AUTISM, LEARNING DISABILITIES, ADHD AND HOW TO HELP STUDENTS ACHIEVE

SUCCESS

AUTISM, LEARNING DISABILITIES, ADHD AND HOW TO HELP STUDENTS ACHIEVE

SUCCESS

WHAT’S OUT THERE?

•Autism Spectrum Disorder (including Asperger’s Syndrome)

•Attention Deficit Disorder (with and without hyperactivity)

•Learning Disabilities

WHAT IS AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER (ASD)?

Formally defined, ASD is:•a developmental disorder that appears by age three and that is variable in expression but is recognized and diagnosed by impairment of the ability to form normal social relationships, by impairment of the ability to communicate with others, and by stereotyped behavior patterns especially as exhibited by a preoccupation with repetitive activities of restricted focus rather than with flexible and imaginative ones

3 MAJOR COMPONENTS

Impaired ability to form social relationships

Significant communication impairments

Behavior patterns that can be repetitious and where the person might perseverate on a topic or idea

The Umbrella

Autism

Pervasive Developmental Disorder - Not Otherwise Specified

Asperger’s Syndrome (we’ll leave this here to avoid confusion)

Rett’s Syndrome

Child Degenerative Disorder

CHARACTERISTICS OF AUTISMSocial Skills• Very little or no eye

contact. Unusual eye contact.• Resistance to being held

or touched.• Difficulty understanding

jokes, figures of speech or sarcasm.

• Difficulty reading facial expressions and body language.

• Difficulty understanding the rules of conversation.

• Difficulty understanding group interactions

• Gives spontaneous comments which seem to have no connection to the current conversation.

From: CalgaryAutism.com

• Makes honest, but inappropriate observations.• Seems unable to

understand another’s feelings.• Difficulty maintaining

friendships.• Unaware of/disinterested in

what is going on around them• Talks excessively about one

or two topics (dinosaurs, movies, etc.). Insistence on sameness. • Minimal acknowledgement

of others.

CHARACTERISTICS OF AUTISM (CON’T)Speech and Language

•Abnormal use of pitch, intonation, rhythm or stress while speaking (“odd” affect).

•Speech is abnormally loud or quiet.

•Echolalia

•Often uses short, incomplete sentences.

•Pronouns are often inappropriately used. 

•Speech started very early and then stopped for a period of time.

•Difficulty understanding directional terms (front, back, before, after).

CHARACTERISTICS OF AUTISM (CON’T)

Emotions and Behaviors

• Obsessions with objects, ideas or desires - perseveration

•Unusual attachment to objects.

•Quotes movies or video games.

•Difficulty transferring skills from one area to another.

•Perfectionism in certain areas.

•Frustration is expressed in unusual ways.

•Feels the need to fix or rearrange things.

•Transitioning from one activity to another is difficult.

•Difficulty attending to some tasks - can show some ADD tendencies

Emotions and Behaviors (con’t)

• Verbal outbursts.

• Difficulty sensing time (knowing how long ten minutes is or three days or a week).

• Difficulty waiting for their turn (such as in a line).

• Gross motor skills are developmentally behind peers (riding a bike, skating, running).

• Fine motor skills are developmentally behind peers (hand writing, tying shoes, scissors).

• Inability to perceive potentially dangerous situations.

• Extreme fear (phobia) for no apparent reason.

 

CHARACTERISTICS OF AUTISM (CON’T)

Emotions and Behaviors (con’t)

• Sensitivity or lack of sensitivity to sounds, textures (touch), tastes, smells or light.

•Difficulty with loud or sudden sounds.

•Laughs, cries or throws a tantrum for no apparent reason.

•Resists change in the environment (people, places, objects).

•Becomes overwhelmed with too much verbal direction.

•Tends to either tune out or break down when being reprimanded.

•Calmed by external stimulation - soothing sound, brushing, rotating object, constant pressure (hammock, rolled in a blanket).

•May need to be left alone to release tension and frustration.

CHARACTERISTICS OF AUTISM (CON’T)

ATTENTION DEFICIT HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER

We’ve all used this word to describe our own children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews, but what exactly is ADD/ADHD?Attention deficit hyperactivity

disorder (ADHD) is a problem of not being able to focus, being overactive, not being able control behavior, or a combination of these. For these problems to be diagnosed as ADHD, they must be out of the normal range for a person's age and development.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002518/

Three types of symptoms:

implusivityhyperactivityinattentive

LEARNING DISABILITIES

Definition:

A learning disability is a neurological condition that interferes with a person’s ability to store, process, or produce information.

Learning disabilities can affect one’s ability to read, write, speak, spell, compute math, reason and also affect a person’s attention, memory, coordination, social skills and emotional maturity.

Common learning disabilities include:• Dyslexia • Dyscalculia • Dysgraphia

http://www.ldaamerica.org/new_to_ld/defining.asp

STRATEGIES FOR THE REGULAR EDUCATION CLASSROOM

With the intense, unrelenting pressure of implementing a curriculum jam-packed with content from the very first day of school, modifying the materials for just one or two students can seem like a daunting task.

The secret? Helping one or two students will help ALL of your students.

Here are a few reasons why it’s worth the time and effort to modify curriculum and instruction:

•Modifications and accommodations are appropriate for ALL learners

•Demonstrates acceptance and respect for all learners … kids notice!

•Appropriate for all areas of the curriculum and classroom routines

•Helps you make judgements about WHAT and HOW things are taught … gives you an idea of what’s going right and what’s going wrong.

•Both intuitive and intentional

•Made easier when you are using a variety of approaches

•Desired by parents

ACCOMMODATIONS AND MODIFICATIONS

ACCOMMODATION VS MODIFICATIONWhat’s the difference? What do

they mean?ACCOMMODATION - “outside the body,” physical and environmental changes and adaptations

Examples:pacingenvironment - preferential seating, sign language interpreterspresentation of material - visual, auditory, kinesthetic, taping lecturesmaterials and equipmentgrading

• assignments• reinforcement and follow-

throughtesting adaptations

MODIFICATION - of content material; structural, cognitive change in the level of material Examples

presentation of subject matter - specialized curriculum written on student’s levelmaterials and equipment/assistive technology - adapting texts for lower reading level or lower cognitive levelgrading - modifying weight of textsassignments - adapt in worksheets, lowering reading level of assignmenttesting adaptations - reducing reading level of tests

IDEAS!!!

For students with AUTISM:

•FEWER WORDS!! More pictures, symbols, signals and gestures.

•Be CONCRETE, black and white, pragmatic - in written directions, verbal directions and expectations

•Teach students to look for those words they can understand when reading directions on worksheets, word problems, comprehension questions, etc.

•Use a silent timer to help them organize their time better. Structuring time and setting clear parameters helps students with autism predict their environment.

•Cuts down on anxiety and outburst

•Use a picture schedule to lay out the school day, the class period or when TRANSITIONS will occur. Even if your schedule is written on the board, a small picture representation at the student’s desk works wonders!

•Set up social interactions when you are present (indoor recess, hold a lunch bunch, etc.) where you can model appropriate social behaviors and responses.

(MORE)IDEAS!!!For students with learning disabilities:

•Allow students to read stories and books, science and social studies content in a variety of ways:

•Read aloud to a buddy

•Listen on tape or digital recording

•Read to self with a “whisper phone”

•Read to self while standing - the kinesthetic element can do wonders!

•Again, engage the body as students work on spelling

•Bouncing a ball and catching it for each letter as they spell aloud

•Let them write the words on a white board, a paint bag, stamps

•Highlight the prefixes, suffixes, base words…whatever you’re teaching that day

•Although they seem juvenile, using

manipulatives and drawing out pictures of the

math concepts is OK! Mental math is wonderful,

but for some students with short term memory

processing issues or attention problems, this

can be a tough skill.

•Highlight key parts of math equations,

especially if the student often switches or

confuses what the problem is asking.

•When students have to describe math content (“How did you come to your answer?”) allow students to SHOW you how they solved the problem, taking the words out of the equation.

(EVEN MORE) IDEAS!!!

For students with ADHD:

•Organization is very important and often needs to be taught to students with ADHD. Parents need to be a key part of this process and follow through at home.

•COLOR CODE! Color coding systems are a beautiful thing. Every subject has a color assigned to it…forever and ever.

•Physical placement of the student with regards to instruction. Visually blocking off distractors and keeping them close to “the action.”

•Using clear, color strips for reading text, particularly difficult science and social studies content.

(AND MORE) IDEAS!!!For students with ADHD:

•Never underestimate the power of running an errand. Students with excessive physical activity should get up and move around frequently.

•Allowing students to stand at a table or desk gives them the feeling of a bit more physical freedom.

•Again, quiet, visual timers at the student’s desk will help with self-monitoring.

•A small checklist of 3-5 behavioral expectations at the student’s desk gives onus to the student for monitoring his or her own behavior.

•Work for a reward, break, prize given by parents, etc.

•Outline the notes (as opposed to giving them the notes outright) for content areas to keep the student organized during lectures.

Easy checklist that can be hidden in the desk has the student check himself at set times of the day to remind himself of appropriate and inappropriate behavior. Note that some of these are written from a negative perspective. Keep items positive and stating the desired behavior.

“More the same, than different.”

Students with special needs should have the same expectations and goals as students without special needs. HIGH EXPECTATIONS!

•If they understand the concept, their output or input shouldn’t matter (providing other students aren’t disrupted).

•We are working to develop and produce the most independent, productive, hard-working, kind and honest people we can to send out into the world. The picture of what that looks like is different for every student…including those with learning difficulties, physical disabilities or behavioral issues. Still, the end goal is the same.

Spencer and Mitchel Timme