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.
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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:
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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
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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
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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
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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