _____. She _____ some fruit and

then left. 17


Sentence starters: On my way to the zoo, I …..

Choices: (topic Halloween)

Do you want to write about a pumpkin or a costume?

Does the pumpkin go trick or treating or does it sit on

the porch?

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Language Arts

• Allow student to highlight text (using highlighting tape, highlighter etc), possibly coding reading

• When possible, allow student’s to choose reading materials, possibly in special interest areas

• Provide choices for responses, responding, or writing (e.g. dog or cat, pencil or pen, draw or write)

• If students have difficulty understanding fiction, it may be helpful to tie it into movies they may have seen or their area of special interest (e.g. Cat in the Hat talks in story, but cats don’t talk in real life)

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Please write a sentence for each picture below

From: http://www.exploratorium.edu/brain_explorer/double.html

© BMOP 2011 20www.beautifulmindsofprinceton.com

Vocabulary Building

Make the figurative more concrete.Watch your use of idiomsCreate a vocabulary journal:1. Students write down words/phrase they don’t

understand2. Have them look up the meaning or ask others

to explain it3. Have them illustrate the idiom.

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Example:

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Breaking down words/sentences• Consider sight words vs. phonics (e.g. Edmark)• Break down the individual phonemes of a word• Consider combining with pictures• Could have visuals of person’s mouth as they

pronounce each part of the word/sentence• Consider incorporating discrete trial instruction of

phonemes/rhyming words, etc

23© BMOP 2011 www.beautifulmindsofprinceton.com

BathB A Th

Syntax Flip Books• Use a loose leaf binder

• Can chose to use pictures to accompany parts of sentence

• Each element can be flipped independently of one another

• Can incorporate a fill-in

• Can color code if you like


Breaking up sentences

• Can use color coding to show different parts

• Can use “caterpillar” organizer to illustrate different segments of a sentence


Advanced Organizers

• Give student list of questions to consider before reading a passage

• May want to make a place for student to:– Write down answers or page numbers as they read– Any questions they have

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Graphic Organizers• Visual symbols are quickly and easily recognized;

• Minimum use of text makes it easy to scan for a word, phrase, or the general idea; and

• Visual representation allows for development of a holistic understanding that words alone cannot convey.

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ExamplesGraphing Various Types of Conceptual Relationships

Graphic Type

Relationships of ideas appropriate to this type graphic

Examples: Humanities Social Science Physical/Life

Science Web (for a concept)

• Definitions • Attributes • Examples

Characteristics of cubism in art

Attributes of the demand curve in economics

Attributes of sun spots in astronomy

Tree (for hierarchies)

• Classification • Analysis • Structure • Attributes • Examples

Family tree of the Tudor Monarchy in England

Organization of the White House staff

Classes of isotopes in chemistry

Chart (for similar concepts)

• Compare • Contrast • Attributes

Comparison of imagery in poems by Anne Sexton

Comparison of the Viet Nam war to the 1988 war in the Persian Gulf

Comparison of planets of the solar system

From: "Learning across the curriculum with creative graphing", by Linda Lee Johnson, The Reading Teacher, International Reading Association, 1990.

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ExamplesGraphing Various Types of Conceptual Relationships

Graphic Type

Relationships of ideas appropriate to this type graphic

Examples: Humanities Social Science Physical/Life

Science Chain (for changes over time)

• Process • Sequence • Cause/Effect • Chronology

Plot sequence of a novel

Stages of Piaget's theory of cognitive development

Process of cell division

Sketch (for visualizing a description)

• Physical structures

• Descriptions of places

• Space relations • Concrete objects • Visual images

Description of the Elizabethan stage set in a drama

Description of a complex apparatus for studying eye movements in reading

The structure of the epidermis and dermis, the two layers of skin

From: "Learning across the curriculum with creative graphing", by Linda Lee Johnson, The Reading Teacher, International Reading Association, 1990.

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Examples (cont)FORMAT FOR WRITING EACH PARAGRAPH

Use this format to write each of the paragraphs in your composition.

TOPIC SENTENCE

DETAILS CONCLUDING SENTENCE

________________________________ ________________________________ ________________________________ ______________________________________ ___________________

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Examples (cont)

Examples:

What is it?

Democratic Government

What isn’t it?

Facts:

VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT

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Examples (cont)

Problem-Solution Organizational Frame

Write Topic Here Native Americans

What problems did they face?

-less land to live on - - -

What changes caused these problems?

-increased number of settlers moving West - -

What did they do to solve the problems?

-agreed to treaties - -

INFORMATIONAL TEXT

Examples of Visual Representatives

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Examples (cont)

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Example

Visualizing and Verbalizing

• Materials Needed:– simple pictures (single image)

– single word vocabulary (i.e.dog)

– reading passages• sentence by sentence• multi-sentence by multi-sentence• paragraph by paragraph

From: The Home/School Connection: Part 1 Visualizing and Verbalizing by Martha Myers, Christine Mentasti, Patricia Hopkins @ Suncoast Elementary School

Structure Words1. What2. Size3. Color4. Number5. Shape6. Where

7. Movement8. Mood9. Background10. Perspective11. When12. Sound

More Language Ideas

Use visual organizers Give advance warning of important info Use projects Practice rules Use computer games Teach idioms and figures of speech Create dictionaries Use sentence completion/fill in the blank activities Use buddy system Use areas of high interest and knowledge Use outlines/guided notes

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Math/Science/Social Studies

Strengths:

Memorizing fact tables

Basic computation skills

Working independently

Tends to be high interest area

Good at memorizing facts & dates

Weakness:

Word problems

Multi-step problems/projects

Group activities

Analysis & synthesis operations difficult

Conceptualizing events in different time periods

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Math

• Utilize principles of Direct Instruction (Engelmann)

• Using touch points to assist with addition & subtraction (e.g. Touch Math)

• Using schema-based word problem solving

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Direct Instruction Learning Paradigm

What you do: Say: Who:

Model “My turn” Teacher

Lead “Do it with me”Teacher and Student

Test “Your turn” Student

Delayed Test “Starting over” Student

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Touch Math

• Start at the top and move down

• Count 1 for each black dot

• Count 2 for each “double” dot

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Graphic Columns

• Helpful for students who have difficulty keeping numbers lined up correctly

• Can use graph paper or lined paper turned sideways

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8 6

6 7

+

1 5 3

Graphic Organizing to Compare

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5

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AdditionMultiplication

© BMOP 2011 www.beautifulmindsofprinceton.com

Number Cards for Regrouping

• Cut 10 each of two different shapes (e.g. 10 small circles and 10 small triangles)

• Write numerals 0 to 9 on each set of shapes

• Designate one set of shapes as the ones column and another as the tens

• Prepare answer card by tracing one of your tens shapes and one of your ones shapes

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Number Cards for Regrouping

1. Give student 2 digit math problem and tell them to add the ones column first

2. Use the number card to place the answer using proper shapes

3. Have student transfer number in the ones column to the ones place and the number in the tens column to above the numbers in tens column

4. Have them finish solving it.45

Number card example

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1 2

23+49

Number card example

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23+49 7

1

2

Word Problems

• Consider DTT with common words used in math problems

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Add More PlusSum Altogether Increase

Minus Decrease DifferenceLess Fewer ReduceTotal Subtract Take away

Word Problem Solving Steps

Word Problems:

• Find out if addition or subtract (look for word clues)

• Write out the numbers in the problem and the sign (+ or –)

• Solve the problem

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Scheme Based Word Problem Solving

• This strategy relies on problem identification (recognizing the pattern: change, group, or compare) and problem representation (schematic diagrams). The idea is to teach the concepts and patterns of problem-solving while linking it to the operations needed to solve the problem.

• For high level learners

• Based upon work of Jithendra50


• Start out by providing students with story situations where all the information is filled in. In the beginning, work with only one problem type (change, group, or compare)

• Sample: Max has 7 cats. He gives 3 cats to a friend. How many cats does Max have now?

• We don’t know how many cats are left so we subtract.• 7-3= 4• Max has 4 cats now.

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Start

7 cats

End

4 cats

Change

3 cats


• Now you try. • The pet store has 6 dogs. They sell 4 of the dogs. How many

dogs are left in the store?

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Start

dogs

End

??? dogs

Change

dogs

Social Studies/Science• Create a brief written overview of the chapter/unit/lesson• Use guided notes, having the students fill in the key points or

answers. • Create blanks on a page. You can photocopy a page from the

textbook and blank out certain information you want the student to learn/fill-in. You can also do this with worksheets. For answering questions, you may want to provide a starter sentence or create a fill-in.

• Keep homework assignments manageable, related to key points, etc.

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Social Studies/Science

• Color code materials/notes to make information easier to organize and process

• Allow the use of computer for note-taking, data collection, etc

• If needed, allow student to know ahead of time procedures/directions on conduct experiments or activities

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Walk it To Know it

• Design a flow chart on paper and transfer to individual squares

• Squares are laid out on the floor in visual sequence (either pre-set or as part of the activity)

• Great way to incorporate visuals and movement• Adaptations:

– Have students chant the words on each square as they step on them

– Let students hop or skip through the sequence – Have their fingers do the walking if not enough space

or time to get up

You’re gonna love this kid: Paula Kluth

Walk it To Know it


Company You Keep• Make a list of categories

• Each category should include at least two “sides”, opinions, or items

• Then have students divide up into sub-groups based upon response• May debrief, ask students to explain/defend choice, teach about category, etcs• Can be a great way to practice social skills (asking questions, shaking hands, etc)• Examples:

– Social Studies: Agree or Disagree on Capital Punishment

– Math: Do or do not understand how to measure angles– English: Favorite character from novel– Geography: Spanish speaking nation you’d most like to visit

– Science: Experiment you liked the most

• Adaptations– Give students different roles (leading, forming groups/gatherers)– Write prompts on board so students can see and hear choices– Ask students to sit together, link arms, or create sign for their group


Human Treasure Hunt• Every student must gather information by talking and interacting with several

different members of the classroom

• Everyone receives a worksheet with list of prompts

• Students must find an answer to every prompt on their sheet

• Have students sign the one they answer (try to have a different person answer each prompt/question)

• Can easily be adapted from simple (label, list, etc) to complex (compare/contrast)

• Questions could be personal, content related, or both

• Adaptations

– Set up question specifically for target student to answer

– Give some student a role as hunt helper

– Utilize different modalities and strengths (e.g. draw, act out, write, label)

– Ask students to sit together, link arms, or create sign for their group


Beautiful Minds of Princeton“Teach, Reach, & Expand Potential”

For more information:

Call: 1-800-675-2709

Email: [email protected]

or Visit us:

www.beautifulmindsofprinceton.com

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Education

Autism & Academics NJCEC