Marty Allen
SI 624
K. Fontichiaro
10/31/11
Programming Assignment
My audience is a group of second-graders. My theme is autism. The goal of the
program I have designed is to teach children about classmates or family members with autism.
Ideally, this program would be used for families with autism. The opening would be for
children with autism and their siblings, to show the siblings what the autistic child experiences
and to show children with autism that there are books out there about people like them and
people out there who understand what they go through. After the first book, there would be an
activity for all the children, after which the children with autism may leave or stay, depending
on how they are feeling at the time. The second half of the program focuses on the siblings of
the disabled children. These children are often overlooked as the disability takes up so much of
the family’s resources. This book, which is chosen because it shows the siblings how to help
and have fun with the autistic child, also shows siblings that there are books out there just for
them, about people like them, and that they matter, too. Though this program is tailored in this
way, it can also be used for general audiences, to show non-disabled children how people with
autism experience the world and then showing them ways to interact with these people in ways
that ensure everyone has a good time.
This program is important because autism is being diagnosed at a swiftly increasing
rate. It is more likely for a person to know someone with autism, whether a family member,
friend, or schoolmate, than not. In my research, I found several programs about people with
disabilities in general, but most of these focused on physical disabilities, not cognitive or
developmental ones. Autism in particular is an especially misunderstood condition, as well as
an isolating one. Children with autism generally exhibit behaviors considered odd, though they
do not have any physical characteristics marking them as disabled, which may lead to them
being teased, and they do not generally seek out playmates, which can mean that they are
friendless much of the time. I wanted to develop a program to teach children about autism
because chances are that they will run into someone with the condition at some point in their
life, and knowing about it will hopefully prevent teasing and increase understanding, tolerance,
and friendship.
To begin, the autistic children will go straight to the sensory center to relax and destress. The siblings will go to another room, where I will divide them into several groups. I will
then have each group sing a common song, such as “The Wheels on the Bus” or “Row, Row,
Row Your Boat.” I will then have them all begin singing at once. After a couple of minutes, I
will ask for their reactions. Was it difficult to keep focused on their song? Did they find all the
different noises and possibly the volume level hurt their ears? How did they feel about this—
for example, were they frustrated, or confused?
I will then explain that this is how some people with autism experience the world. They
hear a bunch of noises that may be so loud it hurts their ears. They don’t know what to pay
attention to, and they can’t filter out the important information from the trivial. This can make
them frustrated, and they may lash out or partake in “weird” behaviors to comfort themselves.
The same goes for other sensory experiences, as well—if you touch them, they might get
confused about where one body ends and the other begins; they might look around and see a
jumble of colors and shapes that make no sense. As the children saw when singing all the songs
at once, this can be very confusing, if not outright irritating.
However, I will explain, because we see and hear things “normally,” we might not
understand what is making the autistic person so upset. Here I will bring out my first book,
Ellie Bean, Drama Queen. I will have a picture walk, going through the pages, holding up the
pictures and asking the children what they think Ellie Bean is doing in each one. Why is she
holding her ears? Why is she spinning in circles? Is she just a weirdo? Another possibility
would be to ask children if they know of anyone who acts like Ellie does. What do they think
when they see this person acting like that? After a few minutes discussing, we will read the
book together. I’m estimating about five minutes for the introduction singing the songs, five
minutes for the picture walk, and fifteen minutes reading the book.
After finishing the book, the siblings will join the autistic children in the sensory center.
Examples of sensory centers include: for tactile stimulation, a sand or water play center, clay
for sculpting, koosh balls, or blankets; for visual stimulation, kaleidoscopes, disco balls, or lava
lamps; for auditory stimulation, a rain tube or slide whistles; also, balancing boards and
gymspins. Other possibilities can be found online. The autistic children will be more relaxed
and open to socialization at this time, and the activities will be fun and thought-provoking for
those without autism, especially after having read the book. Hopefully, as they have fun
sculpting with clay or spinning kaleidoscopes, they will be thinking, albeit subconsciously,
about what they have read. How would the child with autism see things, feel things, in this
situation? Would they find anything distressing about it? Would they experience it differently,
and how so? Though I won’t be asking the children questions—this is meant to be a fun
activity and allow the children to get up, move around, play—I hope the questions will be in
the back of their minds. This is a good activity because of that. It is fun, involves letting out
some energy within controlled settings, and, following a book about sensory sensitivities,
allows the child to think without really thinking, to wonder or not wonder without any pressure.
After a little while, roughly fifteen minutes, at the sensory centers, the siblings will be
called back to read another book together. If there are autistic children, they may leave at this
time to take part in a social skills activity. For example, Children Succeed offers a Let’s Talk
card game, where children draw cards giving them a subject to talk about, find another child
with a similar card, and have a conversation about the given topic. This activity can be either
purchased at the site, or easily created by making question, subject, and statement cards. These
children will be relaxed from the sensory center and more open and able to engage in such
social activities.
The group of siblings, in another room, will talk about living with a sibling who is
disabled. What is challenging? What is fun? What is just different? If the group is not a sibling
group, the introduction will involve more general questions. Do the children know anyone with
autism? How would they react if they saw someone acting this way? What if their own sibling
had autism—what would that be like? Then I will introduce the second book, Tacos, Anyone?,
and begin to read it. The introduction will take about one to three minutes and the book reading
about fifteen.
To wrap up, I will talk with the children about how people with autism are different in
some ways, but similar in others, just like everyone. I will ask the children about this—how are
they similar to their brothers and sisters? How are they different? What can they do to help
their siblings? This will take just a few minutes, just to sum up what we have read and
discussed.
My final activity will have the children coming back together again to make stressballs
for the children to take home. This is a very simple and cheap activity, but every child I know
enjoys these. This activity fits with the theme because children with autism sometimes use
stressballs to calm themselves down, as it provides a comforting sensory experience. It’s also
fitting because even children without autism can use these when they are feeling stressed. Plus,
they’re fun just to squish around! All that is required for this activity is sand and balloons, and
a funnel to help get the sand into the balloons. This activity would be fun for all the children
and they will have something to remember the theme of sensory issues and dealing with them
and relaxing. They will also be able socialize at this time, giving the autistic children a chance
to practice their new social skills in a relaxed setting and the siblings a chance to practice their
new understanding of their siblings.
Altogether, my program is designed to engage children and get them thinking about
autism. Although it primarily focuses on sensory sensitivities autistic people may have, this is a
major part of the disorder and the aspect that children will find more accessible, so I feel this is
acceptable. At the least, it opens the door to make children think about the disorder and
hopefully make them more understanding of those with the condition while engaging them in a
way that makes it easy for them to learn. Children will be given the opportunity to shine in their
own groups and be the focus of attention as well as have the opportunity to share activities with
their siblings.
Works Cited:
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Teachers, Too. http://www.parentsrteacherstoo.com/SensoryMotor2.html.
Baker, Jed. The Social Skills Picture Book. Arlington: Future Horizons, 2003. Print.
“Games and Activities for Children With Autism.” 2011. Children Succeed. February 25, 2012.
www.childrensucceed.com.
“Helpful Products.” Sensory Toys for Autism, Aspergers & PDD-NOS. 2011. National Autism
Resources. October 30, 2011. www.nationalautismresources.com/sensorytoys.html.
Peck, Penny. “Storytime Ideas.” Association of Children’s Librarians of Northern California—
BayNews Storytime Ideas. October 2011. Association of Children’s Librarians of Northern
California. October 24, 2011. www.bayviews.org/storytime.html.
“Programming Ideas.” ALSC Blog. October 26, 2011. Association for Library Service to
Children. October 24, 2011. http://www.alsc.ala.org/blog/?cat=38.
Schectman, Tzvi. “Teaching Children About Inclusion.” Autism from a Father’s Point of View.
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http://toysforautism.com/sensory-integration.html.
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Wright, Jan. “Classroom Activities to Teach Your Students About Disabilities.”
Associatedcontent. October 22, 2009. Associated Content. October 28, 2011.
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