Category Archives: Communication

Autism, Social Greetings and Rhetorical Questions

Autistic "Behavior", Communication, Hidden Curriculum, Social Considerations, , , ,

Autistic people may not automatically know how to respond to rhetorical social questions such as “How are you?” or automatically reciprocate in social pleasantries such as “good morning.” This is not because they are rude, obnoxious, don’t care, or any of the other assumed reasons people attribute to this behavior. Instead, it is because all social information is not automatically picked up and used by a person with an autistic brain. The autistic brain simply works differently. Even so, autistic people can learn those things their particular brain hasn’t allowed them to automatically pick up.

Example: I supported a 6th grader for an hour a day as he entered, checked in at the office, went to his locker, and did a one-on-one “check in” time with him before he left to go to his first classroom. Each morning when Loren arrived I would say, “Good morning, Loren.” Loren would either remain silent or say “Shut up” or “I know that.”

As we walked down the hall to his locker I would tell him it was nice to see him and ask, “How are you?” Loren either would remain silent or give me a detailed run down of all his scrapes and bruises, both current and from years passed!

Once I realized his autistic brain had not picked up the hidden curriculum information in regards to social greetings and rhetorical questions I set about directly teaching this to Loren.

1.  I drew a chart on a piece of paper with columns labeled Social Greeting/Question, Expected Responses and Unexpected Responses.

2.  I wrote in the Greeting/Question such as “Good morning” and “How are you?”

3.  Next, blue index cards were used to write possible expected responses such as “Good morning” and “I am fine. How are you?”

4.  Yellow index cards were used to record each unexpected response such as “Shut up” and “Go away.” A blank card was used to indicate no words spoken.

Loren watched as I made the cards and put them under the columns of Expected Responses and Unexpected Responses. He studied this over, then removed the cards, mixed them up and announced, “I’m doing it myself this time.”

During his first few tries Loren wasn’t sure where to put the cards so I placed a blue card above the Expected Responses column and a yellow card above the Unexpected Responses column. This gave him the visual hint – blue cards in the blue card column, yellow cards in the yellow card column. (It is important to insure success when teaching unknown social information, thus the built in color coding is something I often use. Loren was familiar with my color-coded systems, understanding that if he simply matched the colors he would have the correct answers.) As soon as the color clue was supplied he could line up the blue and yellow cards according to color.

Each day Loren got another chance to line up the blue and yellow cards on the chart, studying over the information. Soon he told me he was ready for white cards. This meant he had mastered the lesson and no longer needed the color-coded hint. The words on all the blue and yellow cards were put onto white cards. Loren mixed up the white cards and sorted them onto the chart correctly! He knew the social information.

Now we needed to bring this information into everyday circumstances because even though Loren knew the information, he was not accessing it in real life situations such as when the school secretary said, “Good morning, Loren.”

First we talked about how others feel and react when we give unexpected responses. Loren saw the benefit in giving expected responses, but this discussion alone did not allow him to access the expected responses in real time.

Next, practice situations with the secretary were set up for the purpose of Loren using a new skill. We practiced five times in a row each morning. I carried the cards with me. When the secretary said, “Good morning, Loren” I gave him the blue cards, each with an expected response to this greeting. Loren could look through the few cards, knowing that any of the responses were okay – he couldn’t go wrong.

This system worked well and within a few days Loren said he didn’t need the cards anymore. What happened next surprised us both! Without the cards, Loren was not able to access the information. We discovered the cards needed to be physically present, even though Loren did not use them. I held the cards in my hand for a few days. Then, we left the cards in Loren’s locker. Sometimes, with a literal and concrete brain, this visual pairing with social information needs to be implemented with a gradual step down to successfully remove the visual.

In successive weeks we added more social greetings and rhetorical questions to our chart. Loren sometimes arrived at school telling me, “I’ve got another one for the chart!” He continued to use this visual system for the remainder of the school year to learn and sort out the information around social greetings and rhetorical questions. In addition, once mastered at school, Loren brought the visuals home where his family helped him bridge the new skills in expanded environments.

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BOOKS  BY JUDY ENDOW

Endow, J. (2019).  Autistically Thriving: Reading Comprehension, Conversational Engagement, and Living a Self-Determined Life Based on Autistic Neurology. Lancaster, PA: Judy Endow.

Endow, J. (2012). Learning the Hidden Curriculum: The Odyssey of One Autistic Adult. Shawnee Mission, KS: AAPC Publishing.

Endow, J. (2006).  Making Lemonade: Hints for Autism’s Helpers. Cambridge, WI: CBR Press.

Endow, J. (2013).  Painted Words: Aspects of Autism Translated. Cambridge, WI: CBR Press.

Endow, J. (2009).  Paper Words: Discovering and Living With My Autism. Shawnee Mission, KS: AAPC Publishing.

Endow, J. (2009).  Outsmarting Explosive Behavior: A Visual System of Support and Intervention for Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorders. Shawnee Mission, KS: AAPC Publishing.

Endow, J. (2010).  Practical Solutions for Stabilizing Students With Classic Autism to Be Ready to Learn: Getting to Go. Shawnee Mission, KS: AAPC Publishing.

Myles, B. S., Endow, J., & Mayfield, M. (2013).  The Hidden Curriculum of Getting and Keeping a Job: Navigating the Social Landscape of Employment. Shawnee Mission, KS: AAPC Publishing.

Originally written for and published by Ollibean on July 29, 2016. To comment click here.

Teaching One Autistic Student to Ask For Help

Autistic "Behavior", Communication, , , ,

During the past school year I worked with a third grader diagnosed with autism as he returned to school after being discharged from a treatment center. Jake displayed many behaviors that did not work well in the classroom. These behaviors occurred predominantly during math class. Jake’s scores in math were 82 – 90 percent over the previous quarter. With these scores, it did not appear that he was struggling in math.

I discovered that most of Jake’s behaviors stemmed from frustration. Jake knew when he needed help, but did not have a good way to request help. He would make noises of frustration, throw his pencil and tear up his math work. If I wasn’t quickly able to figure out the difficulty and respond in a way Jake perceived as helpful he would direct his frustration at me by hitting, kicking, biting, scratching, swearing or pulling my hair.

During a moment of calm I supplied Jake with an index card that said, “I need help.” We practiced with make believe scenarios where Jake would need help, at which point he would hand me the “I need help” card. I discovered that using this card bought me about thirty extra seconds in which to figure out exactly what Jake needed and to supply it before he would engage in his frustration behaviors.

Next I worked with Jake on how to ask for the specific help he needed. Because he was unable to verbalize what sort of help he needed. I started saying, “Show me” as soon as Jake handed me the “I need help” card. If Jake hadn’t yet started the next math problem I would say, “Get started. Hand me the pencil when you need help.” Both these strategies initially worked well, but after a few times Jake started making noises of frustration when I was using his pencil. Then, he would snatch the pencil from me and finish the problem on his own, the whole time making his frustration keening noises quite loudly. I realized Jake only needed specific help and then could resume the steps in solving the math problem.

Because Jake had previously used “My Turn” and “Your Turn” cards for communication when playing games, I got these cards out, thinking that rather than making his noises of frustration when he wanted the pencil back to finish the math problem he could instead hand over the “My Turn” card. Even though I thought this was a great idea, Jake did not. Each time I got the cards out he would get up and return them to the game shelf.

I then tried a card that said, “Thanks for your help.” I had another student model doing a math problem, handing over the “I need help” card and his pencil, and then, handing over the “Thanks for your help” card at which time I immediately gave back his pencil. Again, I thought this was a great idea, but Jake did not find it useful.

Finally, Jake took out his pencil case, unzipped it and held it out to me, offering me a pencil. We settled into a rhythm, each with a pencil in hand. Jake would work on his math problems. When he needed help he would push his paper towards me where I would do the next step or two. When he no longer needed my help he would put his hand on his paper, at which point I would stop writing. He would take the paper back and finish the problem. This system worked great, but the disadvantage was that I needed to sit next to Jake while he completed each math assignment.

Over time, I first stood up next to Jake and then started moving, first a few steps, and then further and further away while he was working on his math assignment. Even though he had the “I need help” card out on his desk, he did not use it to secure my help when I was not close enough for him to hand me the card without getting up. I did not want to insert a verbal prompt, telling him to bring me the “I need help” card as I knew the verbal prompt would be really hard to drop out.

Instead, I asked the student sitting in front of Jake to turn around and point to the “I need help” card on Jake’s desk as soon as Jake started making noises. I further instructed that if Jake didn’t pick up the card and bring it to me, this student should pick up the card and bring it to me. I wanted Jake to see the card worked the same way whether I was sitting next to him or was further away from him, with the only difference being that he would need to get up and walk the card over to me when I wasn’t sitting beside him. After seeing the student in front of him bringing me the “I need help” card a few times, Jake started bringing it to me himself.

Finally, I had the student in front of him model picking up the “I need help” card and holding it while he simply raised his hand, the typical way students summon help. Three months later, Jake’s noises of frustration and his behaviors had diminished. In addition, Jake was raising his hand to ask for help, sometimes he held the “I need help” card and other times he simply raised his hand.

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BOOKS  BY JUDY ENDOW

Endow, J. (2019).  Autistically Thriving: Reading Comprehension, Conversational Engagement, and Living a Self-Determined Life Based on Autistic Neurology. Lancaster, PA: Judy Endow.

Endow, J. (2012). Learning the Hidden Curriculum: The Odyssey of One Autistic Adult. Shawnee Mission, KS: AAPC Publishing.

Endow, J. (2006).  Making Lemonade: Hints for Autism’s Helpers. Cambridge, WI: CBR Press.

Endow, J. (2013).  Painted Words: Aspects of Autism Translated. Cambridge, WI: CBR Press.

Endow, J. (2009).  Paper Words: Discovering and Living With My Autism. Shawnee Mission, KS: AAPC Publishing.

Endow, J. (2009).  Outsmarting Explosive Behavior: A Visual System of Support and Intervention for Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorders. Shawnee Mission, KS: AAPC Publishing.

Endow, J. (2010).  Practical Solutions for Stabilizing Students With Classic Autism to Be Ready to Learn: Getting to Go. Shawnee Mission, KS: AAPC Publishing.

Myles, B. S., Endow, J., & Mayfield, M. (2013).  The Hidden Curriculum of Getting and Keeping a Job: Navigating the Social Landscape of Employment. Shawnee Mission, KS: AAPC Publishing.

Originally written for and published by Ollibean on July 10, 2016. Leave comments here.

Teaching Autistic People

Activism/Advocacy, Autistic "Behavior", Communication, Growing Up Autistic, Hidden Curriculum, Sensory Solutions, Social Considerations, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Just like people of all ages can learn, so is it that autistic people of all ages can learn. It is an utterly sad state of affairs that this even needs to be said, but unfortunately, it needs to be said. Too often I see autistic children being babysat rather than being taught at school. When I ask about academic curriculum being used, I am told, “Oh, he has autism” as if this is an answer to my question.

In my work as an autism consultant I am called on to go to public schools to see autistic students who are thought to be failing what the system has to offer. Most of the time students I see have behaviors that don’t work well in a school setting. For all students I am called in on, I use the stabilization techniques below, which are also the first steps I use when teaching autistic students if the student is not stabilized. This is why I can say that even when your student has autism, including when behaviors are present, he can learn just like any other student can learn. Autistic people are just as deserving of an education as other human beings. That being said, specific supports must be in place to insure access to that education. After all, nobody can do math (or any subject) when they are literally bouncing off the wall (a sign of extreme sensory disregulation).

Stabilization

  1. Internal Regulation (sensory diet)
    Autistics have a neurology that means many systems (sensory, emotions, movement) in their body do not automatically regulate. This means conscious attention and effort must be brought to regulate whatever systems need regulation. For most autistics I work with, the sensory system is so disregulated that it masks emotional and movement disregulation.

  2. External Regulation (interactive visual schedule)
    It really helps to know what is going to happen when – the schedule of events.

    Most students have a neurology that can pick up this sort of information without being instructed. They can sort out the spoken words of the teacher. Students with autism typically have weak auditory processing abilities. Their neurology may not allow them to take in verbal words, sort out which words are relevant and process those words to understand what will happen next. This means every transition from one activity to another can hit them as a huge surprise, causing further disregulation.

    When typical students are distracted and miss the teacher’s verbal instruction of “get out your math books now” they usually become aware that the other students are getting math books out of their desk so they know they are meant to get out their math books too. Autistic students do not pick up these external cues as readily.

    Even when they see other students getting out math books, autistic students do not necessarily take that to mean they should also get out their math book. This has nothing to do with cognitive ability. It has to do with weak connections between areas of the brain – several areas of the brain working together to synthesize environmental, social, emotional and other kinds of information to inform them “I need to get out my math book.”

    Visual schedules support this issue for most autistic students. It is often helpful for the schedule to be interactive – meaning the student needs to do something with the schedule before each transition.

  3. Relationship
    Most students I have been called on to consult for have experienced much angst along the way. They know they are not like other kids. They may or may not know they have autism. One thing I find is that students who are able to communicate are very aware they are different from other kids and they have made up a narrative to explain their differences to themselves. I have been honored by a number of students sharing these stories about why they are different. I have yet to hear a positive story. They are typically stories about major character flaws, sometimes character traits they have heard others ascribe to them such as lazy, stubborn, willful, violent, refuses to share, refuses to co-operate, etc.

    As I begin working with new students I typically use a simple interactive schedule to show them “work” and “sensory break.” I ensure they are successful at following this schedule even if it means we work for a few seconds and engage in sensory regulating activities for a much longer time. I am visually instructing how schedules work while getting the student’s sensory system regulated and doing that in the context of forming a positive relationship.Most students I see have not experienced a lot of positive relationships. They have learned not to trust others around them. I am giving them an exact visual way our time works. They can count on it, become part of it and will always succeed. Over time strong relationships develop. Once a relationship is solid, we know what sensory activities are needed (along with how long and how often) and the student has mastered his interactive visual schedule I know he is now stabilized. Once stabilized we are ready for more formalized instruction.

Instruction

  1. Identify and Teach Needed Skills
    Besides academic instruction, students with autism often have particular skills for which they need to receive direct instruction. This can be anything from how to open a milk carton to waiting for the teacher to call on you when your hand is raised before contributing. It is helpful to identify a few of the skills that are deal breakers to your student getting along in the classroom. Learning and using these skills can be intertwined with academic content and other parts of the day.

  2. Ensure Success by Decreasing Task Demands
    Differentiated Instruction is one way to reduce educational task demands to match the needs of an individual student while ensuring them opportunity to learn along with their peers even though he may not have the same personal resources to bring to the task. My favorite person when it comes to differentiating instruction is Paula Kluth. Every student can do something. If you need ideas on how to use general education curriculum for students with autism who you think cannot do general education curriculum please look up Paula’s work. (paulakluth.com)

    My favorite people when it comes to a discussion about decreasing task demands are Ruth Aspy and Barry Grossman. (https://www.zigguratgroup.com/pages/services) An example of decreasing task demands for a student who struggles with handwriting is to take handwriting off the table in all subjects except Handwriting Instruction. Perhaps a scribe is used to do the actual handwriting task or an app such as Dictation Dragon, which means he can now do creative writing through dictation. If the student is an efficient typist perhaps that is the way to go, which means the student can now do social studies assignment that involves answering questions with a paragraph.

  3. Reinforcement
    There is significant brain research that shows students with autism do not benefit from the same kind of social reinforcement that typical students do. For typical students, in general, the more social opportunities you can add into instruction and use for reinforcement, the more learning that takes place.

    For students with autism, social reinforcement and adding social aspects to learning detract rather than enhance learning. Tangible reinforcement tied to learning has been shown to work better than social reinforcement. In fact, it has been the ticket to learning for many autistic students.

    NOTE: I realize ABA therapy has had a history of using reinforcement in a punitive manner tied to repetitious drilling, often quite disrespectfully. This makes punishment, demeaning drilling and disrespect wrong. It does not make reinforcement wrong. All human beings benefit from positive reinforcement.

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BOOKS  BY JUDY ENDOW

Endow, J. (2019).  Autistically Thriving: Reading Comprehension, Conversational Engagement, and Living a Self-Determined Life Based on Autistic Neurology. Lancaster, PA: Judy Endow.

Endow, J. (2012). Learning the Hidden Curriculum: The Odyssey of One Autistic Adult. Shawnee Mission, KS: AAPC Publishing.

Endow, J. (2006).  Making Lemonade: Hints for Autism’s Helpers. Cambridge, WI: CBR Press.

Endow, J. (2013).  Painted Words: Aspects of Autism Translated. Cambridge, WI: CBR Press.

Endow, J. (2009).  Paper Words: Discovering and Living With My Autism. Shawnee Mission, KS: AAPC Publishing.

Endow, J. (2009).  Outsmarting Explosive Behavior: A Visual System of Support and Intervention for Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorders. Shawnee Mission, KS: AAPC Publishing.

Endow, J. (2010).  Practical Solutions for Stabilizing Students With Classic Autism to Be Ready to Learn: Getting to Go. Shawnee Mission, KS: AAPC Publishing.

Myles, B. S., Endow, J., & Mayfield, M. (2013).  The Hidden Curriculum of Getting and Keeping a Job: Navigating the Social Landscape of Employment. Shawnee Mission, KS: AAPC Publishing.

Originally written for and published by Ollibean in June 2016. Add a comment here.

Autism, Perseveration and Holding onto Thoughts

Activism/Advocacy, Autistic "Behavior", Communication, Social Considerations, Visual Supports

Like many autistics, all my life I have thought visually. My thinking is comprised of pictures, colors, shapes along with their sound and movement. Given that experience, I have had to learn how to hold onto new thoughts because it doesn’t just happen automatically. This is especially true if I see a novel thought while in a slightly (or more than slightly) elevated emotional state. It doesn’t matter if the emotion is negative or positive. Here is an example:

When I am looking forward to an event such as going on a trolley for the narrated Fall Color Tour, it generates a slightly elevated positive emotional state. I want to remember to stop at the grocery store on the way home to purchase an ingredient for a dish I am planning to make for dinner. If I have no way of storing or retrieving that information I will need to hold onto that picture until it happens.

As a child, the way I would hold onto a picture – a thought that was important that I didn’t want to forget – would be to talk about it over and over until the event happened. In the above example I might repeatedly ask, “Will we stop at the grocery store on the way home?” Even though the question would be answered very patiently several times I would persist in asking it. The function of the question in this case was not to get the answer, but instead to hold the picture in place – front and center in my head – so that I would not forget it. This is because a visual thought, if not stored and therefore retrievable, is literally, out of sight, out of mind never again to be found.

Today in my practice I work with many autistics that repeat things over and over. It is often referred to as perseveration. Sometimes the perseveration is happening because the individual is thinking about something he does not want to forget and hasn’t yet figured out another way to hold onto his visual thought.

Here are some ideas that have been helpful to me to me and to others I have worked with over the years:

  • Visually construct a garage or a parking lot in your head. Consciously think of putting the picture thought in the garage or parking lot. Once the thought has been visually parked it will be there when you go looking for it at a later time.Many times when I first start working with someone to use this idea I will have them actually draw their garage or parking lot on a piece of paper and draw in the visual thought they want to park. Once the thought is parked they can go onto to do something other than perseverating on that particular thought picture, knowing they will be able to find that thought later even though they do not keep it front and center in their brain by repeatedly talking about it. Typically, after a few times of using the drawing and with encouragement to put the drawing in their head, individuals drop the paper and pencil garage or parking lot once they indeed have the visual in their head.
  • Often, a visual thought can be jotted down or drawn so as not to lose it. We all do this when we make our grocery list or jot a note to pick up milk on the way home. I needed direct instruction, many reminders and lots of practice doing this before it became automatic for me to even think of using this strategy. I find autistic individuals I work with often need direct instruction and repetitious practice before the seemingly simple idea of writing it down becomes a viable everyday strategy.
  • Another strategy that works well is to visually pull up a future scene of when you need to remember your current thought. Directly create that picture thought of the future scene when you will need to have the picture reminder pop up.Using the above example I would think of driving home from the Fall Color Tour around 2:30 along with onions at the grocery store. My picture would be of me in the car with my watch at 2:30. On my watch I put the words “on my way home” because I know my brain may not co-operate if the time is different than exactly 2:30 when I am driving home.Often, when there is not the exact visual brain match to reality, my brain will boot the picture out which causes me to lose the reminder. Thus, I have learned to outsmart this.When the picture of me in the car with my watch is in place I add the picture of a building with the words “Grocery Store” and an open door where I put a picture of onions just inside the door.Again, I outsmart my exacting visual brain by using a generic box building with the words “Grocery Store” rather than a specific grocery store. I know that I have a few possibilities of grocery stores to stop at on the way home and want to make sure I get to decide in the moment based on other needs. For example, I only want to make one stop so will stop when I need to use the bathroom and pick up the onions at this same stop regardless of which grocery store is at the stop.

Hopefully, if you are autistic and have difficulty holding onto thoughts these ideas, might be useful for you like they have been for many others. If you know an autistic person who is prone to get stuck and perseverate please know that if the reason for the behavior labeled perseveration is for them to hold onto a visual thought, these ideas may be helpful alternatives.

It has been life changing for me to learn to work with my autistic brain rather than trying so hard to copy and display the behaviors of typical people. The copy mode is draining and even when I do copy it often doesn’t fit in well, sometimes appearing a bit robotic. It is unfortunate that most of the folks who are teachers and helpers of autistics are at a disadvantage when it comes to supporting and working with autistic thinking only because they do not understand how the autistic brain functions. I have learned that it is so much easier to respect my neurology and work with it than it is to learn to copy the behaviors of neuromajority folks. I hope more information for autistics on how to work with their neurology becomes available.

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BOOKS  BY JUDY ENDOW

Endow, J. (2019).  Autistically Thriving: Reading Comprehension, Conversational Engagement, and Living a Self-Determined Life Based on Autistic Neurology. Lancaster, PA: Judy Endow.

Endow, J. (2012). Learning the Hidden Curriculum: The Odyssey of One Autistic Adult. Shawnee Mission, KS: AAPC Publishing.

Endow, J. (2006).  Making Lemonade: Hints for Autism’s Helpers. Cambridge, WI: CBR Press.

Endow, J. (2013).  Painted Words: Aspects of Autism Translated. Cambridge, WI: CBR Press.

Endow, J. (2009).  Paper Words: Discovering and Living With My Autism. Shawnee Mission, KS: AAPC Publishing.

Endow, J. (2009).  Outsmarting Explosive Behavior: A Visual System of Support and Intervention for Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorders. Shawnee Mission, KS: AAPC Publishing.

Endow, J. (2010).  Practical Solutions for Stabilizing Students With Classic Autism to Be Ready to Learn: Getting to Go. Shawnee Mission, KS: AAPC Publishing.

Myles, B. S., Endow, J., & Mayfield, M. (2013).  The Hidden Curriculum of Getting and Keeping a Job: Navigating the Social Landscape of Employment. Shawnee Mission, KS: AAPC Publishing.

Originally written for and published by Ollibean on October 18, 2015
To leave a comment at the end of this blog on the Ollibean site click here.