Bullying:
Zero tolerance is not enough!
A core deficit of ASD is difficulty understanding or reading the intentions of others.
The child who is accidentally bumped may react as if the bump was done on purpose. The child who is maliciously teased may think that those teasing him are his friends because they are paying attention to him. Understanding the motivation behind others actions can elude many students with ASD making them even more at risk for damage by bullying from those who target students who are differently abled.
On the other hand, the student with ASD who is accidentally hurt or unintentionally excluded may report that he is being bullied, although the intention to bully is absent. Bullies are known to target kids who don’t have strong peer group connections, and they are usually clever enough to bully out of sight of supervising adults, so when bullying is reported by the student with ASD it can be difficult to determine whether the “bullying“ was intentional or not.
However, whether the bullying is real or perceived, it can significantly damage the confidence and self worth of the individual on the receiving end. So how can we protect students with ASD from these negative effects while minimizing the chances that typical students may be falsely accused or punished? We believe the key is to be proactive.
Consider the following tips:
Bottom line...
References
Kaplan, Marianne and Brett, Dawn; The Boy Inside Study Guide, (2007), Province of British Columbia
Please note: The following list of resources contains only a small sample of what is available and represents a place to start in your search for effective tools.
Resources for Peer Education
In British Columbia, the POPARD consultant that serves your district can assist your school team in designing a peer education program that specifically meets your needs or you can check out the following resources:
Resources to help “Bully proof” the student with ASD
Click here to view our archived tips of the month.
Special events at school...
Special events at school... helping the student with ASD cope and succeed.
December is a month in which many special events at school happen: concerts, plays, parties, winter carnivals... the list goes on. These events can be very challenging for students with ASD who may have difficulty handling change or who may have sensory sensitivities. Most parents really want their child to participate with their peers in these events in as normal a way as possible.
The following tips may help reduce the stress that can be experienced by the student with ASD, his peers, his parents and his teachers when including the student in special events:
- Familiarize the student with the location in which the special event will be held. If the student is already wary of events such as assemblies, you can expect that a school concert will also be difficult. Short, frequent opportunities to visit the gym and sit with his peers may help de-sensitize him to the experience. Consider alternatives to having him sit on the floor with peers (e.g. on a bench or a chair at the side of the gym) if he is unable to cope with sitting with his peers.
- Make sure he knows when the special event will occur, as well as when any rehearsals will occur. Use his visual schedule!
- Include him in rehearsals, but consider having him watch rather than participate during the first few rehearsals. Take pictures of the steps of the tasks within the rehearsal and print them out. Write a sentence or two about each picture and send it home for the parents to read with the child. For an activity like a winter carnival, prepare him with pictures regarding what will occur and what choices he will have. Use pictures even if the child is verbal. If the student is anxious he may not adequately process verbal explanations. Videos of events can also be a great tool for helping the child to understand expectations.
- Consider allowing the child to carry a break card during rehearsals and during the event. Cue him to use the break card if you see signs of escalating stress. Allow him to use the break card as often as he needs during initial rehearsals. Later, encourage him to stay longer before taking a break. Knowing that he can take a break if he needs to, can frequently reduce stress, allowing better coping to occur.
- If sensitivity to noise is an issue, consider tape recording rehearsals. Don’t forget to include applause in your recording if that is likely to be a part of the event. The recording can be played at school or at home, quietly at first and then with increasing volume. Knowing what to expect can reduce the anxiety that noise sensitivity may induce. A video can serve the purpose of both picture and auditory rehearsal.
- Be cautious regarding the use of costumes or make up. Often children don’t see the costumes or make up until the last rehearsal before the event. This can be very upsetting to some children with ASD who may not be expecting that everyone will look different during the event than they did in most rehearsals. Talk about costumes and demonstrate how make-up can change one’s appearance. Show the student before and after pictures of children with and without costumes. Be prepared that the student with ASD may not tolerate wearing a costume or donning makeup and allow him to participate without these items if necessary.
The joy and satisfaction that comes with having a student with significant challenges join in with his peers successfully is well worth the extra effort you put in to including him. Each time the child successfully manages in a situation he finds challenging, he builds resilience and adds to his repertoire of coping skills. Most students with ASD will be able to participate with appropriate supports.
For more information that may be helpful when considering how to support the student with ASD to participate in special events, you may also find helpful the following elearning modules on our website:
Self Regulation posted by Jacquie Bezo, posted March 2009
Emotional Regulation by Jacquie Bezo, posted April 2009
Using Video Modelling to Teach Children with Autism by Kelly MacGregor, posted August 2007
The Out-of-Sync Child has Fun by Carol Stock Kranowitz contains lots of ideas for the student who may have challenges due to sensory sensitivities.
No More Meltdowns by Jed Baker contains simple and effective ideas for preventing the challenging behaviours that may result from the anxiety created by special events.
Click here to view our archived tips of the month.
Ready to Read?
Students with ASD who have significant speech and language delays enter our school system each year. It is often challenging to determine how best to include them in typical learning activities in primary classrooms (Grades K – 3). We are frequently asked for advice on how best to address literacy development and have compiled the following tips you may find helpful:
readiness
“Readiness” may look different in the student with ASD than it does in typical students. We have seen students with no spoken language and a limited ability to follow verbal directions learn to read simple patterned books and follow written directions on worksheets. The “readiness” signals we saw in one of these students was an ability to recognize the DVD covers of his favourite videos and to enjoy copying the names of them on pieces of paper. Other readiness signals you might see could include being able to point to pictures in a book when they are named, showing an interest in (or obsession with!) the alphabet, or showing an ability to recognize logos (e.g. getting excited when seeing the “Golden Arches” symbol for McDonald’s in an advertisement). Being able to match pictures to real objects or to other pictures or being able to draw a representation of something he or she has seen, can also indicate readiness.
top down and visual
Most readers with autism with whom we have worked, do better when the material being presented as a “literacy” activity is meaningful and motivating to them. Although some children are fascinated with letters and even letter sounds, they may not move beyond that stage if they are not shown how to combine these letters to make words. And they won’t be interested in doing that, unless the words themselves represent something that is meaningful and motivating to them. Several good reading programs for children with special needs, including Teaching Reading to Children with Down Syndrome by Patricia Oelwein, recommend top down, visual approaches to literacy instruction. In other words, teaching sight words may be the place to start with your student. And, having him match the words to pictures may need to replace having him read the words aloud. Alphabet knowledge and phonemic awareness may need to come later.
systematic insruction
As with most typical learners, instruction should be provided systematically. Create personal word dictionaries and review them regularly. Document the words the student can reliably recognize. Create simple patterned books using photographs (e.g. I can run. I can jump. I can swim., etc.). Add new words incrementally, using the child’s interests as much as possible. Create practice activities in motivating formats (e.g. Concentration, Go Fish). Label the environment and provide access to lots of interesting and functional reading activities to promote generalization. At some point, if reading and writing are to become fluent and generative the student will need to learn the sounds and letters of the alphabet. Olewein recommends starting with initial consonants and simple word families once the child has 50 to 100 sight words they reliably recognize.
Although not all students with autism will learn to read novels, many more students with minimal verbal skills can learn to read functional material than was previously thought. When we are creative and systematic, and when we make our literacy activities meaningful and motivating, we can be successful in teaching reading to very challenged students with ASD.
for more information
You can also find some great tools and information at the following websites:
http://www.filefolderheaven.com has lots of free printables for literacy activities.
http://www.educateautism.com/ also lots of free printables and ideas.
http://tarheelreader.org/ On this site you can find free downloadable electronic books, some with voice output, and also some tools that allow you to create your own personalized books.
http://www.freereading.net/index.php?title=Main_Page Free reading is a high quality, open source, free reading intervention program for grades Pre-K to 6.
http://www.senteacher.org/Print/ Games and activities… free and printable. Emotions and more.
Click here to view our archived tips of the month.
Time Out: A tool for you?
scenarios
John’s teacher gives him a “time out” for throwing the ball at another student’s head during a game of dodge ball. He is required to sit on the bench at the side of the gym for the reminder of the game.
Susan’s teacher overhears her swearing at her partner during an assigned project. She directs Susan to a “time out” of 5 minutes in the hallway outside the classroom.
Harold has a meltdown in class, tipping over his desk and yelling. He is escorted to a “time out” room attached to his class where he is expected to remain until he is calm.
time out
What is the purpose of the specific “time out” procedure in each scenario?
In the first two scenarios, it would appear that the teachers hope that the use of time out will teach his or her student to refrain from a particular behaviour.
In the third scenario, the intention seems to be to provide the student with a safe, quiet place to calm down, away from the other students. However, the teacher may hope that using the time out room will also have an impact on reducing Harold’s “tantrum” behaviour.
Can time out, as described above, be expected to change the challenging behaviour? It depends.
Time out, as defined in the field of applied behaviour analysis, is a technique designed to remove the student from the opportunity to access reinforcement.
To be effective, the student must find some aspect of the situation from which he has been removed reinforcing. That is, in general, the student must prefer to stay in the game or in class. As well, the time out itself, should not be viewed by the student as reinforcing (e.g. John should not prefer sitting on the bench to being in the game or see getting a time out as a “badge of honour”).
NOTE: It is the perspective of the student that determines whether or not time out will be effective in a given situation... not the intention of the teacher. In Harold’s situation, the teacher must realize that “time out” used as described is not a strategy designed to change behaviour over time, but is a reactive strategy to manage a difficult situation safely and with dignity.
what if time out isn’t working?
John continues to use inappropriate physical aggression in P.E. and Susan continues to swear in class, no matter how often time out is applied. The teachers in these scenarios need to figure out why John and Susan continue to engage in these behaviours.
what triggers the behaviours?
What need is getting met by the student when he or she engages in the behaviour? Susan may enjoy the attention she gets by swearing. John might need a break from the game because he finds it difficult to cope and has discovered that he is removed each time he tries to hurt others. Susan may not have a repertoire of more appropriate behaviours to get peer attention. John may not have the personal awareness to know when he needs to request a time out, or the social skills to ask for a time out. When time out isn’t working to change behaviour, we need to think about what we want the student to do instead in those particular situations, and teach those skills.
strategize
Best practice is to plan the use of any strategy designed to change behaviour. Use of a generic, one size fits all, time out strategy may work for some of the students, some of the time but when time out is used poorly, it can be ineffective or make problem behaviours worse. It some cases it can humiliate or de-moralize a student. At the very least it removes the student, albeit temporarily, from opportunities to learn new skills. Bottom line, time out should rarely be used as a stand-alone behavioural intervention. Positive behaviour supports that teach and reinforce the expected behaviours should precede and augment any use of time out in a plan to change behaviour.
Click here to view our archived tips of the month.
The student with ASD in your classroom
The Student with ASD in your Classroom: Tips for Teachers and Instructional Assistants
Here are some tips from experienced teachers and instructional assistants for achieving success with a student with ASD:
- Familiarize yourself with the student’s profile as soon as possible. What are the student’s strengths and preferences? What things does he find challenging? Create an updated Preference Profile (see attached sample) with the help of the student’s family.
- Think about seating and room arrangements. Ensure the child’s desk is placed in an area that respects his strengths and needs, allowing you to provide support as needed, easily and quickly. Set up his work space to minimize distractions and optimize the potential for positive social interactions.
- Use the student’s name to get his attention and to ensure he knows you are speaking to him (e.g. “John, good morning!” rather than just “How are you today?”).
- Give clear, direct instructions, avoiding the use of implication (e.g., ”John, please sit at your desk.”, rather than “John, where are you supposed to be?”)
- Tell the student what to do rather than what not to do (e.g. “John, you need to be quiet.” Rather than “Don’t shout.”)
- Allow processing time when giving instructions, before repeating or re-wording your direction. Use visual supports whenever you can to make expectations clear (e.g diagrams, lists, models).
- Be firm, but kind. Be generous with your use of praise when your student behaves in ways that are expected.
- Recognize that difficulties with attention and organization are common in students with ASD. These are typically part of his disability rather than a symptom of laziness or a negative attitude.
- Remember that behavioural challenges often result from underlying stress or anxiety. Again, clear expectations should be tempered with understanding.
- Most importantly, start each day fresh with realistic but positive expectations. The majority of students with ASD are wonderful additions to a classroom when provided with appropriate accommodations and supports.
For more information and ideas for supporting the student with ASD, you can also check out the following resources:
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| Preference Profile.docx | 17.45 KB |
Click here to view our archived tips of the month.
Macdee Media Group