Our Personal Perceptions
&
Our impact on Students with Autism
Spectrum Disorder
Things to think about…
…And to reflect upon.
Why have a philosophy for how we think
about behavior?
 How we think about the behavior determines
how we feel about it.
 How we feel about it determines how we
respond to it (what we do).
 Our thinking is compromised when faced with
stressful situations.
 A well thought out and understood philosophy
can prevent reactive and ineffective responses.
Think of a person you work with.
On your worksheet, answer questions 1 – 4.
You will be thinking about this person as this
session progresses.
Personal Perceptions
• What are my beliefs about students with ASD
and their skills?
How do my beliefs and perceptions impact my
interactions, teaching, and expectations?
Gentle Teaching
A Philosophy for Working with
Aggressive Students based on
Relationship building
Some of the ways ASD effects
a person’s behavior?
•
•
•
•
•
Inflexible thinking
Thinking may not appear “logical”
Little thinking happens when stressed
Low tolerance for frustration
Little attention to the reactions of others
All educational transactions with
these students should be with your
affect turned off. Use logic.
Hans Asperger
Your PERCEPTIONS impact:
How you TREAT
behavior (kids) and
subsequently what,
and how you TEACH
(kids)…
How we talk about behavior can determine
how we think about it
Oppositional
Bad
Manipulative
Selfish
Aggressive
Think about the disorder and its impact on
the person’s functioning
Rigid
Inflexible
Anxious
Desperate
Clueless
The ODD label rarely
occurs outside of
another disability.
What does the frontal lobe do?
Staying calm when frustrated
Anticipates problems
Generates alternative solutions
Takes another person’s perspective
Sees the “big picture”
Interprets the behavior of others
You want to become the student’s
surrogate frontal lobe
Everytime we express our
anger, we give our students
a lesson in anger
management.
From…A Volcano in My Tummy by
Whitthouse and Pudney
GENTLE TEACHING IS A PHILOSOPHY
INVOLVING HOW WE THINK ABOUT
CHALLENGING BEHAVIOR.
Gentle Teaching Strategies
 Adults take the lead in establishing relationships.
Relationships become a goal.
 Balance our interactions so that we are interacting
socially more often than making demands.
 Do not personalize student behavior
 Beware of your face, voice tone, and body language
(send messages of calm and respect)
The Goal of Gentle Teaching:
to establish mutually valuing relationships
between students
and teacher.
To increase the amount of time spent in positive
interaction.
Your final goal:
A full belly laugh!
Create addictions
to people
Increase amount of time spent in
positive participation
What is Teacher Posture?
Our personal set of attitudes, values
and beliefs that define and direct
our judgment and actions that we
apply to any given circumstance.
Our nonverbal messages
Why Do they Do that?
 Dangerous, excessive and impulsive behaviors
are the product of the individual’s inability to:
interpret their environment
modulate their anxiety and arousal level
communicate their wants and needs
effectively
DO YOU BELIEVE THESE STATEMENTS
APPLY TO THE STUDENT YOU LISTED?
Common Obstacles for Students Related to
Having Limited Social Skills
• Poor skills for developing positive social
relationships
• The students have often found little success
or value in relationships with teachers
• If the physical presence of an adult signals
only demand, the student will not seek you
out, there is no motivation to work with
you.
DO
YOU BELIEVE THESE STATEMENTS
APPLY TO THE STUDENT YOU LISTED?
Lacking Emotional Regulation Skills
Means:
 Unable to separate one’s emotional response
from the thinking one must perform to solve the
problem
 Unable to calm oneself in order to think more
clearly
 Experience and practice can help (think airport)
DO YOU BELIEVE THESE STATEMENTS APPLY TO
THE STUDENT YOU LISTED?
Some skills needed to respond to life’s
challenges adaptively directly related to autism
 Handle transitions
 Problem solving skills
 Managing emotional
responses
 Understanding
expectations
 Flexible thinking
 Social skills
 Getting attention
 Understanding other’s
perspectives
 Appreciating how one’s
behavior impacts others
 Read nonverbal language
Teaching “lagging social skills”
 Avoid reacting to negative behavior
 Seek out the message in the behavior
 Setting up the environment for success
 Take the lead in relationship building
DO YOU BELIEVE THESE STATEMENTS
APPLY TO TEACHING THE STUDENT YOU
LISTED?
Students with ASD…
Need the teachers with the very best
teaching skills.
Social skills instruction requires good
teaching strategies just like any other skill
we teach.
Reframing Activity
Building Relationships and Creating Supportive Environments
PROBLEM STATEMENT
I have to watch her like
hawk or she will run
out of the classroom.
He is so clingy with the
one staff member he
likes. He doesn’t let
anyone else get close to
her.
REFRAMED STATEMENT
•She may not understand my
expectations about staying in the
classroom.
•She is very active.
•He has a difficult time warming up
to people and feeling safe with them.
•He feels safe with that staff
person.
How we think about a problem determines how we feel about it
What to Teach?
 Do they run? Teach where to run to.
 Do they love music? Use the love of music to
motivate learning (avoid the “reward” or “earn”
cycle)
 Does he hit to say hi? Teach greetings and
Practice
What to Teach?
• Focus teaching student skills that they can actually
use.
Teaching social skills is not just reducing negative
behavior but rather building skills that the student
views as useful.
Do the skills match the student’s identified needs?
What to teach?
 Absent skills - no clue (often requires 1:1)
 Emerging skills - developing, sometimes
present (Focus here – could be practiced in
group)
 Independent skills - Can consistently do on own;
initiates (group practice and independent work
BACK TO THE WORKSHEET
Please answer questions 5 - 9.
Discussion
• What is the importance of understanding whether a
skills is absent, emerging or independent?
• How do the terms “shaping” and “task analysis”
relate to this issue?
• A lack of social skills = a learning disability. Yes?
Hans Asperger’s word on relationship
“These children show a surprising
sensitivity to the personality of the teacher.
However difficult they are even under optimal
conditions, they can be guided and taught,
but only by those who give them true
understanding and genuine affection.
People who show kindness towards them and
yes, humor.”
Questions?