February 2017

Teaching Literacy to Students with Autism

I read a lot… I wish I had time to read more! I recently read an article about instructional level text as a tool to improve reading. This has always been something that has bothered me. Teachers have long believed that the only text appropriate for older students who happened to be low readers is instructional level text. In other words, text that corresponds with their assessed reading level. I have always thought otherwise. When you get to students in middle and high school, presenting only instructional level text limits a student’s exposure to challenging materials and also throttles their learning. So what does that mean when you’re teaching literacy to students with Autism and significant disabilities?

Dora in High School

It never fails, at least once a school year I walk into a high school classroom and see an almost adult reading a Dora or Barney book.

It literally makes me groan.

What would make anyone think a 17-year-old would want to read a Dora book? Whenever I talk about it with the teacher, the reaction is always the same. The student is reading a book that is appropriate for their “instructional reading level”.

It sounds very formal, and almost convincing… But truth be told, teachers have been holding on to the idea of instructional level text for so long- does it really apply when you’re teaching literacy to students with Autism or other significant disabilities?

Personally, I don’t think so.

Just because a student cannot talk doesn’t mean they don’t have anything to say… and to assume otherwise is dangerous and just plain wrong. Presume Competence in your Classroom.

Presume Competence Autism

Presume Competence in Autism Units or Self-Contained A few years ago I was in a classroom where a new student enrolled that morning. They pushed… Read More »Presume Competence Autism

With the rates of abuse growing higher year after year, what can you do to protect your students? One word: AAC!

AAC and Abuse

It seems like such a long time between a student entering pre-kindergarten and aging out of high school. The truth is it’s just a fraction of their lifetimes. In the little time we have, our most important responsibility is to equip our students with an effective way to communicate with others. It is essential to make the connection between AAC and abuse so we can intentionally lower the rate of abuse for nonverbal students.

Meet Tricia…

I was in a classroom just last week and a 20 year old young woman was exhibiting some severe behaviors. She, let’s call her Tricia, was a student with Down Syndrome and a severe Speech Impairment. Most of what Tricia said came out as grunts and points.

That day Tricia went through an entire 30 seconds of emphatically grunting and pointing and making facial expressions to the para-educator in the classroom. The teacher was standing next to me and I asked him what Tricia had said.

He replied “Damned if I know.”

Clearly the aide didn’t know either. She looked confused at Tricia and asked her “What do you want?” That was the straw… Tricia punched her arm, pushed her and moved to a nearby table where she proceeded to throw all the papers and materials onto the floor.

The behavior escalated from there.

Later, when calm had returned, I asked the teacher how Tricia expressed her wants and needs. He looked at me and replied, “I guess she doesn’t.”

*Sigh*

Behavior Strategies that Work BEFORE the Behavior

It’s Going to be One Of Those Days… I used to have a student and, I swear, I knew if we were going to have… Read More »Behavior Strategies that Work BEFORE the Behavior