Why Children with Autism need Visual Strategies?

Dedicated to World Autism Day: April 2, 2011! 

We support the Light It Up Blue Campaign on April 1 and 2, 2011!

It is critically important to understand the learning style of students so the most effective teaching can occur. Recognizing that students have different learning styles leads to the discovery that most students with autism spectrum disorders and many others with communication or behavior challenges are visual learners. That means they understand what they see better than what they hear. Yet we tend to communicate with them primarily with talking.

It is typical for teachers and parents to presume that students understand everything that is said to them. Frequently they do not. In fact, many of the behavior and social skill problems that these students demonstrate can be linked to a lack of understanding.

As we observe students, we discover that many of them demonstrate a strength in understanding visual information compared to their ability to respond to what they hear. Using visual strategies to support communication provides an effective way to improve both understanding and expressive communication.

For many students with communication challenges, the use of visually supported communication is more effective and efficient than just talking to them. Visual tools assist students in processing language, organizing their thinking, remembering information and many other skills necessary to participate effectively.

Consider this example:

Auditory information is fleeting. It is there and then it is gone. It is transient. That means it comes and then it disappears.

Social interaction requires lots of shifting . . . back and forth . . . from person to person. Effective communication requires the ability to rapidly establish attention and shift attention. We take in information and process it. Then we formulate responses appropriate for the situation. These steps need to happen quickly because social life moves and changes continually.

Our targeted students may experience difficulty accomplishing these skills at the speed necessary to participate effectively in communication interactions. They can have difficulty rapidly establishing or shifting attention. Auditory information may disappear before students have a chance to pay attention enough to take in what is being said. They may miss a lot of information. Students may be accurately interpreting only fragments of communication messages.

Using visual strategies helps. The visual cues help students to establish attention.  Visual information stays there long enough for the student to see it, take in the information and respond to it. It is non-transient. It doesn't fly away. Students can go back over and over if they need, to understand and remember.

Multi-sensory Learning

Children need movement and sensory breaks for the most effective teaching to occur. This ideology is becoming increasingly accepted in schools and other therapeutic and educational settings. Children learn best when teaching is combined with movement because muscle memory for children with special needs, especially children with autism, is better than just visual or verbal memory alone.

Here are some facts:

10% of the information we READ is retained

10% of the information we HEAR is retained

30% of the information we SEE is retained

50% of information we SEE and HEAR is retained

80% of information EXPERIENCED is retained

95% of information that is actively taught (SEE, HEAR, READ, MOVE, EXPERIENCE) is retained.

Conclusion- When something is taught in the classroom, unless it is reinforced in the real world, it will not be retained by students. Research shows that children need at least 10 passes to a new vocabulary word before they begin to internalize it. Children with special needs will need even more passes at new words/concepts. And they will learn best when these concepts are actively taught by hearing, seeing, reading AND experiencing the concept in the real world.  

Make things literal. Here is an example. The next time you are teaching about plants (leaves, stems, roots) take your students into the garden. I’ve had lessons where one classroom plants a vegetable garden in the summer. They begin by cleaning up flower beds, getting them ready, sowing seeds, watering everyday and watching seedlings grow over a few weeks to eventually grow vegetables. We’ve actually used these garden-grown vegetables to make salsa at our school’s therapeutic kitchen (which I LOVE!). The students get so much out of this activity each summer. They learn not only about the parts of a plant but how to take care of plants, what plants need to grow and where vegetables really come from. The last question (where vegetables come from) is an important one to answer for our kids in today’s world. Most children I work with will respond “from the grocery store”. 

Combining actions with words is critically important for learning words, especially verbs. For example, when teaching the word ‘run’, go out and run and not just in one context, but in many different situations- run in the gym, on the playground, in the park etc. We also know that children, especially children with autism, learn well with rhythm and body movement such as clapping, tapping. 

So, get moving, be creative and get your students to move and groove to your lessons. Let them ‘touch’  ‘feel’ and ‘experience’ the new concepts that are taught to them.

Grades: Measures of ability or disability?

Here is a video by a parent that I think all parents should watch. I'm sure you will hear many things that you might have questioned in our education system.

Is it fair that our kids, especially those with special needs, are measured on the same yardstick of 'grades' and 'percentages' in academic subjects, when their abilities and creativity shines in other areas?

  

Albert Einstein said it best. "Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid." (Albert Einstein 1879-1955)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GIS3Yc1uTM&feature=player_embedded

Questions

Asking and answering wh- questions (who, what, where, when, why) is so, so challenging for many children with language difficulties. This was a frequent query asked of me by many parents during my India visit. More strategies on that coming up on a later date….but this post is for the opposite reason.

Recently, I was asked by the mother of a 6 year old why her son asks questions that he already knows the answer to. This is a very common question among the families we work with, even families with typically developing children.

A few reasons your child may be asking the same questions over and over (and over):

• Because questions with known responses are very predictable and predictability is comforting. They are a sure way to engage someone with whom the child wants to interact and they provide a safe, familiar way of doing it. He already knows the answer so there are no big surprises- just a pleasant and reliable back and forth interaction. It’s regulating and may serve as kind of a warm up for further, more adventurous conversation.
• Formulating novel and expanded questions can be very challenging and anxiety provoking for some children. The familiar, more rehearsed ones are going to be easier to retrieve from memory. Think about when you feel nervous or under pressure to generate conversation. We all have some standard questions/responses that we rely on as well, even if it’s just as fillers until we come up with something better.
• The child may have difficulty processing novel information (especially when given a quick, hurried answer like we adults do when we’re being asked lots of questions). So, even if he is able to formulate a new question, it might lead to confusion when he gets the answer. If this is something that’s happened a few times, the emotional memory of the anxiety exprienced by the child may be enough to discourage him from taking any risks.
• Part of the reason may also be that he’s doing what he’s learned to do. Children are asked questions all the time by adults who know the answers to them. This is especially true for kids who might not talk as much or are slower to develop language. Think about how often we ask kids what color something is or what noise an animal makes, even when we clearly know they know the answer. The motivation is somewhat the same: we get the response we’re hoping for, have an enjoyable interaction, and feel good as a result.

Answering a couple of these familiar questions to help regulate a child may be a good way to start an exchange. I would suggest expanding on them in any way you can: offering a familiar response but adding more information, wondering out loud about something associated with the same thing (but not directly asking him another question because that can have the opposite effect and cause dysregulation/confusion). Turn it into a game if you can! Providing silly answers can lead to a nice back and forth and then the pressure that comes along with question/response will ease off  because the focus is on shared engagement and silliness instead. It might also help to have a replacement “warm up”- some kind of predictable, back and forth game or song that has lots of repetition.

*Adapted from the work of Laura Allison, SLP

Parenting in a Digital Society

Kids today are hooked onto technology and parenting isn't what it used to be. Some parents find it challenging to set limits in the 21st century.

Here is a link to an interesting discussion about parenting in today's digital world.

http://www2.turnto10.com/news/2010/nov/24/special-assignment-looks-parenting-digital-society-ar-302356/

The Prequel...

Below is a guest article I wrote in January 2011...

Autism in India: The Time Is Now!
By Ritika Vatsa, MA, CCC-SLP

It is often said that all great journeys begin with a dream. And I literally woke up at 4am one night and had this 'vision' of a dream.

I am a speech-language pathologist who works with children and adolescents who are on the autism spectrum and have developmental disabilities such as cerebral palsy and Down syndrome. I love what I do and I think that this is the best job in the entire world.

One summer night, I was wide awake at 4am. The wheels in my head were turning and I had a vision of Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC) being used with children with autism in India. I had no idea where and how I would start, but I was so motivated to do ‘something’ that I looked up and called several centers in India within the next week.

Through my discussions with several professionals in India (mostly special educators, some speech therapists working with this population), I realized the large gap in services that exists for children with autism in India.  Since there is no standard procedure for identification, parents go through a lot of frustration to get an accurate diagnosis. Pediatricians often label children as being just ‘slow’. Psychiatrists label them as having ADHD and might prescribe unnecessary medication. Parents struggle to find the services they need to help their children succeed. Early intervention services, such as those available in the western world, are unheard of. Parents are desperate for answers, and seeking support everywhere. The government, in contrast, is far behind in providing support. Autism in India has only very recently been recognized as a disability under the Persons with Disabilities act. Regular schools have the right to refuse and turn away any child who cannot ‘keep-up’ with their curriculum. Special education schools often refuse children with autism since they are considered to be ‘behaviorally challenging’ compared to those diagnosed with mental retardation alone.

Being a speech-language pathologist (SLP), I was especially interested in what speech and language services were available for this population in India. I find that SLPs are far and few in India, and SLPs trained and experienced with working with autism even more difficult to find. Special educators have largely taken the role of an SLP and are applying their training to the best of their abilities. Still, I believe that SLPs bring with them special knowledge of language and how language interacts with cognition and behaviors. In addition, SLPs are specifically trained in Alternative and Augmentation Communication (AAC), which is widely used with large success with children at all levels on the Autism spectrum in developed countries. In several cases, lack of supports for receptive language and comprehension are the root causes of challenging behaviors in children with autism. Therefore, I strongly believe that taking the message of AAC to India and educating parents and professionals is very important.

To spread this message, I am hosting workshops for parents and professionals at 3 different centers in Delhi and one in Bangalore in February 2011. Historically, parents and professionals in India have been resistant to AAC for the fear that it will take away speech; or due to the fear of technology; or lack of the knowledge that AAC even exists. Hopefully by sharing techniques from my communication toolbox (including use of the Time Timers) and success stories, I can bring them onboard to trial some techniques with their children.

For more information, please visit www.thecommunicationtoolbox.com
Or contact Ritika at towardscommunication@gmail.com

Welcome!

Welcome to 'Speech and Language in Autism', the blog for 'The Communication Toolbox'!

Through this blog, I hope to stay in touch with the many people I met during my February 2011 India visit. I also look forward to making new friends! I will attempt to blog information and articles that might be helpful to parents of children with autism and other developmental disabilities; and professionals who work with these children. I hope to bring information about language learning and language disorders that will hopefully demystify speech and language in our wonderful children.

If at any time you'd like information on a specific topic, please feel free to email me at towardscommunication@gmail.com

For more information about me, please visit my website: www.thecommunicationtoolbox.com