ABI Updates
Notes from the Autism and Behavior Interventionist
October 2019
This month:
- Responding to Defiance - including how to set effective limits
- Reframing the Behavior
- Why use visuals?
- The Visual Timer App
- The Autism Helper Podcast
- Good Reads - Unselfie
Responding to Defiance in the moment
Dealing with defiance can be difficult. Here are some simple strategies that can help.
One great strategy included is Setting Limits. Limits should be short, simple, clear, reasonable and enforceable. The purpose of setting limits is to teach good decision making. It is not a negotiation. Limits are providing choice to students in order to engage them in the task at hand. Limits should be short, simple, clear, reasonable and enforceable. Click below to learn more.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/15RUThJ1tYUqqIrZ-6mG2P-tTIT4-rXOm/view?usp=sharing
Reframing Behavior
Why are challenging kids challenging? Because they're lacking the skills not to be challenging. If they had the skills, they wouldn't be challenging. That's because – Kids do well if they can. And because doing well is always preferable to not doing well. Kids demonstrate challenging behavior when the demands or expectations being placed upon them exceed the skills that they have to respond adaptively. An incompatibility episode (challenging behavior) is an episode that communicates to us that there is incompatibility between a child’s skills and our demands or expectations. Watch Dr. J. Stuart Ablon discuss this topic below:
Dr. J. Stuart Ablon: Kids Lack Skills, Not Will to Do Well
Watch the entire TED talk here.
Sometimes kids just don't "hear" our instructions. The reasons are many - anxious, bored, distracted, stressed, poor auditory processing or just plain unengaged. Using visuals along with verbal directions and especially for routines increases student independence and decreases teacher frustration. Using less verbal when a child is beginning to escalate is very important to help calm. When a child is upset, they are less able to process verbal information.
Visuals are not just for students who are non-verbal or who have Autism. How successful would your day be without your calendar or lesson plans? We ALL rely on visuals to support our days. Visuals do not need to be fancy and laminated. Visuals can be as easy as a stick figure on a post it or holding up fingers on your hand. Visuals can be used for directions, routines, schedules, behavioral reminders or choices.
School is a VERY language rich environment. Kids are listening and speaking all day. Many students struggle to process all this verbal information. Using visuals allows students time to process directions, gives them something to refer to and elicits the thought of action in their mind. Visual supports can reduce anxiety and build independence.
See more examples of visual supports here.
The Visual Timer App
Free! By INFINX Services. Allows students to see the time that is left to work, to transition or until the next task.
Also go to www.timeme.com for a timer you can put up on your screen for whole class transitions.
Great Reads!
An interesting fall break read? In Unselfie, MIchele Borba explains what parents and educators MUST do to combat the growing empathy crisis among children today—including a 9-step empathy-building program with tips to guide kids. Dr. Borba offers a framework that yields the results we all want: successful, happy kids who also are kind, moral, courageous, and resilient.
The Autism Helper Podcast
Sasha Long is a special education teacher and a Board Certified Behavior Analyst. Her podcast shares weekly updates on all things from data collection, writing IEP goals and special education law to using reinforcement, team building between special ed and gen ed teachers and time out.
Contact Me
317-745-7487 ext 3205
Danville Community Middle School