Reflections from an assigned reading

I read Larry Welkowitz's post on Errorless Modeling. I find this concept interesting and vital to teaching children with Autism. As mentioned in one of my previous posts, I shared the Audacity software with the speech/language pathologist at my school. We downloaded the program and have been talking with our technology person to get us a microphone and headphones to use with it. We've created some lesson plans around the four steps mentioned in the Errorless Modeling post.

I find the opportunity to use the child performing "perfectly" as a great way to educate them. We use a lot of visual and verbal prompts throughout the day with the children on the autism spectrum. Having this software could eliminate some of those steps by the child imitating themselves instead of the adults around them. Most children I work with are on the lower functioning end of the autism spectrum; however, I believe that this software will be valuable for them as well.

I have begun taking these skills into account when grouping my children. Instead of relying on adult cues, they can hear same-aged peers using the skills we are working on. I am excited about the possibilities that Audacity could provide for us and these children.

Reflections on class materials from 12/07/08

In class we talked about friendships. This is something we place a lot of focus on at the school I work in. Many of our children have difficulty with this. Jeff defines a friend as "someone in my class." They don't spend time out of school, don't interact much throughout the day, or play together at recess. Despite all this, Jeff believes that this classmate is a friend.

In our school (and many others), the teachers refer to the children as "friends" instead of classmates, etc. I've heard (and have said) "let's go back to the classroom and see your friends." For the children with autism, I think they hear this concretely and define those children as true friends. Knowing what goes into a relationship, or even a conversation, is not a skill many of them understand. Therefore, knowing what a friend is, is a difficult concept.

The difference between absolute thinking and relative thinking is important to consider. Am I talking too loud? Is the person I'm talking to interested in what I'm saying? These are thoughts that many of my students don't appear to have. Many of my students on the autism spectrum talk very loudly or very quietly. When I ask them to speak softly/louder, they don't initially realize why I'm asking them this; it's just not something that occurs to them. Deciding if someone is interested is a constant problem. We provide them with reminders (visual and verbal) to limit their time and let others talk as well.

Not using relative thinking can make forming and maintaining relationships challenging. These are skills that are important to teach; they will have lifelong effects on these children.