Educational Leadership - October 2010

move to remind her of the change. The teacher also shares the information with Christine’s parents so they can remind her of the change.

Teach Social and Physical Skills

Christine’s teacher and related service providers (for example, the speech therapist and occupational therapist) use a range of strategies and tools to help her learn to perform various social tasks, such as asking for help or initiating conversations with peers.

Social stories (Gray, 2010) and sensory stories (Nackley & Marr, 2007) are two useful tools for teaching skills to children on the autism spectrum. These stories are written from the point of view of a narrator with autism spectrum disorder, who describes a situation that he or she might find difficult (such as lining up to go to the cafeteria or sitting with a group on the carpet). The story describes the situation, the important social cues, the events that might occur, how these events might make the narrator feel, and how the narrator copes with any difficulties he or she experiences.

Another visual aid for teaching
social skills is power cards
(Gagnon, 2001), which use a stu-
dent’s special interests to help him
or her understand social situations,
routines, the meaning of language,
and the hidden curriculum. These
cards typically have a script that
complements a relevant visual
on the actual card. For example,
because Christine loves Scooby
Doo, her teacher provides a power
card with a picture of Scooby Doo
eating a burger, with words stating,
“Scooby Doo wants to know when
To help Christine build better
muscle strength to enhance fine
motor skills, her teacher adds
sandpaper under the writing
surface, has her write on an incline
board, and gives her clay or putty she
can use to form letters. To enhance
her gross motor skills, the teacher
allows Christine to sit on an inflatable
cushion during small-group time and
encourages her to participate in games
that use movement, such as bouncing
on a trampoline and jumping rope.

Use Self-Selected Reinforcement The teacher encourages Christine to use her developing skills by providing reinforcers that reflect her interests and needs (for example, opportunities to take care of the class pet, quiet time in the rocking chair, books on animals, or coloring books with animals). She involves Christine in choosing these rewards by providing photographs of options paired with written descriptions and having her practice asking for the reinforcer as her skills develop.

Revisiting Alex

Alex represents a different type of learner with autism spectrum disorder.

Online Resources for Information on
Autism Spectrum Disorder

n Autism Society of America: www.autism- society.org

n Organization for Autism Research: www.researchautism.org

n National Professional Development Center on Autism Spectrum Disorders: http:// autismpdc.fpg.unc.edu

n Ohio Center for Autism and Low-Incidence Disabilities: www.ocali.org

n Geneva Centre for Autism: www.autism .net

n Autism Speaks: www.autismspeaks.org

n State of the Art Resource Services: www.starservices.tv

He has high verbal skills, but low ability to connect with people. He tends to seek input from the setting around him through constant movement and interaction. However, he quickly escalates from seeking sensory inputs to being an overresponder, overwhelmed and stressed by the very input he seeks. Alex’s teaching team might try the following combination of strategies.

Implement a Functional
Behavior Assessment

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act recommends functional behavior assessment as a tool to help clarify and address problem behaviors. IEP teams use functional behavior assessments to look beyond the behavior itself to the student’s underlying motivation. Steps include stating the problem in concrete, measurable terms; collecting data on the conditions in which the behavior occurs; and formulating and testing hypotheses on possible causes of the behavior (Alberto & Troutman, 2008).

Alex’s IEP team conducts a functional behavior assessment to explore what causes his verbal interruptions and movement during class discussions. His team first defines the problem behaviors more specifically, noting that when classroom discussions move slowly or last longer than five minutes, Alex waves his hands in the air in response to every question, interrupts other students and the teacher, twists in his chair, and sometimes jumps up and roams around the room. Although his teacher initially feels that he is just seeking attention, his occupational therapist suggests that Alex needs to move to be ready to learn and needs active participation to remain engaged.